Iconic star announced for the Hall of Fame, raunchy celebration with former women's champion - This week in WWE history (January 9-January 15)
This past week has been one of the most hectic and tumultuous for behind-the-scenes events in WWE. Vince McMahon is back as the chairman of the World Wrestling Entertainment, preparing to sell the company. Stephanie McMahon and other executives resigned from their positions in the company.
That's not even counting all of the exciting action that took place on Monday Night RAW, NXT, and Friday Night SmackDown. Epic title matches, tag belts being split, and plenty of Royal Rumble builds have also made headlines.
While some of the news has been exciting and compelling for fans, other bits of information have fans either upset, worried, or downright distraught. In a distraction from the current chaos plaguing the industry, this article will dive into five major moments from WWE's history.
The longest-running weekly episode pro wrestling show in cable history recently hit a major milestone, the first-ever United Kingdom Champion was crowned, a surprisingly raunchy segment took place, and much more occurred this week in WWE history. What all went down?
Below are five key events that happened this week in WWE history.
#5. Edge and Lita offer a "live sex celebration" during RAW on January 9th, 2006
The 2006 New Year's Revolution event was historic. John Cena won a brutal six-man Elimination Chamber match to retain his coveted WWE Championship. To his surprise, however, The Ultimate Opportunist Edge would then cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase for the first time ever to steal the belt.
The next night was Edge's big celebration. On the January 9th, 2006 edition of Monday Night RAW, The Rated R Superstar promised a "live sex celebration" with Lita, very much living up to his name.
The segment drew many fans as Lita and Edge were seemingly about to do something extremely inappropriate on live TV in the middle of the ring. The two were in bed when Ric Flair came out to interrupt. Edge attacked The Nature Boy before John Cena came in for the save, delivering an Attitude Adjustment to Lita as the show came to a close.
#4. The first-ever episode of Monday Night RAW was held on January 11th, 1993
While fans are excited to celebrate thirty years of RAW with the upcoming WWE RAW is XXX show, the actual anniversary of the epic program has already come and passed. The first-ever Monday Night RAW aired on January 11th, 1993.
The event took place thirty years ago, replacing Prime Time Wrestling on USA Network. The main event of the one-hour show saw The Undertaker battle Damien Demento. Many legends like Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels, and The Steiner Brothers were also on the card.
While no one on the original show remains part of the WWE roster, Shawn Michaels regularly appears as an authority figure on NXT. Rick Steiner is also regularly on programming, with his most recent appearance being on The Bump.
#3. WALTER debuts at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool on January 12th, 2019
WALTER (Gunther) Debut in WWE NXT UK still gives me chills.
NXT UK Takeover Blackpool 1 https://t.co/tYqzp5vG1f
NXT TakeOver events started to take the world by storm beginning in 2014. With the launch of NXT UK, the new NXT UK TakeOver events began starting in 2019. The first-ever one took place in Blackpool, England, on January 12th. The Bruiserweight Pete Dunne headlined the show in a bout with Gallus' Joe Coffey.
Pete Dunne defeated Joe Coffey to retain the United Kingdom Championship in the main event. As the show was seemingly coming to a close, WALTER showed up and made his WWE debut. After an impressive title reign and a brief NXT run, he's now known as Gunther on SmackDown.
Unfortunately, the NXT UK brand no longer exists. It was shut down in the latter half of 2022. The brand was hit hard by the pandemic and the belief is that it'd be easier to start fresh than attempt to regain momentum. NXT Europe is set to launch this year in its place.
#2. WWE announced The Ultimate Warrior would be inducted into the Hall of Fame during RAW on January 13th, 2014
4/5/2014
The WWE Hall Of Fame took place from the Smoothie King Center in #WWENewOrleans, Louisiana.
#TheUltimateWarrior #UltimateWarrior #JakeRoberts @JakeSnakeDDT #RazorRamon #ScottHall #Lita #PaulBearer #MrT #WWE #WWEHallOfFame #WWEHallOfFamer #WWEHOF #WWELegends #WWEHistory https://t.co/sHnU0pX2aB
An episode of Monday Night RAW aired on January 13th, 2014. The show featured a big-time cage match and plenty of top stars from the era, but fans were mostly intrigued by the big-time news of the night. It was revealed that The Ultimate Warrior would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame that year.
The Ultimate Warrior is a former WWE Champion who took pro wrestling by storm towards the end of the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite his larger-than-life demeanor and beloved reputation among the fans, he was often considered difficult to work with and had an ugly split with World Wrestling Entertainment. This announcement showed the two sides were mending fences.
In a shocking twist, The Ultimate Warrior passed away just a handful of days after being inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame. While his passing was unfortunate, his legacy will live on forever.
#1. Tyler Bate became the youngest singles champion in company history on January 15th, 2017
On 15 January 2017, Tyler Bate became both the youngest and oldest WWE United Kingdom champion in history at 19 years, 10 months and 8 days. Nobody has repeated this feat.
#DailyStat #WWE #NXTUK https://t.co/U2bgl35vja
January 15th, 2017, was a big night for Tyler Bate. The night prior was the first of a two-night tournament to crown the first-ever United Kingdom Champion at the young age of 19. This tournament laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the NXT UK brand.
After several incredibly hard-fought bouts over the course of two nights, Bate managed to defeat Pete Dunne in the main event to become the inaugural champion. He went on to become an NXT UK Grand Slam Winner and he's recognized as the final United Kingdom Champion and one of the youngest champions in the company's history.
The Big Strong Boy recently announced his return to NXT, and this time he intends to remain on the brand full-time. After an incredibly successful run on NXT UK, his future looks extremely bright. Could he be a future NXT Champion? Only time will tell.