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 - Royal Rumble
Release Date: 2008-01-26Royal Rumble (2008) was the twenty-first annual Royal Rumble PPV. It took place on January 27, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands. The event was also the first WWE pay-per-view broadcast in high definition. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a match at that year's WrestleMania. 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 Randy Orton versus Jeff Hardy for the WWE Championship. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. The featured matches on the undercard were Montel Vontavious Porter versus Ric Flair in a Career Threatening match and John "Bradshaw" Layfield versus Chris Jericho.
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Episode 2 - No Way Out
Release Date: 2008-02-18No Way Out (2008) was the tenth annual No Way Out PPV. It took place on February 17, 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the Raw brand was an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Umaga, and JBL all competed. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was Edge versus Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. The primary match on the ECW brand was Chavo Guerrero versus CM Punk for the ECW Championship. The predominant match on the Raw brand was Randy Orton versus John Cena for the WWE Championship. The featured match on the undercard was an Elimination Chamber match to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXIV featuring Batista, Finlay, MVP, The Undertaker, The Great Khali, and Big Daddy V.
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Episode 3 - WrestleMania XXIV
Release Date: 2008-03-30WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania PPV. The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The first main event was a Singles match from the SmackDown brand that featured The Undertaker challenging World Heavyweight Champion Edge for the title. The second was a Triple Threat match from the Raw brand, in which WWE Champion Randy Orton defended against challengers Triple H and John Cena. The third was a singles match featuring ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero defending against Kane. Other matches include a No DQ match with Floyd Mayweather Jr. fighting The Big Show, a Money in the Bank ladder match with Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, CM Punk, Mr. Kennedy, Jericho, and John Morrison, and a retirement match between Shawn Michaels & Ric Flair.
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Episode 4 - Backlash
Release Date: 2008-04-27Backlash (2008) was the tenth annual Backlash PPV. It took place on April 27, 2008 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. The event starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main event was a Fatal Four-Way Elimination for the WWE Championship match featuring WWE Champion Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. The other main event featured wrestlers from the SmackDown brand, in which World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker defended against challenger Edge in a singles match. The main event from the ECW brand was a singles match where ECW Champion Kane defended against challenger Chavo Guerrero. In addition, a featured bout was scheduled on the undercard, in which Shawn Michaels fought Batista. Backlash (2008) had an attendance of approximately 11,277 and received 200,000 buys.
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Episode 5 - Judgment Day
Release Date: 2008-05-18Judgment Day (2008) was a PPV sponsored by Lionsgate's Rambo, which took place on May 18, 2008 at the Qwest Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the tenth annual Judgment Day event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The RAW main event was a Steel Cage match featuring WWE Champion Triple H defending against Randy Ortonfor the title. In SmackDown's main match, Edge challenged The Undertaker for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. In ECW's prime match, WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz defended against Kane and CM Punk. Other matches included Shawn Michaels versus Chris Jericho and John "Bradshaw" Layfield versus John Cena. Judgment Day received 252,000 pay-per-view buys.
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Episode 6 - One Night Stand
Release Date: 2008-06-01One Night Stand (2008) was a PPV that took place on June 1, 2008 at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. It was the fourth and final event promoted under the One Night Stand name. The event featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the SmackDown! brand was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and The Undertaker with a stipulation that The Undertaker has to leave the WWE if he looses. The predominant match on the Raw brand was a Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship between Triple H and Randy Orton. The primary match on the ECW brand was a Singapore Cane match involving The Big Show, CM Punk, John Morrison, Chavo Guerrero, and Tommy Dreamer. Featured matches on the undercard included Shawn Michaels versus Batista in a Stretcher match, and John Cena versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield in a First Blood match.
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Episode 7 - Night of Champions
Release Date: 2008-06-29Night of Champions (2008) was a PPV presented by P&G's Gillette Fusion Power, which took place on June 29, 2008 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It was the first annual event to be promoted solely under the Night of Champions name and the eighth annual event under the Vengeance/Night of Champions chronology. It starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main event was an interpromotional match for the WWE Championship between SmackDown representative, Triple H, and Raw representative, John Cena. The main match was also an interpromotional match for the World Heavyweight Championship between SmackDown representative, Edge, and Raw representative, Batista. The main match from the ECW brand was an interpromotional standard match involving three wrestlers for the ECW Championship featuring ECW's Mark Henry, Raw's Kane, and SmackDown's The Big Show.
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Episode 8 - Great American Bash
Release Date: 2008-07-20The Great American Bash (2008) was the fifth annual Great American Bash PPV. It was presented by AT&T and took place on July 20, 2008 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main match on the SmackDown brand was between Triple H and Edge for the WWE Championship. The primary match on the Raw brand was between CM Punk and Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. The predominant match on the ECW brand was between Mark Henry and Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Championship. The featured matches on the undercard included John Cena versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a New York City Parking Lot Brawl and Shawn Michaels versus Chris Jericho. The event also crowned the first ever WWE Divas Champion, and it was the last pay-per-view event by WWE before transitioning to PG rating.
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Episode 9 - SummerSlam
Release Date: 2008-08-17Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Edge WWE Championship: Triple H vs. The Great Khali World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk vs. JBL
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Episode 10 - Unforgiven
Release Date: 2008-09-07Unforgiven (2008) was a PPV, which took place on September 7, 2008 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the 11th and final annual Unforgiven event, starring wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main event of the pay-per-view was the Championship Scramble from the Raw brand. It was originally scheduled to feature World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defending his title; he was replaced by Chris Jericho after Randy Orton attacked CM Punk. The Championship Scramble from the ECW brand featured ECW Champion Mark Henry defending the title. The SmackDown brand's Championship Scramble saw WWE Champion Triple H defend his championship. Another featured match on the undercard was a hardcore match in which Shawn Michaels fought Chris Jericho.
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Episode 11 - No Mercy
Release Date: 2008-10-05No Mercy (2008) was a PPV which took place on October 5, 2008 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. It was the 11th and final annual No Mercy event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands. The first main event featured World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho defending his championship from Shawn Michaels in a ladder match. The other main event featured defending WWE Champion Triple H versus challenger Jeff Hardy in a singles match. Three featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a singles match between Batista fought John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the chance become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Another singles match had the The Undertaker versus Big Show. The third was a singles match for the ECW Championship, in which the champion Mark Henry challenged champion Matt Hardy.
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Episode 12 - Cyber Sunday
Release Date: 2008-10-26Cyber Sunday (2008) was the fifth and final Cyber Sunday (the third under this name) PPV. It took place on October 26, 2008 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, ECW, and SmackDown brands. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the special guest referee as Chris Jericho defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Batista. Triple H defended the WWE Championship against Jeff Hardy in a singles match. The Big Show and The Undertaker competed in a Last Man Standing match while the Santino Marella defended his Intercontinental Championship against a fan vote between Honky Tonk Man, Roddy Piper, or Goldust. Matt Hardy defended the ECW Championship against Evan Bourne and Rey Mysterio fought Kane in a fan voted match.
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Episode 13 - Survivor Series
Release Date: 2008-11-23Survivor Series (2008) was a PPV that took place on November 23, 2008 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, It was presented by THQ's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. The event, the 22nd Survivor Series, featured talent from WWE's all three brands, Raw, SmackDown and ECW. The main event was for the World Heavyweight Championship between John Cena, and the champion, Chris Jericho. Another match on the event was the SmackDown main event, which saw Edge, Vladimir Kozlov, and the champion Triple H, in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship. The undercard matches included The Undertaker versus The Big Show in a Casket Match and three five-on-five elimination tag team matches.
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Episode 14 - Armageddon
Release Date: 2008-12-14Armageddon (2008) was a PPV presented by Ubisoft's Prince of Persia. It took place on December 14, 2008 at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. It featured professional wrestlers and other talent from all WWE's three brands: Raw, SmackDown and ECW. It was the ninth and final event within the Armageddon chronology. During the SmackDown main event, WWE Champion Edge defended the title against Triple H and Jeff Hardy in a Triple Threat match. The Raw main event featured the World Heavyweight Championship contested in a singles match between champion John Cena and Chris Jericho. The undercard featured several matches, including CM Punk against Rey Mysterio in the finals of a tournament to determine the number-one contender to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, and Randy Orton versus Batista in a standard wrestling match.