The Authority

The Authority is a group of heel wrestlers and WWE management working at World Wrestling Entertainment. The Authority primarily refers to the power couple of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, the leaders of the new corporation.

The group was formed during the August 19, 2013 Monday Night Raw during the coronation ceremony of Randy Orton after he had won the WWE Championship at SummerSlam 2013 by cashing in his Money In The Bank contract and defeating Daniel Bryan in a screwjob.

The group is aligned with various heel employees.

Feud with Daniel Bryan (2013)
On the August 12, 2013 edition of Monday Night RAW, Triple H named himself Guest Referee in the match between John Cena and Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam 2013. At SummerSlam 2013, Daniel Bryan defeated Cena to win his first WWE Championship. As he was celebrating, Randy Orton came out, and Triple H made a heel turn by attacking Daniel Bryan, allowing Orton to win the WWE Championship for the seventh time.

The Authority was formed August 19, 2013 edition of Monday Night RAW, Triple H tried to justify his actions, saying it was "best for business". Daniel Bryan came to the ring, and was attacked by The Shield. Triple H order the Shield to let Daniel Bryan coming to the ring, and Randy Orton gave an RKO to Daniel Bryan, ending the night with their hands in the air. On the following Smackdown, Randy Orton delivered another RKO on Daniel Bryan after his win in the main event against Wade Barrett August 26, 2013 edition of Monday Night RAW, Triple H gifts a car to Orton, which ends up being spray painted with "YES!" all over by Daniel Bryan. Later, Daniel Bryan has a gauntlet match with the Shield, and after pinning Seth Rollins, was attacked by The Shield causing them both a DQ, and Randy Orton.

The following week, on the September 2, 2013 edition of Monday Night RAW, Big Show was forced to face Bryan in the main event by Stephanie McMahon. Big Show is reluctant to wrestle, but Bryan continues to attack. After the match, Big Show was forced to use the WMD on Bryan, leaving him motionless in the ring. On the September 9, 2013 edition of Monday Night RAW, Bryan defeated Dean Ambrose, but is attacked by the Shield. Big Show is forced once again to knock out Bryan, but stalls long enough for Bryan to deliver a running high knee to Orton.

Feud with The Big Show (2013)
On the August 26th Raw the clan returned to feud with Miz, Ziggler and Big Show due to their reaction to the Shield's attack on Daniel Bryan. During the August 30th SmackDown, Orton defeated Miz. Afterward, Orton asked the Shield to attack Miz, but Bryan prevented this by using a steel chair. but the attack with a chair.

During the September 2nd Raw Ziggler lost a match against Ryback and Big Show lost by DQ to Bryan in the main event. Afterward he hit Bryan with the WMB at Triple H's insistence.

On September 16th Show was coerced into launching his WMD at Dusty Rhodes when told it was either that or allow the Shield to continue assaulting him. The same night, Bryan was stripped of the title he won the previous night (at Night of Champions 2013) due to a fast-count made by Scott Armstrong.

Feud with the WWE (2013)
On the September 16th Raw when Daniel Bryan beats Roman Reigns by DQ due to the intervention of Randy Orton who attacked Daniel Bryan, most active faces attacked Orton and The Shield and celebrated the victory of Daniel Bryan.

In November 2013, The Authority started to doubt Randy Orton's skills to win matches on his own. At Survivor Series 2013 Orton was booked to defend the WWE Title against the Big Show without anyone from The Authority coming to the ring with him. After Orton defeated the Big Show, John Cena came out and had a stare down with Orton. The next night on Raw Triple H booked Orton and Cena in a tile unification TLC match at the 2013 TLC event.

At the 2013 Slammy Awards, Orton was knocked into Stephanie McMahon and would be pedigreed by Triple H. Following this, Triple H, Kane, and Stephanie McMahon would stand shoulder to shoulder with John Cena after Cena, Triple H, and Kane would help Stephanie to her feet. The following Smackdown, Orton would apologize to Triple H who would accept it telling Orton that would be the only time he would.

At TLC: Tables, Ladders &amp; Chairs, Orton defeated Cena to unify the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship into the umbrella term WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

In March 2014, The Shield broke away from The Authority, as they felt as though Director of Operations Kane was using them as his own personal enforcers, and that he wasn't in position to give them orders. Kane recruited Road Dogg and Billy Gunn to deal with The Shield, but they lost at WrestleMania XXX. Triple H also lost to Daniel Bryan, but gained some revenge after the match by assaulting Bryan's injured shoulder with a chair shot. Ultimately Bryan would prevail in the main event, despite further interference by Triple H and Stephanie, when he made Batista submit.

Feud with The Shield and Evolution's reunion (2014)
The next night on Raw, Triple H challenged Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The Shield were ordered by Stephanie McMahon to help Triple H winning the title. Bryan was attacked by Orton, Batista and Kane before his title defense to ensure Triple H's victory. However, The Shield interfered during the match and attacked the Authority, preventing Bryan from losing the title. The next week, The Shield competed in a 11-on-3 handicap match where Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins were outnumbered and assaulted by eleven superstars after the match ended in no contest. Orton, Batista and Triple H, reunited as Evolution, came to the ring and proceeded to attack The Shield.

Meanwhile Stephanie and Kane continued Authority's feud with Daniel Bryan for the WWE Title. Following WrestleMania XXX, after Kane and The New Age Outlaws lost to the Shield, Kane was berated by Stephanie McMahon to find the "Big Red Monster" that he was before, and retrieved his mask-vowing to send his former tag team partner Daniel Bryan to the depths of hell. That same week on Main Event Kane came to the ring wearing his mask and beat down Big Show, who had just won a match with Jack Swagger. Kane brought Show in the ring for a chokeslam and then attacked him outside of the ring with the steel steps. On the April 21 episode of Raw, Stephanie McMahon announced he'd challenge Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules. Kane then attacked Daniel Bryan, hitting three Tombstone Piledrivers, one on the floor, one on the steel steps and one on the announcer's table. The following week on Raw, Kane ambushed Bryan's wife Brie Bella during her title match against Paige and attempted to drag her through a hole in the ring. Kane would also chokeslam Bryan. At Extreme Rules, Kane was defeated by Bryan, and The Shield beat Evolution. The next night on Raw, Triple H would force Ambrose to defend his United States Championship against 19 other wrestlers in a 20-man battle royal, which Ambrose was eliminated last by Sheamus, ending Ambrose's WWE record reign at 351 days. Triple H would then book The Shield to compete in a six-man tag team match against The Wyatt Family, which the group lost with a distraction by Evolution, who proceeded to assault the Shield.

On the May 19 episode of Raw, Maddox defied Triple H's orders of not allowing any members of The Shield at ringside by making the guest commentators Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. The following week, Brad was relieved of his duties by The Authority by having Kane attack him at the start of the show. At Payback, Evolution was defeated by The Shield in a Six Man No Holds Barred Tag Team Match after Evolution failed to eliminate a single member of The Shield. The following night on Raw, Batista, frustrated with not receiving a proper one-on-one match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, walked out on The Authority and (kayfabe) quit WWE. Later that night, Rollins turned heel by attacking Ambrose and Reigns with a steel, thus betraying The Shield and defecting to The Authority.

Feud with John Cena and downfall (2014)
In the weeks leading up to Survivor Series, The Authority secured the final spots on their team with Mark Henry, Rusev - after helping him retain the United States Championship in a rematch against Sheamus - and Luke Harper. The Raw before the event, The Authority granted Harper an Intercontinental Championship match against Dolph Ziggler - who had joined Team Cena - and he won the championship. Stephanie then put Team Cena members Big Show and Sheamus in a match for a future World Title opportunity, only for Rusev and Henry to attack both men, leaving Sheamus injured that he had to drop out of Team Cena. Cena secured the spots on his team with Ziggler and Big Show still staying on, and they were surprised with the additions of Erick Rowan and Ryback. On the November 21 episode of Smackdown, in response to comments made by Cena stating that he felt responsible for his team, Triple H announced that if Team Cena lost, all of Team Cena - except Cena himself - would be fired. Later that night, with Cena absent, the rest of Team Cena were attacked by Team Authority and a chair-wielding Triple H.

At the event, WCW legend Sting made his WWE debut by attacking the Authority's crooked referee Scott Armstrong and Triple H, after which he helped Ziggler to pin Rollins to give Team Cena the win, thus ending the Authority's control over the WWE.

After the Survivor Series loss Triple H and Stephanie McMahon left Raw to return to WWE's headquarters. The remaining members of the Authority, plus Big Show, would still associate with each other without using the "Authority" name.

Return of the Authority (2014-Present)
On the December 29, 2014 edition of Monday Night Raw, the guest hosts of the event, Edge and Christian, were attacked by Authority member Seth Rollins and Authority supporter Big Show. Christian was struck in the stomach by Rollins' briefcase, but managed to roll to safety. However, before Edge could exit the ring, he was held down by Big Show. Rollins then called out Cena, and threatened to give a Curb Stomp to Edge, guaranteeing a neck injury, if Cena didn't bring the Authority back into power. Cena then verbally reinstated the Authority, but Rollins tried to Curb Stomp Edge anyway. Luckily, Cena entered the ring and fought off Rollins and Big Show just long enough for Edge to escape. However, Cena was quickly overwhelmed, and was knocked out with a WMD by Big Show. Authority Co-Leaders Triple H and Stephanie McMahon then entered the arena, and celebrated their return with the other members with a champagne toast.

On January 19, 2015 the reunion of legends edition of Monday Night Raw, The Authority came to see an calm and irate Lesnar after Rollins attacks him and Cena with a Curb Stomp signature move. Both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon try to calm him down but he replies to Triple H that they're gonna fix and they came out here for a fight only Seth Rollins appeared in Titantron taunting Brock about what he did last week. After Paul Heyman yells about his prediction about Brock retains his World Heavyweight Champion. Cena arrives and wants to have another shot to reinstate Rowan, Ryback and Ziggler. Triple H finally gave him another opportunity to reinstate the three men by fighting a 3-on-1 Handicap Match against Rollins, Kane and Big Show. He also tells him if he loses, then he will give up his opportunity in the Triple Threat Match against Lesnar and Rollins at the Royal Rumble Match.

During the 3-on-1 handicap match, Cena ended up being incapacitated by both Big Show and Kane after he knocked Rollins with an AA and being pulled on the leg by both of them while Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were watching them on ringside. When Rollins was ready to Curb Stomp Cena, WCW legend Sting reappeared on the Titantron to distract the Authority and Rollins before appearing on the entrance ramp to distract them while his entrance song played and pointed out to Triple H with both Kane and Big Show alongside him, allowing Cena to steal the win from Rollins with a roll-up. This angered Triple H due to the distraction made by Sting who finally left the scene and an irate Triple H angrily called Sting out at ringside to fight while all the audience cheered him with "Yes!" chants and "Triple Sting" until Lesnar arrived for his retribution against Rollins who he intensively brawled with before he was stopped by both Kane and Big Show. Lesnar proceeded to give both of them an F-5 as Rollins escaped with both Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble.

Former Members

 * Dean Ambrose
 * Roman Reigns
 * Billy Gunn
 * Road Dogg
 * Batista
 * Randy Orton

Allies

 * Adam Rose
 * Bray Wyatt
 * Cesaro
 * Cameron
 * Fandango
 * Heath Slater
 * Hornswoggle
 * John Bradshaw Layfield
 * Lana
 * Luke Harper
 * Rosa Mendes
 * Rusev
 * Scott Armstrong
 * Stardust
 * The Bella Twins
 * Tyson Kidd

Enemies

 * AJ Lee
 * Chris Jericho
 * Christian
 * Daniel Bryan
 * Dean Ambrose
 * Dolph Ziggler
 * Dusty Rhodes
 * El Torito
 * Edge
 * Erick Rowan
 * Goldust
 * Jack Swagger
 * Jerry "The King" Lawler
 * John Cena
 * Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando)
 * Mark Henry
 * Michael Cole
 * Mr. McMahon
 * Naomi
 * Paige
 * Randy Orton
 * Roman Reigns
 * Ryback
 * Sheamus
 * Sting
 * The New Day (Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E)
 * The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young)
 * The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso)
 * Zack Ryder
 * Zeb Colter

Championships

 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * WWE Championship - (1) Randy Orton
 * WWE United States Championship - (2) Dean Ambrose, Rusev
 * WWE Intercontinental Championship - (1) Luke Harper
 * WWE Tag Team Championships - (2) The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns), The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn)
 * World Heavyweight Championship (WWE) - (1) Randy Orton
 * WWE World Heavyweight Championship - (2) Randy Orton, Seth Rollins