Royal Rumble
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown! ECW
Date	January 28, 2007
City	San Antonio,Texas
Venue	AT&T Center
Attendance	13,500[1]
Buy rate	525,000[2]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous New Year's Revolution Next → No Way Out
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous 2006 Next → 2008

The 2007Royal Rumble was the 20th annualRoyal Rumbleprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion'sRaw,SmackDown!, andECWbrand divisions. The event took place on January 28, 2007, at theAT&T Center inSan Antonio,Texas, and was the second Royal Rumble held in San Antonio after the1997 event. This marked the ECW brand's first participation in the Royal Rumble, which became WWE's third brand in mid-2006. As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania. For the 2007 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either Raw'sWWE Championship, SmackDown!'sWorld Heavyweight Championship, or theECW World Championship atWrestleMania 23, marking the first time that three titles were an option.

Fiveprofessional wrestling matches were featured on the event'ssupercard, a scheduling of more than onemain event. The main event was the 2007 Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from all three brands. SmackDown!'sThe Undertaker, the 30th entrant, won the match by last eliminating Raw'sShawn Michaels, the 23rd entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was aLast Man Standing match for the WWE Championship betweenJohn Cena andUmaga. Cena won the match and retained the title after Umaga was unable to get to his feet before thereferee counted to ten. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand wasBatista versusMr. Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won bypinfall after executing aBatista Bomb. The featured match on the ECW brand was betweenBobby Lashley andTest for the ECW World Championship, which Lashley won after Test wascounted out.

TheRoyal Rumble is an annualgimmickpay-per-view (PPV) produced every January byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four".^[3] It is named after theRoyal Rumble match, a modifiedbattle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2007 event was the 20th Royal Rumble and was scheduled to be held on January 28, 2007, at theAT&T Center inSan Antonio,Texas, and was the second Royal Rumble held in San Antonio after the1997 event. It featured wrestlers from theRaw,SmackDown!, andECWbrands, which was the first Royal Rumble to include ECW, a relaunch of the formerExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion that became WWE's third brand in May 2006.^[4][5]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers and the winner traditionally earns aworld championship match at that year's WrestleMania.^[6][7] For 2007, the winner could choose to challenge for either Raw'sWWE Championship, SmackDown!'sWorld Heavyweight Championship, or theECW World Championship atWrestleMania 23. This marked the first time that the ECW World Championship was a choice for the winner of the match, subsequently marking the first time that the winner had a choice between three world championships.^[4]

The event comprised six matches, as well as onedark match, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw,SmackDown, andECW.^[8][9][10]

The mainfeud heading into the Royal Rumble on Raw was between WWE ChampionJohn Cena andUmaga. At the previous pay-per-view event,New Year's Revolution, Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship.^[11][12] The night after onRaw,Armando Alejandro Estrada, Umaga's manager, asked for a rematch, which Cena agreed to. Later that night, during a match between Cena andThe Great Khali, Umaga interfered and attacked Cena.^[13] The following week, the official contract signing for their rematch at the Royal Rumble took place. After it was announced that Estrada could choose thematch type, Estrada chose the match to be aLast Man Standing match. Cena signed the contract and proceeded to attack both Umaga and Estrada.^[14] On the January 22 episode ofRaw, after Cena was eliminated from aBattle Royal, Umaga attacked Cena, and injured hisspleen, which was portrayed as real as part of their storyline.^[15]

The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was betweenBatista andMr. Kennedy, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the January 5 episode ofSmackDown! aBeat the Clock Sprint began. Wrestlers competed in singles matches, and the wrestler to win a match in the shortest amount of time would then become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. Mr. Kennedy, who defeatedChris Benoit in nearly five minutes, had the shortest time at the show's end.^[16] The following week, the Sprint continued. In the final match, betweenThe Undertaker andThe Miz, Kennedy interfered by pulling The Miz out of the ring. After performing theTombstone piledriver on The Miz, The Undertaker went for the pin attempt. Time, however, ran out and Kennedy became the winner of the Sprint.^[17] The following week after onSmackDown!, The Undertaker was put in a match with Kennedy, where if he won, he would be added to the title match at the Royal Rumble. During the match, after Kennedy attacked Batista, who was at ringside. Batista retaliated against Kennedy, causing The Undertaker to getdisqualified.^[18] Thus, the match at the Royal Rumble remained a singles match between Batista and Kennedy.

The main feud on the ECW brand was betweenBobby Lashley andTest, with the two feuding over the ECW Championship.Rob Van Dam won an online poll against Test andSabu to earn a title shot on the January 2 episode ofECW, which ended in no-contest.^[19] Van Dam was given another title match the next week. Test interfered in the match, and attacked both men.^[20] Atriple threat match for the title occurred on the January 16 episode ofECW between Lashley, Van Dam, and Test. Lashley won, but was beaten down afterward by Test.^[21] A title match between Lashley and Test was then made for the Royal Rumble. A week after that match was made, on the January 23 episode ofECW, Lashley defeated Test in another title match.^[22]

Before the event went live on pay-per-view,JTG defeatedLance Cade in adark match.^[23]

The first match that aired was atag team match betweenThe Hardys (Matt andJeff Hardy) andMNM (Joey Mercury andJohnny Nitro). The match went back and forth until MNM took control by attacking Matt's injured jaw repeatedly. The Hardys gained the advantage briefly but lost it when Nitro countered anaerial attack by Jeff. Jeff finally tagged Matt, who beat down both Mercury and Nitro. The finish came when Matt delivered aTwist of Fate and Jeff performed theSwanton Bomb on Nitro. Jeff then pinned Nitro for the victory.^[24][25]

The second match was Bobby Lashley against Test for the ECW World Championship. Test used many illegal moves, and took control after driving Lashley's shoulder into the ring post. He continued to attack the shoulder until Lashley fought back with several powerful moves. Test rolled out of the ring, allowing himself to becounted out. Lashley won and retained his title. He came after Test, however, brought him back into the ring, and continued to beat him down.^[26][24]

The third match was Batista defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Mr. Kennedy. Batista gained an early advantage by overpowering Kennedy until Kennedy injured Batista's knee by using the steel steps. Kennedy continued to attack Batista's knees and applied various submissionholds that targeted the knee. Batista fought back, still favoring the knee, until Kennedy pushed Batista into thereferee and hit alow blow. Kennedy had Batista pinned for over a three-count, but the match went on due to the referee beingknocked out. Kennedy brought the referee conscious but Batista performed alariat and aBatista Bomb to retain the title.^[24][27]

In the fourth match, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Umaga in a Last Man Standing match. Umaga dominated Cena, gaining the advantage by using powerful moves and attacking Cena's bandaged ribs. Cena tried to fight back using the steel steps, but Umaga quickly recovered, and continued the beat down. Cena managed to hit a low blow and delivered abulldog onto the steel steps, aspin-out powerbomb onto the steel steps, and theFive Knuckle Shuffle all onto Umaga. Umaga regained control when Cena attempted anFU onto the steps, and collapsed, hitting his head on the steps. Cena avoided arunning headbutt drop and hit Umaga in the head with atelevision monitor. Umaga stood but missed a runningsplash through a broadcast table. Umaga got up again as hismanager,Armando Alejandro Estrada, detached one of the turnbuckles for Umaga to use. Cena avoided the attack, executed an FU, and applied the STF on Umaga using the loose ring rope. Umaga failed to answer the referee's count of ten, and Cena retained the title.^[28][24]

The final match was the Royal Rumble match.Kane, the tenth entrant, dominated the match upon entering, eliminatingTommy Dreamer andSabu, bychokeslamming Sabu through a table Sabu had earlier set up.The Sandman, entering fifteen, used his signatureSingapore Cane in the match beforeKing Booker quickly eliminated him.Randy Orton andEdge worked together to eliminate the Hardys. After Booker was eliminated by Kane, he returned to the ring, eliminated Kane, and continued to beat him down. It took the combined effort of nine men to eliminateViscera afterShawn Michaels performed asuperkick on Viscera.^[29][24]The Great Khali, entering twenty-eighth, dominated upon entering the match, eliminating seven men quickly. The Undertaker entered last, who immediately fought with, and eliminated Khali, thenMontel Vontavious Porter, leaving Edge, Orton, Michaels, and Undertaker as the final four. Orton executed an RKO on Michaels, causing him to roll out of the ring under the ropes and leaving Edge, Orton, and the Undertaker. Orton caught Edge trying to attack him, but the two soon reconciled, working together on The Undertaker. Michaels, outside the ring, came back in, eliminating both Orton and Edge. The remaining two exchanged attacks until the end when The Undertaker chokeslammed Michaels, who retaliated with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels attempted another Sweet Chin Music but Undertaker avoided it, then eliminated Michaels to win the match.^[29][24] The Undertaker became the first competitor to win the Rumble match from #30 (what is considered to be the "easiest" spot to win from, despite no one having done so in any previous match).

The AT&T Center has hosted many different events that have a variety of seating maximums. A basketball event, which has a smaller set-up than a wrestling event, can hold a maximum of 18,797 fans.^[30] Due to the Royal Rumble's production, the maximum standard was lowered and the event drew 13,500 fans and received 491,000 pay-per-view buys. WWE made$15.8 million from pay-per-view revenues in their first quarter (which included the Royal Rumble,No Way Out, andWrestleMania) versus $17.1 million in 2006 for the same events, a $1.3 million difference. The2006 Royal Rumble also resulted in 548,000 pay-per-view buys, 57,000 more than the 2007 Royal Rumble.^[31]Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling sub website, Slam! Wrestling, rated the entire event 7.5 out of 10 points, due to the event not lasting its entire three hours and many mishaps that occurred during the Royal Rumble match, which they also rated a 7.5.^[24] The last man standing match betweenJohn Cena andUmaga was widely praised.^[32] The Royal Rumble 2007 was released onDVD on February 27, 2007 and was distributed byWWE Home Video.^[33] The DVD debuted onBillboard's Top DVD sales chart at #3 on March 24, 2007.^[34] The DVD remained on the chart for 13 consecutive weeks until June 16, 2007 when its final rank was at #10.^[35]

The shows following the Royal Rumble surrounded The Undertaker's choice of which champion to face at WrestleMania 23. The Undertaker appeared on all three brands and stared down the champions.^[36][37][38] Finally, on the February 5 episode ofRaw, The Undertaker chose to face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, and hit him with achokeslam, starting their rivalry.^[39] The Undertaker won the title at WrestleMania, improving his WrestleMania record to 15-0,^[40] and their feud continued until the May 11 episode ofSmackDown!, when The Undertaker lost the title to Edge, who cashed in the Money in the Bank, that he won from Mr. Kennedy, earlier that week onRaw.^[41]

After The Undertaker made his choice on February 5, Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton all wanted to face Cena for his title at WrestleMania. A triple threat match was made between the three for the title shot, which Michaels won after pinning Orton.^[39] Cena successfully retained his title against Michaels at WrestleMania.^[42] They continued to feud over the title with the addition of Orton and Edge, but Cena remained champion. Soon after the Royal Rumble, Umaga and Bobby Lashley joined the feud betweenMr. McMahon andDonald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" as their representatives respectively for theHair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania.^[43]

His Royal Rumble match marked the start of Mr. Kennedy'spush to main-event status. He went on to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW World Championship atNo Way Out, which he won viadisqualification, thus failing to win the title.^[44][45] Kennedy won theMoney in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, which gave him a world title shot at any time of his choosing for the year following.^[46][47] Kennedy sustained an injury at ahouse show, however, that would leave him sidelined for five to seven months,^[48] and wasbooked to lose his title shot to Edge on the May 7 episode ofRaw.^[49] Later results showed the injury to be much less severe,^[50] but Kennedy had already lost his title shot. He returned tomid-card status for the remainder of the year.

This was the final Royal Rumble to be in 4:3 format before all WWE programs switched tohigh definition in January 2008.^[51]

  –Raw

  –SmackDown!

  –ECW

  –Winner

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