The Raw brand started the qualifying matches for the brand's upcoming Elimination Chamber match at WWE's next pay-per-view event, No Way Out. According to Orton and his lawyers, Orton had told Stephanie McMahon that if fired, he would not only take DiBiase and Rhodes with him but the whole locker room, as he would bring in a lawsuit against the company. Randy Orton then revealed that he suffers from IED, which causes him to experience violent outbursts when provoked, losing all control of his emotions and actions. On the January 26 episode of Raw, The Legacy came out with two lawyers and a therapist. On the January 16 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, WWE announced that Swagger would defend the ECW title against Hardy in a rematch at the Royal Rumble. On the January 13, 2009, episode of ECW on Syfy, Swagger defeated Hardy to capture the ECW Championship. The ECW brand's main rivalry, that between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy, had the two feuding over the ECW Championship. On the January 2, 2009, episode of SmackDown, on-air authority figure Vickie Guerrero announced that Edge would face Hardy for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble.
At WWE's previous pay-per-view event, Armageddon, Hardy had defeated both defending champion Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match, a standard match involving three wrestlers, to win the WWE Championship. The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand incorporated into the Royal Rumble featured Jeff Hardy and Edge, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. episode of Raw by winning a battle royal, a match similar to the Royal Rumble, though with fewer competitors. Melina won the opportunity to face Phoenix on the December 29, 2008. JBL earned his championship match against Cena after winning a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match-a standard match in which the last remaining competitor who has not been eliminated is declared the winner-on the December 29, 2008, episode of Raw by defeating Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels.Īnother rivalry from the Raw brand came with Melina challenging Beth Phoenix for her WWE Women's Championship in a singles match. The main rivalry from the Raw brand played out between John Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) over the World Heavyweight Championship. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands, with storylines produced on their weekly television shows, Raw, SmackDown, and ECW on Sci Fi.
The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters to build tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The card consisted of six matches, as well as one dark match. (Participants eliminate opponents by tossing them over the top ring-rope and making both their feet touch the floor.) The winner earned an opportunity to challenge for the WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship at WWE's April WrestleMania XXV pay-per-view. The match ends when one wrestler remains in the ring after the elimination of all the 29 other wrestlers. The match featured 30 male wrestlers from WWE's three brands WWE officially announced 23 participants. The prime match at Royal Rumble 2009, was the annual Royal Rumble match, as featured at every Royal Rumble event since its inception. The predominant match on the ECW brand was between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy for the ECW Championship. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was a No Disqualification match between Jeff Hardy and Edge for the WWE Championship.
The primary match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won by pin-fall after performing an Attitude Adjustment. Randy Orton, the eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating Triple H, the seventh entrant. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match which featured wrestlers from all three brands. It was the twenty-second annual Royal Rumble event chronology. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a championship match at that year's WrestleMania, (in this instance: WrestleMania XXV) for his choice at either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship or the ECW Championship.įive professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's super-card, a scheduling of more than one main event. It took place on January 25, 2009, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brand divisions. Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).