WWE's first Pay-Per-View of the year is a fan favorite classic, as it includes a 30 man over-the-top-rope Royal Rumble match.  Wrestlers come down to the ring every 2 minutes in random fashion.  The object is to throw your opponents out of the ring.  The last man left in the ring wins the Royal Rumble and gets a title shot of their choice at Wrestlemania.

In the 2009 Royal Rumble match, it came down to Triple H facing tough odds as he battled Randy Orton along with his stable mates, Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase.  HHH managed to eliminate Rhodes and Dibiase, but that brief moment near the ropes gave Orton all the opportunity to throw HHH out of the ring and win it.  Orton went on to challenge HHH at Wrestlemania 25.

Other matches of the event included Jack Swagger successfully defending his ECW Title against Matt Hardy, and Melina pinning Beth Phoenix to win the WWE Women's Championship.  John Cena had to face JBL with Cena's World Championship Title on the line.  JBL had the services of employee Shawn Michaels who delivered a Superkick to both JBL and Cena at one point, then placed JBL's arm over Cena for a pin before leaving.  When the ref came to, Cena managed to escape the pinfall and eventually hit Attitude Adjustment on JBL to retain.

Jeff Hardy was forced to put his WWE Title on the line against Edge in a No DQ match.  Edge's wife Vickie Guerrero made the match and her nephew Chavo attempted to help Edge win.  When this didn't work out, it was Jeff's brother Matt Hardy jealously getting involved and smashing a chair on his own brother.  Edge won the WWE Title after a pinfall.

No Way Out was held on February 15, 2009 in Seattle, Washington.  As the follow-up PPV to Royal Rumble, it featured two "Elimination Chamber" matches, one for the WWE Title (Smackdown) and one for the World Heavyweight TItle (Raw).  These matches featured 6 superstars from each brand fighting in a steel cage like structure, with "pods" inside.  Every few minutes a superstar was released from a pod.  Superstars were eliminated via pinfall or submission.
 
Smackdown's Elimination Chamber opened the event with  Edge defending the WWE Title against HHH, Undertaker, Vladimir Kozlov, Jeff Hardy & Big Show.  Triple H was able to win the title by pinning The Undertaker.  Edge was outraged at the loss of his title, and devised a way to win later on.  The Raw Elimination match featured John Cena defending the World Heavyweight Title against Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, Chris Jericho and Kane.  Edge interfered before the match started by taking out Kofi Kingston with a beatdown, then claiming Kofi's spot inside a pod in the ring.  Edge and Rey Mysterio became the final two competitors with Edge able to Spear down Mysterio and pin him.

In other action, Randy Orton defeated Shane McMahon in a No Holds Barred match, set up when Shane wanted retribution after Orton punt kicked his father, Mr. McMahon.  Shawn Michaels defeated his employer JBL to become free of his contract and receive all money promised.  Jack Swagger successfully defended the ECW title against Finlay as well.

Wrestlemania 25 was the silver anniversary event for WWE's superbowl of wrestling. The 25th annual Pay-Per-View held in Houston, Texas featured a card full of exciting matchups. There was a 25 Divas Battle Royal with the winner winning the title of Miss Wrestlemania. It featured current and former divas including Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix and Torrie Wislon. The winner was an unlikely one as Santino Marella's twin sister, Santina took home the prize after pushing Melina and Beth Phoenix out of the ring. In the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, CM Punk became the first star to win back to back MITB matches and therefore pulled down the briefcase containing a title shot anytime, anyplace. Jeff Hardy lost to his brother Matt in an Extreme Rules match which only set this feud further in motion.

WWE Champion Triple H successfully defended the WWE Title against Randy Orton and annihilated his foe in the ring due to the fact Orton had inflicted so much suffering on HHH, and his family, The McMahon's. John Cena was able to defeat both the Big Show and Edge to win the World Heavyweight title, after hitting the Attitude Adjustment on both men. JBL vowed to make history at Wrestlemania 25, and did so when Rey Mysterio beat him in quick fashion. JBL promptly retired after the match. Chris Jericho went 1 on 3 against WWE legends Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper and managed to pull off a win, but afterwards he was punched down by actor Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) in the ring.

The highlight match of Wrestlemania 25 had to be The Undertaker putting his undefeated Wrestlemania streak on the line against Shawn Michaels. Both men put their bodies on the line for a highly-entertaining match full of dangerous moves. In the end, the Deadman kept his streak alive by pinning Michaels. With Wrestlemania 25 this exciting, fans can only begin to anticipate how great the next event will be in 2010.  Fans are already looking for Wrestlemania 26 info and tickets prior to next year's big PPV!

Providence, Rhode Island was the site for the April 26, 2009 Pay-Per-View entitled Backlash.  This event saw Edge take on John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship in a "Last Man Standing Match".  The two competitors fought all over the arena, and eventually up the ramp.  The Big Show came out to get involved and slammed John Cena into a large spotlight.  Cena was out of commission and unable to answer the ref's 10 count, making Edge the new champion.

There was a six-man tag match with WWE Champ Triple H teaming with Batista and Shane McMahon.  They faced Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase.  Triple H's WWE title was also on the line should he or his team lose the match.  Randy Orton managed to gain the win over Triple H and took the WWE Title.  In another brother versus brother feud match, Jeff made his brother Matt Hardy say "I quit" to win the match.  Christian managed to hit the Killswitch on ECW Champion Jack Swagger, then pinned him to become new champ.  The Big Red Machine defeated the 2009 Money in the Bank winner CM Punk, while former WWE Superstar Ricky Steamboat laced up his boots one more time to put on a memorable performance against Chris Jericho in the ring.  Jericho won the match despite many amazing moves by the elder Steamboat.

The Judgment Day 2009 Pay-Per-View was held in Chicago, Illinois, May 17, 2009. In the main event World Heavyweight Champion Edge successfully defended his title against former champ Jeff Hardy. Randy Orton also successfully defended his WWE Title by getting disqualified against Batista, after purposely slapping the referee. Rey Mysterio was able to defend the Intercontinental Title against Chris Jericho, and Christian defended the ECW title against Jack Swagger. Also on the card, John Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, Umaga defeated CM Punk and John Cena eventually hit an Attitude Adjustment to pin Big Show. In a non-wrestling moment, wrestler The Miz came to the ring and insulted Cubs baseball player Alfonso Soriano who was seated in the audience, before Santino Marella came to the ring to interrupt.

Extreme Rules took place June 7, 2009 in New Orleans, LA and featured WWE Superstars all competing in matches with different stipulations. There were several title changes that took place during the event. In the ECW's Triple Threat Hardcore match, Tommy Dreamer emerged as new ECW Champion defeating Christian and Jack Swagger. Chris Jericho tore off Rey Mysterio's mask, and the move allowed Jericho to hit a Codebreaker to defeat Mysterio for his Intercontinental Title. CM Punk battled his nemesis in a Samoan Strap match, where the first man to tap all four corners of the ring in succession would win. Punk managed to outlast and outwit Umaga to do so. In a submission match, John Cena was able to make his much bigger opponent, the Big Show tap out to the STF submission hold. The Animal Batista defeated Randy Orton in a seemingly quick steel cage match to win the WWE Championship. In the final match of the night, Jeff Hardy won the World Heavyweight title off Edge in a Ladder match, but several moments later, CM Punk emerged from backstage, cashed in his opportunity for a title shot anytime, anyplace, and then defeated the already worn down Hardy to become the new champion.