12 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2007
'Super' Cena lives up to his name, Hulk Hogan's forgotten WWE return and more.
WWE Raw celebrated 15 years of weekly television in 2007. Honestly, anyone who sat through the dark days of select portions from 1993-1996 and again during parts of 2002 deserved a service medal through the post. Instead, they were greeted with a legendary lineup for the 10 December episode, including one long forgotten comeback moment that didn't lead to a match most surely thought was nailed on.
John Cena was very much the poster boy by this point, and he had tidy matches aplenty with everyone from Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton to even The Great Khali in '07. Unfortunately, 'Big Match John' turned out to be a roadblock for another promising would-be WWE headliner. Running into Cena was the end for someone who'd been tearing it up for the first half of the year.
Meanwhile, the Chris Benoit tragedy overshadowed a lot of what the promotion booked for Raw and SmackDown over the summer, but a massive return by the end of the year for another Canadian helped give the flagship a much-needed boost as attentions turned to what 2008 might look like.
Must-see matches (there's a rare heel vs. heel main event in here that's worth looking out for), Paul Heyman's worst nightmares, big returns and kayfabe deaths that had to be scrapped due to real-life ones - Raw in '07 proved to be another topsy turvy year for the McMahon family.
There were even suggestions that Vince had lost his mind. Some episodes added weight to that idea, let's be honest!
12. A Rare Heel vs. Heel Main Event Ruled
This is exactly the kind of thing weekly episodic TV should be for.
Tension was rife in the midst of Rated-RKO after Edge and Randy Orton failed to become WWE Champion at Backlash. Both had been part of a Fatal-4-Way with John Cena and Shawn Michaels, but neither left with the gold. Cena retained, so Edge and Randy were mad at one another and needed to blow off some steam.
The tag-team partners were pushed against one another on the 30 April Raw, and that proved to be an inspired decision. These guys put on a show. They were brilliant as teammates, but worked tirelessly to put across how much simmering competitive spirit there was between them.
During the match, Orton bled, Edge looked sadistic, and they took their anger out post-Backlash. It was one of the best matches of 2007, certainly on Raw. The pair had been World Champs before forming Rated-RKO, so there was a believable amount of selfishness sitting in between them.
The story was simple: Randy and Edge would beat the living hell out of one another, then refocus on their collective goals. It was a joy to behold as they tried to 'out heel' one another. The commentators put that over too. Oh yes, this definitely solved a post-WrestleMania puzzle for the flagship. Some episodes tend to sag a few weeks after 'Mania, but Edge and Orton made sure that wasn't the case in '07.
Also, if today's workers could lean on Randy to show them how to throw a good working punch that'd be ace.