This week in WWE history: Top star retires due to serious injuries, former champion makes underwhelming return (February 5-11)

It has been another crazy week or so for WWE. Monday featured an exciting episode of RAW, NXT continues to deliver the goods, and Friday Night SmackDown was as good as ever.

Still, the most interesting show the company produced last week wasn't even on television. Instead, the promotion held the WrestleMania XL Kickoff press event in Las Vegas on Thursday. It featured The Rock, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley, and others, discussing The Showcase of The Immortals.

While there's a lot of exciting programming to check out every week, some fans prefer to go a different route. They instead like to re-live exciting moments from the past or even experience them for the very first time. Those specific fans are in luck.

Sportskeeda offers a weekly look back at some of the major matches and moments that helped shape the company fans know and love today. This week's article will look at a big debut, a major title win, a retirement, and more. What went down this week in history?

Here are five key events that took place this week in WWE history:

#5. Daniel Bryan retired on RAW on February 8th, 2016

The first entry on this week's list is an episode of WWE Monday Night RAW. The Sports Entertainment juggernaut held an episode live from Seattle, Washington, on February 8th, 2016.

This show was a sad one, as it featured the return of Daniel Bryan to television. Instead of informing fans he was getting back in the ring, however, he revealed the opposite. Due to severe concussions and health issues, he retired from in-ring competition.

The former WWE Champion was later brought back as a General Manager and eventually ended up back in the ring. Still, at the time a young talent retiring at his age was extremely disheartening. Thankfully, he remains active in the ring to this very day.

#4. Christian made his return on ECW on February 10th, 2009

Prior to NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live, WWE's only other brand besides RAW and SmackDown was ECW. This show was a re-launch of the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. An episode was held in Fresno, California, on February 10th, 2009.

The big hook of the show and the reason why fans remember it so fondly had to do with the very beginning. ECW Champion Jack Swagger was annoyed at a loss he recently suffered when out of nowhere Christian's music hit and the former Intercontinental Champion returned to WWE!

Christian had left the company and joined TNA Wrestling for a handful of years and this was his big return. He proceeded to dethrone Swagger of the title shortly thereafter and even later captured the World Heavyweight Championship.

#3. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns ran the gauntlet on SmackDown on February 10th, 2015

Daniel Bryan and Viktor [Image source wwe.com]

WWE filmed an episode of SmackDown on February 10th, 2015. The show, which would air a few days later on February 12th, was held in Dayton, Ohio, a city well known for having a lot of quality wrestling.

This particular edition of Friday Night SmackDown featured a very unique Tag Team Turmoil Match. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, ahead of a major singles match, had to team up to battle a plethora of tag teams.

The pair worked well together, however, and managed to defeat numerous WWE stars. This includes The Miz, Damien Mizdown, Los Matadores, Heath Slater, Titus O'Neil, The Ascension, Big Show, Kane, and The Usos. Despite the odds being stacked against them, the pair defeated everybody.

#2. Kevin Owens won big at NXT TakeOver: Rival on Feburary 11th, 2015

WWE held NXT TakeOver: Rival on February 11th, 2015. This big show was the fourth official TakeOver event and was held at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. Over 400 fans were in attendance.

The show featured six main card matches. This includes Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze, Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville, and a fantastic Fatal 4-Way Match featuring the Four Horsewomen. Perhaps the most memorable match of the night, however, was the main event.

Sami Zayn battled his long-time best friend Kevin Owens. The Underdog From The Underground put the NXT Championship he had won at the previous big event on the line, but ultimately lost to The Prizefighter in around 23 minutes. Both men remain major stars in the company to this day.

#1. Meiko Satomura debuted on WWE NXT UK on February 11th, 2021

NXT UK aired an exciting episode on February 11th, 2021. This was during the middle of the pandemic-related lockdowns and thus lacked fans in attendance. Still, the promotion and the wrestlers involved aimed to put on a memorable show.

The biggest thing that happened on the show was a massive debut. The legendary Meiko Satumora, one of the top female stars in Japan, made her official debut on the brand. The Final Boss battled and defeated Isla Dawn in singles competition.

Sadly, the end of the British brand led to fans seeing a lot less Meiko Satomura in WWE. While she has appeared on NXT a handful of times since then, she is not a regular. It is a shame, as she's one of the best wrestlers in the promotion.