The night the 30th entrant finally broke the Royal Rumble curse
In short: For years, entering the Royal Rumble last was considered a tactical disadvantage. But at the 2007 event in San Antonio, The Undertaker proved the skeptics wrong. By winning from the final position, he achieved something no previous participant had managed, fundamentally shifting the perceived strategy of the storied match.
The 2007 Royal Rumble, held on January 28 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, marked a significant milestone for World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the 20th annual iteration of the event and the first to feature the ECW brand, which had been relaunched as WWE's third brand in May 2006. This expansion changed the stakes of the signature men's Royal Rumble match; for the first time, the winner could choose to challenge for one of three world championships at WrestleMania 23: the WWE Championship, the SmackDown! World Heavyweight Championship, or the ECW World Championship.
The event's main event saw The Undertaker enter as the 30th participant and ultimately win by last eliminating Raw's Shawn Michaels, who had entered as the 23rd participant. This victory was historically significant, as The Undertaker became the first wrestler to win the match from the #30 spot, a position previously thought to be the most difficult to win from. The match featured talent from all three brands: Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW.
Beyond the main event, the supercard included high-stakes matches across the divisions. In a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship, John Cena successfully defended his title against Umaga. On the SmackDown! brand, Batista retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Mr. Kennedy. Meanwhile, the ECW brand saw Bobby Lashley defeat Test to retain the ECW World Championship. The night's complexity was heightened by the fact that all results were predetermined by WWE writers as part of scripted storylines.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Royal Rumble (2007)
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