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WWE returns to the iconic Madison Square Garden this Friday for Super SmackDown live on FOX.
The show marks the first live WWE televised event inside "The World's Most Famous Arena" since back-to-back episodes of Monday Night RAW and SmackDown LIVE in 2019.
WWE has an illustrious history inside The Garden, with some of the most iconic moments in company history taking place at the iconic arena. These date all the way back to the early 1950s with Jess McMahon and Vincent J. McMahon promoting events inside Madison Square Garden.
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But it's not just WWE pay-per-view events that have taken place inside the World's Most Famous Arena.
Several episodes of WWE RAW and SmackDown, as well as other televised specials, have aired from Madison Square Garden. This has led to some of WWE's most iconic television moments taking place inside The Garden.
With that in mind, let's take a look at 5 incredible Madison Square Garden WWE television moments.
#5 Kane removes his mask (WWE RAW 2003)
WWE Hall of Famer Kane made his debut in 1997 as the mysterious, menacing younger brother of The Undertaker.
The storyline at the time explained that Kane had been horrifically burned as a child. The burns came at the hands of his older brother, who accidentally started a fire at the funeral home owned by their parents, who both perished in the blaze.
Years later, Kane was in the midst of a feud with Triple H on Monday Night RAW in 2002. The rivalry culminated in a main event match on RAW from Madison Square Garden with Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship on the line.
The Game successfully defeated The Big Red Machine to retain his title. Per a pre-match stipulation, Kane was forced to remove his mask for the first time.
Kane's face reveal shockingly proved that his scars were purely psychological and that the majority of his hair was attached to the mask too.
After removing the mask, The Big Red Machine violently attacked his tag team partner Rob Van Dam as Monday Night RAW went off the air.
#4 The Undertaker & John Cena vs D-Generation X vs The Big Show & Chris Jericho (WWE RAW 2009)
2009's RAW from Madison Square Garden saw one of the most star-studded main events in WWE television history.
Before Survivor Series, the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship competitors met in a unique triple threat tag team match.
World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker teamed up with WWE Champion John Cena to face D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) and Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show.
The closing moments of the match saw John Cena pin Triple H after hitting an Attitude Adjustment. However, The Undertaker got the final laugh as he shockingly Tombstoned his partner to close the show.
#3 WWE The War To Settle The Score (1985)
WWE skyrocketed into mainstream popularity during 1980s due to the rise of Hulk-A-Mania and The Rock n' Wrestling connection.
In December 1984, major music star Cyndi Lauper presented an award to manager Captain Lou Albano. However, this was interrupted by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper who was upset with the popularity of the Rock 'n' Wrestling connection between WWE and MTV that was attracting major viewers to the WWE product.
This led to Piper attacking both Albano and Lauper before WWE Champion Hulk Hogan made the save.
This set up the War To Settle The Score special that aired live on MTV in February 1985. The main event saw Hulk Hogan defeat Roddy Piper by disqualification after Paul Orndorff and "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr. interfered in the match.
Mr. T, who was at ringside for the event, came to Hogan's aid during the assault, setting up the main event for the very first WrestleMania later that year.
#2 Triple H returns from torn quadricep injury (WWE RAW 2002)
WWE Hall of Famer Triple H suffered a near career-ending quadricep injury during an edition of Monday Night RAW in 2001.
This forced The Game to miss nine months of action as he underwent surgery and embarked on a rigorous rehabilitation process to return to the squared circle.
After nine months on the shelf, Triple H made his grand return to WWE on an episode of Monday Night RAW from Madison Square Garden in January 2002.
Despite being a heel when he suffered the injury, Triple H returned to a thunderous reception. The Game received one of the biggest crowd reactions in WWE history, truly making for a remarkable and memorable moment at Madison Square Garden.
This also marked the beginning of his journey to win the 2002 Royal Rumble match and, later, capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania X-8 that year.
#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin stuns Mr. McMahon for the first time (WWE RAW 1997)
WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin was rapidly becoming the hottest and most popular character in all of professional wrestling during the fall of 1997.
Despite Monday Night RAW still being comfortably beaten in the ratings by WCW Monday Nitro, The Texas Rattlesnake was WWE's shining light to a promising future.
After suffering a serious neck injury at SummerSlam, Austin was unable to wrestle for several months. Despite the injury, Austin's presence on the show remained.
Frustrated at his inability to compete, Austin finally took his frustrations out on WWE owner Vince McMahon during a September episode of Monday Night RAW at Madison Square Garden.
McMahon was still a play-by-play commentator on RAW at the time. However, there was a greater acknowledgment on television that he was indeed the owner of the company.
This marked the first-ever Stone Cold Stunner on the boss, and it certainly wasn't the last.
