The main events for the Raw and SmackDown brands were their at-the-time annual Elimination Chamber matches for their respective world championships.

The WWE Championship was contested for in the Smackdown main event with champion Edge defending against Jeff Hardy, Triple H, The Undertaker, The Big Show, and Vladimir Kozlov.

The match was to originally feature champion John Cena defend against Kane, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, Chris Jericho, and Kofi Kingston.

Edge then assumed Kingston's place in the match and won by eliminating Mysterio last, resulting in two of WWE's world championships belonging to members of the SmackDown brand.

The remaining matches on the card were all from the Raw brand and saw Randy Orton defeat Shane McMahon in a No Holds Barred match signed after Shane got revenge against Orton for an attack on his father Vince McMahon, and Shawn Michaels defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a match where Michaels would gain financial freedom from JBL if he won but would become a permanent employee of JBL if he lost.

Mike Knox would later qualify by winning a six-man battle royal at a live event on February 2.

After Randy Orton punted the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, he threatened legal action (kayfabe) against the promotion if he were fired, due to the fact he had won the 2009 Royal Rumble and therefore he was guaranteed a World Championship match at WrestleMania 25.

So Vince's son Shane retaliated by returning and attacking Orton on the January 26 episode of Raw.

At WWE's December pay-per-view, Armageddon, Michaels was engaged in a narrative in which he announced that he was in need of money to support his family and hence, had agreed to work for JBL.

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match took place in which Melina defeated Beth Phoenix to retain the WWE Women's Championship.

The event opened with the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship involving Edge, Jeff Hardy, Triple H, The Undertaker, Big Show, and Vladimir Kozlov.

The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Triple H, who placed his foot on the bottom rope to void the pinfall at a two count.

[2] The main event was an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, scheduled to involve John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston, Mike Knox, and Kane.

Edge then locked himself in a chamber pod, prompting the "ultimate opportunist" to be allowed to stay in the arena by replacing Kofi Kingston in the match.

On the March 2 episode of Raw, Orton (who was the winner of the Royal Rumble) was goaded by Triple H into choosing to face him in the main event of WrestleMania 25 for the WWE Championship.

Also on the same night, after No Way Out, Edge revealed that he entered the second Elimination Chamber match with the approval of his (kayfabe) wife, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero.

John Cena then invoked his rematch clause, but Edge chose not to defend the title on that night and returned to SmackDown with it.

JBL went on to feud with CM Punk over the WWE Intercontinental Championship, which he won on the March 9 episode of Raw to become the ninth Grand Slam winner in company history.