Forever Heel: The McMahon Helmsley Authority Era

Columns, Top Story

I just wanted to offer up a quick opinion on Corporate Kane. If WWE is serious about making Kane into a Patrick Bateman character, that would be awesome. The few others that I’ve seen use that gimmick are indy guys and most fans don’t get it. WWE has time to nurture Kane’s character, and an audience that’s more diverse, and many fans that know about “American Psycho”, so WWE could pull this off.

I was watching WrestleMania 2000 (Awful), and thought how much it sucks that Stephanie and Hunter are still doing their best to make pro-wrestling stale. It’s been 15 years of Triple H, forced into a high-profile storylines. So I thought we could look at Hunter Hearst Levesque, and his super stable known as “Authority Version -1.0”, or just “The McMahon Helmsley Regime”.

Triple H and Vince McMahon had been feuding throughout the fall and winter of 1999. At one point Vince had even beat Triple H to become the WWE Champion (this was an accidental win by Vince). The feud got so heated that Triple H drugged Stephanie McMahon and married her while she was knocked out. This set up a match at Armageddon ’99 of Vince McMahon VS Triple H. If Vince wins this match then Stephanie’s marriage to Triple H would be annulled. Even though it was obvious that Stephanie was going to turn on Vince, I had no Idea. When I saw this I almost pissed my Capri Pants. I couldn’t wait to see this new storyline, and I was getting bored with Vince.

The Raw after Armageddon, Vince left the arena in tears, leaving Stephanie in charge by default. Stephanie, and Triple then decreed that The McMahon Helmsley Era had begun. The McMahon Helmsley Regime was also established, and was basically Stephanie, Triple H, and DX. Later Kurt Angle, Big Show, and The Radicals would ally themselves with the MHR. I want to focus on the groups founding members, mostly DX, Hunter, and Stephanie.

 

Road Dogg: Joined the Regime as one half of the New Age Outlaws, and WWE World Tag Team Champions. He along with tag partner Billy Gunn defended the belts against Edge & Christian, The Hardy’s, and Rock & Mankind. In February 2000 the Outlaws lost the belts to the Dudley Boyz. Soon after Triple H would send out X-Pac instead of Billy Gunn to partner with Road Dogg for the Outlaws rematch against the Dudleys. Road Dogg and X-pac teamed together and were dubbed The New New Age Outlaws. Road Dogg entered a mini-feud with Rikishi, when Roady  was given a long Stink Face. While battling Rikishi, Road Dogg would also help X-Pac against Kane.  This set up their WrestleMania 2000 match where X-Pac and Road Dogg would battle Rikishi and Kane. I’ve heard that WWE brass was so impressed with Road Dogg in this match, that they wanted to give him a huge heel push, and his own faction with Mark Henry. This never panned out, and Road Dogg was made a face in his feud with X-Pac, and left to flounder afterward.

Bad Ass Billy Gunn: Billy Gunn joined the MHR along with his DX teammates. He was no longer the King of the Ring, and guy who faced The Rock at Summer Slam. He was the quiet Out Law again. He did his 1998 catchphrases, until February. He was injured at No Way Out 2000 against The Dudley Boyz. When X-Pac was given Billy’s place for the rematch, Gunn got in Hunter’s face and was drummed out of DX and the Regime.

X-Pac: Pac joined the Regime as Triple H’s right hand man, and was in a deep feud with Kane. He would go on to take Kane’s girlfriend Tori, and although X-Pac lost the blow off match at WrestleMania 2000, X-Pac still went home with Tori. Kane’s revenge after all the hell Pac put him through was a choke slam. X-Pac and Road Dogg would attempt to gain the Tag Belts a few more times before breaking up, and Pac getting injured. Months later X-Pac would return with his X-Factor stable, and go nowhere.

Tori: Was Kane’s girlfriend and lover, and later turned on Kane in favor of X-Pac. This turn made no sense, and I enjoyed Kane having a girlfriend because it made him more human. Tori wasn’t just a valet for X-Pac but also helped Stephanie McMahon to win The WWE Women’s Title and her few title defenses. Basically she was the 2000 WWE version of eye candy, where she was reasonably hot, and could believably wrestle. She was put threw a table by Bubba Ray Dudley, and basically (Kayfabe) put on the injured list.

Stephanie McMahon: The greatest McMahon in history. She began in the McMahon Helmsley Regime as Hunter’s girl, then Hunter’s manager, and then became the brains of the group. She beat Jacqueline to become the WWE Women’s Champion, and held the belt way too long. She would be in Triple H’s corner at WrestleMania 2000, and convince Vince and Shane to help Hunter keep the title that night. She would lose her title to Lita in the spring of 2000. She would start developing a crush on Kurt Angle causing a Triple H, Angle, and Stephanie love triangle. By this time Stephanie and Hunter were all that was left of The McMahon Helmsley Era, and the twosome was getting very stale.

Triple H: Triple H created the McMahon Helmsley Regime as a means to gain enough power in the WWE to manipulate and control the company to serve his needs. Sharing the power with Stephanie, Hunter gained the WWE Title and held it from January to May of 2000. Triple H was also the first heel to leave with the WWE title in WrestleMania history. The finish of WrestleMania was a horrible way to end a horrible show, and fans began to resent Triple H (non-kayfabe). It didn’t help that Triple H decided to not acknowledge the fans and become intense and quiet. He thought he was being a great heel because at the time many arrogant, smart-ass, chicken shit heels were getting cheers from the crowds. Hunter felt if he got just one cheer for him than he failed as a heel. Anti-Triple H websites used to be all over. They’d accuse Hunter of almost every problem in The WWE. Later many others in the IWC would defend him, but not until around 2006, when it looked like Hunter wouldn’t get a WHC or WWE Title reign again.

MHR Right Before His Iron Man Match With The Rock

http://youtu.be/E7SOTGaIpQU

X-Pac VS Kane, right after Kane lost Tori

http://youtu.be/_Do1F1TYuZY

Steph Wins Women’s Championship (cut up VCR version)

http://youtu.be/8W5pYzBPJjk

 

 

 

CH Punk comes from Beverly Hills, California; but considers himself a citizen of the World. Punk also turned heel at age 5, after receiving a LJN Iron Sheik figure for Christmas. On that day he vowed he would stuff his Sheik figure up Hulk Hogan's nose, to ruin Hulkamania. By 1995 Hogan had already ruined it without CH's help.