This week in WWE history (Nov 15-21) - Two legendary debuts; history-making WWE Championship reign begins

This week's WWE news has once again been dominated by the fact that the company has released several superstars. Eight more wrestlers were released from the company on Thursday night, taking their year's total to more than eighty. Of course, it isn't all doom and gloom as WWE continues their build-up to the annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, which takes place later tonight.

As noted from several previous articles, the month of November has contained some memorable WWE moments over the years and this week is no different. Here are just five of the biggest news stories from this past week in WWE history:

---

#5. WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young competes in her final stipulated match - November 10th, 2010

Mae Young has recently been immortalized in the form of the Mae Young Classic tournament, which has allowed several young female wrestlers the opportunity to work for WWE. Young paved the way for many of the women who are part of the company now but sadly passed away at the ripe old age of 90 back in 2014.

The WWE Hall of Famer was an active part of the company for years after her retirement and returned a number of times for special episodes of RAW. Back in 2010, WWE celebrated "Old School RAW" which allowed Young to make her return and wrestle as part of a match against LayCool.

The former star was in a Falls Count Anywhere Handicap match where she was able to come out victorious. Not only was this Young's final stipulated match in WWE but it allowed the star to make even more history.

Mae became the first person ever to wrestle over the age of 80 as well as the first person to have wrestled in nine different decades. She made several more appearances for WWE in the years that followed, with her last coming in March 2013 when she made an appearance in order to celebrate her 90th Birthday.

Vince McMahon and Triple H handed the WWE Hall of Famer her own Divas Championship to mark the occasion.

#4. Vince McMahon buries The Undertaker alive - WWE Survivor Series - November 16th, 2003

The Undertaker became synonymous with Buried Alive matches throughout his WWE career, but at Survivor Series in 2003 he was the one on the losing end.

In the main event of the show, The Deadman took on Vince McMahon and, although he dominated the match, still came up short. Kane interfered in order to help McMahon come out on top and "bury" The Deadman.

Interestingly, this ceremoniously marked the end of The Undertaker's biker gimmick, as the star later returned as The Deadman once again. After being buried alive, the former seven-time World Champion took some time away and didn't make his return to the ring until WrestleMania XX which was almost five months later.

There were several other stand-out matches at Survivor Series that year. This includes the match between Triple H and Goldberg where the WWE Hall of Famer was able to defeat The Game in order to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

#3. The Rock makes his WWE debut - Survivor Series - November 17th, 1996

Former WWE Superstar The Rock is now one of the biggest celebrities in the world. He was the highest-paid actor in the world as of 2020 and one of the most successful former WWE Superstars.

But back in 1996, he was just a wrestler looking to make a name for himself. Survivor Series didn't have the same reputation for debuts at that time as it does today, so The Rock was stepping into a very different atmosphere.

At the time, The Rock was relatively unknown. Under the name Rocky Maivia, he teamed with The Stalker, Marc Mero, and Jake Roberts against Crush, Goldust, Jerry Lawler, and a very young Triple H in a four-on-four elimination match.

He was able to make quite the impression when he pinned two men en route to becoming the sole survivor for his team.

Rocky went on to eliminate Crush and Goldust in what was his first televised match. It wasn't until the following year that he was able to drop the name Rocky Maivia and finally become The Rock.

#2. The Shield make their debut in WWE - Survivor Series - November 18th, 2012

The Shield already have their place in WWE history as one of the most dominant factions of all time. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns made their presence felt for the first time when they assisted CM Punk in his victory at Survivor Series back in 2012.

The trio later went on to win several different Championships, aid The Authority, and even turned face at one point. They finally went their separate ways in 2014 when Rollins turned his back on his brothers.

Over the past seven years, all three members of the group have gone on to become World Champion. At Money in the Bank in 2016, all three members of the group held the title on the same night before Ambrose took it over to SmackDown.

Reigns and Rollins remain part of WWE and are seen as two of the company's biggest stars, whilst Dean Ambrose opted to walk away in 2019. Going by the name Jon Moxley, he is now a former AEW World Champion and has recently released his own book, titled Mox.

#1. CM Punk begins his history-making WWE Championship reign - Survivor Series - November 20th, 2011

CM Punk left WWE more than seven years ago but there is one piece of his history that still remains intact. The self-proclaimed Best in the World has since signed with AEW and is now one of the company's biggest stars, but his world championship reign record is still waiting to be broken.

Thie reign began more than a decade ago at Survivor Series in 2011. Punk took on Alberto Del Rio with the World Championship on the line and was able to defeat the Mexican star using the Anaconda Vice.

It began a reign that would eclipse an entire year in WWE and go from Survivor Series 2011 through to the 2013 Royal Rumble. Punk held the title for an incredible 434 days before he was defeated by The Rock at the first pay-per-view of 2013.

It was the longest World Championship reign since Hulk Hogan, who held the title for more than four years just three decades earlier.