WWE brand extension in the context of "WWE Championship"

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 2002 to 2013 version of the World Heavyweight Championship was a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was the second world championship to be created by the company, after their original world title, the WWE Championship (1963). The title was one of two top championships in the company from 2002 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2013, complementing the WWE Championship, and one of three top championships from 2006 to 2010 with the addition of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship.

Established in September 2002, its creation came as a result of the WWE Undisputed Championship becoming exclusive to the SmackDown brand which left Raw without a world title due to the introduction of the brand split. Raw then created the World Heavyweight Championship and the title was awarded to Triple H. The titles moved between the brands on different occasions (usually as a result of the WWE Draft) until August 29, 2011, when all programming became full roster "supershows". The World Heavyweight Championship was retired at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, 2013, when it was unified with the WWE Championship with Randy Orton recognized as the final champion.

WrestleMania X8, also known as WrestleMania 18, was a 2002 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 18th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the second WrestleMania at that venue after WrestleMania VI in 1990. The event marked the last WrestleMania of the Attitude Era and the last one held before the introduction of the brand extension just a week after the event. This was the last WrestleMania to be held outside the United States until 2027 when it will be hosted in Saudi Arabia and the venue, renamed to Rogers Centre in 2005, would not host another WWE event until 2025 when Elimination Chamber took place.

Eleven matches were contested at the event. The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the main attraction dubbed "Icon vs. Icon", in what was Hogan's first WrestleMania since WrestleMania IX in 1993. In the final match, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. In other prominent matches on the undercard Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall, The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair in a no disqualification match, and Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

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.

WrestleMania 25, also promoted as The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, was a 2009 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 25th annual WrestleMania and took place on April 5, 2009, at NRG Stadium (previously known as Reliant Stadium) in Houston, Texas, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. This was the second WrestleMania held in Houston, after WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 at the Reliant Astrodome. This would also be the last WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand, as it was dissolved in February 2010, and it was the first WrestleMania of the PG Era.

Eight matches were held on the event's card, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The final match of the night, which was the main match of the Raw brand, was a singles match in which Triple H defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship. The main match of the SmackDown brand was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw John Cena defeat defending champion Edge and Big Show to win the championship. The main match of the ECW brand saw WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) from SmackDown defeat the World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz from ECW in a lumberjack match to unify the two championships; the match took place on the event's pre-show. Another marquee match saw The Undertaker defeat Shawn Michaels to extend his undefeated WrestleMania streak to 17–0. Featured matches on the undercard included Matt Hardy defeating Jeff Hardy in an Extreme Rules match, Chris Jericho defeated the team of Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka, and the annual Money in the Bank ladder match which was won by CM Punk over Christian, Finlay, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, Montel Vontavious Porter and Shelton Benjamin.

WrestleMania 32 was a 2016 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 32nd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last WrestleMania held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, which introduced another world championship, the WWE Universal Championship, thus it was also the last WrestleMania to feature one world championship. It was also the third WrestleMania to be held in the U.S. state of Texas, after WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 and WrestleMania 25 in 2009.

Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. Four matches were particularly considered to be the marquee attractions. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Triple H to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match, Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight, and Charlotte defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugural WWE Women's Championship, which replaced the WWE Divas Championship that Charlotte held going into the event and had been retired during the Kickoff show. The event was also notable for having the shortest WrestleMania match ever, when The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in an impromptu match. The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal included the surprise participation of former National Basketball Association player Shaquille O'Neal; the match was won by NXT's Baron Corbin in his main roster debut.

Raw is a brand of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE that was established on March 25, 2002. Brands are divisions of WWE's roster where wrestlers are assigned to perform on a weekly basis when a brand extension is in effect. Wrestlers assigned to Raw primarily appear on the brand's weekly television program, Monday Night Raw, which began in 1993, also referred to simply as Raw. It is one of WWE's two main brands, along with SmackDown, which was made in 2002 after absorbing the WCW. They are collectively referred to as WWE's main roster. The brand extension was discontinued between August 2011 and July 2016.

In addition to Raw's main television program, less-utilized wrestlers also appear on the brand's supplementary show, Main Event. Raw's wrestlers also perform on the branded and co-branded pay-per-view and livestreaming events and the quarterly Saturday Night's Main Event special. During the first brand split (2002–2011), Raw wrestlers also competed on the former supplementary show, Heat, and on ECW under a talent exchange program with the former ECW brand, while during the second brand split (2016–present), the brand's wrestlers have appeared in the interbrand Worlds Collide, Mixed Match Challenge, and annual Tribute to the Troops events. Additionally during the second split, Raw's cruiserweight wrestlers competed on 205 Live when WWE's revived cruiserweight division was exclusive to Raw from 2016 to 2018 before 205 Live became its own brand.