Royal Rumble
Promotional poster featuring various WWE wrestlers
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown ECW
Date	January 25, 2009
City	Detroit,Michigan
Venue	Joe Louis Arena
Attendance	16,685
Buy rate	450,000[1]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Armageddon Next → No Way Out
Royal Rumble chronology
← Previous 2008 Next → 2010

The 2009Royal Rumble was the 22nd annualRoyal Rumbleprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion'sRaw,SmackDown, andECWbrand divisions. The event took place on January 25, 2009, at theJoe Louis Arena inDetroit,Michigan. As has been customary since 1993, theRoyal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year'sWrestleMania. For the 2009 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either Raw'sWorld Heavyweight Championship, SmackDown'sWWE Championship, or theECW Championship atWrestleMania 25.

Fiveprofessional wrestling matches were featured on the event'ssupercard, a scheduling of more than onemain event. The main event was the 2009 Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from all three brands. Raw'sRandy Orton, the eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating SmackDown'sTriple H, the seventh entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand wasJohn Cena versusJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won to retain the title. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was aNo Disqualification match betweenJeff Hardy andEdge for the WWE Championship, which Edge won to win his fourth and last WWE Championship. The predominant match on the ECW brand was betweenJack Swagger andMatt Hardy for the ECW Championship, which Swagger won to retain. This event also marked the first appearance ofRob Van Dam in WWE sinceOne Night Stand in June 2007.

TheRoyal Rumble is an annualgimmickpay-per-view (PPV) produced every January byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four".^[2] It is named after theRoyal Rumble match, a modifiedbattle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. The 2009 event was the 22nd event in the Royal Rumble chronology and was scheduled to be held on January 25, 2009, at theJoe Louis Arena inDetroit,Michigan. It featured wrestlers from theRaw,SmackDown, andECWbrands.^[3]

The Royal Rumble match generally features 30 wrestlers. Traditionally, the winner of the match earns aworld championship match at that year's WrestleMania.^[4][5] For 2009, the winner could choose to challenge for either Raw'sWorld Heavyweight Championship, SmackDown'sWWE Championship, or theECW Championship atWrestleMania 25.

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayedheroes,villains, orless distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows,Raw,SmackDown, andECW on Sci Fi.^[6][7][8]

The mainrivalry from the Raw brand played out betweenJohn Cena andJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) over the World Heavyweight Championship. JBL earned his championship match against Cena after winning afatal 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 ofRaw by defeatingChris Jericho,Randy Orton, andShawn Michaels.^[9]

Another rivalry from the Raw brand came withMelina challengingBeth Phoenix for herWWE Women's Championship in a singles match. Melina won the opportunity to face Phoenix on the December 29, 2008. episode ofRaw by winning abattle royal, a match similar to the Royal Rumble, though with fewer competitors.^[9]

The main rivalry from the SmackDown brand incorporated into the Royal Rumble featuredJeff Hardy andEdge, with the two feuding over theWWE Championship. At WWE's previous pay-per-view event,Armageddon, Hardy had defeated both defending champion Edge andTriple H in a Triple Threat match, a standard match involving three wrestlers, to win the WWE Championship. On the January 2, 2009, episode ofSmackDown, on-airauthority figureVickie Guerrero announced that Edge would face Hardy for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble.^[10]

The ECW brand's main rivalry, that betweenJack Swagger andMatt Hardy, had the two feuding over theECW Championship. On the January 13, 2009, episode ofECW on Syfy, Swagger defeated Hardy to capture the ECW Championship. On the January 16 episode ofFriday Night SmackDown, WWE announced that Swagger would defend the ECW title against Hardy in a rematch at the Royal Rumble.

The first match of the evening sawJack Swagger defend theECW Championship againstMatt Hardy. The match started with both wrestlers countering each other's moves until Swagger injured Hardy's left shoulder and then targeted it for the rest of the match. Swagger ultimately defeated Hardy by pinning him after slamming him to the mat with agutwrench powerbomb. Swagger thus retained the ECW Championship.^[11]

The second match involved theWWE Women's Championship, whereBeth Phoenix defended her title againstMelina. The match ended when Phoenix attempted theGlam Slam on Melina, but Melina countered into aroll-up pin, to win the Women's Championship.^[12]

The third match on the card pittedJohn Cena againstJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for theWorld Heavyweight Championship. JBL's employeeShawn Michaels accompanied him to the ring and first got involved in the match when the referee became incapacitated; he came into the ring and performed hisSweet Chin Music finisher both on JBL and Cena. He then left ringside, leaving JBL's arm on top of Cena. Cena however managed to get a shoulder up and performed anAttitude Adjustment to retain his World Heavyweight Championship.^[13]

In the fourth match,Jeff Hardy defended theWWE Championship againstEdge. Before the match began,Vickie Guerrero came out and announced the match to beNo Disqualifications. Edge then revealed thatChavo Guerrero would be in his corner. During the match Hardy brought a ladder out and set it up near the Spanish announce table. When Chavo tried to interfere, Hardy put him on the table and jumped off the ladder, connecting with Chavo and breaking the table. Hardy then had the match won when he performed the Swanton on Edge after kicking Vickie off the apron when she tried to interfere. When Hardy went for the pin, Vickie stopped refereeScott Armstrong from making a three count. Jeff's brother Matt Hardy then made his way to the ring, placing a chair under Edge's face. Grabbing another chair, Matt at first appeared to be setting Edge up for his own version of Edge'scon-chair-to maneuver. He instead hit Jeff in the head with the chair, allowing Edge to then pin Jeff and become the new WWE Champion.^[14]

Jim Ross andJerry Lawler came out to call the main event, which consisted of the Royal Rumble match.Rey Mysterio andJohn Morrison started the Rumble. AsFinlay entered at No. 14,Rey Mysterio stepped on the just eliminatedJohn Morrison andThe Miz to avoid elimination.Santino Marella entered at No. 28 and was eliminated by Kane in one second, breaking the Warlord's record for shortest elimination in the Royal Rumble. The final six participants left in the match wereThe Big Show,The Undertaker,Triple H andThe Legacy (Cody Rhodes,Ted DiBiase andRandy Orton). While the Undertaker and Big Show brawled on the outside apron (both went over the top rope, but had not hit the floor), Orton eliminated Big Show with an RKO, causing him to fall off the apron. Big Show eliminated The Undertaker shortly thereafter when he pulled his opponent off the apron by his leg. Despite being at a disadvantage against the Legacy, Triple H eliminated both DiBiase and Rhodes. With Triple H by the ropes, Orton quickly clotheslined him from behind to send him over the top rope and become the winner of the Royal Rumble match.^[15]

On the January 26 episode ofRaw, The Legacy came out with two lawyers and a therapist. Randy Orton then revealed that he suffers fromIED, which causes him to experience violent outbursts when provoked, losing all control of his emotions and actions. According to Orton and his lawyers, Orton had toldStephanie 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.^[16]

The Raw brand started the qualifying matches for the brand's upcomingElimination Chamber match at WWE's next pay-per-view event,No Way Out. Three of the qualifying matches sawKofi Kingston defeatKane, Rey Mysterio defeatWilliam Regal and Chris Jericho defeatCM Punk to qualify. In a fourth qualification match, Shawn Michaels failed to win a match against John Cena that would have made JBL eligible to participate in the Elimination Chamber.^[17]

The ECW Championship feud between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy had officially finished when ECW's on-air authority figureTheodore Long announced on the January 27 episode ofECW that Hardy had requested a move to the SmackDown brand. Swagger had other problems as his ECW title belt was stolen byHornswoggle. When Hornswoggle'sstoryline father,Finlay, urged Hornswoggle to give the title back to Swagger, Swagger shoved Hornswoggle to the ground, which caused Finlay to knock down Swagger with his own championship belt.^[18]

On the January 30 episode ofSmackDown, Matt Hardy proclaimed that he had no remorse about smashing his brother Jeff in the head at the Royal Rumble and costing him theWWE Championship. He then told the universe that he no longer considered Jeff a partner or a sibling.^[19] There were three Elimination Chamber qualifiers for No Way Out. The first match beingThe Undertaker versusMark Henry, which Undertaker won via submission with theHell's Gate. The second qualifier match wasThe Big Show defeating Festus with a K.O. Punch. The last qualifier was a triple threat match featuring Triple H,The Great Khali andVladimir Kozlov. Triple H won the match after he delivered aPedigree to Khali to pick up the victory.^[20]

During the2009 WWE Draft, the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship switched brands.^[21]

  –Raw

  –SmackDown!

  –ECW

  –Legend

  –Winner

¹ Big Show's elimination of Undertaker came after Big Show was eliminated by Randy Orton.

The Race To The Rumble Tournament was held to determineJohn Cena's challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship at theRoyal Rumble.^[25]

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