This week in WWE history: Former world champion makes huge return on RAW, new brand debuts (February 20-February 26)
The WWE train keeps on rolling. This past week featured fallout from the Elimination Chamber event in Montreal, along with build toward the epic two-night WrestleMania 39 event just over a month away.
Monday Night RAW featured more developments for the likes of Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, & Kevin Owens in relation to The Bloodline. NXT featured build towards the upcoming Stand & Deliver show. Meanwhile, Friday Night SmackDown saw more family issues arising between both The Mysterios and The Usos.
While almost every week offers new and developing stories and exciting in-ring action, some fans yearn for something different. Many viewers like to relive their favorite past memories or simply educate themselves on major pro wrestling stories from years gone by.
Sportskeeda aims to offer those fans a chance to do exactly that with weekly deep dives into WWE's illustrious history.
This week's article will dive into a handful of massive returns, a shocking babyface turn, the launch of a new brand, and the creation of a new platform that dramatically shifted the economics of pro wrestling. What went down?
Below are five key events that happened this week in WWE history.
#5. Batista left Evolution during RAW on February 21st, 2005
Game over. Batista makes his decision, Raw February 21st 2005. http://t.co/eaSZOkI6CC
WWE RAW took place on Monday, February 21st, 2005. The program was extremely notable for one key story that ultimately led to the end of the Evolution faction, at this point a trio featuring Triple H, Ric Flair, and Batista.
Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble Match. His win meant he could challenge either the World Heavyweight Champion, who was Triple H, or WWE Champion JBL to a title match at WrestleMania. Triple H and Ric Flair feared their stablemate going for The Game's title and tried to manipulate him into moving to SmackDown.
Unfortunately for them, Batista was wise to their manipulation and smack talk. During an in-ring segment at the end of the show, The Animal teased going to SmackDown before giving The Game a thumbs down and attacking, officially turning babyface.
#4. Two massive returns happened during RAW on February 21st, 2011
If you ever question the starpower of Triple H or The Undertaker? Go watch their exchange on the 2-21-11 Raw. Taker returns after weeks of vignettes to a monstrous pop. Triple H interrupts to an even bigger pop. No words are exchanged yet in less than 10 mins a major match is set https://t.co/RzRqX9QDtW
The February 21st, 2011, edition of WWE RAW was a big show. Creepy vignettes aired for weeks prior to the program taking place, with many believing that a major debut or comeback was set to take place. Some assumed it had to do with Sting, but it turned out to be two big surprises instead of one.
The Undertaker was the person represented by the vignettes. He walked to the ring to a thunderous ovation from the audience, seemingly prepared to make a statement regarding The Show of Shows. Then fans, and The Deadman himself, got another surprise.
Triple H's music hit, and the Game made his return the very same night as The Phenom. The two legends stood toe-to-toe before acknowledging the WrestleMania sign. No words were spoken, and no blows were thrown, but everybody knew what their staredown meant. They went on to clash at The Grandest Stage of Them All.
#3. Shane McMahon made a shocking return to RAW in February 22nd, 2016
Shane McMahon returns to WWE on RAW 2-22-16. https://t.co/cRlV9jjtoa
Returns continue to be a theme in this week's article. The February 22nd, 2016, edition of WWE RAW featured a return that shocked fans but excited the audience at the same time. The drama and joy all came courtesy of the McMahon family.
The despised Vince McMahon came out to the ring to present his even more hated daughter Stephanie McMahon with an award. This award was meant to honor her work, but the villainous Stephanie was interrupted almost immediately by the return of Shane McMahon.
Shane had been away from WWE for years but wanted to reclaim his position in the company. His return ultimately set the path for him and The Undertaker to clash at WrestleMania, along with the promotion's second-ever brand split.
#2. The first-ever episode of NXT aired on February 23rd, 2010
The first-ever episode of NXT aired on February 23rd, 2010. The show aired as a replacement for the ECW brand, but it was vastly different. In fact, NXT then was nothing similar to the brand fans have grown to know and love.
This version of NXT featured rookies all being matched up with pros to compete in matches and various challenges in the hopes of being voted WWE's next breakout star. Many of the challenges were silly and seemingly had little to do with wrestling itself.
Daniel Bryan, Skip Sheffield, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Michael Tarver, Heath Slater, Darren Young, & David Otunga were the rookies for the first season. They then went on to form the Nexus faction, invading the main roster throughout the summer. The first episode featured Daniel Bryan clashing with a pro in Chris Jericho.
#1. The WWE Network launched on February 24th, 2014
February 24th, 2014 was a game-changing day for WWE and for fans of pro wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment officially launched its over-the-top streaming network for fans to subscribe to, which dramatically changed the landscape of how the company operated.
For the low price of $9.99, the company offered brand new pay-per-views, past pay-per-views, new originals, and other select shows for fans to watch and binge at any time. Over time, the on-demand library would grow to contain well over ten thousand hours of content.
While new originals and classic content being added was often exciting for subscribers, the rate of new programming has slowed down considerably, especially since the company's deal with Peacock took hold. Still, fans will always fondly remember the rise of the WWE Network.