The Voice 's Blake Shelton surprised by former winners on his last show

In case you've been living under a rock or, like, a bale of hay or something, you surely have heard that tonight's season 23 finale of The Voice was original coach Blake Shelton's final night in the big red chair. In a bit of a twist, Team Blake didn't take the win — instead, the season 23 crown went to Team Niall's Gina Miles — but the evening was still a real Blake party. So how did The Voice send their nine-time winning coach off? With a whole lot of old Voice friends.

The finale kicked off with an '80s medley — Blake's favorite — from another original Voice coach, CeeLo Green, who was joined on stage by a gaggle of former Team Blake members, including season 13 winner Chloe Kohanski, season 20 winner Cam Anthony, season 21 finalist Wendy Moten, and season 22 finalist bodie. Blake watched from his red chair next to Voice buddy Adam Levine before heading up on stage to give everyone a big hug after crushing some John Mellencamp, Simple Minds, and Bon Jovi. That's not the only reason Adam's around, of course. He also showed up with Maroon 5 to perform their new single "Middleground."

Trae Patton/NBC Blake Shelton

Now, what would a Blake Shelton retrospective be without mentioning that it was The Voice that brought him and his wife Gwen Stefani together? The unlikely pair met and fell in love as coaches. Gwen couldn't be there — although she will be returning to The Voice as a coach in season 24 — but in her taped segment, she said that when she met Blake, their "lives were having this parallel destruction happen, then next thing you know, [she and Blake] were becoming, like besties, and falling in love."

Blake, a nine-time winner of The Voice, got some love from various other GOATS including Dolly Parton, Jackie Joyner-Kersee (who dunks on Blake for considering pushing a button hard work), Lindsay Vonn, Wayne Gretsky, and Peyton Manning. The whole segment ends with, as Carson Daly puts it, commemorating the moment like any great "athlete" would, and retiring the Blake jean jacket, immortalizing him and his nine wins in the rafters. Blake's more excited about the fact that his big red chair with the button is currently waiting for him back at his house.

Trae Patton/NBC The Swon Brothers, Ian Flanigan, Dia Frampton, Xenia, Jermaine Paul, Cassadee Pope, Bryce Leatherwood, Todd Tilghman, Sundance Head, Craig Wayne Boyd, RaeLynn, Danielle Bradbery

For a final retrospective, Carson introduced a package featuring well wishes and trips down memory lane from a bunch of Voice coaches throughout the years. Miley Cyrus wondered if Blake's really retiring or if she'll have to make a video like this more than once. Usher can't believe Blake's survived 23 seasons — "how can you drink that much liquor?" he asks. Nick Jonas is still left wondering if the two are really friends, and John Legend says that he's "forever grateful that [he] got to be on The Voice with [Blake] and [he's] proud to call [Blake his] friend." There are more well wishes from Camila Cabello, Jennifer Hudson, Pharrell, CeeLo Green, and of course, his current co-coaches, Niall Horan, Chance the Rapper, and Kelly Clarkson, who tells Blake that he's "the greatest coach to ever be on this show."

But it's not just about the coaches — The Voice pulled out one more big surprise: While a montage of big Blake moments played on screen, even more Team Blake team members of years past got up on stage to sing Blake off with Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)." Last season's winner Bryce Leatherwood kicked things off, but he was joined by artists like Jermaine Paul, the winner from season 2, Cassadee Pope, who won season 3, the Swon Brothers, Dia Frampton, Ian Flanigan, Sundance Head, Danielle Bradbery, and more. Seriously, a whole bunch of Team Blakers came out to make this moment special for their old coach. Blake looked truly blown away as he saw who showed up and couldn't wait to hop out of his seat to start giving everyone hugs. It was a moving moment and a great tribute to the coach who has given opportunities to so many artists over his 23 seasons as The Voice's resident cowboy.

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