Like so many others, the road to WrestleMania 25 had its share of roadblocks - more than its share, really. What sets this particular instance apart from the others is that the entire championship picture heading into the show of shows changed in unpredictable fashion on a single night. Randy Orton won the 2009 Royal Rumble, which seemed to set him up for a match with WWE Champion Edge or World Heavyweight Champion John Cena. Orton's primarily feud was with the McMahon family, though, as he had punted Vince off of TV and was set to take on Shane at No Way Out. That same night, Edge stepped into the Elimination Chamber to defend his title, but was surprisingly pinned in less than three minutes, guaranteeing a new champion. Triple H would end up victorious, last eliminating The Undertaker to win the title and make an ideal opponent for Randy Orton. Edge wasn't through, though - prior to the evening's main-event chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, he attacked Kofi Kingston and took Kingston's place in the bout. Edge ended up winning the match, then defended the title against Cena and The Big Show at WrestleMania.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
