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: 2009-01-25The 22nd annual Royal Rumble with the winner receiving a title shot at WrestleMania XXV. Also, WWE Title (No DQ Match): Edge vs. Jeff Hardy, World Heavyweight Title: John Cena vs. John ' Bradshaw' Layfield, ECW Title: Jack Swagger vs. Matt Hardy, & WWE Women's Title: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina
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Episode 2 - No Way Out
Release Date: 2009-02-15No Way Out (2009) was a PPV presented by AT&T. It took place on February 15, 2009 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was the 11th event under the No Way Out name and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands. The main event on the Raw brand was an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship between John Cena(c), Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Edge, Mike Knox, and Kane. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship featuring Edge(c), The Undertaker, Triple H, The Big SHow, Jeff Hardy, and Vladimir Kozlov. The primary match on the ECW brand was for the ECW Championship between Jack Swagger and Finlay. The undercard also featured two more matches from the Raw brand. The first was a No Holds Barred match between Randy Orton and Shane McMahon and the other saw Shawn Michaels versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
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Episode 3 - WrestleMania XXV
Release Date: 2009-04-05WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania PPV. It was presented by the National Guard and took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The first main event was a singles match for the WWE Championship that featured the champion, Triple H, defending against Randy Orton. The second was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, between defedning champion Edge against John Cena & Big Show. The third main event was The Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels. Featured matches on the undercard included, Jeff Hardy versus Matt Hardy in an Extreme Rules match, Chris Jericho versus the team of Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka, and the annual Money in the Bank ladder match featuring Kane, MVP, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, Christian, & Finlay. With an attendance of 72,744, it is the 6th largest attendance in WrestleMania history.
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Episode 4 - Backlash
Release Date: 2009-04-26Backlash (2009) was a PPV that took place on April 26, 2009, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The 11th and final event under the Backlash banner, it featured talent from all three WWE brands: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. The event's card featured seven matches. The main event consisted of a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which Edge competed against John Cena. The other main match scheduled on the event's card was a Six-Man Tag Team match for the WWE Championship between Triple H (champion), Batista and Shane McMahon, and The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase). Other matches included an "I Quit" match between Jeff and Matt Hardy and three singles matches: Christian versus Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship, followed by CM Punk versus Kane, and Chris Jericho versus Ricky Steamboat.
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Episode 5 - Judgement Day
Release Date: 2009-05-17Judgment Day (2009), a PPV presented by Columbia Picture's Terminator Salvation, took place on May 17, 2009 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. It was the eleventh and final show under the Judgment Day name and the tenth show held annually; it featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main event for the show saw Edge defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Jeff Hardy. Two other highly-publicized matches also occurred. The first pitted WWE Champion, Randy Orton, against Batista while the other match was between Big Show and John Cena. The undercard for the show had four other singles matches: CM Punk versus Umaga, ECW Champion Christian defending the championship against Jack Swagger, John Morrison versus Shelton Benjamin, and Rey Mysterio defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Chris Jericho.
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Episode 6 - Extreme Rules
Release Date: 2009-06-07Extreme Rules (2009) was a PPV which took place on June 7, 2009 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana and was presented by AT&T. It was the first event promoted under the Extreme Rules name, and initially noted by WWE to be a direct continuation of the One Night Stand chronology. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The main event was a Ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw Jeff Hardy challenge reigning champion Edge. There were also two other highly-publicized matches; the first was a steel cage match for the WWE Championship between the champion Randy Orton and Batista, as well as a submission match between The Big Show and John Cena. Featured matches on the undercard included a No Holds Barred match between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, CM Punk versus Umaga in a Samoan Strap match and a Triple Threat Hardcore match for the ECW Championship.
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Episode 7 - The Bash
Release Date: 2009-06-28The Bash was a PPV presented by Gillette's Fusion Power, which took place on June 28, 2009 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was the sixth show in WWE's production lineage for The Great American Bash event (twentieth overall) and the only one to be referred to as The Bash. Two title defenses included a 3 Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship featuring Triple H and Randy Orton and the World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defending against Jeff Hardy. John Cena fought The Miz in their first official matchup, ECW Champion Tommy Dreamer defended his title against Christian, Jack Swagger, Finlay, and Mark Henry in a Championship Scramble match, Chris Jericho wagered the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio's mask, Dolph Ziggler versus The Great Khali in a No Disqualification match, The Colóns defended the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Legacy and Edge and Chris Jericho, and Michelle McCool challenged Melina for the WWE Women's Championship.
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Episode 8 - Night Of Champions
Release Date: 2009-07-26Night of Champions (2009) was a PPV which took place on July 26, 2009 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the second annual event to be promoted solely under the Night of Champions name and the ninth annual event under the Vengeance/Night of Champions chronology. The main event matches featured were: Jeff Hardy versus CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena, Mickie James versus the WWE Divas Champ Maryse, and Dolph Ziggler challenging WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio. The undercard featured Chris Jericho and The Big Show defending the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Legacy, Christian versus Tommy Dreamer for the ECW Championship, Kofi Kingston defending the WWE United States Championship in a Six-Pack Challenge against Montel Vontavious Porter, The Miz, Carlito, Primo, and Jack Swagger, and Michelle McCool defending the WWE Women's Championship against Melina.
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Episode 9 - SummerSlam
Release Date: 2009-08-23SummerSlam (2009) was a PPV which took place on August 23, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and was presented by 7-Eleven. It was the 22nd annual SummerSlam event. The main events of the evening included: CM Punk challenging World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the title, John Cena challenging WWE Champion Randy Orton for the title, William Regal challenging ECW Champion Christian for the title, and D-Generation X's Triple H and Shawn Michaels versus The Legacy's Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Other matches featured on the show were WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio versus Dolph Ziggler, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) against Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho and The Big Show defending the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against Cryme Tyme, and Kane facing The Great Khali.
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Episode 10 - Breaking Point
Release Date: 2009-09-13Breaking Point was a PPV presented by Eidos Interactive's Batman: Arkham Asylum. It took place on September 13, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The name of the event was voted by fans and was chosen over Submission Sunday, Total Submission, and Submit & Quit. Each main event match was to be contested under submission rules. The main events included CM Punk defending against The Undertaker in a submission match for the World Heavyweight Championship, John Cena challenging Randy Orton in an "I Quit" match for the WWE Championship, and The Legacy versus D-Generation X in a Submissions Count Anywhere match. Other matches featured on the show were Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show versus Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry, Kofi Kingston defending the WWE United States Championship against The Miz, Kane facing The Great Khali in a Singapore Cane match and Christian versus William Regal for the ECW Championship.
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Episode 11 - Hell In A Cell
Release Date: 2009-10-04Hell in a Cell (2009) was a PPV presented by Ubisoft's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, which took place on October 4, 2009 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was the first Hell in a Cell event. Each of the main event matches were contested in a Hell in a Cell match. The main events of the evening included D-Generation X's Triple H and Shawn Michaels versus The Legacy's Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, Randy Orton challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship, and The Undertaker challenging CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship. Other matches featured on the show were John Morrison defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, Mickie James versus Alicia Fox for the WWE Divas Championship, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show versus Batista and Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre facing R-Truth, and a Triple Threat match for the WWE United States Championship among Kofi Kingston, The Miz and Jack Swagger.
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Episode 12 - Bragging Rights
Release Date: 2009-10-25Bragging Rights (2009) was a PPV presented by THQ's WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010. It took place on October 25, 2009 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first Bragging Rights event. A Bragging Rights trophy was awarded to the show that won the most matches. Matches included Raw's US Champion The Miz versus SmackDown's IC Champion John Morrison, SmackDown's team of Michelle, Beth and Natalya versus Raw's team of Melina, Kelly and Gail, and Raw's team of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry versus SmackDown's team of Jericho, Kane, R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith. The show also contained three world championship matches including the main event where Randy Orton defended against John Cena in an Anything Goes Iron Man match for the WWE Championship, and The Undertaker defended against CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and Batista in a Fatal Four-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
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Episode 13 - Survivor Series
Release Date: 2009-11-22Survivor Series (2009) was a PPV which took place on November 22, 2009 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.. It was the 23rd annual Survivor Series event. There were two matches that were deemed the main events of the program. The first was the triple threat match featuring The Undertaker defending the World Heavyweight Championship against the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show. This was also followed by the another triple threat main event match with John Cena defending the WWE Championship against Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Four matches comprised the undercard of the event. The first was the team of WWE US Champion The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, and Dolph Ziggler versus WWE IC Champion John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay, and Evan Bourne. This was later followed by Kofi Kingston leading the team of Christian, MVP, Mark Henry, and R-Truth versus Randy Orton, CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase.
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Episode 14 - TLC: Tables Ladders & Chairs
Release Date: 2009-12-13TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2009) was the first annual TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs PPV. It took place on December 13, 2009 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Each main match contained a stipulation utilizing tables, ladders and chairs as legal weapons. The primary matches included Christian challenging Shelton Benjamin in a Ladder match for the ECW Championship, Sheamus challenging John Cena in a Tables match for the WWE Championship, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker, defending his title against Batista in a Chair match and the main event, where Chris Jericho and The Big Show defended against D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. Other matches in the card included John Morrison versus Drew McIntyre for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Michelle McCool versus Mickie James for the WWE Women's Championship and Randy Orton versus Kofi Kingston.