Title changes don’t happen often at WWE live events, but it looks like they wanted to make their return to Madison Square Garden memorable. Andrade was able to unseat United States Champion Rey Mysterio at Thursday night’s show to become the new United States Champion. Andrade got his feet up to block a frog splash and hit his Hammerlock DDT for the win.
You can see pics and a clip of the finish below.
Big news out of #WWEMSG house show: @AndradeCienWWE defeats @reymysterio to capture the US Title, as reported by @AlCastlePWI pic.twitter.com/YetIjtnfBX
— PWI (Pro Wrestling Illustrated) (@OfficialPWI) December 27, 2019
NEW CHAMP! Andrade just won the United States Championship at #WWEMSG Live Event!
Similar case to last time where AJ Styles Won it at a live event also at Madison Square Garden.
(Pic: @WWESuplexSgnGuy) pic.twitter.com/KmqDdtMpLm
— Macho T (@ItsMachoT) December 27, 2019
Andrade becomes the new United States champion by defeating Rey Mysterio at Madison Square Garden #WWEMSG #andnew pic.twitter.com/wtwkigzmdE
— Justin Barrasso (@JustinBarrasso) December 27, 2019
This is Andrade’s first post-NXT WWE singles championship, having previously held the NXT Championship. Notably, the United States Championship also changed hands back at the July 7, 2017, Madison Square Garden live event when AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens. Mysterio had been U.S. Champ since pinning Styles back in November.
WWE says Andrade won the opportunity by winning a gauntlet match on Raw, but at the time, it didn’t appear the match had a finish. We guess Andrade won via ref stoppage, and they just didn’t say anything about it until now?
The former NXT Champion now begins his first reign as a United States Champion by defeating one of WWE’s most decorated Superstars. Andrade earned the title opportunity after claiming a brutal Gauntlet Match win besting Humberto Carrillo. Catch the newly crowned U.S. Champion on Monday Night Raw at 8/7 C on the USA Network.
Hey, Andrade is United States Champion, we’ll take what we can get.
