When WWE wants something big to happen, they usually make sure it happens on a televised show, but that’s not always the case. On the day after Christmas, a WWE Live Event took place in Madison Square Garden, which had Rey Mysterio defending the United States Championship against Andrade. Even though it is something that happens very rarely at house shows, a new champion walked out with the belt on Thursday night.
Mysterio has had a pretty good second half of the year as he was in a main-event feud with Brock Lesnar. He was in one of the biggest matches at this year’s Survivor Series and also captured the U.S. Championship from AJ Styles near the end of November.
While he has had some big-time matches with Andrade in the past, it has typically been Mysterio coming out ahead in those bouts. On Thursday night, however, he took a back seat to Andrade, who defeated the veteran to win his first singles championship on the main roster.
The official website of WWE reported the news after Andrade claimed the U.S. title in a big win over Mysterio at Madison Square Garden. The former NXT Champion won the title opportunity by finally taking down Humberto Carrillo in a challenging Gauntlet Match.
.@AndradeCienWWE is your NEW #USChampion after defeating @reymysterio at #WWEMSG pic.twitter.com/0M2P36XPcj
— WWE (@WWE) December 27, 2019
Andrade was called up to WWE’s main roster in April of last year when he was drafted to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-Up. So far, he has dealt with his share of ups and downs, which saw him scratch the outside of the main-event scene before being knocked back down a few pegs.
During tonight’s event at Madison Square Garden, Mysterio had the upper hand after hitting Andrade with the 619. As the champ went up to the top rope and tried to hit a big splash for the pin, Andrade got his feet up and hit Mysterio in the face. He then popped up and nailed the Hammerlock DDT for the knockout and the clean pin. While he celebrated in the ring with Zelina Vega, his real-life girlfriend, Charlotte Flair, took to Twitter to congratulate him on his title victory.
And NEW ?????????????? @AndradeCienWWE #USChamp #WWEMSG pic.twitter.com/gnFh6I94Zm
— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) December 27, 2019
On recent episodes of Monday Night Raw , both Andrade and Mysterio have been involved in a feud which also includes Carrillo. Now, WWE will go into next week’s show with a new United States Champion, which could make for some interesting storylines going forward with all three superstars. Many fans know he has deserved a title for some time, and it happened for Andrade at one of the world’s most famous arenas.
