Joe Louis Arena in the context of 2017–18 NHL season

The 2009 Royal Rumble was the 22nd annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on January 25, 2009, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2009 event, the winner received their choice to challenge for either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship, SmackDown's WWE Championship, or the ECW Championship at WrestleMania 25.

Five professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event was the 2009 Royal Rumble match, which featured wrestlers from all three brands. Raw's Randy Orton, the eighth entrant, won the match by last eliminating SmackDown's Triple H, the seventh entrant. The primary match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Cena won to retain the title. The primary match on the SmackDown brand was a No Disqualification match between Jeff Hardy and Edge for the WWE Championship, which Edge won to win his fourth and last WWE Championship. The predominant match on the ECW brand was between Jack Swagger and Matt Hardy for the ECW Championship, which Swagger won to retain. This event also marked the first appearance of Rob Van Dam in WWE since One Night Stand in June 2007.

The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The franchise is one of the so called Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. For the next two seasons, the team was named the Detroit Falcons, before changing their name to the Red Wings in 1932.

The Red Wings have won the most Stanley Cup championships of any NHL franchise based in the United States (11), and are third overall amongst active teams in total Stanley Cup championships, behind the Montreal Canadiens (24) and Toronto Maple Leafs (13). The Wings played their home games at Joe Louis Arena from 1979 until 2017, after playing for 52 years at Olympia Stadium. They moved into Little Caesars Arena beginning with the 2017–18 season. The Red Wings are one of the most popular and successful franchises in the NHL; fans and sports commentators refer to the Detroit area as "Hockeytown", which has been a registered trademark owned by the franchise since 1996.

The 1980 Republican National Convention convened at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, from July 14 to July 17, 1980. The Republican National Convention nominated retired Hollywood actor and former Governor Ronald Reagan of California for President of the United States and former Director of Central Intelligence George H. W. Bush of Texas for vice president.

Reagan, running on the theme "Let's Make America Great Again," stayed at the Detroit Plaza Hotel in the Renaissance Center, at the time the world's tallest hotel, and delivered his acceptance speech at Joe Louis Arena. It remains the only major party national political convention to have been held in Detroit.