The Year in PPV- 2007, Part I

Here's a thrilling new concept I hope fans can get behind, my condensed thoughts on an entire year of WWE Pay-Per-Views (or special events, which is what they're trying to rename the term).

Thanks to the WWE Network, fans can go through an entire year's worth of WWE PPVs from 1985 to now. But not all PPVs can be considered worth remembering or watching on the WWE Network. To begin a look on which shows are worth watching, I thought it would be best to start with 2007. Why? Because it was the year I became a fan of professional wrestling.

2007 was a very important year for the WWE, with superstars like John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Batista, The Undertaker, Edge, Randy Orton, and Bobby Lashley at the forefront of relevance within the company at the time. Soon, wrestlers would return from injury or hiatus like Triple H, Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho, newer stars would break through like CM Punk, M.V.P. and John Morrison, some stars would get a push and fail like Mr. Kennedy and The Great Khali, and ultimately, the year can be best remembered as the year we lost Chris Benoit, one of the absolute greatest wrestlers of all time whose memories are forever tarnished by the tragic events that were revealed following his passing.

Not to mention seeing matches from Hell in a Cell, to the Punjabi Prison, to Ladder Matches, to Triple Threats, to Fatal 4-Ways, and one of the most important Hair vs. Hair matches in history. Needless to say, 2007 carried a LOT of content, both good and bad. So let's take a look at a year that means a lot to me as a wrestling fan, and see what's worth remembering.

In terms of WWE PPVs, this is the year 2007...


1. New Year's Revolution

This is a pretty lousy way for RAW to have their last brand-exclusive PPV. It's not that the matches are bad, or the roster is lacking, but its the lack of historical impact that the PPV offers that makes it difficult to watch.

The tag team war between Degeneration-X and Rated-RKO should be considered one of the most memorable brawls in history, but is more remembered as the match in which Triple H suffered a torn quadriceps injury. The action is spectacular though, and if not for the injury, the conclusion of the match would have felt a bit more triumphant. Due to the injury, I'm not sure if that was the planned finish, and if they had to improvise, big props to all four competitors for being as professional as possible. The battle between John Cena and Umaga had all the makings for a modern day Hogan/Andre feud, but the declining popularity of Cena with the fans left the match lacking that back and forth spark between an underdog babyface and a monster heel. 

Skip It


2. Royal Rumble

There are some booking decisions here that leave you scratching your head, like the poor quality of the ECW Championship match between Bobby Lashley and Test, and the result of the Batista/Mr. Kennedy match for the World Heavyweight Championship, considering how the match was built up. But there are three great matches on the Royal Rumble card for 2007. There is a fun opening tag team match between MNM and The Hardys, and a bloody Last Man Standing match between John Cena and Umaga for the WWE Championship. But then comes the Royal Rumble Match...

With the inclusion of ECW, this was built up as the most star-studded Rumble match in history. While that claim may not be true in the grand scheme of history, it made for an interesting tagline. The most unique storylines throughout the match included the teased tension between Edge and Randy Orton, the beginning of a rivalry between King Booker and Kane, the dominance of The Great Khali, and the epic battle between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker to see which of those two WWE Legends would be going to the main event of WrestleMania. 

Recommended


3. No Way Out

Much like New Year's Revolution, No Way Out doesn't offer much in terms of being one of the last PPVs of the Brand Warfare era. It's harmless, but it lacks the kind of excitement that you would expect on the Road to WrestleMania.There are a handful of solid matches, but in the grand scheme of history, most of what occurs is forgettable...except for the main event.

For the first time, a RAW vs. SmackDown tag team main event with their show's world champion teaming up with their WrestleMania challengers. It was RAW's WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels going against SmackDown's World Heavyweight Champion Batista and The Undertaker. Those four combustible elements alone would provide for an epic main event, but the two teams go the extra mile to provide an excellent main event match, with enough teases to end the night on a high note and properly continue the build towards WrestleMania, but by that point, it was too little too late to save an underwhelming outing from SmackDown's last PPV.

Skip It


4. WrestleMania 23

There's nothing like your first WrestleMania, and that's what this PPV was to me, as well as being the first ever PPV I ever saw and the event that cemented my fandom with professional wrestling. So, YES, this PPV is a big deal to me.

Apart from legendary title matches like John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels and Batista vs. The Undertaker, there is also the Battle of the Billionaires that saw Donald Trump and Mr. McMahon have a match to see which billionaire would be shaved bald, and only one man could enforce the law of special guest referee: STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN!

Add a high impact Money in the Bank Ladder match, a solid U.S. Championship match between Chris Benoit (in his last WrestleMania) and M.V.P., a HUGE stage, with HUGE pyrotechnics, and a HUGE attendance of over 80,000 fans and you have the makings of an epic PPV. Also, major props to the production team for making some amazing promo videos throughout the show. The two at the very beginning still give me chills to this day of perfectly setting up this WrestleMania, along with every WrestleMania that came before it. And a big shout out to Saliva for their song "Ladies and Gentlemen," which is the greatest PPV theme song of all time, in my opinion, that fully encapsulates the kind of event WrestleMania is.

Highly Recommended


5. Backlash

Surprisingly, Backlash does not feel like a "rematch" PPV, but rather offers a handful of rematches and mixing it within fresher concepts that allow many of the rivalries to evolve naturally. Highlights of the PPV include a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Championship featuring John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Edge, and also a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between The Undertaker and Batista.

The only real match that "hurts" Backlash is the 3-on-1 Handicap match for the ECW Championship. Mr. McMahon teams up with Shane McMahon and Umaga, as he seeks revenge on Bobby Lashley for embarrassing him at WrestleMania. ECW purists still regard the result of this match as one of the darkest points in the history of ECW, and certainly the lowest point of the WWE's revival of ECW. Other than that, the PPV is actually really well done, and with only 6 matches on the card, proves that quality surpasses quantity.

Recommended 


Initial Thoughts: There's some really good stuff here that I remember from my first year as a wrestling fan. Already there are certain stars worth following like Cena, Michaels, Batista, Taker, Lashley etc. and seeds that are planted for stars to watch in the coming months like Edge and Orton. While there are a few stinker PPVs, they are early enough into the year to not damage it, especially with better quality PPVs like Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and Backlash. But would the momentum of quality PPVs continue?

Find out in Part II...


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