Royal Rumble 2007 Royal Rumble 2007 was the twentieth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on January 28 , 2007 at the AT & T Center in San Antonio , Texas . This marked the first time that the new ECW brand participated in the Royal Rumble match . The winner of the Royal Rumble won a championship match for his choice of either the WWE Championship , the World Heavyweight Championship , or the ECW World Championship at WrestleMania 23 . Unlike previous years , there was an uneven distribution of participants in the Royal Rumble match between the brands ( with thirteen from Raw , ten from SmackDown ! , and seven from ECW ) . The main event was the annual 30 - man Royal Rumble match , which featured participants from all three brands . The Undertaker , the thirtieth entrant , won the match by last eliminating Shawn Michaels , the twenty - third entrant . The primary match on the Raw brand was a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship between John Cena and Umaga . Cena won the match and retained the title after Umaga was unable to get to his feet before the referee counted to ten . The predominant match on the SmackDown ! brand was Batista versus Mr . Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship , which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb . The featured match on the ECW brand was between Bobby Lashley and Test for the ECW Championship , which Lashley won after Test was counted out . Background . Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre - existing scripted feuds , plots , and storylines that were played out on " Raw " , " SmackDown ! " , and " ECW " – World Wrestling Entertainment ' s ( WWE ) primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension , and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches . The event featured wrestlers from WWE ' s Raw , SmackDown , and ECW brands – a storyline division in which WWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name . The main feud heading into the Royal Rumble on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Umaga , with the two feuding over the WWE Championship . At the previous pay - per - view event , New Year ' s Revolution , Cena defeated Umaga to end his undefeated streak and retain the WWE Championship . The night after on " Raw " , Armando Alejandro Estrada , Umaga ' s manager , asked for a rematch , which Cena agreed to . Later that night , during a match between Cena and The Great Khali , Umaga interfered and attacked Cena . The following week , the official contract signing for their rematch at the Royal Rumble took place . After it was announced that Estrada could choose the match type , Estrada chose the match to be a Last Man Standing match . Cena signed the contract and proceeded to attack both Umaga and Estrada . On the January 22 episode of " Raw " , after Cena was eliminated from a Battle Royal , Umaga attacked Cena , and injured his spleen , which was portrayed as real as part of their storyline . The predominant feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between Batista and Mr . Kennedy , with the two battling over the World Heavyweight Championship . On the January 5 episode of " SmackDown ! " a Beat the Clock Sprint began . Wrestlers competed in single matches , and the wrestler to win a match in the shortest amount of time would then become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble . Mr . Kennedy , who defeated Chris Benoit in nearly five minutes , had the shortest time at the end of the show . The following week , the Sprint continued . In the final match , between The Undertaker and The Miz , Kennedy interfered by pulling The Miz out of the ring . After performing the Tombstone piledriver on The Miz , The Undertaker went for the pin attempt . Time , however , ran out and Kennedy became the winner of the Sprint . The following week after on " SmackDown ! " , The Undertaker was put in a match with Kennedy , where if he won , he would be added to the title match at the Royal Rumble . During the match , after Kennedy attacked Batista , who was at ringside . Batista retaliated against Kennedy , causing The Undertaker to get disqualified . Thus , the match at the Royal Rumble remained a singles match between Batista and Kennedy . The main feud on the ECW brand was between Bobby Lashley and Test , with the two feuding over the ECW Championship . Rob Van Dam won an online poll against Test and Sabu to earn a title shot on the January 2 episode of " ECW " , which ended in no - contest . Van Dam was given another title match the next week . Test interfered in the match , and attacked both men . A Triple Threat match for the title occurred on the January 16 episode of " ECW " between Lashley , Van Dam , and Test . Lashley won , but was beaten down afterwards by Test . A title match between Lashley and Test was then made for the Royal Rumble . A week after that match was made , on the January 23 episode of " ECW " , Lashley defeated Test in another title match . Event . Before the event went live on pay - per - view , JTG defeated Lance Cade in a dark match . Preliminary matches . The first match that aired was a tag team match between The Hardys ( Matt and Jeff ) and MNM ( Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro ) . The match went back and forth until MNM took control by attacking Matt ' s injured jaw repeatedly . The Hardys gained the advantage briefly , but lost it when Nitro countered an aerial attack by Jeff . Jeff finally tagged Matt , who beat down both Mercury and Nitro . The finish came when Matt hit the Twist of Fate , and Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb on Nitro . Jeff then pinned Nitro for the victory . The second match was between ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley and Test for the ECW World Championship . Test used several illegal moves , and took control after driving Lashley ' s shoulder into the ringpost . He continued to attack the shoulder until Lashley fought back with several powerful moves . Test rolled out of the ring , and allowed himself to be counted out . Lashley won , and retained his title . He came after Test , however , brought him back into the ring , and continued to beat him down . Main event matches . The third match was between World Heavyweight Champion Batista and Mr . Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship . Batista gained an early advantage by overpowering Kennedy until Kennedy injured Batista ' s knee by using the steel steps . Kennedy continued to attack Batista ' s knees , and applied various submission holds that target the knee . Batista fought back , still favoring the knee , until Kennedy pushed Batista into the referee , and hit a low blow . Kennedy had a clear advantage and had Batista pinned for over a three - count , but the match went on due the referee being knocked out . Batista eventually rose and hit a clothesline , and a Batista Bomb for the pinfall to retain the title as the referee had since woken up . The fourth match was the Last Man Standing match between John Cena and Umaga for the WWE Championship . Umaga dominated Cena , gaining the advantage by using powerful moves , and attacking Cena ' s bandaged ribs . Cena tried to fight back using the steel steps , but Umaga quickly recovered , and continued the beat down . Cena managed to hit a low blow , a bulldog onto the steel steps , a spin - out powerbomb , and the Five Knuckle Shuffle all onto Umaga . Umaga regained control when Cena attempted an FU onto the steps , and collapsed , hitting his head on the steps . Cena avoided a running headbutt drop , and hit Umaga in the head with a television monitor . Umaga got up , but missed a running splash through the announce table . Umaga got up again as his manager , Armando Alejandro Estrada , detached one of the top turnbuckles for Umaga to use . Cena avoided the attack , hit an FU , and choked Umaga using the loose ring rope . Umaga failed to answer the referee ' s count of ten , and Cena retained the title . The final match was the Royal Rumble match . Kane , the tenth entrant , dominated the match upon entering , and eliminated Tommy Dreamer and Sabu , hitting the latter with a chokeslam through a table Sabu had earlier set up . The Sandman , entering fifteen , used his signature Singapore Cane in the match before being quickly eliminated by King Booker . Randy Orton and Edge worked together to eliminate the Hardys . After Booker was eliminated by Kane , he returned to the ring , eliminated Kane , and continued to beat him down . It took the combined effort of eight men to eliminate Viscera after Shawn Michaels hit him with a superkick . The Great Khali , entering twenty - eighth , dominated upon entering the match , and eliminated seven men . Entering last was The Undertaker , who immediately fought with , and eliminated Khali . He then eliminated Montel Vontavious Porter , leaving four in the match : Edge , Orton , Michaels , and The Undertaker . Orton caught Edge trying to attack him , but the two soon reconciled , and worked together on The Undertaker . Michaels , who was outside of the ring , came back in , and eliminated both Orton and Edge . The remaining two exchanged attacks until the end , when The Undertaker hit a chokeslam , but Michaels came back with a superkick . Michaels went for another superkick , but The Undertaker avoided it , and eliminated Michaels to win the match . The Undertaker is the first competitor to win the Rumble match from slot 30 ( what is considered to be the " easiest " spot to win from , despite no one having done so in any previous match ) . Aftermath . The shows following the Royal Rumble surrounded The Undertaker ' s choice of which champion to face at WrestleMania 23 . The Undertaker appeared on all three brands , and stared down the champions . Finally , on the February 5 episode of " Raw " , The Undertaker chose to face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship , and performed a chokeslam on him , starting their rivalry . The Undertaker won the title at WrestleMania , and their feud continued until the May 11 episode of " SmackDown ! " , when The Undertaker lost the title to Edge , who cashed in the Money in the Bank , that he won from Mr . Kennedy , earlier that week on Raw . After The Undertaker made his choice on February 5 , Shawn Michaels , Edge , and Randy Orton all wanted to face Cena for his title at WrestleMania . A Triple Threat match was made between the three for the title shot , which Michaels won after pinning Orton . Cena successfully retained his title against Michaels at WrestleMania . They continued to feud over the title with the addition of Orton and Edge , but Cena remained champion . Soon after the Royal Rumble , Umaga and Bobby Lashley joined the feud between Mr . McMahon and Donald Trump in the " Battle of the Billionaires " as their representatives respectively for the Hair vs . Hair match at WrestleMania . His Royal Rumble match marked the start of Mr . Kennedy ' s push to main - event status . He went on to face Bobby Lashley for the ECW Championship at No Way Out , which he won via disqualification , thus failing to win the title . Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania , which gave him a world title shot at any time of his choosing for the year following . Kennedy sustained an injury at a house show , however , that would leave him sidelined for five to seven months , and was booked to lose his title shot to Edge on the May 7 episode of " Raw " . Later results showed the injury to be much less severe , but Kennedy had already lost his title shot . He returned to mid - card status for the remainder of the year . Reception . The AT & T Center has hosted many different events that have a variety of seating maximums . A Basketball event , which has a smaller set - up than a wrestling event , can hold a maximum of 18 , 797 fans . Due to the Royal Rumble ' s production , the maximum standard was lowered and the event drew 13 , 500 fans and received 491 , 000 pay - per - view buys . WWE made $ 15 . 8 million from pay - per - view revenues in their first quarter ( which included the Royal Rumble , No Way Out , and WrestleMania ) versus $ 17 . 1 million in 2006 for the same events , a $ 1 . 3 million difference . The 2006 Royal Rumble also resulted in 548 , 000 pay - per - view buys , 57 , 000 more than the 2007 Royal Rumble . Canadian Online Explorer ' s professional wrestling sub website , Slam ! Wrestling , rated the entire event 7 . 5 out of 10 points , due to the event not lasting its entire three hours and many mishaps that occurred during the Royal Rumble match , which they also rated a 7 . 5 . The Royal Rumble 2007 was released on DVD on February 27 , 2007 and was distributed by WWE . The DVD debuted on " Billboard " ' s Top DVD sales chart at # 3 on March 24 , 2007 . The DVD remained on the chart for 13 consecutive weeks until June 16 , 2007 when its final rank was at # 10 .