This week in WWE history (Feb 8-13) - Stephanie McMahon pregnant, Daniel Bryan retires

This week's WWE news has been dominated by the build-up to Elimination Chamber. Next weekend the company will take Satan's Structure to The Middle East for the first time and will present a men's and women's match.

The show will also see the return of Goldberg who challenges Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, whilst WWE Hall of Famer Lita takes on Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's Championship.

February has become the month for one of WWE's bi-annual trips to the Middle East, as well as the usual setting for the final pay-per-view ahead of WrestleMania.

The following list looks at just five of the biggest news stories from this week in WWE history.

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#5. Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan announces his retirement from wrestling - February 8th, 2016

Daniel Bryan was pushed as one of the biggest stars in WWE throughout 2014 and was able to lift the WWE World Championship at WrestleMania 30. Bryan was then struck down with a neck injury in 2015 causing him to announce his retirement from in-ring action in February 2016.

Bryan was then handed the role of SmackDown's General Manager where he would work alongside Shane McMahon for several months. Bryan struggled with the reality of a life without wrestling and, incredibly, after resting for two years he was able to make his return in 2018.

Bryan went for regular checks on his neck despite originally not being cleared by WWE's doctors. Ultimately, the former World Champion was able to obtain medical clearance ahead of WrestleMania 34.

Bryan was able to wrestle several dream matches for the company and even main event WrestleMania 37 back in April 2021 when he wrestled Roman Reigns and Edge in a triple threat match for the Universal Championship. This was in a losing effort after Reigns was able to pin both men to walk out victorious.

Bryan has since left WWE after allowing his contract to expire last year and has now reverted to his Indy name of Bryan Danielson in AEW.

#4. Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig passes away - February 10th, 2003

Mr. Perfect was a former Intercontinental Champion and one of the stars who helped inspire the current generation. Curt Hennig was considered to be the perfect athlete and excelled in the wrestling ring, even going on to inspire his own son Curtis Axel to follow in his footsteps.

Despite his illustrious career, Perfect's hold on the business came to an abrupt end in February 2003 when the former WWE Superstar was found dead in his hotel room in Tampa, just hours before he was set to promote an event alongside Jimmy Hart.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office went on to determine that acute cocaine intoxication was the official cause of his death, he was just 44.

Since his passing, both his son and daughter Amy have gone on to step into the business. His son Joe (Curtis Axel) was able to win the Intercontinental Championship at Payback in 2013. This makes Perfect and Axel the first father and son duo to win the title.

#3. Kevin Owens becomes NXT Champion - February 11th, 2015

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have had quite the history both inside and outside of a WWE ring. The two men renewed their rivalry in NXT as they battled over the NXT Championship.

Owens made his debut in the company by congratulating Zayn on his win, before turning heel on his long-time friend. This then led to a match between the two men at NXT Takeover: Rival back in 2015.

The duo battled it out in the main event but Owens was able to win the Championship after delivering four powerbombs to his former friend. The official then announced that The Prizefighter was the victor via TKO.

Owens and Zayn later met again at Takeover: Unstoppable, but the match never got underway since Owens attacked Zayn ahead of the match. Owens continued the beatdown on Zayn for several minutes. Samoa Joe then made his surprise debut on the black and gold brand and took out Owens to end the show.

#2. WWE CBO Stephanie McMahon announces that she's pregnant for a second time - February 13th, 2008

Stephanie McMahon and Triple H have been seen as WWE's biggest power couple for almost three decades.

The couple married in 2003 and have since welcomed three daughters, the oldest of whom is already training to follow in her parents' footsteps into the business.

McMahon and Triple H welcomed their first daughter Aurora Rose Levesque in 2006, before announcing that she was expecting her second child in 2008. This was at the height of the DX reunion and meant that Triple H was able to include the birth of his second daughter in WWE storylines.

Stephanie gave birth to her second daughter Murphy Claire Levesque in July 2008 before the couple later went on to welcome their third child, another daughter called Vaughn Evelyn Levesque, in August 2010.

Despite starting a family, Stephanie was still able to continue to work for the company throughout and has maintained her role as CBO of the company in the years that have followed.

#1. Shawn Michaels vacates the WWF/E Championship - February 13th, 1997

Shawn Michaels captured the WWE Championship in January 1997, later being forced to vacate the title due to injury.

On a special episode of RAW in 1997, Michaels vacated his Championship and explained to fans that his knee injury was the reason behind it. The promo became famous after Michaels noted that he "needed to find his smile again."

"What I'm going to do is go back home and see what's left for me; whether it'll be in this ring... whether it'll be out of this ring. I know that over the, uh, the last several months I've lost a lot of things and one of them has been my smile. And, and I know it doesn't mean a whole lot to everbody else, but it means a lot to me. So I have to go back and fix myself, and take care of myself, and I have to go back and I have to find my smile because somewhere along the line I lost it and I don't care, really, I don't care if it's unpopular, and I don't care if, uh, people want to make fun of me because I'm an emotional guy. But, um, this is all I've ever wanted to do and uh, over the last year I got to do it and whether you like me or not, I just want to tell you that, uh, last year was the most wonderful year of my life. And, uh, if I never do get to do it again, it'll be okay because I got to live one full year as being the number one guy in this business and it was the single greatest year of my life. And I have you to thank, and I have everybody here to thank, and it means a lot to me and, uh, I'm gonna go home now. Okay?"

Many fans wondered if Michaels was actually injured enough to vacate the title, but in a cruel twist of fate, the former WWE Champion was legitimately forced to retire from the business a year later following a back injury.

Of course, Michaels later made his return and went on to turn his entire career around, HBK is now a 2X WWE Hall of Famer.