Jalen Brunson receives custom WWE title at event in Madison Square Garden

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We didn’t quite know what to expect when WWE announced that New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson would be coming to Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden tonight (July 18, 2026) in The Big Apple. He would be there as a guest of World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, but what would they be doing? As it turns out, closing the night. Indeed, after WWE Champion CM Punk & Cody Rhodes defeated GUNTHER & Sami Zayn to keep their match at SummerSlam a 1-on-1 affair, the true star of the show, a new king of New York, Brunson, was given center stage. Reigns copped to the situation right away, saying he knew everyone was wondering what this is all about. “This is where greatness acknowledges greatness.” They would do so in the home of the Knicks, yes, but also the home of WWE. The territory was once called “New York,” after all. Reigns put Brunson over huge, eventually getting around to saying he made some moves and arranged a custom world heavyweight championship be made so that he could gift it to Jalen right here on this show. The custom Jalen Brunson World Heavyweight Championship is 🔥🔥🔥@jalenbrunson1 | @WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/sWO2NCOY9Q — WWE (@WWE) July 19, 2026 “Not only does he deserve it, this man earned it.” With both men dripping in gold, Reigns said the thing. “New York City — acknowledge us.” They did. And then Seth Rollins’ music hit but it was Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton who walked out wielding a chair, much to the chagrin of Brunson. You’ll remember, the two once teased a match at a WWE show many moons ago. Rollins used the distraction to attack Reigns from behind. Brunson looked on at first, then offered an assist by getting in Seth’s way before he could hit The Stomp. Reigns recovered, hit the Superman punch and Spear, and the heels were chased off. Haliburton, it should be noted, did a whole lot of nothing here. After, the Larry O’Brien trophy was brought to the ring and Brunson allowed Reigns to hoist it in the air while Jalen held up the WWE world title. Truly, they got as many photo ops as they possibly could before going off the air. Acknowledge GREATNESS. ☝️ ☝️ What a night at Madison Square Garden!!@WWERomanReigns | @jalenbrunson1 pic.twitter.com/epwWG0uGY9 — WWE (@WWE) July 19, 2026 Good night, New York. It’s been one.

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The New York Knicks were celebrated Saturday night when WWE held a huge event at Madison Square Garden. It marked Jalen Brunson's first time back since winning NBA title.