2007 in professional wrestling explained
2007 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling championship.
List of notable promotions
These promotions held notable events in 2007.
Calendar of notable shows
January
February
March
April
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1 | WWE
| WrestleMania 23 | Detroit, Michigan | John Cena (c) defeated Shawn Michaels by submission in a Singles match to retain the WWE Championship |
13 | CMLL | 50. Aniversario de Arena México | Mexico City, Mexico | Místico and Negro Casas (c) defeated Los Perros del Mal (Mr. Águila and Perro Aguayo Jr.) in a Best two-out-of-three falls tag team match for the CMLL World Tag Team Championship |
15 | TNA | Lockdown | | Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Rhyno, Sting and Jeff Jarrett) defeated Team Cage (Christian Cage, A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Abyss and Tomko) (with James Mitchell) with Harley Race as the gatekeeper in Lethal Lockdown match |
27 | PMG | Clash of Legends | Memphis, Tennessee | Hulk Hogan defeated Paul Wight |
29 | WWE
| Backlash | Atlanta, Georgia | John Cena (c) defeated Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton in Fatal 4-way match to retain the WWE Championship |
(c) – denotes defending champion(s) | |
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May
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11 | CMLL | International Gran Prix | Mexico City, Mexico | Último Guerrero defeated Alex Koslov, Atlantis, Dos Caras Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., El Sagrado, Hirooki Goto, Jushin Thunder Liger, Lizmark Jr., Marco Corleone, Minoru Suzuki, Okumura, Olímpico, Pierroth, Rey Bucanero, and Último Dragón in a Gran Prix Torneo Cibernetico 16 Man Elimination Match | |
12 | ROH | Respect is Earned | New York City | Takeshi Morishima and Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness and Kenta in a Tag team match | First ROH PPV |
13 | TNA | Sacrifice | | Kurt Angle defeated Sting and Christian Cage Three-Way match to crown the first TNA World Heavyweight Champion | First introduced TNA World Heavyweight Champion, new World title, replaced after National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Executive Director Robert Trobich stripped Christian Cage of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and ended NWA's business relations with TNA earlier that day |
20 | WWE
| Judgment Day | St. Louis, Missouri | John Cena (c) defeated The Great Khali by submission in a Singles match to retain the WWE Championship | |
(c) – denotes defending champion(s) | |
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June
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3 | WWE
| One Night Stand | Jacksonville, Florida | John Cena (c) defeated The Great Khali in the Falls Count Anywhere match to retain the WWE Championship | Last appearance of Rob Van Dam (until 2013) and Chris Benoit's final PPV appearance in WWE |
17 | TNA | Slammiversary | | Kurt Angle defeated Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, Christian Cage, and Chris Harris in the King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship | |
23 | ROH | Driven | | Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness in a Singles match | |
24 | WWE
| | Houston, Texas | John Cena (c) defeated Bobby Lashley, King Booker (with Queen Sharmell), Mick Foley and Randy Orton in Five-Pack Challenge to retain the WWE Championship | This event was notable for being on the weekend of the Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide case. Benoit, who was originally booked to face CM Punk for the vacant ECW World Championship, legitimately no-showed and he was replaced by Johnny Nitro |
29 | IGF | Fighting Now Bom-Ba-Ye | Tokyo, Japan | Kurt Angle defeated Brock Lesnar (c) via submission to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (IGF) | Brock Lesnar defeated Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono in a Three Way match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. New Japan Pro-Wrestling stripped Lesnar of the title on July 15, 2006. IGF considered his reign still active and created the IGF version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. |
(c) – denotes defending champion(s) | |
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July
August
September
October
November
December
Notable incidents
Accomplishments and tournaments
AAA
AAA Hall of Fame
See main article: AAA Hall of Fame.
TNA
Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
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Paparazzi Championship Series | Alex Shelley | January 14 | |
Fight for the Right Tournament | Eric Young | November 11 | |
Turkey Bowl | Samoa Joe | November 13 | | |
TNA Year End Awards
See main article: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Year End Awards.
WWE
Accomplishment | Winner | Date won | Notes |
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Royal Rumble | The Undertaker | January 28 | Winner received their choice of a championship match for either Raw's WWE Championship, SmackDown's World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW World Championship at WrestleMania 23; Undertaker last eliminated Shawn Michaels to win and chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, which he subsequently won from Batista. |
Money in the Bank ladder match | Mr. Kennedy | April 1 | Defeated CM Punk, Edge, Finlay, Jeff Hardy, King Booker, Matt Hardy, and Randy Orton to win a world championship match contract. Mr. Kennedy, however, suffered a legit injury, and on the May 7 episode of Raw, he lost the Money in the Bank contract to Raw member Edge, who subsequently cashed in the contract and won SmackDown's World Heavyweight Championship from The Undertaker on the May 11 episode of SmackDown. Edge was in turn transferred to SmackDown. |
ECW World Championship Tournament | Johnny Nitro | June 24 | Nitro, who replaced Chris Benoit, defeated CM Punk in the tournament final to win the vacant ECW World Championship; previous champion Bobby Lashley was stripped of the title when he was drafted to Raw. |
Championship Competition Tournament | Rey Mysterio | September 16 | Defeated Finlay in the tournament final to win a World Heavyweight Championship match at Unforgiven, but was unsuccessful in winning the title. | |
WWE Hall of Fame
See main article: WWE Hall of Fame.
Awards and honors
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
See main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
See main article: Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
See main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.
Title changes
AAA
NJPW
|
Incoming champions – Wild Child |
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March 11 | RISE
| New Japan Pro Wrestling 35th Anniversary Tour Circuit 2007 New Japan Evolution: New Japan Cup 2007 | |
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Incoming champion – Minoru |
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July 6 | Ryusuke Taguchi | New Japan Soul C.T.U Farewell Tour | |
December 8 | Wataru Inoue | New Japan Alive | |
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Incoming champions – Gedo and Jado |
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May 2 | Dick Togo and Taka Michinoku | New Japan Pro Wrestling 35th Anniversary Tour Brave New World: Hall2Days | |
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ROH
TNA
WWE
– Raw
– SmackDown
- ECW
Raw and SmackDown each had a world championship, a secondary championship, and a tag team championship for male wrestlers. ECW only had a world championship. SmackDown also had a title for their cruiserweight wrestlers. There was only one women's championship and it was exclusive to Raw.
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October 2 | Vacated | ECW | Vacated when John Cena suffered a torn right pectoral tendon |
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October 7 | Randy Orton | No Mercy | Orton was originally scheduled to have a Last Man Standing match against John Cena for the title, but due to Cena vacating the title, Vince McMahon awarded it to Orton |
Triple H | Defeated Randy Orton in the opening match after Vince McMahon accepted Triple H's open challenge on Orton's behalf |
Randy Orton | Due to promising the match type, Vince McMahon made Triple H defend the title against Orton in a Last Man Standing match |
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February 18 | Chavo Guerrero Jr. | No Way Out | Eight-man Cruiserweight Open, also involving Daivari, Shannon Moore, Funaki, Jamie Noble, Jimmy Wang Yang, and Scotty 2 Hotty |
July 22 | Hornswoggle | The Great American Bash | Six-man Cruiserweight Open, also involving Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore, Funaki, and Jamie Noble |
September 25
| Retired | SmackDown! | Vacated by SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero, citing that Hornswoggle's status as Mr. McMahon's son and his diminutive stature would eventually jeopardize his well-being. The title was retired without an official announcement. |
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Births
Debuts
Retirements
- Robbie Rage (1995–2007[2])
- Rebecca DiPietro (October 17, 2006 – March 22, 2007)
- Chris Kanyon (April 5, 1992 – April 5, 2007) (First retirement, returned to wrestling in 2009)
- King Kong Bundy (1981-May 12, 2007)
- Trinity (2002 – June 22, 2007)
- Dusty Rhodes (1967–July 22,2007) (Returned for a match in 2010)
- Monty Brown (2000 – September 19, 2007)
- Maven Huffman (2001 – October 5, 2007) (first retirement, returned in 2015 until retiring in 2016)
- Mr. Wrestling II (1955 – October 13, 2007)
- Bob Backlund (1973–December 10, 2007) (First retirement, returned to wrestling in 2009 and wrestled his last match in 2018)
Deaths
- January 4 – Cowboy Lang, 56[3]
- January 6 – Yvon Durelle, 77
- January 9 – Cocoa Samoa, 61[4]
- January 19 – Bam Bam Bigelow, 45[5]
- February 17 – Mike Awesome, 42[6]
- March 6
- March 8 – Black Shadow, 85[9]
- March 10 – Ernie Ladd, 68[10] [11]
- March 13 – Arnold Skaaland, 82[12]
- March 18 – Ángel Azteca, 43[13] [14] [15]
- March 28 – Abe Coleman, 101[7] [16]
- May 7 – Sonny Myers, 83[17]
- June 2 – Sandy Barr, 69[18]
- June 15 – Sherri Martel, 49[19]
- June 22
- June 24 – Chris Benoit, 40[20] [21]
- July 15 – Devil Bhudakhan, 32
- July 18 – John Kronus, 38
- July 23 – Tor Kamata, 70
- July 23 – Ronnie P. Gossett, 63
- July 28 – Karl Gotch, 82
- August 11 – Bronko Lubich, 81
- August 13 – Crush, 43
- August 16 – Dewey Robertson, 68
- August 29 – Iron Mike Steele, 52
- August 31 – Karloff Lagarde, 79
- September 7 – Billy Darnell, 81
- September 10 – Enrique Torres, 85
- October 2 – Sean Evans (wrestler), 36
- November 2 – The Fabulous Moolah, 84[23]
- November 25 – Angel of Death, 54[24]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Caldwell's Impact report 5/17: Angle - Rhino, Daniels - Raven, blood, Gore, and Stomper. Caldwell. James. 2007-05-18. Pro Wrestling Torch. 2011-02-04. The fans chanted for Christian and Angle said he is the new TNA champion..
- Web site: Cagematch match listings.
- Web site: Biography for Cowboy Lang. imdb. 2012-01-03.
- Web site: Obituaries. Star Bulletin. 2009-06-16.
- Web site: St. John Vianney wrestler Colton Bigelow shaped by childhood filled with tragedy.
- Web site: nWo Stands For No Way Out.
- Web site: Bad News Allen dies suddenly. Oliver, Greg. Quebecor Media. Canoe.ca. May 1, 2016.
- https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2007/03/06/ray-thunder-stern-dead-at-74/ slam.canoe.ca
- Web site: Hall of Famer Shadow passes away. March 9, 2007. Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
- Web site: "The Big Cat" was seldom tamed . Johnson, Stephen . Oliver, Greg. March 11, 2007. June 16, 2012. Canadian Online Explorer.
- Web site: Ernie Ladd, hall of fame football player and wrestler, has died. 2007-03-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070927003311/http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770311008 . 2007-09-27.
- Web site: Arnold Skaaland passes away. 2007-12-23. WWE. https://web.archive.org/web/20071231210634/http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/archive/skaalandpasses. 31 December 2007 . live.
- Web site: Reportan súbita muerte del luchador Angel Azteca en Campeche . March 19, 2007 . August 11, 2009 . Mundo Hispano de KSL . es.
- Web site: Fallece el luchador lagunero Ángel Azteca . March 20, 2007 . August 11, 2009 . . es.
- Web site: Fallece Angel Azteca tras función de lucha libre . Chim, Lorenzo . March 20, 2007 . August 11, 2009 . La Jornada . es.
- News: Oldest pro wrestler passes away today. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 2007-03-28. 2007-12-10.
- Web site: Sonny Myers Dead at 83. Oliver. Greg. SLAM! Wrestling. 2008-05-05.
- Web site: Josh Barr keeps St. Johns bouts going after dad's death.. 2007-06-04. 2007-10-02. Portland Tribune. https://web.archive.org/web/20071009003846/http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=119126107612443400. 2007-10-09. dead.
- Web site: Sherri Martel autopsy results reveal drugs. https://archive.today/20120731002952/http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/09/11/4487321.html. usurped. July 31, 2012. September 11, 2007. 2010-02-08. SLAM! Wrestling.
- Web site: Looking back on the career of "Woman". Chris Schramm. Québecor Média. Canoe.ca. January 17, 2015. June 25, 2007.
- Web site: Cal Massey and Jeff Wilen. Slain wife of wrestler a Deland High School graduate. Daytona Beach News Journal Online. June 27, 2007. June 27, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070630001752/http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newWEST01062707.htm . June 30, 2007.
- Web site: Biff Wellington dead at 44. Oliver, Greg. June 24, 2007. SLAM! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer. December 21, 2009.
- News: Fabulous Moolah passes away . https://web.archive.org/web/20071104183155/http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/fabulousmoolahpasses . November 4, 2007 . April 22, 2017 . November 3, 2007 . . dead .
- Web site: SLAM! Wrestling: Dave Sheldon, wrestling's "Angel of Death" dies . 2007-11-27 . SLAM! Sports .