Royal Rumble (2007)

Royal Rumble (2007) was the twentieth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held on January 28 2007 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The official theme song was "Drones" by Rise Against.

This marked the first time the new ECW brand participated in the Royal Rumble match, and, as a result, the winner could choose to have a shot at the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW World Championship at WrestleMania 23. There was an uneven distribution of participants in the Royal Rumble match between the brands (with 13 from Raw, 10 from SmackDown!, and 7 from ECW), unlike previous years, which had an equal split between Raw and SmackDown! wrestlers.

In the event, Batista defeated Mr. Kennedy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena defeated Umaga in a Last Man Standing match to retain the WWE Championship, and The Undertaker won the Royal Rumble match entering last.

Background
The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Umaga, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. At the previous pay-per-view event, New Year's Revolution, John Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship. The night after on Raw, Armando Alejandro Estrada, Umaga's manager, asked for a rematch, which Cena agreed to. Later that night, during a match between Cena and The Great Khali, Umaga interfered and attacked Cena. The following week, on the January 15 edition of Raw, the official contract signing for their rematch at the Royal Rumble took place. After it was announced that Estrada could choose the match type, Estrada chose the match to be a Last Man Standing match. Cena signed the contract and proceeded to attack both Umaga and Estrada. On the January 22 edition of Raw, after Cena was eliminated from a Battle Royal, Umaga attacked him, kayfabe injuring his spleen.

The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Batista and Mr. Kennedy, with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the January 5 edition of SmackDown!, a Beat the Clock Sprint began. Wrestlers competed in single matches, and the wrestler to win his match in the shortest time will become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. Mr. Kennedy, who defeated Chris Benoit in nearly five minutes, had the shortest time at the end of the show. The following week, the Sprint continued. In the final match, between The Undertaker and The Miz, Kennedy interfered by pulling The Miz out of the ring. After performing the Tombstone piledriver on The Miz, The Undertaker went for the pin attempt. Time, however, ran out and Kennedy became the winner of the Sprint. The week after, on the January 19 edition of SmackDown!, 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 attacked Kennedy, causing The Undertaker to be disqualified. Thus, the match at the Royal Rumble, remained a one-on-one match between Batista and Kennedy.

The main feud on the ECW brand was between ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley and Test. Rob Van Dam won in an online poll against Test and Sabu to earn a title shot on the January 2 edition of ECW, which ended in no-contest. Van Dam was given another title match the next week. Disgusted by this, Test interfered in the match, and attacked both men. A Triple Threat match for the title occurred on the January 16 edition of ECW between Lashley, Van Dam, and Test. Lashley won, but was beaten down afterwards by Test. A title match between Lashley and Test was made for Royal Rumble. Before Royal Rumble, the two faced each other on the January 23 edition of ECW in a non-title match, which Lashley won.

Event
Before the event went live on pay-per-view, JTG defeated Lance Cade in a dark match. The first match that aired was a tag team match between The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro). The match went back and forth at the start of the match. MNM took control by attacking Matt's injured jaw repeatedly. The Hardys gained the advantage briefly by double-teaming MNM, but lost it when Nitro countered an aerial attack by Jeff. Jeff finally tagged in Matt, who beat down both Mercury and Nitro. The finish came when Matt hit the Twist of Fate, and Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb on Nitro. Jeff then pinned Nitro for the victory.

The second match was between Bobby Lashley and Test for the ECW World Championship. Test used several illegal moves, and took control after driving Lashley's shoulder into the ringpost. He continued to attack the shoulder until Lashley fought back with several powerful moves. Test rolled out of the ring, and allowed himself to be counted out. Lashley won, and retained his title. However, he came after Test, brought him back into the ring, and continued to beat him down.

The third match was between Batista and Mr. Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista gained an early advantage by overpowering Kennedy until Kennedy injured Batista's knee by using the steel steps. Kennedy continued to attack the knee, and applied various submission holds that target the knee. Batista fought back, still favoring the knee, until Kennedy pushed Batista into the referee, and hit a low blow. Kennedy had a clear advantage, and dominated Batista until Batista hit a clothesline, and a Batista Bomb for the pinfall to retain the title.

The fourth match was the Last Man Standing match between John Cena and Umaga for the WWE Championship. 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, onto the steel steps, a bulldog, a spin-out powerbomb, and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Umaga regained control when Cena attempted an FU onto the steps, and collapsed, hitting his head on the steps. Cena avoided a running headbutt drop, and hit Umaga in the head with a television monitor. Umaga got up, but missed a running splash through the announce table. Umaga got up again as Umaga's manager Armando Alejandro Estrada detached one of the top turnbuckles for Umaga to use. Cena avoided the attack, hit an FU, and choked Umaga using the loose ring rope. Umaga failed to answer the ten-count, and Cena retained his title.

The final match was the Royal Rumble match. Kane, the tenth entrant, dominated the match upon entering, and eliminated Tommy Dreamer and Sabu, hitting the latter with a chokeslam through a table Sabu had set up earlier. The Sandman, entering thirteen, used his signature Singapore Cane in the match before being quickly eliminated by King Booker. Randy Orton and Edge 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 eight men to eliminate Viscera after Shawn Michaels hit him with a superkick.

The Great Khali, entering twenty-eighth, dominated upon entering the match, and eliminated seven men. Entering last was The Undertaker, who immediately fought with, and eliminated Khali. He then eliminated Montel Vontavious Porter, leaving four in the match: Edge, Orton, Michaels, and The Undertaker. Orton caught Edge trying to attack him, but the two soon reconciled, and worked together on The Undertaker. Michaels, who was outside the ring, came back in, and eliminated both Orton and Edge. The remaining two exchanged attacks until the end, when The Undertaker hit a chokeslam, but Michaels came back with a superkick. Michaels went for another superkick, but The Undertaker avoided it, and eliminated Michaels to win the match.

Aftermath
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. Finally, on the February 5 edition of Raw, The Undertaker chose to face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, and hit him with a chokeslam, starting their feud. The Undertaker won the title at WrestleMania, and their feud continued until the May 11 edition of SmackDown!, when The Undertaker lost the title to Edge.

After The Undertaker made his choice on February 5, Shawn Micheals, Edge, and Randy Orton all wanted to face Cena for his title at WrestleMania. A Triple Threat match made between the three for the title shot, which Michaels won after pinning Orton after a Spear from Edge. Cena successfully retained his title against Michaels. They continued to feud over the title, but Cena remained champion.

His Royal Rumble match marked the start of Mr. Kennedy's push to main-event status. He went on to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW World Championship at No Way Out (which he won via disqualification, thus failing to win the title), and won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania, which gave him a world title shot at a time of his choosing. However, Kennedy sustained an injury at a house show that would leave him sidelined for five to seven months, and was booked to lose his title shot to Edge on the May 7 edition of Raw. Later results showed the injury to be much less severe, but Kennedy had already lost his title shot. He returned to mid-card status for the remainder of the year.

Soon after the Royal Rumble, Umaga and Bobby Lashley joined the feud between Mr. McMahon and Donald Trump in the "Battle of the Billionaires" as their representatives respectively for the Hair vs. Hair match at WrestleMania.

Results
Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * Dark match: JTG (w/Shad Gaspard) defeated Lance Cade (w/Trevor Murdoch) (8:42)
 * JTG pinned Cade with a roll-up and his feet on the ropes.
 * The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) defeated MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) (w/Melina) (15:27)
 * Jeff pinned Nitro after a Swanton Bomb.
 * Bobby Lashley defeated Test by count-out to retain the ECW World Championship (7:18)
 * Test was counted out by walking away from the ring.
 * Batista defeated Mr. Kennedy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (10:29)
 * Batista pinned Kennedy after a Batista Bomb.
 * John Cena defeated Umaga (w/Armando Alejandro Estrada) in a Last Man Standing match to retain the WWE Championship (23:09)
 * Umaga was unable to answer the ten-count after Cena choked him out with an STFU using a loose ring rope.
 * The Undertaker won the 2007 Royal Rumble (56:18)
 * The final two men were The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Undertaker eliminated Michaels by ducking Sweet Chin Music and throwing Michaels over the top rope.

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Red ██ and "Raw" indicates a Raw superstar, blue ██ and "SD!" indicates a SmackDown! superstar, purple ██ and "ECW" indicates an ECW superstar.

King Booker returned to the ring after being eliminated and eliminated Kane.