WrestleMania 25 in the context of "SmackDown (WWE brand)"

Paul Michael Levesque (/ləˈvɛk/; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, professional wrestling promoter and retired wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer, head of creative, and is an executive producer.

Levesque began his wrestling career in 1992 under the ring name Terra Ryzing, and gained his first mainstream exposure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994, becoming known as Jean-Paul Levesque. In 1995, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and became known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, which was later shortened to Triple H. In WWF, he gained fame during the Attitude Era as a member of The Kliq and co-founder of D-Generation X. Amongst other wrestling accomplishments, he is a 14-time world champion in WWE, having won the WWF/WWE Championship nine times and the World Heavyweight Championship five times, a 2-time Royal Rumble winner (2002, 2016), the seventh Triple Crown winner, and second Grand Slam winner. He has headlined multiple WWE pay-per-view events, including its flagship annual event, WrestleMania, seven times (16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25, and 32). In 2022, he retired from working as an in-ring performer due to health concerns but remains active in an executive role and as an on-screen presence.

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.

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.

The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank event was established in 2010. The prize of the match is a briefcase containing a contract for a championship match of the winner's choice, which, within WWEs fictional storyline, can be "cashed in" by the holder of the briefcase at any point in the year following their victory. If the contract is not used within a year of winning it, it will be invalid, but this has yet to happen. From its inception until 2017, the match only involved male wrestlers, with the contract being for a world championship match. Beginning with the 2017 Money in the Bank event, women also have the opportunity to compete in such a match, with their prize being a contract for a women's championship match. As of the 2022 event, winners can use the contract on any championship.

The first match was contested in 2005 at WrestleMania 21, after Chris Jericho invented the concept. At the time, it was exclusive to wrestlers of the Raw brand and Edge won the inaugural match. From then until WrestleMania XXVI in March 2010, the Money in the Bank ladder match, now open to all WWE brands, became a WrestleMania mainstay. The 2010 Money in the Bank event saw a second and third Money in the Bank ladder match when the eponymous event debuted that July, with WrestleMania no longer featuring the match. Unlike the matches at WrestleMania, this titular event included two such ladder matches: one each for a contract for a WWE Championship match and a World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) match, respectively.

John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American professional wrestling color commentator, retired professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he is an ambassador and commentator for the company.

Layfield rose to prominence in WWE during its Attitude Era under the ring name Bradshaw, during which time he became a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Ron Simmons as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) or simply the Acolytes, a feared pair of strong and tough mercenaries who, aside from occasionally wrestling and doing "work" for "clients" spent most of their time sitting around in their "office" playing cards, drinking beer, fighting people backstage and then going out to bars and getting into bar fights. In 2004, Simmons retired and the APA separated, and Layfield was rebranded as the heel character JBL— a rough-mannered, brawling, blustering, bad-tempered and bigmouthed Texas elite businessman, driven into the arena by limousine. The gimmick was built off of Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Later that year, he captured the WWE Championship and held it for 280 days, at the time the longest reign since Diesel’s one year long reign from 1994 to 1995. A month before his in-ring retirement at 2009's WrestleMania 25, he became Intercontinental Champion, which made him the 20th Triple Crown Champion and the 10th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.