WWE Royal Rumble Look Back: 10-year anniversary of The Undertaker's historic 2007 win
Let’s go back in time and take a look back at the historic win by The Undertaker in the 2007 Royal Rumble.
After more than 15 years in WWE, it’s hard to believe that The Undertaker, one of the biggest stars in company history, had never won a Royal Rumble match. But that all changed on January 28, 2007 as The Deadman made history at the 2007 Royal Rumble.
While the finish to this match is certainly the highlight of the night –well, outside of the underrated Last Man Standing Match between John Cena and Umaga that preceded the main event– this entire Rumble match was actually pretty entertaining from the start. Ric Flair and Finlay were out first, which is an odd pairing but it worked well, and 20-year-old Kenny Dykstra was out third. He and Flair had battled for a little while leading up to this match so we got some storyline stuff pretty quickly. And speaking of storylines, Matt Hardy and Edge, who had just finished their feud stemming from the whole Lita incident, were the next two out and I’ve always got to tip my cap to Hardy for going through with that whole thing in the first place. And he got to throw in a Twist of Fate to Edge here so I’m sure that was nice for him.
A couple of ECW guys, Tommy Dreamer and Sabu, are out next and Sabu set up a table outside of the ring and you just knew that he was going to be the one to go through it and that’s exactly what happened. Kane came out at number 10 and does what Kane used to do in Royal Rumble matches and that’s dominate. He chucked Dreamer and then chokeslammed Sabu right through his own table. Yep, that’s about right. Kane wouldn’t last as long as he usually does and was eventually thrown out by King Booker, who was actually eliminated by Kane but reentered the match to get some revenge. Booker also got to throw out an ECW legend by tossing Sandman, who spent more time getting to the ring and drinking beer than in the actual match, which was about all of 15 seconds.
Randy Orton started the second half of entrants at number 16 and he and Rated RKO partner Edge proceed to toss out Super Crazy and the Hardys as Edge took care of Jeff and Orton took care of Matt. At least Matt didn’t have to get chucked by Edge, am I right?
The action halted a little bit over the next few minutes but was still somewhat entertaining with guys like Chris Benoit, Rob Van Dam and Johnny Nitro entering the mix. But you also had to deal with Viscera and Kevin Thorn — and Thorn didn’t even have Ariel with him so there was really no reason for him to be there. But business picked up at number 23 when Shawn Michaels hit the ring. And while the next six entrants weren’t anything special, outside of maybe The Great Khali getting rid of some of the bodies in the ring including CM Punk, who had a really good showing on this night, going almost half an hour from the number 11 spot. But this night was always meant to belong to the number 30 entrant, The Undertaker.
After a brief exchange, ‘Taker takes out Khali and then MVP, who just didn’t look right next to the men that were left in the ring, a final four of The Undertaker, Randy Orton, Edge and Shawn Michaels. Wow.
‘Taker nearly eliminates Edge, who stayed in by clinging to the top rope, but turns around and eats a chair shot to the head from Orton, who turns around himself to a lunging Edge that’s looking to take out his partner. But Orton stops him, and as the two argue, Orton delivers one of my favorite RKO’s of all time as HBK began to stumble towards him after some time on the mat. Michaels just looks like a nuisance to Randy and it’s so nonchalant that it’s perfect. Shawn just rolls to the floor and Orton just goes about his conversation with Edge. The two decide to work together and double team The Deadman for a little while. ‘Taker does get some offense in but ends up catching a spear from Edge and another chair shot. What’s nice is that they battle just long enough for you to forget that Michaels is just laying on the floor, who climbs back in, throws Orton out and then hits some Sweet Chin Music on Edge, which sends him over the top rope and we’re now left with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker to decide the Royal Rumble. Awesome.
The rivalry between these two went back more than a decade but following Shawn’s return in 2002, these two just really never crossed paths, which is why this was so special. It had been so long since these two icons had battled that you just knew you were in for a treat. I remember watching this live and marking out like crazy when Edge went out because these two always put on a good show in the ’90s and they were great on this night as well. The two battled for a good ten minutes, which is pretty rare for a Royal Rumble ending, but every single second was worth it. Undertaker blocking Sweet Chin Music and turning it into a chokeslam was awesome and the height on that was crazy but that’s Shawn for you. And then Michaels reversed a Tombstone and finally got his big kick in and you really thought that Shawn was going to become a three-time winner but he went to the well one too many times and tried it again but ‘Taker caught him and threw him over the top rope for the win, making history by becoming the first person to win from the number 30 spot. Absolutely epic finish to a solid Royal Rumble match.
The two legends would stare at each other for a few minutes, which actually was a nice touch and would obviously go on to have two unforgettable matches at WrestleMania a few years later. Michaels would still end up in a title match at WrestleMania 23 after beating Orton and Edge in a Triple Threat match for the right to face John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Cena would win.
As for The Undertaker, he would wind up challenging and beating Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 23.
Check back in with FanSided all weekend and follow along with our up-to-date coverage of NXT TakeOver: San Antonio and the 2017 WWE Royal Rumble.
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