Stephanie McMahonStephanie McMahon Levesque[4][7] (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; September 24, 1976)[6] is an American businesswoman,professional wrestling valet, occasional professional wrestler, minority owner, and Chief Brand Officer of WWE.[4][8][9] She has worked for WWE since 1998. She is the daughter of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and retired CEO/United States Senate candidate Linda McMahon, and the younger sister of Shane McMahon.
McMahon began appearing regularly on WWF in 1999 as a part of a storyline with The Undertaker. After a brief on-screen relationship with Test, she was engaged to Triple H—whom she married both on-screen and later in real life—which resulted in The McMahon-Helmsley Faction storyline. She has held the WWF Women's Championship once. In 2001, she was the on-screen owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling during The Invasion. The following year, she was the SmackDown General Manager, but stopped appearing regularly on television after an "I Quit" match with her father Vince.
After only making sporadic appearances for several years, McMahon began appearing regularly on Raw in 2008 as the Raw brand general manager before disappearing once again. By mid-2013, McMahon returned to regular on-air appearances in the WWE, this time under the gimmick of an unctuous, judgmental owner along with on-screen chief operating officer her husband, Triple H. Together as a power couple known as "The Authority," they make what are often shady decrees while claiming only to be concerned for "what's best for business," all the while romanticizing each other in the process with public displays of affection. The Authority later expanded into a stable made up of Seth Rollins, Kane, Jamie Noble, and Joey Mercury, and included with its co-leaders Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Early life[edit]
Stephanie Marie McMahon was born on September 24, 1976 in Hartford, Connecticut to Linda and Vince McMahon.[10] She has one brother, Shane McMahon. Soon after her birth, the family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut. At the age of 13, McMahon appeared in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) merchandise catalogs, modeling T-shirts and hats.[11] After graduating fromGreenwich High School, she attended Boston University and in 1998 earned a degree in Communications.[12] After graduating in 1998, she began working for the WWF full-time.[13]
Business career[edit]
McMahon entered WWE as a model, for WWE Sales and merchandise, but started her WWE career as an Account Executive for the WWE sales office in New York.[4][8] In her early years with the company, she did reception work, creative design, television production, and acted as a ring performer.[14] After spending time as the director of creative writing, a job she had by 2002,[14] she was promoted to Senior Vice President of Creative Writing in 2006.
Executive Vice President[edit]
McMahon was promoted to executive vice president of Creative in 2007. She was responsible for overseeing the creative process (Storylines) for all television and pay-per-view programming. She oversaw all aspects of talent management and branding as well as live event booking and marketing, as well as all social and digital media properties.[4]
As Executive vice-president, Creative she was able to spearhead the upbringing of the WWE app, which has been downloaded over 11 million times. She was also able to launch a huge partnership with the USO metropolitan Washington, the social media company Tout, and was able to partner with Yahoo to bring WWE content.[15] Stephanie also lead WWE's Creative coalition for their Anti Bullying Campaigns. In addition to her duties, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations for WWE.com.
Chief Brand Officer[edit]
On December 4, 2013 WWE announced the promotion of Stephanie to chief brand officer, where she will now lead efforts to further enhance WWE's brand reputation among key constituents including advertisers, media, business partners, and investors. McMahon will also serve as the lead ambassador of WWE and work with business units to support key growth initiatives. Stephanie will also lead WWE's targeted youth and moms marketing programs.
McMahon's new position enabled her to spearhead the continued partnership with General Mills' Totino's brand. On February 5, 2014, Stephanie McMahon along with CMO andCRO Michelle Wilson announced a partnership between WWE and KaBOOM! to build a playground for WWE's annual WrestleMania week in Louisiana. McMahon earned a combined salary of over $775,000 between her corporate role and as an on-screen talent in 2013. She also owns over $77 million in WWE stock.[9] On April 15, 2014 during WWE's annual Business Partners Summit, Stephanie confirmed a new WWE logo that would debut the night after WWE SummerSlam although it's already showing up on WWE products like the WWE Network and NXT. On August, 5th at the Needham fireside conference, Stephanie alongside with her husband Triple H, and WWE Chief strategy and financial officer George Barrios, discussed the Creative side of WWE, the WWE Network, and the difference between WWE and UFC.[16]
Business awards and achievements[edit]
In 2010 Fairfield County Business Journal, awarded McMahon their "40 under 40 award and was also recognized as "One of the Most Powerful Women in Cable" by Cable magazine in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013. She was also named one of Multichannel News women to watch for in 2013.
In mid October 2013, McMahon was named the Honorary Chairperson of the Special Olympics of Connecticut.[17]
On October, 15th 2014, Stephanie was selected as a 2015 Eisenhower USA fellow. She's one of nine leaders to participate in the international leadership exchange program, dedicated to building bridges and making the world more peaceful.[18]
Professional wrestling career[edit]
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE (1999–present)[edit]
Relationship with Test (1999)[edit]
In early 1999, at the suggestion of WWF writer Vince Russo[19] McMahon debuted as the sweet daughter of Vince McMahon during an on-screen storyline involving Vince andThe Undertaker.[20] The Undertaker stalked and abducted McMahon, culminating in almost marrying her in the middle of the ring before being rescued by Stone Cold Steve Austin.[21]
McMahon then began an on-screen relationship with wrestler Test, which led to a rivalry between him and her older brother Shane.[22] After Test defeated Shane atSummerSlam in a "Love Her Or Leave Her Match",[23] McMahon and Test went on to team together in a match on September 20, 1999, with the couple defeating Jeff Jarrettand Debra.[24] The couple were eventually engaged, but during the in-ring ceremony, Triple H showed a video which revealed that he had drugged McMahon and taken her toLas Vegas, Nevada where they were married in a drive-through ceremony.[25][26] McMahon seemed to abhor Triple H at first, but eventually revealed that she had sided with him and that the wedding was real—a revenge plot against her father for the aforementioned kidnappings, thus turning her into a villain.[26][27]
McMahon-Helmsley era (2000–2001)[edit]
In 2000, with Vince McMahon absent as a result of injuries inflicted upon him by Triple H at the Armageddon event in 1999, Triple H and McMahon became the on-screen owners of the WWF, a period known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Era" and dominated by the McMahon-Helmsley Faction.[28] Triple H held the WWF Championship and McMahon held the WWF Women's Championship after defeating champion Jacqueline with the help of Tori and D-Generation X on the March 28 edition of SmackDown![29] On the June 6 edition ofSmackDown, McMahon successfully defended her title against Lita and on the June 16 edition of SmackDown.[30] Stephanie reconciled with her father and brother at WrestleMania 2000 when they helped Triple H defend his title against The Rock, leaving Linda McMahonas the only fan-favorite in the McMahon family.[31]
In mid 2000, a love triangle storyline began featuring McMahon, Triple H and Kurt Angle.[32] The storyline continued at Unforgiven when Triple H defeated Angle with a Pedigree following a low blow from McMahon, proving her loyalty to him.[33] McMahon later became Angle's manager and was in his corner when he defeated The Rock for the WWF Championship at No Mercy.[34] The alliance was short lived, however, as after The Rock performed his Rock Bottom maneuver on McMahon at No Mercy, Triple H attacked Angle, considering it his fault that McMahon was hurt due to her managing Angle at the time.[35] On the August 21, 2000 episode of Raw, McMahon lost the WWF's Women's Championship to Litadespite the interferences from Angle and Triple H after special referee, The Rock, performed a spinebuster on McMahon.[36]
The internal disputes between the McMahons led to Linda McMahon being in a comatose and wheel-chair bound state due to the stress of being asked for a divorce by Vince, who took the opportunity to have a public affair with Trish Stratus.[37][38] McMahon briefly feuded with Stratus, defeating her at No Way Out.[39] Over the next few weeks, Vince made it clear that he favored McMahon over Stratus, allowing McMahon to bully and verbally abuse Stratus.[38] At WrestleMania X-Seven, Shane McMahon defeated Vince in astreet fight.[38] During the match, Stratus slapped Vince and chased Stephanie from ringside, apparently upset with Vince's constant misogynistic treatment of her.[37][38]
The Invasion and divorce (2001–2002)[edit]
Main articles: The Invasion and The Alliance
McMahon later revealed that she had purchased Extreme Championship Wrestling and intended to bankrupt the WWF (in reality, the ownership of ECW assets at this time was highly disputed), along with her brother Shane, who had become the on-screen owner ofWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the two rosters merged to form a "supergroup" known as The Alliance.[22][40]
Her team "the Alliance" consisting of her brother Shane, former WCW Champion Booker T., Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle and Steve Austin were defeated by "Team WWF" consisting of The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Chris Jericho & The Rock at the Survivor Series in a five-on-five, Winner Takes All elimination match.[41] The night after The Alliance was defeated, Shane and McMahon were banished from WWF television.[42] McMahon returned in January 2002 when Triple H made a comeback as a fan-favorite, but the good couple began having problems, as McMahon began acting like a nagging and clingy wife.[26] As part of the storyline, the couple "divorced" after McMahon claimed to be pregnant in order to trick Triple H into renewing their marital vows.[43] Triple H later discovered that she was lying through and left her at the altar during the renewal ceremony.[44] As a result, after Triple H won the Royal Rumble, McMahon appointed herself special guest referee in a match between Kurt Angle and Triple H at No Way Out with Triple H's WrestleMania Undisputed WWF Championship shot on the line.[44] Though Angle won thanks to McMahon's biased officiating,[45] Triple H defeated him the next night to regain his title shot.[46] McMahon then aligned herself with former enemy, Chris Jericho.[22][46] Despite interference by McMahon, Jericho lost to Triple H at WrestleMania X8 on March 17.[47] On the March 25 episode of Raw, Jericho and McMahon lost to Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the Undisputed Championship, with the stipulation that, if McMahon was pinned, she would be forced to leave the WWF; In the match, Triple H pinned McMahon.[48]
General manager of SmackDown (2002–2003)[edit]
On July 18, 2002, McMahon returned to the WWF (renamed WWE following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund) as the general manager of SmackDown.[49] In contrast to her McMahon-Helmsley era villain character, Stephanie became a fan favorite, as she began to favor fan favorite wrestlers at that time. She feuded with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff. On October 31, 2002 at the Halloween party Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff shared a kiss while McMahon was dressed as a witch and Bischoff was disguised as her father underneath a mask.[50] McMahon was given credit for the return of the WWE United States Championship and for the creation of the WWE Tag Team Championship.[51] She was also credited with signing Hulk Hogan back to SmackDown!, which caused friction between herself and her father.[52]
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon began to resent Stephanie's attempts to stop him from pursuing an affair with Sable.[53] The feud culminated in the first ever "Father–Daughter 'I Quit' match" at No Mercy.[54][55] McMahon was accompanied by her mother, the CEO of WWE Linda McMahon, and Sable accompanied Vince McMahon in their match.[54] McMahon lost when Linda, at ringside threw in a towel on her behalf because Vince would not release a choke he had on her with a lead pipe.[54] As a result of losing the match, McMahon disappeared from WWE television for two years. The match was made to write Stephanie out of storylines as she was marrying Paul "Triple H" Levesque that week.[56]
Sporadic appearances (2005–2007)[edit]
McMahon returned as a villain once again in October 2005, she, along with her father and, in a surprise twist, her mother fired Rawannouncer Jim Ross.[57] A visibly pregnant McMahon also returned on the March 6, 2006 episode of Raw, approaching Shawn Michaels backstage and claiming to haveabdominal pains.[58] When Michaels left to get her some water, McMahon pulled out an unmarked substance out of her brassiere and poured it into his bottle of water.[58] This substance caused him to become groggy during his match against Shane later in the night, which he lost as a result.[58] McMahon also appeared at the WWE Hall of Fameinduction ceremony on April 1, 2006 and in a backstage vignette with her immediate family at WrestleMania 22.[59]
McMahon returned during a backstage segment in April 2007 at WrestleMania 23, visiting her father before his "Battle of the Billionaires" match.[60] After her father returned toRaw after faking his own death,[61] McMahon publicly revealed that her father had an illegitimate child, who was among the WWE roster.[62] On the taped edition of Raw that aired September 3, 2007, McMahon, along with her mother Linda and her brother Shane, made several appearances to confront Mr. McMahon about the child, who was later revealed to be Hornswoggle, turning into a fan favourite.[63] On Raw's 15 Year Anniversary episode, she appeared along with Shane in a segment—also involving her husbandTriple H and Hornswoggle—which ended with her kissing her real life husband Triple H, to humiliate her father on Raw.[64]
General manager of Raw (2008–2009)[edit]
See also: The Legacy versus the McMahons
After the severe injuries sustained by Vince on the June 23, 3-hour edition of Raw, Shane appeared requesting for the Raw Superstars to stand together during what was a 'turbulent time'.[65][66] Shane's plea was ignored, and subsequently, for the next two weeks, McMahon and Shane urged the superstars to show solidarity.[67][68] The following week, Shane announced Mike Adamle as their choice to be the new Raw General Manager.[69]
After Adamle stepped down as General Manager, Stephanie soon became in charge of the brand and (reignited her feud) and had altercations with Chris Jericho in the following weeks, which involved her firing him (although he was later reinstated).[70] After her father Vince returned, the family began a feud with Randy Orton, who began the storyline by punting Vince in the head.[71] After a few weeks of feuding, Orton and his alliance, The Legacy, punted Shane in the head and performed an RKO on McMahon.[72] Following the attack, he was chased out of the ring by Triple H, who is her real-life husband.[72] The rivalry between Orton and The Legacy against Triple H and the McMahons continued atWrestleMania XXV, where Triple H defended the WWE Championship against Orton.[73] The following month, Orton won the championship at Backlash.[74] After Backlash McMahon left Raw and took a hiatus from WWE television.
Sporadic appearances (2010–2013)[edit]
McMahon appeared on the November 1 episode of Raw in a pre-taped segment, where she dreams that Vince McMahon awoke from a coma after his doctor, played by actor and one-time WWE employee Freddie Prinze Jr., informed him that his wife Linda had invested millions in her campaign as she runs for senate.[6] Vince's heart rate elevated more and more as Prinze informed him on what was "wrong" with WWE since he went into a coma.[6] After beginning to feel better, Vince realizes that he has a serious case of "the runs", in which he gets out of bed and walks to the bathroom, in which he is covered in campaign signs, that block his backside.[6] McMahon suddenly wakes up from her dream and asks her husband, Triple H (off-screen and voice work only), if Vince was still in a coma, in which Triple H replies "Nah, he's still in a coma, I'm pretty sure he's brain dead"; McMahon responds by saying "thank God," and then lays back down.
McMahon made an appearance as a guest speaker at the WrestleMania XXVII Press Conference.[6] Several months later, she appeared in a backstage segment atSummerSlam to wish CM Punk luck in his match.[6] Upon offering to shake his hand, Punk declined and insulted her: "I would, but... I know where that hand's been."[6] The following night on Raw, McMahon appeared backstage with CM Punk and threatened him: "...in the end, people always get what they deserve."[6]
On July 23, 2012, McMahon made an appearance on the 1000th episode of Raw where she confronted and then slapped Paul Heyman to convince him to accept a match between Brock Lesnar and Triple H at SummerSlam.[6] On April 6, 2013, McMahon inducted former on-screen rival Trish Stratus into the WWE Hall of Fame.[75]
On June 3, 2013, McMahon made an appearance to reveal her decision not to allow Triple H to compete that night.[76] On the June 17 Raw, McMahon confronted new Divas Champion AJ Lee.[77] On the July 8 Raw, McMahon fired Vickie Guerrero from the position of Raw Managing Supervisor when the WWE Universe voted "Failed" during Guerrero's job evaluation.[78]
The Authority (2013–present)[edit]
Main article: The Authority (professional wrestling)
On the August 19 edition of Raw, Stephanie turned heel when she interrupted Daniel Bryan and supported the actions of her husband at SummerSlam the previous night, telling Bryan that he wasn't suitable to be the face of the company. Later in the night Stephanie stood beside Triple H and her father as they celebrated Randy Orton's WWE Championship Coronation, during which Daniel Bryan was attacked by The Shield and subsequently by Orton. In November 2013, McMahon signed a three-year performers contract with the WWE, confirming her as a regular on its programming.[79] She and Triple H continued to rule the company as a controlling "power couple" dubbed The Authority. Swearing that their actions were "best for business", the pair would belittle and punish any talent that went against their ideology, and formed a particular vendetta against Daniel Bryan. McMahon was at ringside when Triple H lost to Bryan at WrestleMania XXX.
In June 2014, as part of the ongoing storyline with Bryan, McMahon threatened to fire his wife Brie Bella if Bryan did not relinquish the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which forced Brie to quit before slapping McMahon in the face.[80] On the June 16 episode of Raw, Roman Reigns spiked the coffee Vickie Guerrero gave to McMahon, causing Stephanie to throw up on Vickie and leave with Triple H to the hospital. Vickie later gave Reigns a chance in the battle royal, which he would win.[81] On the June 23 episode of Raw, Vickie lost in a pudding match against McMahon with her job on the line, after interference by Alicia Fox, Layla and Rosa Mendes. Vickie ultimately lost the match and was fired, however she got her retribution over McMahon by throwing her into the mud pool.[82] After Brie quit, McMahon put Brie's sister Nikki in several handicap matches as punishment.[83][84][85][86]
Brie returned to television on the July 21 episode of Raw, appearing in the crowd leading to confrontation between the two. McMahon got arrested because she slapped Brie, who was not a (kayfabe) WWE employee[87] The following week, McMahon granted Brie her job back and a match at SummerSlam against her in order to get Brie to drop the lawsuit.[88] On the August 4 episode of Raw, after their contract signing, Stephanie pedigreed both twins.[89] At SummerSlam, Nikki turned on Brie, allowing Stephanie to hit a pedigree on Brie having Stephanie win her first pay per view match in over 10 years.[90]
On the October 27 episode of Raw, after John Cena, the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, rejected an offer to join the Authority, Triple H announced a Traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match, with a team representing the Authority facing a team captained by Cena. On the November 3 episode ofRaw, Vince McMahon announced that if Team Authority loses at Survivor Series, the Authority will be ousted from power. During the match, Triple H tried to get the last member of Team Cena, Dolph Ziggler, eliminated by attacking two referees and placing Seth Rollins (who was also the final member of Team Authority) on top of Ziggler and calling crooked referee Scott Armstrong into the ring to make the count, however the debuting Sting came out and attacked Armstrong and Triple H, giving Team Cena the win and thus disbanding The Authority. Stephanie and Triple H appeared on the episode of Raw after Survivor Series stating that without them the company would be driven to the ground. They were then escorted out of the arena by the returning Daniel Bryan and only to be insulted by Mr.McMahon for letting him down and the McMahon family before exiting the arena. On the December 29 edition of Raw, The Authority was brought back in power by John Cena, and she and her husband entered Raw and stepped on the entrance ramp celebrating their return with a glass of champagne and a kiss. Stephanie and Triple H proceeded to fire Erick Rowan, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler.
Personal life[edit]
McMahon began dating Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, in 2000 during their scripted romance. They were engaged on Valentine's Dayin 2003 and were married on October 25, 2003.[91][92] In a radio interview with Opie and Anthony in 2004, Levesque claimed that he began dating McMahon after being apart from his previous girlfriend, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, for some time, despite Laurer's claims that his relationship with McMahon began while they were still together.[93][94] After their marriage, Stephanie took her husband's surname and legally changed her middle name to 'McMahon'.[7][95]
She and Levesque have three daughters together.[96] On January 8, 2006, WWE announced that McMahon and Levesque were expecting their first child, due on July 27, 2006.[97] McMahon continued to work and travel with WWE throughout her pregnancy, giving birth to an 8 lb, 7 oz (3.8 kg) girl, Aurora Rose Levesque, on July 24, 2006.[98] The couple had their second child, a daughter named Murphy Claire Levesque, on July 28, 2008,[99] and welcomed their third daughter, Vaughn Evelyn Levesque, on August 24, 2010.[100]
Other media[edit]
McMahon has appeared on The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Opie and Anthony. In May 2000, Stephanie appeared at the WBCN River Rave on-stage with friend, Cali, to introduce Godsmack and sign autographs in the festival area. In November 2001, McMahon appeared on a special episode of NBC's The Weakest Link where WWF personalities competed against each other for their respective charities. She made it to the final two but lost to Triple H.[101] On August 14, 2005, McMahon along with Stacy Keibler, appeared on the season five finale of MTV's Punk'd, where she assisted with the prank played on Triple H.[102]
On March 28, 2009, McMahon appeared alongside her mother on Business News Network's The Market Morning Show. McMahon as well has made several appearances on various ESPN shows. On November 11, 2009, McMahon appeared on an episode of Food Network's Dinner: Impossible alongside the WWE wrestler Big Show. In October 2013, Stephanie became the honorary chairperson for the special Olympics of Connecticut. Stephanie has also been in some WWE Games, mainly the SmackDown! vs. Raw series, and 2K's first wrestling game, WWE 2K14. McMahon has made infrequent appearances in the first season of the E! television seriesTotal Divas. On April 23, Linda McMahon did a special interviewing series with her daughter Stephanie, the interview was based on the topic "Women can have it all".
On December 2, 2014, WWE released the WWE Fit Series, starring McMahon as a trainer in a fitness video designed for women. Her husband Triple H starred in a similar video for men titled WWE Power Series.
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