The heavyweight match-up between World Wrestling Entertainment and the NBA's Denver Nuggets ended much like a wrestling match would - a third party snuck in and stole the show.
The event will not change days, rather change cities and be held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center.
WWE originally booked the episode of "Monday Night Raw" at Denver's Pepsi Center for the night of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. The deal was made well before the team even made the playoffs, but Nuggets ownership should have shown some foresight.
Despite the troubles, Denver was surprised to lose the event to Los Angeles.
Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the company that owns the Nuggets and the Pepsi Center, thought they had reached an agreement with WWE chairman Vince McMahon to stay in Denver, but move the show to May 24.
"We believed we had a deal," said KSE executive vice president Paul Andrews. "And Vince himself asked if he could, as part of deal, get five tickets to the Nuggets game on Monday night. So we are a little shocked. But I guess we are not surprised, because the sensationalism employed by WWE and Vince is standard practice for him. The amount of publicity and coverage by their group over the last few days has become their new business goal."
Oh! Andrews laid the smackdown on Vince McMahon. He should be on the canvas for a 10 count right?
Well.. probably not, but both groups came out of this situation with a plus.
L.A. is a much bigger market than Denver so McMahon should be happy, and the NBA did not cave into what they saw as an inferior in the WWE. If they had cracked and moved their event they would have been the laughing-stock of the American sports leagues.
Even the National Hockey League could take some shots at them. Oh wait, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins had to play on back-to-back nights because of a previously scheduled Yanni concert.
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