This week in WWE history: Huge surprise return by star later fired, The Shield collide (July 24-July 30)

It was another exciting week in WWE. The business continues to soar, with impressive ticket sales and merchandise numbers regularly coming in. The live audiences also continue to show their love for the current direction of the promotion.

Monday Night RAW and even NXT are being dominated by The Judgment Day, one of the top stables in the industry. Meanwhile, SmackDown continues rolling on with The Bloodline saga and the rise of LA Knight.

As always, however, Sportskeeda likes to offer a trip down memory lane for wrestling fans who prefer to look to the past. With World Wrestling Entertainment's incredible 70-year history, there are plenty of great moments to learn about or to re-live.

This article will dive into five of those great matches, memories, or shows from the company's illustrious history. This includes a big debut of a top star, the return of a controversial figure, and the end of an even more controversial gimmick. What went down?

Below are five key events that happened this week in WWE history.

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#5. The Undertaker ended Muhammad Hassan at The Great American Bash on July 24th, 2005

WWE held The Great American Bash on July 24th, 2005, at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The event also featured around 8,000 fans in attendance.

While the card had numerous stars involved in eight main card bouts, one match remains particularly memorable. The Undertaker battled Muhammad Hassan, with numerous masked men accompanying the villainous Hassan.

In the end, The Undertaker destroyed everybody in the match and even hit Muhammad with a Last Ride through the entrance stage. This was done to write off the character due to the controversial nature of the gimmick, especially in the wake of the London bombings.

The unfortunate event took place right after the company filmed a controversial angle but aired afterward. This led to the promotion scrapping the character moving forward.

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#4. The Shield collided at Battleground on July 24th, 2016

The Shield's debut

WWE held the Battleground event as a big-time Premium Live Event on July 24th, 2016, at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. There were around 15,000 fans in attendance.

Overall, Battleground had eight main card bouts with the likes of John Cena, AJ Styles, Becky Lynch, Bayley, The New Day, and Sami Zayn in action. The main event, however, saw three former teammates clashing over the WWE Championship.

Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns were once known as The Shield, but the group split up in 2014. They reunited, but not as friends, in the main event where Ambrose ultimately stood tall. This meant the belt would be part of the SmackDown brand moving forward.

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#3. CM Punk shockingly returned to RAW on July 25th, 2011

WWE Monday Night RAW was held on July 25th, 2011. The show aired live from the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. The hook of the show was a mini tournament to crown a new world champion.

CM Punk had left after defeating John Cena for the WWE Title. His contract had allegedly expired, so a new champion had to be crowned. Rey Mysterio ultimately defeated The Miz in the finals of the tournament to win the belt.

Rey then defended the title against John Cena that very same night. After John won the title, "Cult of Personality" played to mass confusion. It was then that CM Punk returned with the title he won at Money in the Bank and had a staredown with the supposed new champion to close the show.

Punk's return was epic, and he stayed with the company for a few more years before walking out. He was then fired, allegedly on his wedding day.

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#2. Finn Balor debuted on WWE RAW in a big way on July 25th, 2016

WWE RAW was held on July 25th, 2016, live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show was notable for a few reasons, one of which is Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte Flair to win the RAW Women's Championship for the very first time.

Perhaps even more memorable is that the program saw the main roster in-ring debut for Finn Balor, who had previously been on NXT. WWE booked two Fatal 4-Way Matches on the show, with the winners clashing in the main event.

Finn defeated Cesaro, Rusev, and Kevin Owens in the first Fatal 4-Way. Roman Reigns then defeated Chris Jericho, Sheamus, and Sami Zayn. In a shocking upset, Balor went on to defeat The Big Dog in the main event, which meant he was moving on to SummerSlam for a chance to become the inaugural Universal Champion.

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#1. Booker T won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the last time on RAW on July 30th, 2001

Booker T and The Alliance

Lastly, WWE RAW was held on July 30th, 2001. The event took place at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in front of a hot live crowd. This show was right in the middle of the Invasion angle with SummerSlam rapidly approaching.

Kurt Angle had shockingly won the WCW Championship on SmackDown, but Booker T hoped to regain the gold on RAW. They clashed in the middle of the program, but the bout was filled with interference thanks to the match being No DQ making for a messy occasion.

In the end, The Alliance's Stone Cold Steve Austin hit WWE's Kurt Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner. Booker T then picked up the win and became a four-time WCW World Champion. The prestigious belt was discontinued just months later.