Backlash 2009 Backlash 2009 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on April 26 , 2009 at the Dunkin ' Donuts Center in Providence , Rhode Island . The 11th event under the Backlash banner , it featured talent from all three WWE brands : Raw , SmackDown , and ECW . The event ' s card featured seven matches . The main event consisted of a Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship , in which Edge defeated John Cena to win . The other main match scheduled on the event ' s card was a Six - Man Tag Team match for the WWE Championship between Triple H ( champion ) , Batista and Shane McMahon , and The Legacy ( Randy Orton , Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase ) . Legacy won the match and Orton became the new WWE Champion . Other matches also appeared on the event ' s card . The first was an " I Quit " match between Jeff and Matt Hardy and three singles matches : Christian versus Jack Swagger for the ECW Championship , followed by CM Punk versus Kane , and Chris Jericho versus Ricky Steamboat . The event received 182 , 000 buys , down on the Backlash ( 2008 ) figure of 200 , 000 buys . Background . Backlash featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre - existing scripted feuds , plots , and storylines that played out on " Raw " , " Friday Night SmackDown " , " ECW on Sci Fi " , and " WWE Superstars " — World Wrestling Entertainment ' s ( WWE ) primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed either a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension , and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . The event featured wrestlers from WWE ' s Raw , SmackDown , and ECW brands — a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to the television program of the same name . The main rivalry heading into Backlash 2009 pitted Triple H against Randy Orton over the WWE Championship . The feud had started on the February 16 episode of " Raw " , when Orton punted Triple H ' s brother - in - law , Shane McMahon and then performed the RKO on his wife Stephanie McMahon . As a result , Triple H convinced Orton to challenge him for the WWE title at WrestleMania XXV . At WrestleMania on April 5 , 2009 , Triple H defeated Orton to retain the championship . The following night on " Raw " , WWE chairman Vince McMahon announced that a six - man tag team match would take place at Backlash between Triple H , Shane McMahon , and himself against The Legacy ( Orton , Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase ) which was later turned into a WWE Championship match by new General Manager of Raw , Vickie Guerrero . That same night , Shane and Triple H were attacked by The Legacy , but were saved by a returning Batista . Vince announced that Batista would be taking his place at Backlash . On the following week ' s episode of " Raw " , after returning to WWE the week before , Batista arrived on the night of the WWE Draft lottery . Batista made clear his desire to face Orton on " Raw " and take revenge for the punt that kept him from the ring for four months . He was later joined in the ring by both Shane McMahon and WWE Champion Triple H , who both wanted to get their hands on Orton for his attacks on Stephanie McMahon and the WWE Chairman himself , Mr . McMahon . As the three argued over who would get first dibs on Orton , they were interrupted by Vickie Guerrero , who announced that only one of them would get the opportunity to face Orton before Backlash , and that they would have to earn it . Guerrero then placed Triple H , Batista and Shane McMahon in a three - on - two Handicap match against The Legacy for later in the night . Whichever one of them would score the pinfall on either Rhodes or DiBiase will have earned themselves a match against Orton on the next " Raw " , but if The Legacy prevailed , then none of the three would be able to get their hands on him . Triple H pinned DiBiase . On the last episode of " Raw " , Orton defeated Triple H in a No disqualification match despite of their teammates interfering during the match . Then a few days later on " SmackDown " , Batista and Shane McMahon defeated DiBiase and Rhodes in a tag team match . Another rivalry heading into Backlash brought together John Cena and Edge over the World Heavyweight Championship . At WWE ' s February pay - per - view event , No Way Out on February 15 , 2009 , Edge attacked Kofi Kingston , who was due to compete in an Elimination Chamber match for Cena ' s World Heavyweight Championship . As a result , Edge took his spot in the match and won the title by last eliminating Rey Mysterio . At WrestleMania XXV , Cena defeated the defending champion Edge and The Big Show in a Triple Threat match to win the championship back . On the April 6 episode of " Raw " , Vickie Guerrero announced that Cena would defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Edge in a Last Man Standing match at Backlash . Interim General manager Tiffany announced on the April 7 episode of " ECW on Sci Fi " that Jack Swagger would defend his ECW Championship against the winner of the " elimination chase " , which commenced on that night and featured Christian , Tommy Dreamer , Finlay , and Mark Henry ; the participants in the chase would have a four - way that night . Henry got pinned the same night and was eliminated from contention . The remaining three wrestlers competed in a Triple Threat match on the April 14 episode of " ECW on Sci Fi " with the person being pinned or forced to submit being eliminated from contention ; Dreamer was pinned in this contest , leading to a singles match between Finlay and Christian on the April 16 episode of " WWE Superstars " , which saw Christian get the victory , thus allowing him to face Swagger for the title at Backlash . After Matt Hardy betrayed his brother , Jeff , at Royal Rumble — costing the latter the WWE Championship against Edge — the two embarked on a feud that saw Jeff initially reluctant to fight his brother ; after much goading , they had a match at WrestleMania XXV , which saw Matt win ; however , with Jeff not fully incapacitated after Matt had vowed to " erase Jeff from the WWE " , a stretcher match took place between the two , which Matt also won . As a result of their feud , the SmackDown general manager , Theodore Long , announced an " I Quit " match between the two at Backlash . After the release of the film , " The Wrestler " , and the film ' s actor Mickey Rourke backing out of a challenge that he had earlier issued to Chris Jericho to a match at WrestleMania XXV , Jericho started targeting WWE ' s legends and Hall of Famers by insulting and beating them over many weeks on " Raw " . ( These legends included the likes of Ric Flair , Roddy Piper , Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat . ) At WrestleMania XXV , Jericho defeated Piper , Snuka and Steamboat in a Handicap Elimination match . After winning , Jericho called Rourke out in the ring . During the confrontation between the two , Rourke knocked Jericho down with a punch . Then , on the April 20 episode of " Raw " , it was announced that Jericho would face Ricky Steamboat in a singles match at Backlash . Event . Before the event began and aired live on pay - per - view , a dark match took place in which Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler in a singles match . Preliminary matches . The show commenced with ECW Champion , Jack Swagger , defending his title against Christian . Swagger dominated his opponent early in the match , succeeding in grounding him with takedowns , suplex es , and some heavy slams . Christian managed to capitalize after dodging some of Swagger ' s attacks before the two both went down ; leading to both men staggering into opposite corners , removing the padding on the top turnbuckle closest to their respective positions . As Swagger ran to attack his opponent , Christian dodged one last tackle , letting Swagger ' s head collide with the exposed steel . Christian then grabbed Swagger by the arms and connected with his finishing move , the killswitch , driving his head into the mat and pinning him to win the ECW Championship , his first World Championship in WWE . The following contest involved Chris Jericho and Ricky Steamboat — the latter competing in his first singles match since 1994 . The match centered around the idea of Jericho viciously attacking his adversary only to have Steamboat retaliate and compete with his younger opponent , executing his signature moves : arm drags , chops , and a diving crossbody , only to have Jericho counter the latter with a knee to the face called the Codebreaker . Following the attack , Jericho grabbed Steamboat ' s legs , and applied his signature submission hold the Walls of Jericho , with Steamboat ultimately submitting . Following his loss , Steamboat was given a standing ovation from the crowd in attendance . CM Punk wrestled Kane next , with Punk mainly attacking Kane ' s arm with kicks and arm bars to prevent him from performing his finishing maneuver , the chokeslam , which requires Kane to lift his opponent with one arm . After Punk tried to incapacitate his opponent , Kane managed to get a hold of Punk ' s leg to execute a leg - trap chokeslam before pinning him . The fourth match on the show , the " I Quit " match , featured Matt and Jeff Hardy . The two brothers brutally assaulted each other throughout the match , hitting each other with a number of heavy shots and submission holds , with neither man yielding to the other . After Jeff had gained an advantage with Matt incapacitated , he placed him onto a table , then taped his arms and legs together before strapping him onto the table . Jeff then went under the ring , and withdrew a ladder , and set it up in the corner of the ring closest to his prone opponent . When the referee asked Matt if he wanted to quit , he took the opportunity to talk down Jeff , bringing up the case of what his father and late mother would think of this before uttering the phrase , " I quit " . Despite Jeff winning the match and coming down from the ladder onto the top turnbuckle , he still vaulted over the ladder , and performed a leg drop on his brother , going through the table . Santina Marella ( really Santino Marella in drag posing as his fictitious twin sister ) came down to the ring after the match , and proclaimed her prowess before The Great Khali entered in the hopes of kissing Marella , only to have Marella refuse , claiming to love another man , " SmackDown " commentator , Jim Ross , who sat at ringside with Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole . This led to Beth Phoenix to come to the ring outraged by what is transpiring with Khali ' s obliviousness ; she challenged Marella for her title of " Miss WrestleMania " . Before the match started , Khali hit Phoenix , leading to Marella pinning a capsized Phoenix to retain her title . Main event matches . The first of two main event matches on the show involved the six - man tag - team match for the WWE Championship pitting Triple H ( the champion ) , Batista , and Shane McMahon against The Legacy ( Randy Orton , Cody Rhodes , and Ted DiBiase ) . The match started out with Triple H and Orton brawling out of the ring to the backstage area while Batista and McMahon would continue to wrestle The Legacy . Once the two contenders fought their way back into the ring , the match centered around Legacy isolating every member of their opponents , preventing any way for them to make a tag . The tides turned once Batista managed to get into the match , and sent the action onto the outside , and Triple H managing to make the tag . Shortly thereafter , the legal man , Orton , applied his signature move , the RKO , and drove him to the mat on his face . He went for the pin , but his opponent kicked out of it ; this led to Orton standing up , and running into his downed opponent with his signature punt . This time , Orton pinned him , winning the title for the third time . Following the match , Triple H was taken out on a stretcher . The main event saw World Heavyweight Champion , John Cena , defending his title against Edge in a Last Man Standing Match . The match started as a heavy brawl between the two , each trying to beat the other down to reach the ten - count fast , only to have each of them get to their feet in time . The match degenerated to the outside with Edge and Cena using the detachable steel steps connected to the ring as a weapon , as they threw each other into it , threw it at each other , and even have Edge tackle Cena with his finishing move , the Spear . The match continued with both men being only able to incapacitate their opponent for a nine - count until they both ended up on the announcers ' table , leading to Cena hoisting Edge up onto his shoulders , and throwing him into the crowd with his finishing maneuver , the Attitude Adjustment . After the wrestlers reached to their feet , they fought around the arena , going into the surrounding lobby until they made their way to the stage , leading to an eventual interruption from their other WrestleMania triple threat match opponent , The Big Show , which had him lift up Cena , and chokeslam him through a nearby spotlight that exploded ; Cena was unable to make the ten - count , thus having Edge win the title for the fifth time . In a case similar to Triple H , Cena was taken out of the arena on a stretcher , as the event came to a close . Aftermath . Following the results of the main event , The Big Show appeared in a match against Batista the following night on " Raw " to determine who would challenge Randy Orton next for the WWE title . During the match , John Cena came down to the ring , distracting the Big Show , which led to Batista winning the match . Vickie Guerrero would subsequently announce The Big Show would wrestle Cena at Judgment Day , when Cena would be medically - cleared to compete in the match . With Edge winning the World Heavyweight title , the title became exclusive to " SmackDown ! " , with Jeff Hardy becoming the number - one contender to face Edge at Judgment Day by winning a fatal four - way match against Chris Jericho , Rey Mysterio , and Kane . Not satisfied at how he lost the title ( due to his collision with a turnbuckle exposed by Christian , which is technically illegal ) , Jack Swagger would invoke his rematch clause at Judgment Day , and before that match were to take place , he would make sure that no one would receive a title match before he did by interfering in Christian ' s matches . Reception . The show received positive feedback from many viewers . Canadian sportswriter , Matt Bishop , gave the show an overall score of 7 / 10 ; most of his praise for the show concentrated on the World Heavyweight title match , which he awarded 9 / 10 . In addition , Dave Meltzer , writer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , called the show solid , and gave the main event a score of four - and - a - half stars out of five . Writing for " The Sun " , The LilsBoys rated the event a 9 / 10 , stating that the event contained " great matches , solid storylines and well - written endings . " They praised the match between Matt and Jeff Hardy , saying that " the ending that was truly something special , one of the best we ’ ve seen in ages . " The LilsBoys also praised the World Heavyweight Championship match , touting it as the " match of the night " , and stating the final spot with Big Show throwing Cena into the spotlight was " the year ’ s most memorable moment so far " . The Baltimore Sun ' s writer , Kevin Eck , also praised the World Heavyweight Championship match , calling it a " show - stealer " and praised the Jericho / Steamboat match , stating that " The booking here was well done , as Steamboat showed that he can still go " .