World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE McMahon-Helmsley Era (1999–2001) In early 1999, at the suggestion of WWF writer
Vince Russo, McMahon debuted as
Vince McMahon's innocent and friendly daughter in an on-screen storyline involving Vince and
The Undertaker. The Undertaker stalked and abducted McMahon at the end of the April
Backlash pay-per-view, which culminated in him almost marrying her in the middle of the ring the next night on
Raw, before she was rescued by
Stone Cold Steve Austin. McMahon then began an on-screen relationship with wrestler
Test, which led to a
rivalry between him and her older brother
Shane. After Test defeated Shane at
SummerSlam in a "Love Her Or Leave Her Match," McMahon and Test teamed-up for a match on September 20, 1999, with the couple defeating
Jeff Jarrett and
Debra. The couple were eventually engaged, but during the in-ring ceremony,
Triple H showed a video that revealed he had drugged McMahon and taken her to
Las Vegas, Nevada, where they were married in a
drive-through ceremony. McMahon seemed to abhor Triple H at first, but at the inaugural
Armageddon event, after Triple H defeated her father in a No Holds Barred Match, she embraced him and left the ring with him. McMahon confronted Vince the next night on
Raw and revealed the wedding was a planned event, which was a revenge plot against her father for the aforementioned kidnappings, thus turning her into a heel character. In late 1999, with Vince McMahon absent as a result of injuries inflicted upon him by Triple H at the Armageddon pay-per-view, Triple H and McMahon became the on-screen owners of the WWF, a period known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Era" (slightly different from the modern era of "The Authority") and dominated by the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. 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 episode of
SmackDown! McMahon successfully defended her title against Lita on
SmackDown on June 6 and 16. McMahon reconciled with her father and brother at
WrestleMania 2000 when they helped Triple H defend his title against
The Rock, leaving
Linda McMahon as the only
fan-favorite in the McMahon family. at
King of the Ring in 2000 In mid-2000, a
love triangle storyline began featuring McMahon, Triple H and
Kurt Angle. The storyline continued at
Unforgiven when Triple H defeated Angle with a
Pedigree following a
low blow from McMahon, proving her loyalty to him. McMahon later became Angle's manager and was in his corner when he defeated The Rock for the WWF Championship at
No Mercy. 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. On the August 21, 2000, episode of
Raw, McMahon lost the WWF's Women's Championship to
Lita despite the interference from Angle and
Triple H after special referee, The Rock, performed a spinebuster on McMahon. The internal disputes between the McMahons led to Linda McMahon being comatose and wheel-chair bound due to the stress of being asked for a divorce by Vince, who took the opportunity to have a public affair with
Trish Stratus. Over the next few weeks, Vince made it clear that he favored McMahon over Stratus, allowing McMahon to bully and verbally abuse Stratus. At
WrestleMania X-Seven, Shane McMahon defeated Vince in a
street fight. Her team, The Alliance, consisting of her brother Shane, former WCW Champion Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin was defeated by Team WWF consisting of The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Chris Jericho and The Rock at
Survivor Series in a five-on-five, Winner Takes All elimination match. The night after The Alliance was defeated, Shane and Stephanie were banished from WWF television. McMahon returned in January 2002 when Triple H made a comeback as a fan-favorite, but the couple began having problems when McMahon began acting like a nagging and clingy wife. Triple H later discovered that she was lying though and left her at the altar during the renewal ceremony. As a result, after Triple H won the
Royal Rumble, McMahon appointed herself as the 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. Triple H defeated him the next night to regain his title shot. McMahon then aligned herself with former enemy,
Chris Jericho. On the March 25 episode of
Raw, Jericho and McMahon lost to Triple H in a
Triple Threat match for the Undisputed WWF Championship, with the stipulation that, if McMahon was pinned, she would be forced to leave the WWF. In the match, McMahon came within a one count of becoming the first female WWE Champion in a pin on Jericho, but was ultimately pinned by Triple H.
SmackDown! general manager (2002–2003) On July 18, 2002, McMahon returned to the WWE (formerly WWF until a lawsuit from the
World Wildlife Fund) as the
general manager of
SmackDown! In contrast to her McMahon-Helmsley era villain character, McMahon became a
fan favorite, as she began to favor fan-favorite wrestlers and feuded with Raw general manager Eric Bischoff. On the October 31, 2002, episode of
SmackDown! McMahon and Bischoff shared a kiss at a Halloween party while McMahon was dressed as a witch and Bischoff was disguised as her father underneath a mask. McMahon was given credit for the return of the
WWE United States Championship and for the creation of the
WWE Tag Team Championship. She was also credited with signing
Hulk Hogan back to
SmackDown!, which caused friction between herself and her father. In the summer of 2003, Vince McMahon began to resent McMahon's attempts to stop him from pursuing an affair with
Sable. In a controversial segment of
SmackDown!, John Cena requested that Stephanie rip Sable's top off and that he be allowed to slap Stephanie's buttocks; she agreed to it and he slapped her buttocks, after which she went backstage, fought Sable, and ripped Sable's top off briefly exposing Sable's breasts on air. The feud culminated in the controversial first ever father-daughter
"I Quit" match at
No Mercy. McMahon was accompanied in the match by her mother, the CEO of WWE, Linda McMahon, and Sable accompanied Vince.
Sporadic appearances (2005–2007) McMahon returned as a
villainess once again on October 3, 2005, for
Raw Homecoming, where she confronted Stone Cold Steve Austin and received a
Stunner. On October 10, 2005, she, along with her father and, in a surprise twist, her mother, fired
Raw announcer
Jim Ross. A visibly pregnant McMahon also returned on the March 6, 2006, episode of
Raw, approaching
Shawn Michaels backstage and claiming to have
abdominal pains. When Michaels left to get her some water, McMahon pulled a bottle out of her brassiere and poured it into Michael's water bottle. McMahon returned during a backstage segment in April 2007 at
WrestleMania 23, visiting her father before his "Battle of the Billionaires" match. After her father returned to
Raw after faking his own death, McMahon publicly revealed that her father had an illegitimate child who was among WWE's roster. 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, who became a fan favorite. On ''Raw's 15 Year Anniversary
episode, she appeared along with Shane in a segment—also involving her husband Triple H and Hornswoggle—which ended with her kissing her real-life husband Triple H, to humiliate her father on Raw''.
Raw general manager (2008–2009) After the severe injuries sustained by Vince on the June 23, three-hour edition of
Raw, Shane appeared to request the Raw Superstars to stand together during what was a "turbulent time.". Shane's plea was ignored, and for the next two weeks, McMahon and Shane urged the superstars to show solidarity. The following week, Shane announced
Mike Adamle as the new
Raw general manager. After Adamle stepped down as general manager, McMahon took charge of the brand and reignited her feud by having altercations with
Chris Jericho in the following weeks, which involved her firing him (though he was later reinstated). After her father Vince returned, the family began a feud with
Randy Orton, who began the storyline by punting Vince in the head. After a few weeks of feuding, Orton and his alliance,
The Legacy, punted Shane in the head and performed an
RKO on McMahon. Following the attack, he [who?] was chased out of the ring by Triple H. The following month, Orton won the championship at
Backlash. After Backlash, McMahon left Raw and took a hiatus from WWE television.
Sporadic appearances (2010–2013) McMahon appeared on the November 1 episode of
Raw in a pre-taped segment, where she dreamt that Vince 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 for a senate seat. On June 3, 2013, McMahon made an appearance to reveal her decision not to allow
Triple H to compete that night. On the June 17 episode of
Raw, McMahon confronted new Divas Champion
AJ Lee. On the July 8 episode of
Raw, McMahon fired
Vickie Guerrero from the position of Raw Managing Supervisor when the WWE Universe voted "Failed" during Guerrero's job evaluation.
The Authority (2013–2015) On the August 19 [year] episode of
Raw, McMahon 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 McMahon 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 performer's contract with the WWE, confirming her as a regular on its programming. 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 belittled and punished 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. 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. 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. After Brie quit, McMahon put Brie's sister
Nikki in several handicap matches as punishment. Brie returned to television on the July 21 episode of
Raw, appearing in the crowd leading to a confrontation between the two. McMahon was (
kayfabe) arrested and charged with assault and battery, because she slapped Brie, who was not a (kayfabe) WWE employee. The following week, McMahon granted Brie her job back and a match at
SummerSlam against her to get Brie to drop the lawsuit. On the August 4 episode of
Raw, after their contract signing, McMahon
pedigreed both twins. 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. On the October 27 episode of
Raw, after John Cena, top 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 of
Raw, 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 episode of
Raw, The Authority was brought back in power by John Cena, and she and her husband entered and stepped on the entrance ramp celebrating their return with a glass of champagne and a kiss. Stephanie and Triple H then proceeded to fire Erick Rowan, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler. On the July 13, 2015, episode of
Raw, Stephanie interrupted Team Bella (
The Bella Twins and
Alicia Fox) to introduce
Becky Lynch,
Charlotte, and then-
NXT Women's Champion Sasha Banks, calling for a "revolution" in the
WWE Divas division. While Lynch and Charlotte allied with
Paige, Banks would ally with
Tamina and
Naomi, leading to a brawl between the three teams. On the February 22, 2016, episode of
Raw, Mr. McMahon presented the "
Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence" award to Stephanie. Before she could start her acceptance speech,
Shane McMahon returned for the first time since 2009 and demanded to gain control of
Raw, claiming The Authority was running the company to the ground. Mr. McMahon accepted the offer, only if he won one more match. Shane accepted, and Mr. McMahon announced he would wrestle at
WrestleMania 32 against The Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell. On the post-WrestleMania episode of
Raw on April 4, Mr. McMahon opened the show to announce that his returning son, Shane, would run
Raw for one night only. However, Shane continued to run
Raw due to "overwhelming fan support" until the April 25 episode of
Raw, when Stephanie returned to announce that Mr. McMahon would decide who'd permanently control
Raw at
Payback. Mr. McMahon announced that both Stephanie and Shane would run
Raw together on a permanent basis, thus disbanding The Authority.
Raw Commissioner (2016–2018) On the July 11 episode of
Raw, Mr. McMahon announced Stephanie as the commissioner of the Raw brand, while Shane was named commissioner of SmackDown for them to compete against each other in the upcoming reestablished brand extension. The following week on
Raw, Stephanie appointed
Mick Foley as the Raw general manager. The next week on
Raw, Stephanie and Mick Foley announced the
WWE Universal Championship would be the main championship on
Raw. On the October 11 episode of
SmackDown, Commissioner
Shane McMahon and general manager
Daniel Bryan challenged Raw to three traditional
Survivor Series elimination matches – involving each brand's best five male wrestlers, best five female wrestlers, and best five tag teams, respectively. The following week on
Raw, Raw Commissioner Stephanie accepted the challenge. On the November 7 episode of
Raw, Stephanie invited both Shane and Bryan to appear on the following week's
Raw to address the
interpromotional matches, which Shane and Bryan accepted. During this meeting, each commissioner and general manager touted the reasons why their respective brand was better and eventually called out their respective male teams. In the ensuing battle, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins of Team Raw stood tall at the end. At
Survivor Series, Team SmackDown defeated Team Raw, On the March 20 episode of
Raw, Foley was fired as Raw general manager for his actions. In April, Stephanie was written out of the storyline after being pushed accidentally through a table at
WrestleMania 33 by Triple H, and did not appear on WWE TV for many months. However, McMahon made a one-off appearance after
Kevin Owens assaulted her father on the September 12 edition of
SmackDown. at
WrestleMania 34 McMahon returned to Raw on the October 30, 2017, episode, confronting Raw general manager Kurt Angle regarding Shane and the Smackdown roster's attack on the Raw roster at the end of the previous week's Raw, naming him team captain for Raw at the
Survivor Series pay-per-view, warning him that if Raw is not victorious over Smackdown at the pay-per-view, she was considering dismissing him from being Raw general manager. On the December 18 episode of
Raw, after a six-woman tag team match between the team of
Sasha Banks,
Bayley, and
Mickie James and Absolution (
Paige,
Mandy Rose, and
Sonya Deville) ended in disqualification and a brawl ensued with the rest of the Raw women's roster (
Alicia Fox,
Asuka,
Nia Jax,
Dana Brooke, and Raw Women's Champion
Alexa Bliss), Raw Commissioner Stephanie came out and the brawl stopped. Stephanie recapped the leaps that women's wrestling had taken the past few years, going from a revolution to the evolution of women's wrestling, including the
first-ever women's
Hell in a Cell match, the
first-ever women's
Money in the Bank ladder match, and women main eventing
Raw and
SmackDown. She then announced the first-ever women's Royal Rumble Match for the 2018 Royal Rumble with the winner receiving a match at WrestleMania 34 for either the Raw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship.
Sporadic appearances (2018–present) Upon the signing of
Ronda Rousey, McMahon embarked on a feud with her, leading to a mixed tag-team match at
WrestleMania 34 against Rousey and
Kurt Angle with her husband,
Triple H as her partner. This was McMahon's first match since
SummerSlam (2014) and her first-ever WrestleMania match. At the event, her team was defeated when she tapped out to Rousey's armbar. Following this loss, Stephanie would begin making only sporadic appearances on TV. On the July 23 episode of
Raw, McMahon returned to announce a match between
Kevin Owens and
Braun Strowman at the August 19
SummerSlam Pay Per View. The match was created with a stipulation that if Strowman loses the match in any way, he loses his
Money in the Bank contract to Owens. On that same episode, McMahon also announced the upcoming all-women
Evolution Pay Per View. On the September 24 edition of
Raw, Stephanie returned as a
face when she told Baron Corbin about the lack of leadership he had been doing and if he doesn't improve that she would bring back Kurt Angle from vacation. She also returned on the
1000th Episode of SmackDown on Truth TV. On the November 12 episode of
Raw, McMahon returned to rally Team Raw at the Survivor Series and confronted Braun Strowman to make the business proposition that if Team Raw was victorious, he would have a match with Baron Corbin and a Universal Championship rematch against Brock Lesnar. On April 15, 2019, episode of
Raw, McMahon turned
heel once again by supporting her brother's actions against The Miz's father, telling fans that Kurt Angle had his last match, telling them to get over it, and insulting the Montreal crowd. She was then seen as a more
neutral character, appearing very sporadically. She announced the draft picks during the
2019 WWE Draft, and introduced the live broadcast of
WrestleMania 36. On May 19, 2022, McMahon announced a
leave of absence from the company, stating that she wished to spend time with her family. On June 17, 2022, Stephanie McMahon was announced as the
interim chairwoman and CEO following an investigation by the board of directors into allegations of sexual misconduct towards her father, Vince McMahon. On July 22, 2022, upon her appointment as the permanent chairwoman of WWE following her father Vince's retirement, she returned on the following episode of
SmackDown to thank the fans for their support on social media. On January 10, 2023, McMahon announced her resignation from WWE upon her father's return as chairman of the company. |296x296pxAt
WrestleMania XL, Stephanie made an unannounced return at the start of the show on Night 2 to welcome all fans in attendance. It was her first appearance since her father's resignation as chairman of the newly formed
TKO Group Holdings, formed by the merger of the WWE and UFC in September 2023, amidst the controversial sex trafficking scandal involving a former WWE employee. She announced the draft picks during the
2024 WWE Draft in late April 2024. At
SummerSlam in August 2024, Stephanie was in attendance among fans at ringside. In the post-event press conference, Triple H confirmed that she is not currently in a position within the company but does not rule out a return. At
Evolution 2025, Stephanie was in attendance as
Joe Tessitore's co-host for the event. At
Wrestlepalooza 2025,
The Undertaker announced Stephanie as the first inductee into the
2026 WWE Hall of Fame. Stephanie was host of ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XLIII'' as Joe Tessitore was unable to reach the venue due to the
January 2026 North American winter storm. She would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April 2026. == Other media ==