WWE One Night Stand 2007

Yes, just two weeks after Judgment Day, World Wrestling Entertainment went right on forward with yet another Pay-Per-View, once again featuring superstars from all three WWE shows. And what for the last two years has been an event dedicated to the memory of ECW, has now become a PPV tradition dedicated to “extreme rules.” At the 2007 One Night Stand on Sunday, June 3, superstars from RAW, ECW, and Smackdown! alike took “extreme” to the next level, as the Pay-Per-View also marked the one-year anniversary of ECW’s revival as WWE’s third brand last summer.

The gimmick for this PPV? All matches on the card were contested under “extreme rules,” meaning, regardless of the stipulations, standard, one-fall, singles matches were thrown completely out the window. Sandwiched in-between WWE’s returning NBC tradition, Saturday Night’s Main Event, as well as the upcoming “Draft Lottery” special edition of Monday Night RAW, One Night Stand did exactly what its name entails, and stood out amongst the endless WWE events that we seem to be fed nowadays, as the superstars that participated in the event … took the wrestling, as well as their bodies, to the extreme.

The PPV took place within the confines of the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, and as always, was broadcasted live to a world-wide audience. “Famous” by Puddle of Mudd served as the official theme song for the event/

Stretcher Match: Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam (RAW, ECW)
Last month at Judgment Day, Randy Orton, after having attacked Shawn Michaels prior to their match, completely destroyed the Heart Break Kid physically as well as mentally in a match that should never have happened, culminating in the possible end of Michael’s professional career. Rob Van Dam, disgusted at Orton’s actions, tried to put the cocky RAW superstar in his place, but instead the ECW extremist was left on the receiving end of a major concussion. Coming into their Stretcher Match at ONS, RVD was far from 100%, and Orton capitalized on Van Dam’s woozy state, targeting his head and knocking RVD out even more senseless than when he came in. The match ended, however, with RVD somehow pulling off the win by knocking the Legend Killer onto the stretcher and pushing him past the finish line. In a fit of rage after having lost, Orton attacked RVD from behind, gave the extreme superstar a sickening punt kick to the head, and then finished him off with a DDT off the barricade, slamming his head and neck straight into the concrete floor. After medics and trainers rushed to give RVD aide, the winner of the match, ironically, was the one who ended up being carried out on a stretcher.
My Match Rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Tables Match: CM Punk, Tommy Dreamer, and The Sandman vs. The New Breed (ECW)
The war between the ECW Originals and the New Breed raged on with a couple of major changes … for one thing, the New Breed has since lost a member in the vampire Kevin Thorn, and CM Punk, who less than two months prior had sworn his allegiance to the New Breed, now fought against them on the opposing side. Hoping to crush both of the Originals as well as the traitorous Punk, Elijah Burke, leading Matt Striker and “The Alpha Male” Marcus Cor Von, hoped to gain the victory in a match that saw superstars using tables as well as other foreign objects as brutal weapons of pain and destruction. In the end, however, it was CM Punk who gained the victory for his team, as he superplexed Matt Striker off of the top turnbuckle onto a table already carrying Elijah Burke, being held in place by Dreamer, as both Striker and Burke were sent crashing through the table, ending the match in favor of Punk and the ECW Originals.
My Match Rating:
4 out of 5 stars

Ladder Match for the World Tag Team Championship: The Hardys vs. The World’s Greatest Tag Team (RAW, Smackdown!)
Matt and Jeff Hardy successfully defended their World Tag Team Titles in a match that will undeniably go down in history as one of the finest, if not the greatest, ladder matches in wrestling history. And if you know what WWE ladder matches are like, you know that’s saying a whole lot. Although the Hardy Boys are no strangers to ladders, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas proved their worth as well, as all four competitors utilized the six, 20-ft, steel ladders that were introduced into the match, ramming them into their opponents heads and bodies, throwing their opponents onto as well as into the placed ladders, and of course climbing straight up to the tops of the ladders and flying off into the unsuspecting bodies below. The match of the night saw superstars being brutally flung off ladders, pushed off from the very top, painfully sandwiched in-between two ladders, jumping from one ladder to another, and so much more that absolutely no one in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena was standing by the end of the match, when the Hardy Boys somehow managed to pull off the win by grabbing the tag team title belts suspended in the middle of the ring. After the match, all four competitors required severe doses of painkillers, and by God did they deserve it.
My Match Rating:
6 out of 5 stars (Match of the Night)

Lumberjack Match: Kane vs. Mark Henry (Smackdown!)
LUMBERJACKS (in order of entrance): Chris Benoit, Val Venis, Santino Marella, Balls Mahoney, Stevie Richards, The Miz, Kevin Thorn, Chris Masters, Johnny Nitro, Chavo Guerrero, Kenny Dykstra, and Carlito. From the superstars of all three brands who did not compete at ONS, 12 individuals were selected to serve as lumberjacks for this match of pure power and muscle between the “World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry and the “Big Red Machine” Kane. The 400-lb silverback of a man was able to keep the demon of brimstone and hellfire at bay using brute force alone, crushing Kane with a massively powerful and constricting bear hug, and eventually squeezing the life out of the Big Red Machine to win the match. At ONS Mark Henry took the life out of the demon Kane, just as he did weeks prior in his return to Smackdown! when he cost Kane’s brother the Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship.
My Match Rating:
2.5 out of 5 stars

Street Fight for the ECW Championship: Mr. McMahon (with Shane McMahon and Umaga) vs. Bobby Lashley (ECW, RAW)
The on-going feud between the Chairman of WWE, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and the former ECW Champion Bobby Lashley, which had started several months ago thanks to the involvement of Donald Trump prior to WrestleMania 23, finally came to an end at ONS. Five weeks prior, at Backlash, Mr. McMahon defeated Lashley in a controversial win to become the new ECW Champion, and although Lashley was unsuccessful at Judgment Day, he finally overcame McMahon’s political advantage by surviving the onslaught of Mr. McMahon, Shane McMahon, and the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga. Even a Coast-to-Coast from Shane following his patented “flying without wings” leap wasn’t enough to keep the resilient Lashley down, who returns to the Land of Extreme as champion once again.
My Match Rating:
3 out of 5 stars

Divas Pudding Match: Melina vs. Candice Michelle (RAW)
It had been years since WWE held a Pudding Match, but the infamous bout made a return at ONS, as Candice Michelle took on the Women’s Champion Melina in a non-title match that saw both Divas throw down in a 1000-gallon tub of chocolate pudding wearing extremely revealing bikinis. Melina, who had recently chosen Candice as her latest target of jealousy, once again got what was coming to her. After quite a bit of rolling around and getting “good and covered” in chocolate pudding, Candice picked up the win over Melina and proved herself worthy of competing for the Women’s Title. Maria joined in afterwards for a roll-around in the tub.
My Match Rating:
2 out of 5 stars

Steel Cage Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Batista (Smackdown!)
In what turned out to be the second greatest match of the night, the Rated R Superstar Edge faced the Animal Batista, hungry for his world title, in a 15-foot high steel cage, for a fight that saw the brutalizing of both superstars. In the rematch for the WHC, both superstars utilized the unforgiving steel as a weapon, as Edge took opportunities to spear Batista right into the wall of the cage, and Batista took great pleasure in slinging Edge’s body into the steel, cracking him open. In the end, however, it was the calculating Edge, claiming that he was not intimidated by the Animal, who outsmarted Batista, low-blowing him not once, but twice, which was followed by the Animal falling groin-first into the ring ropes. Ouch. Edge, like a snake, quickly scaled the wall of the cage and reached the top, just as Batista tried to crawl towards the cage door. As Edge began to climb out of the cage on the other side, Batista continued to crawl towards the opening. And although the Animal came incredibly close to exiting the cage and reclaiming his World Heavyweight Championship, it was Edge’s feet that touched first, allowing him to once again retain his stolen championship.
My Match Rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars

Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. The Great Khali (RAW)Yes, indeed this Pay-Per-View ended in the exact same way that the past three PPVs have all ended – with the WWE Champion John Cena retaining his title. People who saw this coming are not psychic or gifted with premonitions – they’re simply not morons. At Judgment Day last month, John Cena retained the WWE Championship against the Great Khali in a somewhat controversial submission, as Khali’s feet, which had been touching the ropes, went unnoticed by the referee, resulting in his tap-out to the STFU. At ONS, Cena silenced all doubters once again when he went toe-to-toe with the near-8-ft giant in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, one that took both superstars to the top of a construction crane near the entryway. It was at this moment that Cena decided to defy the laws of physics, as he put the giant monster on his shoulders and slammed him down in an F-U from the top of the crane 12 feet down to the concrete floor below. Cena proceeded to cover the Great Khali for the win and once again continued his ceaseless reign as the WWE Champion. That’s right, because amazingly enough, at the end of One Night Stand, even after defending his title at countless WWE shows, events, and Pay-Per-Views, the champ John Cena … “was still here.”
My Match Rating:
3 out of 5 stars