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, Vengeance, 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.
The Divas rivalry heading into the event was between Melina and Candice Michelle with the two battling over the WWE Women's Championship. In June at One Night Stand, Candice defeated Melina in a chocolate pudding match. Then last month at Vengeance, Candice defeated Melina to win the Women's title. Two weeks later on Raw, Melina announced that she was invoking her rematch clause for the Women's Championship at The Great American Bash.
==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.
==Results==
;
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*Dark Match: Chuck Palumbo defeated Chris Masters
*Montel Vontavious Porter (c) defeated Matt Hardy to retain the WWE United States Championship (12:55)
*Hornswoggle defeated Chavo Guerrero (c), Funaki, Hornswoggle, Jamie Noble, Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (6:59)
*Carlito defeated The Sandman in a Singapore Cane On A Pole Match (5:31)
*Candice Michelle (c) defeated Melina to retain the WWE Women's Championship (6:22)
*Umaga (c) defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (11:20)
*John Morrison (c) defeated CM Punk to retain the ECW Heavyweight Championship (7:51)
*Randy Orton defeated Dusty Rhodes in a Texas Bullrope Match (5:40)
*The Great Khali (c) defeated Batista & Kane in a Triple Threat Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (10:03)
*John Cena (c) defeated Bobby Lashley to retain the WWE Championship (14:53)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross (RAW)
*Jerry "The King" Lawler (RAW)
*Michael Cole (Smackdown!)
*John "Bradshaw" Layfield (Smackdown!)
*Joey Styles (ECW)
*Tazz (ECW)
;Interviewers
*Todd Grisham
;Ring announcer
*Tony Chimel
*Lilian Garcia
*Justin Roberts	
;Referees
*Charles Robinson
*John Cone
*Marty Elias
*Chad Patton
*Jack Doan
*Scott Armstrong
*Mickie Henson
*Mike Chioda
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*The Great American Bash
==DVD release==
* The Great American Bash 2007 on DVD
==External links==
* The Great American Bash 2007 Official Website
* The Great American Bash 2007 at CAGEMATCH.net
* The Great American Bash 2007 at Online World of Wrestling
* on WWE Network
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:The Great American Bash
Category:2007 pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Bullrope matches
Category:Events with Pole matches
Category:Events with Cane matches