After a 17-year hiatus, long-time WCW pay-per-view show Starrcade returned this past Saturday under the WWE promotion for the first time.

The non-televised show had some excellent matches, which saw A.J. Styles successfully defend his WWE Championship over Jinder Mahal, while wrestling icon Ric Flair saw daughter Charlotte retain her SmackDown Women's title over Natalya. 10,234 fans packed the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in North Carolina, and the show appeared to be a massive success.

So what had the WWE bring back a show that once belonged to its old rival? PWInsider.com is reporting that long-time WWE writer Michael Hayes wrote the show and pitched the idea of a Starrcade show last June. Vince McMahon liked the idea and gave it a green light.

As for why it wasn't televised on the WWE Network, PWInsider reported that it was originally planned to be just a regular house show, until Hayes got the idea to turn it into a special event. It was also reported that WWE filmed the show and has the option to run it on the network in the future.

RELATED: 5 REASONS WHY STARRCADE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON WWE NETWORK

Prior to its revival this year, Starrcade was WCW's big pay-per-view show (equivalent to the WrestleMania for WWE) from 1988 to 2000. Prior to that, the show was ran by the National Wrestling Alliance and Jim Crockett Promotions.

via TheInquisitr.com

The final show of Starrcade under WCW took place in 2000 at the MCI Center in Washington. That was at a time when WCW was falling apart, and just months before it was eventually bought out by Vince McMahon.

Starrcade was home to many memorable matches, including Sting defeating Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 1997, while Ric Flair headlined nine of the shows.

The return of Starrcade surely brought back a nostalgic feel for long-time wrestling fans. Given its success this year, nobody should be surprised if it becomes an annual show produced by the WWE.

RELATED: WILL WWE BRING BACK STARRCADE AGAIN?