Vince McMahon's initial run as a heel character isn't just considered the most successful authority role in wrestling history, it helped WWE overtake and overpower WCW en route to the most pronounced boom period in history. McMahon first turned just prior to WrestleMania XIV, when he expressed concern over Steve Austin potentially winning the WWE Title, and he remained a constant fixture of programming until just after King of the Ring 2000. For two years and three months, McMahon made history as the tyrannical overseer of the company. For the past two years and three months, The Authority have also run roughshod over WWE, but that's where the comparisons stop. While McMahon was an innovative and entertaining presence who got his comeuppance from the wrestlers he tried to destroy, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are mostly known for droning interviews and segments that make them look superior to all of the men and women on the active roster. The idea of The Authority as the heel faction in power has run its course (to say the very least), and there seems to be no end in sight. In the time it took McMahon to revitalize WWE, they've driven it into the ground. As long as they're on television, Raw will suffer. They are two of the biggest weak links in the company at present.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013