WWE Pay Per View (1985)
The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting pay-per-view (PPV) events since the 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series) were first established—the company's very first PPV was WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002, the company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown, representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown. The traditional "Big Four" continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPV events alternated between Raw and SmackDown cards. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent PPV events would feature performers from all brands. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition.
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Episode 1 - New Year's Revolution
Release Date: 2007-01-07New Year's Revolution (2007) was the third annual and final New Year's Revolution PPV. It took place on January 7, 2007 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri and featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE's Raw brand. The main event was a singles match, in which WWE Champion John Cena defended against challenger Umaga. Two predominant bouts were featured on the undercard. The first was a Tag team match, in which World Tag Team Champions Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton) fought D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels). Another main match was a steel cage match with WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Johnny Nitro.
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Episode 2 - Royal Rumble
Release Date: 2007-01-28Royal Rumble (2007) was the twentieth annual Royal Rumble PPV. It took place on January 28, 2007 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown! and ECW brands. The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from all three brands. The primary match on the Raw brand was a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship between John Cena and Umaga. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus Mr. Kennedy for the World Heavyweight Championship. The featured match on the ECW brand was between Bobby Lashley and Test for the ECW World Championship
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Episode 3 - No Way Out
Release Date: 2007-02-18No Way Out (2007) was the ninth annual No Way Out PPV event. It took place on February 18, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and was the final branded pay-per-view before the brand split ended. The main event was an interpromotional tag team match between Batista and The Undertaker (from SmackDown!) and John Cena and Shawn Michaels (from Raw). The main match on the undercard was an interpromotional Six-man tag team match between the team of Chris Benoit and The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and the team of MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) and Montel Vontavious Porter.
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Episode 4 - WrestleMania 23
Release Date: 2007-04-01WrestleMania 23 was the twenty-third annual WrestleMania PPV. It took place on April 1, 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The event was a joint-brand pay-per-view, featuring performers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. The primary match on the ECW brand was an Eight Man Tag Team match between The ECW Originals and The New Breed. The featured matches on the undercard included Bobby Lashley versus Umaga and an interpromotional Money in the Bank ladder match. It set an all-time Ford Field attendance record of 80,103. WrestleMania 23 grossed US$5.38 million in ticket sales, breaking the previous record of $3.9 million held at WrestleMania X8. With about 1.25 million buys, the event is the highest WWE pay-per-view buyrate in history.
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Episode 5 - Backlash
Release Date: 2007-04-29Backlash (2007) was a PPV which took place on April 29, 2007 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the ninth annual event under the Backlash name and starred talent from Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. The main match on the Raw brand was a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Championship involving champion John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, and Shawn Michaels. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between The Undertaker and Batista. The featured match on the ECW brand was Bobby Lashley versus Team McMahon (Umaga, Vince and Shane McMahon) in a Handicap match for the ECW World Championship.
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Episode 6 - Judgment Day
Release Date: 2007-04-29Backlash (2007) was a PPV which took place on April 29, 2007 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. It was the ninth annual event under the Backlash name and starred talent from Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. The main match on the Raw brand was a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE Championship involving champion John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, and Shawn Michaels. The primary match on the SmackDown! brand was a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship between The Undertaker and Batista. The featured match on the ECW brand was Bobby Lashley versus Team McMahon (Umaga, Vince and Shane McMahon) in a Handicap match for the ECW World Championship.
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Episode 7 - One Night Stand
Release Date: 2007-06-03One Night Stand (2007) was the third annual One Night Stand PPV and was presented by Gilette. It took place on June 3, 2007 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus The Great Khali in a Pinfalls Count Anywhere match for the WWE Championship. The featured match on the SmackDown! brand was Edge versus Batista in a Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The primary match on the ECW brand was Vince McMahon versus Bobby Lashley in a Street Fight for the ECW Championship. The featured matches on the undercard included Rob Van Dam versus Randy Orton in a Stretcher match and a Ladder match for the World Tag Team Championship between The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) and The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas).
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Episode 8 - Vengeance: Night of Champions
Release Date: 2007-06-24Vengeance: Night of Champions was the seventh annual PPV within its Vengeance/Night of Champions chronology. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The event was presented by RAW Attitude Energy Drink and took place on June 24, 2007 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This event was notable for being on the weekend of the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide case. Benoit, who was originally booked to face CM Punk for the vacant ECW World Championship, legitimately no-showed. The main event featured the Raw brand. It saw John Cena defend the WWE Championship against Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, and King Booker. The featured match from the SmackDown brand was a "Last Chance match" for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Batista. The primary match from the ECW brand was CM Punk versus Johnny Nitro for the vacant ECW World Championship.
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Episode 9 - The Great American Bash
Release Date: 2007-07-22The Great American Bash (2007) was the fourth annual Great American Bash PPV. It was presented by Ziddio and took place on July 22, 2007 from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between The Great Khali, Batista and Kane. The primary match on the ECW brand was John Morrison versus CM Punk for the ECW Championship. The featured matches on the undercard included Montel Vontavious Porter versus Matt Hardy for the WWE United States Championship and Randy Orton versus Dusty Rhodes in a Texas Bullrope match.
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Episode 10 - SummerSlam
Release Date: 2007-08-26SummerSlam (2007) was the twentieth annual SummerSlam PPV. It was presented by THQ's Stuntman Ignition. It took place on August 26, 2007 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and featured talent from each of WWE's three brands: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. The main feud, heading into the event from the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton. From SmackDown, the predominant feud was between The Great Khali and Batista. After Khali defeated Batista and Kane in a Triple Threat match, a match between three wrestlers contested under standard rules, Theodore Long booked Khali to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista at SummerSlam. The primary feud from ECW was between John Morrison and CM Punk. By defeating Morrison in a 15 Minutes of Fame match, Punk became the number one contender to the ECW Championship at SummerSlam.
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Episode 11 - Unforgiven
Release Date: 2007-09-16Unforgiven (2007) was the tenth annual Unforgiven PPV. It took place on September 16, 2007 from the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the SmackDown brand was The Undertaker versus Mark Henry. The predominant match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.The primary match on the ECW brand was CM Punk versus Elijah Burke for the ECW Championshi. The featured matches on the undercard included The Great Khali versus Batista versus Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship and Triple H versus Carlito in a match where Carlito could not be disqualified.
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Episode 12 - No Mercy
Release Date: 2007-10-07No Mercy (2007) was a PPV presented by AT&T, which took place on October 7, 2007 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the 10th annual No Mercy event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown! and ECW brands. The first main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand in a Last Man Standing match between WWE Champion Triple H and Randy Orton. The other main event featured wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand, in which defending World Heavyweight Champion Batista defended against challenger The Great Khali in a Punjabi Prison match. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a singles match, WWE Champion Triple H defended his title against Umaga. The other was a singles match between Finlay and Rey Mysterio.
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Episode 13 - Cyber Sunday
Release Date: 2007-10-28Cyber Sunday (2007) was the fourth annual Cyber Sunday PPV. It was presented by Fathead and took place on October 28, 2007 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The most important feature of Cyber Sunday is the ability for fans to vote online through WWE.com on certain aspects of every match. The main match on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. The Special Guest Referee was either Steve Austin, John "Bradshaw" Layfield or Mick Foley. The predominant match on the Raw brand was for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton and the fans' choice of either Shawn Michaels, Jeff Hardy or Mr. Kennedy. The voting for the event started on October 9, 2007, and ended during the event.
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Episode 14 - Survivor Series
Release Date: 2007-11-18Survivor Series (2007) was a PPV which took place on November 18, 2007 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. It was presented by THQ's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008. It was the 21st annual Survivor Series and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. The main event featured SmackDown wrestlers in a Hell in a Cell match where World Heavyweight Champion Batista defended against challenger The Undertaker. In Raw's main match, Randy Orton fought Shawn Michaels in a singles match, while in ECW's prime match, ECW Champion CM Punk defended his title against John Morrison and The Miz in a Triple Threat match. Two matches were on the undercard. The first was a singles match featuring The Great Khali vs. Hornswoggle. The other featured Team Triple H (Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio and Kane) wrestling Team Umaga (Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, Montel Vontavious Porter, Finlay and Big Daddy V) in an inter-brand five-on-four Survivor Series elimination tag team match.
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Episode 15 - Armageddon
Release Date: 2007-12-16Chris Jericho attempts to save us from WWE Champion Randy Orton. The war between Batista and Undertaker escalates with a new combatant, Edge, in the picture and any friendship that existed between Triple H and Jeff Hardy vanishes when they clash for a title shot. Armageddon arrives for the Superstars of Raw, Smackdown and ECW.