Was 2007 the year Pro Wrestling died?

As they say, “Out with the old and in with the new.” It sure was a topsy-turvy year for pro wrestling with most of it going to be remembered for a devastating tragedy.

The Benoit Tragedy was definitely the lowest point and most talked about point in wrestling that year. It is alleged that former World Heavyweight champion, Chris Benoit murdered his wife, Nancy (Woman, Robin Greene, Fallen Angel) and their son before taking his own life. No one knows exactly what was going through Benoit’s mind at the time and I will certainly not speculate, but I will say it is possibly the biggest black mark the industry has ever had and a horrible time for professional wrestling.

The WWE suspended ten wrestlers in one day on this year for the substance abuse policy and although their names were never officially released, other wrestling and sports websites gave the names of who they believe it was. It was said by the WWE that as of November 2007, any wrestler who was suspended or released due to the wellness policy would have their names published publicly by the company.

There was a lot that happened with the Hogan Family as well. Hulk’s son, Nick was involved in a car accident that left his friend with some permanent damage and Hulk and Linda filed for divorce.

There were several in ring injuries this particular year that put wrestlers on the shelf for months and two of them had to relinquish their title belts. Smackdown champion, Edge had to give up his title due to being out longer than thirty days due to a pectoral muscle tear and John Cena had to relinquish the Raw championship due to pectoral muscle damage as well. As of the en of the year, Edge was back and was the Smackdown champion again. The Undertaker, Bobby Lashley, Triple H and Shawn Michaels were also on the shelf for a long time during this past year and Lashley and Cena didn't see the year out either, which hurt Randy Orton not going over Cena for the title.

Beside the Benoit debacle, there are some other notable deaths to report from that year. The Fabulous Moolah, one of the most history making women in professional wrestling died in this year.

The wrestling world lost “Sensational” Sherrie Martel the same weekend that the Benoit tragedy and that had overshadowed her death. It is speculated that she died due to abuse of painkillers.

Other notable deaths this past year include: Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian “Crush” Adams, Tor Kamata, “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd and Arnold Skaaland just to name a few. For the fans of World Class Championship Wrestling, former referee Bronko Lubich and the Missing Link where also among the casualties.

The WWE stopped doing the brand pay-per-views and now combine talent from all three brands in their pay-per-views, which hindsight tells us has absolutely killed the midcard and the tag division

Some high points of the year include:

TNA Impact acquiring the contracts of Christie Hemme, Kurt Angle and Booker T with Sharmell, his wife.

Christian Cage became 'THE' man in TNA and proved he could run with the ball

WrestleMania XXIII was a tremendous success

The WWE went to visit and perform for the troops again this year and we saw a billion dollar haircut when Lashley and Donald Trump shaved Vinnie Mac’s head at Wrestlemania.

A toast to you, 2007, you really did suck!

it was a sad year looking back.things can only get better and better

I didn't realised all of this happened in the same year. Not the best of years is it. I had stopped watching wrestling for a bit by then so i'm currently watching WM23. What i've seen its been ok upto now.

whoops, sorry

I wasn't watching wrestling at the time so completely missed it but after reading about it and watching videos it was certainly a dark period for the not just the WWE but the World of Professional Wrestling, in the aftermath of the Benoit tragegy, pro wrestling really suffered, it's as if secret files were opened and everyone had a good look at the seedy underbelly of wresrling. It still hasn't recovered from that imo.

Before WrestleMania it was ok, even Mania and after Mania it was good but as soon as Benoit did what he did everything went tits up

The Beniot thing was late on in the year wasn't it? I'll probably still watch the PPV's though even if it wasn't that good. It will always be better than watching 'Come Dine With Me' with the wife.

You know it's a bad year when Christie Hemme signing for TNA and Vince getting his head shaved are "high points" (no offence).

I don't think 2007 was totally catastrophic, I mean we did the beginning of the push for Jeff Hardy, (his rise did provide good moments such as the Swanton off the side of the Titantron) and the beginning of the "Age of Orton", 2 guys who have been part of most of the WWE's major feuds over the past 3 years. Add to that rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Cena. There's still no doubt it was a bad year which could have been so much better had the Vince death and illegitimate child storylines gone as planned.

I think the 'E have recovered quite well in terms of business and building for the future, they are drawing in the younger fans and making money as a result, the Benoit tragedy forced them to clean up their act sooner than later I guess.

Mackemlion wrote:

The Beniot thing was late on in the year wasn't it? I'll probably still watch the PPV's though even if it wasn't that good. It will always be better than watching 'Come Dine With Me' with the wife.

Beniot happened in June I think

I Started watching about summer 2007 i think bash 2007 started watching

At first i didnt mind cause it was still getting in to it so loved all the new guys but as months turned by i started to realise wrestling had somewhat lost alot of its appeal since i was a kid . Stuck with it mind mainly due to these kind of sites.

also there were 9 matches at that ppv these days you rarley see that you see longer and less matches which i dont prefer