While most would rightfully look at 2007 as a very dark year for the wrestling business, the year also had a number of fantastic performances.
Those do not come close to outweighing the impact felt by the tragedies of 2007 but it felt impossible to talk about this year without acknowledging the Benoit tragedies in some form.
Moving on without a smooth segway, 2007 was a pretty good year for WWE pay-per-views with a number of excellent shows led by a stellar Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.
These are the eleven best WWE pay-per-view matches of 2007.
11. John Cena vs. Umaga – Royal Rumble
Umaga’s main event push didn’t last as long as it should have. An incredible athlete paired with a fairly offensive character, Umaga hit his peak as a performer in 2007.
Umaga challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship in January 2007 at New Year’s Revolution and the Royal Rumble with the latter being the better match of the two.
Their Royal Rumble clash was a Last Man Standing match where Cena was forced to use extremely violent measures to get the win. 2007 was Cena’s best year as a performer as well and he started it off well with this great feud.
10. The Undertaker vs. Batista – Cyber Sunday
Another great highlight of 2007 was the rivalry between The Undertaker and Batista. Batista had lost his way a little bit after vacating the World Heavyweight Championship in 2006.
He hadn’t been having good matches when The Undertaker challenged him for the title at WrestleMania 23 but their rivalry was one of the best things either man was ever a part of.
In a long-awaited rematch, the two met again at Cyber Sunday with Steve Austin as the guest referee. The match was on par with their earlier clashes with Batista finally getting a big win over his rival. This match isn’t remembered to the level of some of their other matches, but it is still one of their best.
9. John Cena vs. Randy Orton – SummerSlam
It seems shocking to think about now, but John Cena vs. Randy Orton was a fresh match once upon a time. That time was 2007 and at SummerSlam the two met on pay-per-view for the first time.
This was another example of Cena’s excellent 2007 as he and Orton tore it up in the main event of the second-biggest event of the year. They were not bogged down with the crowd fatigue that would plague the later stages of their never-ending rivalry. Here they just wrestled and it was great.
It is pretty surreal to watch 27-year-old Randy Orton and 30-year-old John Cena compete for the first time. Considering they were still battling seven years later, well, let’s just say they peaked early.
8. John Cena vs. Bobby Lashley – The Great American Bash
John Cena and Bobby Lashley could have been a main event of WrestleMania if they had not blown it off at The Great American Bash. Of course, Lashley leaving the company afterward didn’t help either but oh well.
While Lashley was not over to the level of Cena at this time, the two unquestionably had chemistry. Neither was a pristine worker at this point so that chemistry was never guaranteed but the two had an excellent battle in their one and only pay-per-view match.
Lashley could have been the one to dethrone Cena’s 10-month reign so there was intrigue going into this match. Unfortunately, it would be almost 14 years before he would claim the WWE Championship as Cena hit a Super FU off the middle-rope for the win.
7. Batista vs. The Undertaker – Backlash
The second Batista vs. Undertaker match to make it onto this list, their match at Backlash was equally as memorable as their classic WrestleMania match.
At Backlash the two clashed in a Last Man Standing match and their chemistry carried over into the often maligned stipulation.
They brawled in the ring and beyond, eventually making their way to the stage. The battle saw Batista Spear The Undertaker off the stage and into the lighting equipment, causing a portion of the set to fall on top of them.
As such, neither man was able to answer the ten-count and the match ended in a draw. The finish managed to be both spectacular and disappointing with no winner declared but a memorable closing spot. Still a great match, but a winner would have made it a classic.
6. Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena – WrestleMania 23
The main event of WrestleMania often gets bonus points because of the spectacle of it all. This is another example of that as John Cena and Shawn Michaels closed out WrestleMania 23 with a great match.
WrestleMania 23 had a number of very good matches with this one being by far the longest at 28 minutes.
While this may have been just another day at the office for Shawn Michaels, having another classic WrestleMania encounter, this was one of the biggest moments of Cena’s career.
His WrestleMania career has included many solid matches, but this one is perhaps the only one that could be called a classic. Retaining the WWE Championship against an all-time great in the main event of one of the best WrestleManias is pretty special and this felt special.
5. Money in the Bank Ladder Match – WrestleMania 23
Back to WrestleMania 23 we go for one of the best Money in the Bank ladder matches of all time. The lineup for this match was basically an all-star event with virtually anyone capable of winning.
Edge, Randy Orton, King Booker, Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, CM Punk, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy populated this match and if those names don’t get your gears going, I don’t know what will.
After an incredible match with several all-time great spots, it was Mr. Kennedy who would capture the briefcase. Kennedy had been on the ascent prior to this match, feuding with the likes of Batista and The Undertaker and this was his breakthrough moment.
2007 was not kind to Kennedy after this as he lost his briefcase due to a misdiagnosed injury and his role as Mr. McMahon’s illegitimate son was taken away after a positive drug test, but he will always have this moment at Ford Field.
4. Batista vs. The Undertaker – WrestleMania 23
Closing out the trilogy of fantastic WrestleMania 23 matches is the first clash between The Undertaker and Batista.
Clocking in at a compact 15 minutes, the match moves along at a brisk pace with Batista hitting a Spear right out of the gate. They never slow down in this match, going through the announce table en route to The Undertaker hitting the Tombstone for the win.
The odds seemed stacked against these men to have a classic match but that is exactly what happened. Up until this point The Undertaker had not had a truly classic WrestleMania match but Batista proved to be a perfect dance partner for him.
The match may have been pushed down the list of great Undertaker WrestleMania matches over the years but it still remains as entertaining as ever.
3. Royal Rumble Match
The 2007 Royal Rumble match has a claim of being the best Royal Rumble match of all time. It is just that good.
In addition to a particularly star-studded lineup, the match builds to a perfect crescendo. The final four were the four men most likely to win the match with Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Edge and Randy Orton outlasting the rest of the field.
Rated RKO was ultimately eliminated and it was here that we got one of the best stretches in Royal Rumble history. Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker had not stood in the ring together in nine years and they had an incredible mini-match to finish the Royal Rumble.
This is the sequence that all other Royal Rumble finishes are compared to with The Undertaker dodging a Superkick and dumping Michaels to the outside after an incredible back-and-forth exchange.
2. Triple H vs. Randy Orton – No Mercy
Similar to the Randy Orton vs. John Cena feud, it doesn’t seem that many people look back fondly on the Randy Orton vs. Triple H rivalry. A terrible WrestleMania main event will do that to you, I guess.
However, in 2007, their rivalry was just beginning. They had wrestled a few times during the dying days of Evolution but this was when Orton had established himself as a proper main event talent.
At No Mercy 2007, a lot of shenanigans went down. The show opened with Orton being presented the vacant WWE Championship only for Triple H to beat him for it minutes later. It is Triple H, of course.
The Game then wrestled in his scheduled Street Fight against Umaga before being forced to defend the title against Orton again to main event the show. In the third Last Man Standing match of this list, this was by far the best match these two ever had together.
Orton was able to regain the title he lost at the beginning of the show and put an end to Triple H’s two-hour reign of terror before it could really get started.
1. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge – Backlash
Backlash 2007 is an extremely underrated pay-per-view with a number of classic matches, including this one. The main event saw John Cena defend his WWE Championship in a Fatal 4-Way with the other three top stars of Raw, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Edge.
This was as excellent a Fatal 4-Way match as you will see in WWE. The action never let up and you had the appropriate amount of tension between two sets of former tag partners.
The closing sequence in particular is a brilliant moment of toying with the audience. Each man hit their finisher on someone else with Shawn Michaels being the last to hit his Superkick. The fans popped big thinking they would see Michaels win the title only for Cena to fall on top of Orton for the pin.
This was a difficult year to find one single match to name the best but upon a rewatch, this match truly is worthy of that title.
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