WWE: New Year’s Revolution 2007
January 7, 2007
Kansas City, MO
Kemper Arena

The current RAW champs are as follows:
WWE Champion: John Cena (9/17/2006)
WWE Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Hardy (11/13/2006)
World Tag Team Champions: Rated RKO (11/13/2006)
WWE Women’s Champion: Mickie James (11/26/2006)

This is the last of the New Year’s Revolution PPVs — because who wants to buy a PPV and then buy the Royal Rumble in three more weeks. AMIRITE? Plus, you take away the elimination chamber which had been the only redeeming match from the other two years and you have got nothing to keep you here. Unless John Cena and Umaga can work a miracle!

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

• Cage Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Johnny Nitro (w/Melina)
  

These two have had quite the rivalry and traded the IC belt back and forth over the past few months. They have had no-DQ matches, ladder matches, and now they meet inside a STEEL CAGE. Ross mentions that the IC belt has changed hands twice in cage matches. The first time came in the summer of 1985 when Tito Santana regained the IC championship from Greg Valentine. The other time came after Rob Van Dam defeated Chris Jericho to win his fifth IC title on a Monday Night RAW in October 2003.

They take turns slugging it out on each other to start. After a ten-count corner punch, Hardy hits that slingshot-style dropkick down in the corner for two. Nitro fires back with the sitout wheelbarrow facebuster for a nearfall. I keep wanting to type “Morrison” instead of “Nitro”. Hardy punches back and delivers a sitout gourdbuster for another nearfall. Too early for all these nearfalls. We’re hardly three minutes into this thing. Nitro hits the Flying Chuck for two. Hardy intercepts a climb and delivers the Sling Blade. Nitro stops him from crawling to the door, but eats a mule kick. Now Hardy tries climbing out (BUT THE DOOR IS RIGHT THERE!) and gets kicked down from the top rope down in between the ropes and the cage. With Hardy pinned there, Nitro spends some time abusing him there. I like these two-second camera shots they take of individuals in the crowd every now and then. As they both try and climb out, Hardy stops Nitro from going any further by giving him a dropkick from the top rope that sends Nitro crashing into the cage. That’s one way to stop him. This begins the HIGH RISK portion of the match. Hardy gets whipped into a corner and runs up the turnbuckle to try and climb out, but Nitro brings him back inside with a back suplex. They do a Russian legsweep spot from the top rope that would be very hard to do normally without a cage there to support them. They head into another corner where Nitro is sitting up on the rim of the cage and drops down onto Hardy for a sunset flip powerbomb spot. Now Nitro starts to climb out and clearly sticks his legs into the rim of the cage so he can hang upside down for a few seconds. As Hardy tries to climb the cage, Melina uses her belt and the idea is that she whips Hardy’s hands with the metal buckle. Hardy sells that a little too much in my opinion. He staggers around into a missile dropkick from Nitro. Instead of just walking out and regaining the IC title, Nitro CLIMBS TO THE TOP ROPE IN THE CORNER WHERE THE DOOR IS. Ugh. He gets planted trying a flying bodypress and gets drilled with a SWANTON BOMB FROM THE CORNER WHERE THE DOOR IS. Hardy gets two there. He continues to control Nitro as they fight up to the top rope again. Hardy attempts a SUPER TWIST OF FATE, but Nitro shoves him off and continues to climb out. Meanwhile, Melina is interfering with the ref who needs to open the door for Hardy. While Nitro moves down the rim of the cage to keep the door from being opened, Hardy dropkicks the door causing Nitro to slip and crotch himself on the door. With the door wide open, Hardy falls out the doorway and retains the IC title belt. (14:41) If WWE really wants to have better, more believable cage matches, they need to get rid of that door. A few too many spots at the door especially near the end there took me out of this a little bit, but these two certainly have chemistry together and can put together a fun car crash. ***

Todd Grisham asks Rated RKO backstage why things are so personal between them and DX. Orton explains that they want to preserve their own careers and they can’t do that with DX hanging around. It’s OVER, DX!

• Tag Team Turmoil
  

So the winners will receive a world tag team titles shot at some point in the future. Neither Ross nor Lawler know how many teams are in this match.

The Highlanders vs. The World’s Greatest Tag Team

Yes, you read that right. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin got back together in December and they are looking for tag team gold again. Haas gets double-teamed by the Highlanders to start, but Rory is the one who misses a corner charge and gets drilled with a clothesline to turn the tide. TWGTT give him the leapfrog body guillotine move. Shelton gives Rory a body slam to the knee of Haas for a nearfall. Rory escapes a chinlock and gets a few hope spots on Benjamin. He eventually breaks away and hot tags Robbie. He’s all slams and dropkicks. The match breaks down as they go for their finish. Haas dumps out Rory while Robbie gets his eyes clawed while sitting on the top turnbuckle by Shelton. Benjamin springs up to the top rope and takes him down with a beautiful superplex for the three-count at 5:04.

The World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Super Crazy

Hacksaw is hot punching and clotheslining Benjamin to start. Haas cheapshots him so Shelton can deliver a knee lift. TWGTT keep Duggan isolated and choke on him in their corner. Duggan blocks a turnbuckle smash and hits Haas with one of his own. THREE POINT STANCE! Hot tag to Crazy, KC LOVES Super Crazy! As Crazy goes up top, Benjamin slugs him down into a German Suplex from Haas for the three-count at 7:31 total.

The World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

Cade and Murdoch waste no time as they BUM RUSH THE SHOW here on TWGTT. Cade is clubbing everything in sight. He grabs hold of Benjamin and Murdoch puts him down with a running boot. Jawbreaker and neckbreaker combo continues the problems for Shelton. This Cade and Murdoch really love them some Midnight Express and I like it. Benjamin lands on his feet out of a suplex and drops Murdoch with a reverse neckbreaker. Tag to Haas. He runs wild on Cade and Murdoch. He lands a missile dropkick on Murdoch, but then Cade nails him from behind. While the match has completely broken down, Murdoch finds himself in the HAAS OF PAIN submission. Cade flies in and lowers the boom on Haas. Murdoch puts an arm on Haas and gets the three-count at 11:52 total.

Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. Cryme Tyme

Lawler confirms that Cryme Tyme will be the last team competing in this gauntlet match. They clean house on the rednecks leading to Shad flipping JTG onto Cade for two. JTG gets drilled by a High Low as Cade and Murdoch continue their tribute to the Midnight Express. And hey, I’m all for it. Face in peril time for JTG as the rednecks heel it up for a few minutes. Eventually, Murdoch takes too much time coming out of the corner and flies down into those Timberland boots. JTG flips away from a double suplex and hot tags Shad. They miss the High Low on Shad. JTG pulls out Murdoch leaving Cade to take the G-9 for the win. (18:15 total) Just a series of RAW tag team matches with the purpose of putting over Cryme Tyme. I would have probably booked this differently though with Cryme Tyme having to go through more opponents. *½ for the whole thing.

Vince McMahon and Jonathon Coachman gossip about the Rosie O’Donnell and Donald Trump feud. I would have completely forgotten this was even a thing had it not been for 2016. Vince books Rosie vs. Donald for RAW. Ron Simmons stops by to let Coach know this is a bad idea.

• Ric Flair vs. Kenny Dykstra
  

Kenny is trying to break away from his Spirit Squad ways and make a name for himself at the expense of Ric Flair. He comes out wearing a cheap Ric Flair robe you might find a frat boy wear at a Halloween party. Flair took an RKO and a CONCHAIRTO at the hands of Rated RKO last week on RAW. Ross wonders what kind of shape Flair is in for this match. Headlocks and shoulderblocks to start. Flair comes back with chops and backdrops. I’m really not trying to make this stuff rhyme, but that’s what’s happening. They go to the floor where Flair takes a suplex on the floor. Will JR mention the plane crash in 1975? Nope. Back inside, Kenny stays on the back which is sound strategy. He applies a weak Boston crab though and Flair makes the ropes. Lawler makes Rocky Balboa comparisons to Flair, which is interesting. Flair chops back, but Kenny is the stronger man and youth wins out as he mounts Flair for more punches. The mocking Figure-Four gets countered to an inside cradle. WOO! More chops from Flair. Kenny charges into an elbow in the corner and Flair heads up, but gets slammed. Can you imagine? Missile dropkick by Kenny gets two. Flair thumbs the eye and chopblocks Kenny before he even knows what hit him. WOO! He continues to work the knee and steps on Kenny’s dick as he applies the FIGURE-FOUR! Everyone in the arena wants to see Kenny tap, but he makes the ropes and they BOO him. Over to the corner, Flair chops and punches the crap out of this kid. All the same, Kenny uses Flair’s own tactics against him with a low blow and a small package for the win. (10:01) Way more fun than you would think. After all these years, Flair is still just a really fun wrestler to watch. **½

In the back, Johnny Nitro is icing his shoulder and his nuts. Totally understandable. He promises that the Hardyz will pay and tells Melina to call Joey Mercury, but she runs into Victoria. She wants to team up with Melina to win the Women’s Title and will give Melina the first title shot.

• WWE Women’s Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Victoria
  

Victoria has been crossing Divas off her list and now she’s got a Women’s title shot. She shows off her size and power advantage to start shoving Mickie down out of a tie-up. Wristlocks and headlocks follow. Mickie fires on Victoria with some armdrags that impresses JR. She tries a headscissors out of the corner and gets dumped on the floor. After some ringside violence, Victoria yells over at Lillian Garcia who nearly took the Widow’s Peak on RAW the week before this show. In the ring, Victoria bends Mickie in the ropes and throws her around by her hair. She misses a moonsault out of the corner though. Mickie punches back on Victoria and chops her down like she’s Ricky Steamboat. She must be hanging out with the right people here. She throws some decent punches too. Mickie gets the headscissors out of the corner and knocks Victoria off the apron to the floor. Out comes Melina to help out. Let’s see if she’s successful. Mickie ducks a punch and slugs Melina down. Back inside, Melina grabs Mickie by the foot to stop the MICKIE-DT. That brings down Maria and Candice (who were also on Victoria’s list) to beat up Melina. Mickie rolls up Victoria to avoid the Widow’s Peak for a good nearfall. Victoria goes for a powerslam of sorts, but Mickie counters to a swinging DDT and gets the three-count to retain her title. (6:50) Lillian, Maria (who is looking quite yummy here), and Candice all stand over Victoria while Mickie celebrates with the women’s championship belt. Another solid effort here. **

• World Tag Team Championship: Rated RKO (c) vs. D-Generation X
  

They meet in the aisle for some Attitude Era brawling with DX in total control. When they make it into the ring after a minute or so, they continue to dominate Edge on their side of town. This continues until Shawn misses a corner charge and runs his shoulder into the post. Tag to Orton, HBK recovers to chop and stomp him down. HHH drops a knee on Orton and drapes him on the apron to further abuse him. Orton shows a cut on his forehead and DX focuses on the cut. When the opportunity arises, Edge tries to nail HHH from the apron. HHH no-sells and flips Edge into the ring. Finally, the numbers catch up to Helmsley and Edge clips him from behind. Edge concentrates on the knee and wraps the leg around the ringpost. Edge wants to mock Flair and try a figure-four, but HHH kicks him off into the corner. Shawn gets a hot tag and delivers the usual comeback stuff. The Flying Elbow connects on Edge, but then he stands up into a clothesline from Orton. Rated RKO gets dumped on the floor though for a somersault dive from HBK. As they begin to head back in the ring, Edge spears Michaels off the apron. He stands up into a belt shot from Orton too. As soon as the deed is done, Triple H is there to nail Orton. This match is rather ironic because the entire reason Edge and Orton want to stop DX is to get them out of the way so they can be successful, but everything Triple H is doing right now is ensuring that doesn’t happen. Anytime they get one over on these guys, it’s only a matter of seconds before DX fires back with something that lays them out. Shawn’s face is now a CRIMSON MASK.

After Edge punches on Shawn’s bloody face while he’s stuck in the ropes, Orton brings HBK back into the ring with the Inverted Backbreaker move. The Garvin Stomp culminates with a knee drop for two. From there, Rated RKO’s gameplan is all about wearing down the back of Shawn Michaels. There’s backbreakers everywhere. Well, not like Roderick Strong backbreakers. Anyways, HBK can’t make the tag after a back suplex and gets booted down when he tries to chop on Edge. Shawn shoves away the RKO and finally makes the hot tag to Triple H. Clotheslines, right hands, and the High Knee. He delivers the HHH Facebuster on Edge and the QUAD EXPLODING SPINEBUSTER on Orton gets two. He uses his good leg to hit a AA Spinebuster on Edge for two. Now it just gets awkward. Orton hits an RKO on HHH and his leg gives out. HBK appears and hits Orton with SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Edge shoves him to the floor and covers HHH for two. HHH avoids the SPEAR and hits Edge with a PEDIGREE. Orton appears with a chair and doesn’t know what to do with it. He clears out and all of a sudden HBK flies through the ropes for a tope suicida to wipe him out. Michaels then shoots back into the ring and decks the ref so he can destroy Rated RKO with chairshots without anybody trying to hold him back. I’m going to mark it over right here from bell to no bell. (19:26) Orton is definitely bleeding now. HHH gives them both some great chairshots too. Especially considering he’s doing it all on one leg. They wear them out with chairs and take them over to the announce tables. HHH gives Edge a PEDIGREE while Shawn gives Orton the FLYING ELBOW THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! This match did Orton and Edge no favors. That’s what I mean when I say this was rather ironic considering their motivation was to get DX out of the way so they could enjoy years and years of success in WWE. This was a fine match up until the injury though. If the match hadn’t fallen apart like it did and had a finish, this match may have been more fondly remembered. They did do the best they could under the circumstances. HHH tore his other quad (not the same one he tore in 2001) and sits out until October when he returns to face Randy Orton who was scheduled to face John Cena over the WWE title and had to leave after tearing his pectoral muscle. It’s all pretty ironic when you put it all into perspective. ***¼

Todd Grisham speaks with John Cena in the back. Cena mocks the pre-match interview style of the Rock and tells us how he really feels about facing Umaga.

• Carlito (w/Torrie Wilson) vs. Chris Masters
  

After Torrie took the WIDOW’S PEAK from Victoria last month on RAW, Masters put Torrie in a MASTERLOCK and Carlito is PISSED about it. Sorry for the all caps. This is a very important match and you want to make sure you get over the vital parts of it, right? Yeah. They trade some moves to start. Who knew! Carlito shows off with a double springboard moonsault that was pretty awesome. Attempts at the full nelson are traded. Despite that being his thing, Masters gives up on it and throws Carlito away. He drags Carlito around by his afro and punishes Carlito with backbreakers. Ross and Lawler keep talking about Torrie and her puppies. One more comeback from Carlito here. He rolls away from a MASTERLOCK, but Masters overpowers the rollup and pins Carlito in an “out of nowhere” finish. (5:59) Moving on. ¾*

• WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Umaga (w/Armando Alejandro Estrada)
  

Cena goes for the stick and move strategy to start. He lets Umaga make the mistakes by avoiding corner charges and pulling the top rope down to make Umaga fly out to the floor. Umaga pitches a fit on the floor and then meets Cena on the apron. While still on the apron, he stops Cena from charging at him and throws Cena over the top rope to the floor. Awesome! He sends Cena into the steps and takes him back inside for more abuse. He’s slowly taking Cena apart. He’s letting this bowl of whoop ass simmer a little bit. Cena fires back and Umaga cuts him off with a Samoan drop. There’s a definite Sting versus Vader vibe here and I LIKE IT. Cena gets knocked off the apron and tries to sunset flip his way back in the ring. Umaga really milks it and decides to sit on Cena, but Cena moves out of the way. Cena goes to slam him and Umaga falls on top of him for 1-2-NO! Umaga pounds on Cena and sends him to the apron. Cena snaps Umaga’s neck on the top rope and goes for a flying body press, but gets caught in mid-air and brought down for a Gunnslinger slam for two. As Cena gets whipped into the ropes, he slides under Umaga and hits the Flip Over Facebuster. Umaga NO-SELLS and drills Cena with a spinning heel kick. He pulls Cena over to the ropes for some Yokozuna-esque butt drops. Cena brings his knees up to block the third one. Time for the FU? Nah, Umaga is too much weight and falls on Cena’s head. Umaga makes him pay by throwing him out to the floor. Back inside, Umaga pounds on Cena and applies the Oriental Nerve Hold. Of course, they don’t call it that. Cena fights out and runs into a back elbow. This is so good. The way he just constantly shuts down Cena. He looks for the FLYING ASIATIC SPIKE, but Cena moves. They trade punches in the center of the ring. Cena wins the slugfest and comes off the ropes with clotheslines, but Umaga shuts him down again with an uppercut to the ribs. Umaga misses an avalanche and gets thrown Slaughter-style onto the top of the ringpost. There’s the Protobomb and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Now can he lift up Umaga for the FU? No! The back gives out and Umaga delivers a belly to belly suplex! He puts Cena in the tree of woe and delivers the diving headbutt. Umaga looks for the Buttalanche, but Cena kicks him away and schoolboys a staggered Umaga for the shocking three-count to end the Umaga win streak. (17:17) Afterwards, Umaga destroys what’s left of the ringside area while Cena celebrates with the gold up at the top of the ramp. What a fun match. Whoever booked this did a REALLY good job. Some think Umaga looked weak at the end, but I really don’t see it. This is the epitome of “the irresistible force against the immovable object” phrase that has been used by Gorilla Monsoon. The “never give up” attitude of Cena facing a monster that cannot really be beat. It’s just a fantastic match and one I would say that’s underrated. If you have only watched the Royal Rumble match, give this one a look that set it up. You could call this the greatest Yokozuna match ever. ****

Final Thoughts: It started out strong with the cage match and ended on a high note with Cena and Umaga. There is some stuff you will be fine with skipping over like the Tag Team Turmoil matches. It didn’t matter a whole lot ten years ago and it definitely means even less now. You can also move past the Carlito and Chris Masters match. Nothing to see there. All things considered though, I’m giving New Year’s Revolution 2007 a mild thumbs up. Good way to start 2007 for WWE and in our case for 2017.