WrestleMania in the context of "WrestleMania 2000"

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.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon (/məkˈmæn/ mək-MAN; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Outside of professional wrestling, McMahon has occasionally ventured into promoting other sports. His projects have included the World Bodybuilding Federation and the XFL football league.

McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968, and began his tenure in professional wrestling as a commentator for WWE (then called the World Wide Wrestling Federation or WWWF) for most of the 1970s. He bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982 and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States. This led to the development of the annual event WrestleMania, which became the world's most successful professional wrestling event. WWE then faced industry competition from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the 1990s before purchasing and absorbing WCW in 2001. WWE also purchased the assets of the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2003.

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name "the Rock", is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era. He wrestled for the WWF full-time for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $11.4 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing actors of all time. He is a co-owner of the United Football League, a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings—the parent company of UFC and WWE—and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions.

After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player. Despite aspirations to play professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season. In 1996, his father assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left the WWE in 2004; he returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013 and made sporadic appearances from thereon until his retirement in 2019; in 2023, he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion—including the promotion's first of African-American descent—he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times (15, 16, 17, 28, 29, and 40 – Night 1) which includes the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most-watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).

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.

Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. After the inaugural 1988 event aired as a television special on the USA Network, the Royal Rumble has been broadcast via pay-per-view since the 1989 event and livestreaming since the 2015 event. The event is traditionally held in late January, but in 2025, it was held in early February. It is one of WWE's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".

The Royal Rumble match is generally held as the main event of the annual event. There are some exceptions, such as the 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, and 2023 events. In 1988, the main event was a tag team match, while for all the others, it was a men's world championship match. While originally only for men, a women's version of the Royal Rumble match was held as the main event at the 2018 event, which was also the first event to have two Rumble matches on one card. It subsequently became standard to have both a men's and women's Royal Rumble match at the annual event. The 2025 event was the first to be held in a National Football League stadium, while the 2026 event will be the first to take place outside of North America as it will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will be the first of WWE's "Big Five" held in the country.

The 2002 Royal Rumble was the 15th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment. It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Six matches were contested at the event.

As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2002 event, the winner received a match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania X8—this was the last Royal Rumble until 2014 to feature one world championship. The main event was the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Triple H, who last eliminated Kurt Angle. In other prominent matches, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship, Ric Flair wrestled his first WWE match in 9 years by defeating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, and William Regal defeated Edge to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

The 2016 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 29th annual Royal Rumble and took place on January 24, 2016, at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The event was also the fifth Royal Rumble pay-per-view to be held in the U.S. state of Florida, after the 1990, 1991, 1995, and 2006 events, the second to be held in Orlando (after 1990), and WWE's first pay-per-view event to be held at the Amway Center.

Traditionally since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner receives a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2016 event, however, Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the 2016 Royal Rumble match and as the number one entrant. This was the main event match, which was won by the returning Triple H, who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win the championship. This was Triple H's second Royal Rumble win and he became the third person to win the match as the number 30 entrant. This was only the second time that a Royal Rumble winner won the world championship for winning the eponymous match, after the 1992 event, where the vacant title was the prize, however, it was the first in which the reigning champion defended the title in the match.