This week in WWE history (Dec 13-19) Jeff Hardy becomes WWE Champion, Roman Reigns saves his career 

The build-up to WWE Day 1 has dominated the news this week as the company continues to officially announce matches for its new event.

The card for the show is now stacked just two weeks before the show, but it's worth noting that this is the first time that WWE has failed to have a pay-per-view in December in more than two decades.

TLC, Armageddon, and December to Dismember are just a few of the shows that have taken place around this time. However, WWE has made the decision to scrap their final pay-per-view of the year in favor of an early one in 2022.

Christmas is less than a week away and here are just a few news stories that were making the headlines this week in WWE history.

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#5. WWE TLC 2015 takes place - December 13th

The annual December pay-per-view, which was scrapped earlier this year, took place back in 2015, with just one title change on the card.

Whilst there was a stacked event in front of the Boston crowd, the results saw Sheamus, Charlotte, The New Day, and Alberto Del Rio retain their Championships. One star who was unable to keep hold of his title was Kevin Owens, who was defeated by current AEW wrestler Dean Ambrose.

This was the final WWE TLC pay-per-view before WWE reintroduced the brand extension. This meant that all that followed were mixed with some being either SmackDown or RAW exclusive. Traditionally, there was a TLC match as the main event as well as a tables, a ladders and a chairs match within the show itself.

It was also just months after Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte had made their way up to the main roster, when the Divas Championship was the only title available for the women.

A few months later WWE debuted the Women's Championship at WrestleMania 32 before the title was later split into two so that there could be a title on both SmackDown and RAW.

#4. Jeff Hardy wins the WWE Championship - Armageddon December 14th, 2008

Jeff Hardy has been seen as the underdog throughout his WWE career. The Charismatic Enigma was one of the most popular stars in the company but didn't fit the mold of what was believed to be a WWE Superstar.

It took Hardy more than a decade in the company to reach the pinnacle, which came at Armageddon in 2008 when he was able to defeat both Edge and Triple H in a triple threat match. This was Hardy's first and only WWE Championship win. He would later go on to lift the World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions.

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#3. Roman Reigns saves his career by defeating Sheamus - WWE Raw December 14th, 2015

Roman Reigns was still an up-and-coming star in 2015, but he was pushed into the World Title picture after Seth Rollins suffered a knee injury in November.

Rollins was forced to relinquish his title which led to Reigns winning the tournament that took place to find a new champion. Sheamus then cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at Survivor Series and held the title up until RAW on December 14th.

Reigns was given a shot at Sheamus with the stipulation that if he lost his career would be over. Luckily he won the title and went on to become World Champion, a title that he would later be forced to defend inside The Royal Rumble.

#2. Randy Orton Unifies The WWE and World Heavyweight Championships TLC 2013 - December 15th, 2013

Randy Orton has had an impressive WWE career over the past two decades but one of his best moments came back at TLC in 2013. Orton was up against John Cena in the main event of the show, with the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships on the line.

It was an incredible match that saw The Viper climb the ladder and lift both titles, unifying them for the first time.

When the company brought back the brand split in 2016, two World Championships were established once again.

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#1. Former WWE and AEW Superstar Brodie Lee is born - December 16th 1979

Luke Harper came up through the ranks in both FCW and NXT before kicking off his WWE career as a third member of The Wyatt Family. Throughout his career, Harper was able to lift the Intercontinental Championship and the SmackDown Tag Team Championships in his short career, before making the move to AEW.

Under the name Brodie Lee, Harper was unveiled as The Exalted one on All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite show, a role he thrived in for several months before his untimely passing in December 2020.