10 Most Unexpectedly Great WWE Matches-7

7. John Cena Vs Umaga (Last Man Standing Match – Royal Rumble 2007)

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Even those who like John Cena’s in-ring work would never tell you that he can handle classics all on his own. He needs the right opponent and the right motivation to pull out the “good stuff”.

His opponent at the 2007 Royal Rumble, Umaga, was an unproven commodity. He was making his debut as a main event player, and his work in the midcard wasn’t always sterling, even in the rare matches he had that were allowed to last more than a few minutes. For good reason, most fans weren’t expecting anything special here, even with the Last Man Standing stipulation attached to the match.

It ended up being a tremendous brawl, with both men hitting harder than usual. Even though Umaga wasn’t a proven main event guy, he looked the part, taking everything that the WWE Champion was dishing out, and returning the favor tenfold. The match ending, with Umaga’s manager, Armando Alejandro Estrada, dislodging the top rope completely, only for Cena to get control of the rope and use it to accentuate the STF, choking Umaga into unconsciousness, was brilliantly done. It was something different, which is important in a LMS situation, where a lot of the match endings can be stale and played out.

Unfortunately, it didn’t signal Umaga’s arrival as a main event player. Three weeks after the Rumble, he won the Intercontinental Title, only to lose it two months later to a “fan” (Santino). He spent most of the rest of his WWE career floundering around. With his performance against Cena, though, he probably should have been a bigger talent for the next couple of years.