Today's WWE is governed, on-screen, by Triple H and wife Stephanie McMahon. As The Authority, they claim to make decisions based on what is best for business when, in reality, they are making decisions in their own best interests. They held Daniel Bryan down as long as possible, they punished the Rhodes Family when they stood up to them, they repeatedly humiliated The Big Show and have recently targeted The Shield. But Triple H and Stephanie dominated another era of World Wrestling Entertainment some 13 years ago. As the leaders of the McMahon-Helmsley Era, they terrorized the top babyfaces in sports-entertainment. The Rock, Mankind, Steve Austin and Chris Jericho were all brutalized, beaten down and left bloodied at the behest of the most powerful couple in WWE. Fans despised the displays of affection between "The Game" and the "Billion Dollar Princess" and greeted them with deafening choruses of boos. The couple proved to be wildly effective, however, as fans paid their hard-earned money to see the spoiled brat Stephanie and her opportunistic husband get what was coming to them. They reigned supreme for over a year before Triple H's injury halted their momentum. When he returned as a babyface, it was time to split the couple apart. The Game found out that Stephanie was faking a pregnancy and proceeded to dump her in grand fashion during the renewal of their wedding vows in 2002. The briefly feuded before going their separate ways. Today, the couple is more mature and even more grating on the nerves than they were in their prime. Perhaps it is because both Triple H and Stephanie have very real, very substantial power behind the scenes and thus, the characters are more effective. Whether that is the case or not is irrelevant. They have proven to be a dominant husband and wife duo in two completely different eras and have elicited the desired reaction from fans every time they step foot in the ring. That is the definition of successful.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
