John Cena in the context of "WrestleMania 25"

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.

Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. Opened in 1992, it was then the second-largest covered stadium in the world by capacity, behind the Pontiac Silverdome. Though the Georgia Dome was a profitable facility, its primary tenant, the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, grew dissatisfied with it less than two decades after its opening and began planning for a replacement stadium. It was closed and demolished in November 2017.

In addition to the Falcons, the Georgia Dome was also the home of the Georgia State University Panthers football team. It hosted two Super Bowls (XXVIII and XXXIV), 25 editions of the Peach Bowl (January 1993–December 2016) and 23 SEC Championship Games (1994−2016). In addition, the Georgia Dome also hosted several soccer matches since 2009 with attendances over 50,000. In its 25 years of operation, the Georgia Dome hosted over 1,400 events attended by over 37 million people. The Georgia Dome was the only stadium in the United States to host the Summer Olympics, Super Bowl and NCAA men's basketball Final Four. The Georgia Dome also hosted WrestleMania XXVII with The Rock as the host, and it was the biggest event in the venue. John Cena vs The Miz was the main event for the WWE Championship.

The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two men's world titles on WWE's main roster, along with the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. The current champion is Cody Rhodes, who is in his second reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion John Cena in a Street Fight on Night 2 of SummerSlam on August 3, 2025.

The original world championship of the promotion, it was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963, as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after the promotion seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) following a dispute over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers. Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications. It is the oldest championship currently active in WWE, and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title, with many matches for the title having headlined pay-per-view and livestreaming events—including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania. In professional wrestling in general, it is considered to be one of the most prestigious championships of all time.

WrestleMania XX was a 2004 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 20th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. This was the third WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden, after WrestleMania I in 1985 and WrestleMania X in 1994, and the fourth of six WrestleManias in the New York metropolitan area, alongside WrestleMania I, 2, X, 29, and 35. This is the most recent WrestleMania to be held at Madison Square Garden and its calendar date of March 14 is the earliest date for a WrestleMania.

The match card featured two billed main events. The card's final match, which was the main event for the Raw brand, was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw champion Triple H defending the title against Shawn Michaels, and that year's Royal Rumble match winner, Chris Benoit, who won the match, making Triple H submit via the Crippler Crossface, resulting in his first and only world championship in WWE. The main event for the SmackDown! brand featured Eddie Guerrero versus Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship, which Guerrero won by a Small Package pin. The event also featured the return of The Undertaker in his Deadman persona, who defeated Kane after a Tombstone Piledriver. John Cena made his in-ring WrestleMania debut at the event, defeating Big Show to win his first title in WWE, the WWE United States Championship.

WrestleMania 21, also promoted as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, was a 2005 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 21st annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2005, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions.

The main event of the show, which was the main match from the Raw brand, saw Batista challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb. The main match on the SmackDown! brand, which was the event's penultimate match, saw John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defend the WWE Championship against John Cena, which Cena won by pinfall after performing an FU, marking Cena's first world title reign.

WrestleMania 22 was a 2006 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 22nd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 2, 2006, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions.

There were two main events, which were the main matches for each brand. The final match, which was the main match from the Raw brand, was John Cena versus Triple H for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after forcing Triple H to submit to the STFU. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between champion Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton. Mysterio won the match and the World Heavyweight Championship after pinning Orton following a 619 and a West Coast Pop—during Mysterio's reign, the championship was simply called the World Championship due to Mysterio not being a heavyweight wrestler.

The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE United States Championship on SmackDown. The current champion is Dominik Mysterio, who is in his second reign. He won the title by defeating previous champion John Cena at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29, 2025.

The championship was established by the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on September 1, 1979, as a result of the WWF North American Heavyweight Championship being unified with an apocryphal South American Heavyweight Championship, with Pat Patterson as the inaugural champion. It is the third-oldest championship currently active in WWE, behind the WWE Championship (1963) and United States Championship (1975), but the second-longest tenured championship, as WWE has only owned the U.S. championship since 2001. Although generally contested in the midcard at WWE shows, it has been defended in the main event of pay-per-views including WrestleMania VI, SummerSlam in 1992, the third and eighth In Your House shows, Backlash in 2001, and at Extreme Rules in 2018. It has been called a "stepping stone" to a WWE world championship.

WrestleMania 41, also promoted as WrestleMania Vegas, was a 2025 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 41st annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was the second WrestleMania to take place in the Las Vegas Valley, after WrestleMania IX in 1993, which was held at Caesars Palace.

This was the first WrestleMania to livestream on Netflix in most international markets as the platform began a 10-year rights deal with WWE in January 2025 as well as the last WrestleMania to livestream on Peacock in the United States as ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service will begin a five-year rights deal with WWE, starting with Wrestlepalooza in September 2025. This was the first WrestleMania held during Easter weekend and the first WrestleMania to feature a match with CM Punk since WrestleMania 29 in 2013, which included the first WrestleMania main event of his career. The event also featured John Cena's final WrestleMania match due to his retirement from professional wrestling at the end of 2025, as well as his first WrestleMania main event match since WrestleMania 29. Its calendar date of April 19–20 is the latest that a WrestleMania has been held.