Tuesday, May 28, 2019

WWE One Night Stand 2007 Review

 WWE One Night Stand 2007
June 3, 2007
Jacksonville, Florida

A PPV I convinced my parents to order ten years ago before I graduated the 8th grade, One Night Stand! Hard to believe it's been ten years since this event as Bobby Lashley looks to reclaim his ECW Championship against Vince McMahon while John Cena takes on The Great Khali in the main event for the WWE Championship!

Match 1: Stretcher Match - Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam was on his way out of the company at this point as Randy Orton was on the rise to become the company's top heel. Circumstances like this sometimes creates great stories as RVD's health was in jeopardy because of The Legend Killer. Nobody sells injuries better than RVD and with Orton on a head-hunting terror, this made for great stuff. Of course, they built the match around the injury and the commentators did a great job of begging the question if RVD should even be competing. One of the sickest spots of the match saw RVD miss a dive from the outside of the ring and smack his right leg on the stretcher while his back completely smacked the floor. Orton looked to have the match won until a kick to the head by RVD allowed him to push Orton on the stretcher past the line to win. Afterwards, Orton viciously attacks RVD with a punt to the head on a DDT on the floor. Loved the swerve finish despite these matches being a bit ridiculous at times. Like... why couldn't Orton just push the damn stretcher past the line? Why was it so hard for him? Regardless, solid opening match and a nice way to write RVD off with Orton looking like an absolute monster. 
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Tables Match - The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & CM Punk vs. The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Matt Striker & Marcus Cor Von)
If you've never seen the Extreme Rules match between The ECW Originals against The New Breed on the ECW after WrestleMania 23, do yourselves a favor and check it out. That match is one of my favorites from the show's run and one that doesn't get the love it deserves. I just had to mention that. This match was pretty odd, it's a Tables Match that started with teams tagging each other in before it spiraled into everybody running around and beating each other up until rules just got thrown out the window. Pretty quick and fun match that ended with CM Punk superplexing Matt Striker through a table that had Elijah Burke laying prone on.
Winners: The Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & CM Punk
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Ladder Match - The Hardys (c) vs. World's Greatest Tag Team
We really don't give enough credit to Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. For that matter, we don't give Shelton Benjamin enough credit, either. All four guys in this match beat the living crap out of each other with some nasty spots that for whatever reason, have gotten completely overlooked over the years. Of course, whenever you get The Hardys in a Ladder Match, good things happen and that was certainly the case here. Dives everywhere and Benjamin getting tossed around the ring and going through ladders was something else. But the match itself really suffered from a fairly dull first half before finally picking up despite some sluggish spots. Loved the ending with Jeff hitting a Swanton Bomb while his partner in Matt retrieved the belts to secure the win. Great Ladder Match that probably underachieved just a tad bit considering the talent in the ring. I mean that in the most respectful manner possible. Either way, check this match out! It has unfortunately become so forgotten.
Winners: The Hardys
Rating: ***3/4

Match 4: Lumberjack Match - Mark Henry vs. Kane
Interesting to see Chris Benoit make his way to the ring as a lumberjack for this match as it would later become his final PPV appearance before his death. With that being put aside, this was a surprisingly solid match from the two that I enjoyed way more than I should. I know not everyone loves to watch two big guys fight each other but with two veterans in the ring like these guys, they certainly used it to their advantage and made every strike and every move count. Mark Henry was in control of the match for the most part with Kane getting in his offense at the right times. However, Henry is able to clench Kane in a bear hug and puts him unconscious for the referee to call for the bell. Interesting finish and I dug it, they're trying to consistently build Henry as a monster and that ending was a fine way to do it. Even if it was at the expense of Kane who would later challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship in the summer.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **3/4

Match 5: ECW World Championship - Street Fight - Mr. McMahon (c) vs. Bobby Lashley
Unpopular opinion: I loved this feud back in the day and I get some serious nostalgia from watching this again here in 2019. Of course, the ECW World Champion in Vincent Kennedy McMahon had both Umaga and Shane McMahon by his side for this one. Loved the start of the match with Bobby Lashley leaping over the top rope in the beginning of the match and diving onto Umaga by barely hitting him with his foot. As you could imagine, they used all the smoke and mirrors here for this one... and it worked. Nicely built match here for Lashley to "overcome the odds" with him taking both Shane and Umaga out of the equation before they finally got back into it and demolished Lashley including an elbow drop from the top rope through the announcers table. However, Lashley was able to escape a Coast to Coast attempt from Shane that resulted in Umaga getting his face smashed in with a trash can. A Spear to both Shane and Vince led to Lashley reclaiming the ECW World Championship. I probably enjoyed this match more than most people and that's fine. Never did and never will understand the hate Lashley was getting from the internet, the dude worked his tail to the bone and this match is a prime example.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Rating: ***1/4

Match 6: Pudding Match - Candice Michelle vs. Melina
How far have we come with women in the WWE? Look no further than right here as Candice Michelle takes on the Divas Champion in Melina... in a Pudding Match. This was as bad as you could imagine. Candice submits Melina to score the win as Maria attacks Melina in the pudding bowl afterwards along with tossing in the referee. Yikes.
Winner: Candice Michelle
Rating: n/a

Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Steel Cage Match - Edge (c) vs. Batista
Funny story, I actually reviewed this match as part of my Batista - I Walk Alone DVD (Disc 3) Review but since that was so long ago, another viewing was needed. Looking back, I'm really not so sure why I gave this match a low score back in the day. This was certainly a joy to watch and the two told a fantastic story throughout the match with Edge trying to sneak his way out of fighting the bigger and stronger Batista. Edge was great in basically playing the role of a mouse that a cat couldn't catch and instead of trying to win the match, he was just focused on not losing. By that, I mean using every opportunity in the books to try and escape the cage. And once Edge got in his offense, he gave Batista a run for his money and made Batista earn his win if he was going to get it. Loved the finish here with an exhausted Batista trying to crawl through the cage door as Edge was on the opposite end of the cage as he tried to climb his way out. Edge narrowly beats Batista out and escapes with his World Heavyweight Championship before he runs out of the arena as Batista was on his tail. Solid finish to the match and loved seeing Batista look so frustrated after the match. Storytelling at its finest.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***3/4

Match 8: WWE Championship - Falls Count Anywhere Match - John Cena (c) vs. The Great Khali
After John Cena became the first person to ever submit The Great Khali weeks prior at Judgment Day, he must become the first person to pin him here in order to retain his WWE Championship. Leave it to John Cena to bring the best out of Khali and deliver a great match out of him here. Like the ECW World Championship match earlier, they had to use the smoke and mirrors to get the most out of the situation and thankfully, they delivered. Being so limited, Khali must be rely on his opponents to make the match worthy of a viewing and Cena was great in his role and making Khali look like an unstoppable giant throughout. They brought the fight outside the ring with Cena doing everything in his power to stop Khali including hitting him with the camera boom before hitting an FU to Khali off the top of the stage for the win. Take it for what it was considering how limited Khali can be, but it was certainly a passable main event match and a solid way to close out the night and send the fans home happy.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: **1/2

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This may be me being completely bias of the show since it brings me back great memories of my childhood, but I enjoyed this show aside from the Divas match. I was certainly entertained throughout the show and the matches all served their purposes nicely and nothing felt out of place on the card.
Rating: 8/10

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