The Great American Bash 2007 The Great American Bash 2007 was the fourth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on July 22 , 2007 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose , California and featured talent from the Raw , SmackDown ! , and ECW brands . The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship , which Cena won by pinfall after executing an FU on Lashley from the second rope . The predominant match on the SmackDown ! brand was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between The Great Khali , Batista and Kane . Khali won the match and retained the title after pinning Kane . The primary match on the ECW brand was John Morrison versus CM Punk for the ECW Championship , which Morrison won by pinfall after hitting Punk with both of his knees . The featured matches on the undercard included Montel Vontavious Porter versus Matt Hardy for the WWE United States Championship and Randy Orton versus Dusty Rhodes in a Texas Bullrope match . The event had 229 , 000 buys , up slightly on the 2006 figure of 227 , 000 buys . Background . The main feud heading into The Great American Bash on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Bobby Lashley over the WWE Championship . The feud began on the June 11 , 2007 edition of " Raw " , when Lashley was drafted to the Raw brand and stripped of his ECW Championship . Three weeks later , on the July 2 edition of " Raw " , a " Beat the Clock " tournament was held to determine Cena ' s opponent for the WWE Championship at The Great American Bash . The tournament matches included : Randy Orton versus Jeff Hardy , King Booker versus Val Venis , Mr . Kennedy versus Super Crazy , and Lashley versus Shelton Benjamin . Lashley ended up winning the tournament by defeating Benjamin in less than 5 minutes and therefore becoming the number one contender to the WWE Championship . The main feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between The Great Khali , Batista , and Kane , with the three battling over the World Heavyweight Championship . At the previous pay - per - view , , then - World Heavyweight Champion Edge defeated Batista in a " Last Chance " match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship . On the July 6 edition of " SmackDown ! " , SmackDown ! General Manager Theodore Long announced that Edge would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Kane at The Great American Bash . The next week on " SmackDown ! " , The Great Khali issued an open challenge for a match at The Great American Bash , which was accepted by Batista . Later that night , Edge legitimately injured his left pectoral muscle after Kane , who was disguised as a character , attacked Edge during his Mardi Gras celebration . On the July 20 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Edge was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship due to his legit injury . Theodore Long then announced that there would be a 20 - man Battle Royal later that night to determine a new World Heavyweight Champion . Khali ended up winning the Battle Royal by last eliminating Kane and Batista . That same night , Kane faced off against Batista to determine Khali ' s opponent for The Great American Bash , which ended in a no - contest after Khali interfered . Long finalized that both Kane and Batista would end up facing Khali for the championship at The Great American Bash . The main feud on the ECW brand was between John Morrison and CM Punk with the two battling over the ECW Championship . At Vengeance , Morrison ( then known as Johnny Nitro ) defeated Punk to win the ECW Championship , which was vacant since then - champion Lashley had been drafted to the Raw brand . Nitro was a replacement for Chris Benoit , who was absent due to " personal reasons . " On the June 26 edition of " ECW " , CM Punk defeated Elijah Burke in a two out of three falls match to once again become the number one contender to the ECW Championship . Aftermath . Montel Vontavious Porter ( MVP ) and Matt Hardy continued their feud over the WWE United States Championship . Hardy defeated MVP in an arm wrestling contest on August 3 edition of " SmackDown ! " . On August 18 edition of " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " , Evander Holyfield replaced MVP against Matt Hardy in a boxing match , which Holyfield won . On August 24 edition of " SmackDown ! " , the two had a basketball challenge which was no contest because they were attacked by Deuce ' n Domino . At SummerSlam , Stone Cold Steve Austin replaced Matt Hardy in a Beer Drinking Contest against MVP which was a no contest because Austin delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to MVP . John Morrison and CM Punk continued to feud over the ECW Championship . On the July 31 edition of ECW , CM Punk defeated Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a Triple Threat match to earn a 15 Minutes of Fame match with Morrison the next week . On ECW the following week , Punk defeated Morrison in the 15 Minutes of Fame match he earned the previous week . As a result of winning , Punk became the number one contender to the ECW Championship at SummerSlam . At SummerSlam , Morrison defeated Punk to retain the ECW Championship . On the July 27 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Khali had his Championship Celebration which was interrupted by Batista . After Khali fled from the ring , Batista announced that he had challenged Khali to a match for the World Heavyweight Championship match . At SummerSlam , the two faced each other for the World Heavyweight Championship in a match which Batista won by disqualification after Khali hit him with a chair . Since a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification , Khali retained the title . On the July 23 edition of " Raw " , John Cena teamed with Candice Michelle in a 3 - on - 2 handicap match against Umaga , Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch . Cena and Candice went on to win the match . After the match , Randy Orton delivered an RKO to Cena . Orton was then made the number one contender to the WWE Championship . The two had a match at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship , which Cena won . After defeating Melina , Candice feuded with Beth Phoenix over the Women ' s Championship after Phoenix won a # 1 Contender ' s battle royal at SummerSlam . Candice retained the title against Phoenix at Unforgiven , but she would lose the title to Phoenix at No Mercy .