10 Major WWE Problems With The Authority
3. Stephanie McMahon Never Gets Her Comeuppance
The Austin/McMahon saga was so successful because it told a simple yet relatable story: the evil, overbearing boss versus the defiant, anti-corporate employee. However, even though Vince had the money and power advantage, Austin kept getting victories over him. Austin beat the hell out of McMahon in a hospital, have him countless Stunners, and even shoved his face into Rikishi’s a**.
The important point here is that Austin and McMahon were more or less equals, and the feud shifted momentum from one side to another, keeping the feud interesting. With the Authority, there is one major element that prevents this kind of success from ever occurring:
Stephanie McMahon is untouchable.
Throughout the Authority’s existence, everyone other than Stephanie has gotten what they deserved in the grand storyline narrative. J&J Security were the oft-demolished cannon fodder, Kane has been defeated countless times, and even Triple H got his comeuppance against the likes of Daniel Bryan. However, the Authority’s most prominent mouthpiece has never gotten what she deserved, even though it’s high time that she did.
None of the women stand up to Stephanie; the only one that really did was AJ Lee, and she’s gone now. While she did have a feud with the Bellas, that has since been retconned, and fans are expected to forget that it ever happened (as Authority themselves have already done). As another example, Dusty Rhodes allegedly got in trouble backstage when he got in Steph’s face in 2013, even though doing so made the feud more interesting.
This is a huge problem, because it robs WWE of one of the most essential storyline elements needed to bring the feud to its zenith: one of the women needs to rise up against her and destroy/humiliate her. That’s why fans love the idea of Ronda Rousey coming in to fight Stephanie at WrestleMania: no one else has so much as touched Stephanie, and that’s harmful to everyone except for Stephanie’s own ego.
The day Stephanie gets humiliated on a large scale, or defeated in a wrestling ring (or both) will be the day that fans finally get their satisfaction from this ongoing Authority storyline.