Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; September 24, 1976), is an American businesswoman and professional wrestling personality known for her time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Stephanie is the great-granddaughter of Roderick "Jess" McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent J. McMahon, daughter of Vincent K. McMahon and Linda McMahon, the younger sister of Shane McMahon and wife of Paul "Triple H" Levesque.
Career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Abduction by the Undertaker; relationship with Test (1999)
Stephanie first appeared in an on-camera role by modeling WWF merchandise. In early 1999, she became involved in an on-screen storyline involving her father, Vince McMahon, and The Undertaker. The Undertaker stalked and abducted Stephanie McMahon and almost "married" her in the middle of the ring in an "Unholy Wedding" ceremony performed by Paul Bearer, until Steve Austin, her father's then nemesis, rescued her. The Undertaker did this to torment Vince, or so it seemed—but later it was revealed that he and Vince had been in cahoots the entire time. Stephanie and her mother Linda sided with Vince's nemesis Austin, and Vince responded by having the Undertaker kidnap Stephanie a second time.
Stephanie McMahon then began an on-screen relationship with wrestler Test, which led to a heated rivalry between him and her older brother Shane, who viewed Test as not being good enough for her. After Test defeated Shane at SummerSlam in a "love her or leave her" Greenwich Street Fight, Shane stopped objecting and began to side with Test and Stephanie to prove he was supportive. Stephanie and Test went on to team together in a match on September 20, 1999, with the couple defeating Jeff Jarrett and Debra. The couple were eventually engaged, but their original wedding date had to be postponed after The British Bulldog accidentally hit Stephanie with a thrown trash can, giving her a concussion and amnesia. A later date was set, but during the in-ring ceremony, Triple H showed a video which revealed that he had drugged Stephanie and taken her to Las Vegas, Nevada where they were married in a drive-through ceremony. This effectively ended the relationship between her and Test. Stephanie 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, turning Stephanie into a heel.
McMahon-Helmsley era (2000-2001)
In 2000, with Vince McMahon absent as a result of injuries inflicted upon him by Triple H at Armageddon event, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon became the on-screen owners of the WWF, a period known as the "McMahon-Helmsley Era" and dominated by the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. Stephanie underwent a complete character transformation with her "girl next door" image turning much more cold hearted and sinister complete with revealing outfits and wild, curly hair from her previously straightened hair. Triple H held the WWF Championship and McMahon held the WWF Women's Championship after several interferences and a DDT from Tori against her opponent, defending champion Jacqueline. 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. Linda and McMahon exchanged slaps throughout the summer of 2000. Throughout 2000, McMahon used heel wrestlers to try and eliminate her enemies, including The Rock, Chris Jericho, and Lita. Jericho in particular enraged McMahon by him, Edge and Christian calling her a "Filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash bag tramp-a-saurus rex", leading to a series of matches between him and Triple H. McMahon lost the Women's Championship to Lita in the first women's Raw main event match on August 21, 2000.
In late 2000, a love triangle storyline began featuring McMahon, Triple H and Kurt Angle. One of the most memorable points of the storyline took place during the SummerSlam 2000 pay-per-view as Triple H inadvertently knocked Angle out before EMTs carried him unconscious from the arena. The storyline was resolved officially at Unforgiven when Triple H defeated Angle with a Pedigree following a low blow from McMahon, proving her loyalty to him. However, after taking several shots from both men accidentally during a segment on "Raw," Triple H demanded McMahon stay away from ringside during his matches. Upset by this, McMahon 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, as Triple H demanded she withdraw her services following The Rock using his signature Rock Bottom maneuver on Stephanie at No Mercy due to her constant interference.
The internal disputes between the McMahons led to Shane siding with his mother against Stephanie and Vince. Linda was in a comatose state due to the stress of being asked for a divorce by Vince, and Vince took the opportunity to have a public affair with Trish Stratus. McMahon briefly feuded with Stratus, defeating her at No Way Out, but eventually both settled their differences and sided with Vince. Over the next few weeks, Vince made it clear that he favored McMahon over Stratus, even allowing McMahon to cover Stratus with mud using a mop in the middle of the ring. At WrestleMania X-Seven, Shane defeated Vince in a street fight. During the course of the match, Stratus slapped Vince and chased McMahon from ringside, apparently upset with Vince's constant misogynistic treatment of her. Following Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H's alliance with Vince McMahon, McMahon returned as Triple H's manager at ringside. Following Triple H's injury in May 2001, she disappeared from WWF television.
Invasion (July 2001-November 2001)
McMahon later returned on the July 9, 2001 edition of Raw by revealing that she had purchased Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) 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 of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The two groups then merged to form a "supergroup" known as The Alliance. McMahon was suddenly unemployed after her wrestlers were defeated by the WWF at the Survivor Series in a five-on-five, Winner Takes All elimination match. The night after The Alliance was defeated, Shane and Stephanie came to the ring to confront Vince. While Shane earned Vince's trust by admitting that he had lost and then leaving quietly, Stephanie tried to say that Shane put her up to it, and it was all his fault. In the end, she was dragged from the building by security personnel because she refused to leave the ring by her own accord. It was revealed later that night that she had sold her "WWF stock" to Ric Flair.
Later, Chris Jericho humiliated McMahon by pieing her in her face. Jericho continued to torment McMahon by making light of her chest's apparent sudden growth (it had been speculated in recent weeks by fans that McMahon had undergone a breast augmentation) the very next week on Raw. On the TitanTron, Jericho put up a video still of a less-endowed McMahon from the prior year alongside a recent shot of much more buxom McMahon to compare and contrast. Jericho would continue the torment by saying, "It seems like our little billionaire princess sure has grown over the last year...well, in two specific places at least—talk about foreign objects—you wanna say let the bodies hit the floor? I would say let the boobies hit the floor!" By her own admission, McMahon confirmed the breast augmentation rumors on the Opie and Anthony Show the very next day. Behind-the-scenes, amid much discussion and speculation regarding her chest, McMahon gave her approval for it to be acknowledged on WWE programming.
Divorce (2002)
McMahon returned in 2002 when Triple H made a comeback as a fan-favorite, but the couple began having problems, as McMahon was still a heel. 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. The split was acrimonious to say the least; Triple H literally complied with the "fifty-fifty" divorce settlement by giving McMahon the front half of her Corvette and McMahon claimed that Triple H had abused his bulldog Lucy, in order to gain custody to spite him. Lucy was later, in storyline, run-over by a limousine, much to the distress of Triple H.
In order to gain revenge upon Triple H, McMahon began foiling his attempts to become the WWF Undisputed Champion. 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 title shot on the line, which included her correcting Howard Finkel in his announcing her as Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley to simply Stephanie McMahon. Though Angle won thanks to McMahon's somewhat suspect officiating, Triple H defeated him the next night to regain his title shot. McMahon then aligned herself with former enemy, Chris Jericho. Despite McMahon's best efforts, Jericho lost to Triple H at WrestleMania X8 on March 17. McMahon also received a pedigree from her "ex" during the contest. 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.
General Manager of SmackDown (July 2002-October 2003)
On July 18, 2002, McMahon returned to the WWF (renamed WWE following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund) as the babyface General Manager of SmackDown!. She feuded with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff throughout 2002, though the enemies inexplicably shared a kiss at a Halloween party in which 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.
McMahon was ousted from her position after a long feud with her father, Vince McMahon. Though he originally had been the one to appoint his daughter as the General Manager, he began to resent her growing independence as well as her attempts to stop him from pursuing an affair with Sable. McMahon wanted him to fire her, but Vince wanted her to "respectfully resign." When McMahon refused, Vince put her in a series of matches with such superstars as A-Train and Brock Lesnar which led up to the first ever "Father Daughter I Quit match" at No Mercy. McMahon was accompanied by her mother, the CEO of WWE Linda McMahon, and Sable accompanied Vince McMahon in their match. Throughout the match, Linda and Stephanie exchanged slaps with Sable when she tried to interfere. Stephanie 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. After the match, Vince put his hand over Linda's face and shoved her to the canvas when she tried to check on her daughter. Paul Heyman succeeded McMahon as the new SmackDown! General Manager.
Sporadic appearances (2005-2007)
Stephanie returned to WWE television as a heel on October 3, 2005 at WWE Homecoming, when she confronted Stone Cold Steve Austin after he had stunned her father and brother. She slapped Austin, but was then herself stunned. She appeared on Raw for two weeks thereafter; she was involved in the firing of Austin's friend, Raw announcer Jim Ross and the booking of a match between Ross's replacement, Coach, and Austin at Taboo Tuesday, with Ross's WWE future on the line. The match, however, was canceled after Austin suffered a minor injury that, combined with his unwillingness to job to Coach, led to him no-showing the subsequent episode of Raw.
A visibly pregnant Stephanie 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, Stephanie pulled out an unmarked substance out of her brassiere and poured it into his bottle of water. This substance caused him to become groggy during his match against Shane later in the night, which he lost as a result. Stephanie also appeared at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 1, 2006 and in a backstage vignette with her immediate family at WrestleMania 22.
McMahon returned at WrestleMania 23 backstage, visiting her father before his Battle of the Billionaires match. She brought her "daughter" with her to wish him good luck. On the June 18 edition of Raw, McMahon addressed the fans about her father's "death". She also announced that the following episode of Raw would constitute a three-hour tribute to Vince McMahon (the tribute was canceled in lieu of a tribute to Chris Benoit, due to the then-unknown murder-suicide). When her father returned to Raw on August 6, he accused his daughter of faking sympathy for his death, as well as checking his last will and testament. The following week, out of retaliation for her father's words, Stephanie publicly revealed that the illegitimate child of her father was among the WWE roster. On the taped edition of Raw that aired September 3, 2007, Stephanie, along with her mother Linda and her brother Shane, made appearances to confront Mr. McMahon about his bastard child. Vince called her a "hell cat" and said that even though her and Vince have had their differences, they have had some tender times together. He then played a video of what he claimed highlighted his loving relationship with Stephanie. The clip was actually footage of Vince and Stephanie's "I Quit Match" from "No Mercy" back in 2003. Stephanie told Vince that no matter what footage he played, she loved him but he was sick and needed help. She then said that if he did not get help then Vince should step down as Chairman of WWE. The family then said that they were behind Vince not against him but he needed to change and seek mental help. On Raw's 15 Year Anniversary episode, she appeared along with Shane in a segment which involved her father Vince and Hornswoggle, which ended with her kissing her real life husband Triple H, to humiliate her father.
General Manager of RAW (2008-March 2009)
After the scripted 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'. Shane's plea was ignored, and subsequently, for the next two weeks, Stephanie and Shane urged the superstars to show solidarity. The following week, Shane announced Mike Adamle as their choice to be the new Raw General Manager.
After Adamle stepped down as General Manager, Stephanie and Shane became the interim on-screen authority figures for the Raw brand. On the November 24 episode of Raw, Shane and Stephanie argued over who was in charge, leading to Stephanie telling Shane that Raw is her show, and slapping Shane. Shane finished the segment by telling her she would run Raw "right into the ground."
On January 5, Stephanie was told by Chris Jericho that Vince would be returning to Raw in two weeks time on the January 19th episode of Raw. One week later she fired Chris Jericho for questioning her authority. Jericho was reinstated on that very broadcast.
Sporadic appearances (2010-2013)
Stephanie made a surprise appearance on the November 1 episode of Monday Night RAW. During her segment, 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. Vince's heart rate elevated more and more as Prinze informed him on what was "wrong" with the WWE since he went into a coma. 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. Stephanie suddenly wakes up from her dream and asks her husband, Triple H, if Vince was still in a coma, in which Triple H replies that Vince and the doctors believed that he was brain dead; Stephanie responds by saying "thank God," and then lays back down. Triple H in this segment only did voice work as he was never actually seen in the segment.
Stephanie made an appearance as a guest speaker at the WrestleMania XXVII Press Conference. Several months later, she appeared in a backstage segment at SummerSlam to wish CM Punk luck in his match. Upon offering to shake his hand, Punk declined with the insult, "I would, but... I know where that hand's been." The following night on RAW, Stephanie appeared backstage with CM Punk and with a sadistic glare threatened, "...in the end, people get what they deserve." Interestingly enough, in both encounters she had with Punk, she wore black clothing, which some believe was symbolism for dark, unclear motives.
It is widely speculated that the young girl in the "It Begins" promos, which brought Chris Jericho back to WWE television in January 2012, symbolizes Stephanie McMahon and that the "she" mentioned in the promos is actually her. This on top of the fact that the interim General Manager of WWE RAW John Laurinaitis is constantly seen texting on his cell phone during RAW, fueling rumors that he is indeed communicating with Stephanie.
On July 23, 2012, Stephanie made an appearance on Raw 1000 where she confronted and slapped Paul Heyman to convince him to accept a match between Brock Lesnar and Triple H at SummerSlam. On January 28, 2013, Stephanie appears backstage on Raw attending to her father after he was F5ed by Lesnar. On April 6, Stephanie inducted Trish Stratus into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On the June 3 episode of Raw, Stephanie made an appearance to reveal her decision not to allow Triple H to compete that night. On the June 17 episode of Raw, Stephanie confronted new Divas Champion AJ Lee. On the July 8 episode of Raw, Stephanie fired Vickie Guerrero from the position of Raw Managing Supervisor when the WWE Universe voted "Failed" on Guerrero's job evaluation.
Heel Turn; The Authority (2013-2016)
On the August 19 edition of Raw, Stephanie turned into a heel for the first time since 2006 when she interrupted Daniel Bryan and supported the actions of her husband Triple H at SummerSlam the previous night, telling Bryan that he wasn't suitable to be the face of WWE; even referring to him as a "solid B+.". Later in the night, the evil Stephanie stood beside her husband and her father as they celebrated Randy Orton's WWE Championship Coronation, during which Daniel Bryan was attacked by The Shield and subsequently Randy Orton. Stephanie has been mentioned as "one of the principal owners of WWE" since forming The Authority with her husband. On the Slammy Awards edition of Raw on December 9, Stephanie won the Slammy for "Insult of the Year" for slapping and berating Big Show also that night during the Championship Ascension ceremony, Stephanie was inadvertently knocked down by Randy Orton after trying to RKO Daniel Bryan. Triple H saw and though he had RKOed her again and pedigreed him. Stephanie was ringside when Triple H lost to Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX
When The Shield attacked WWE COO Triple H in his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Daniel Bryan, Stephanie suggested that Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton band together and reform Evolution to take out The Shield. On the April 28 edition of Raw, Stephanie apologized to Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella for an attack by Kane the previous week. To show she was sorry she granted Brie a Divas Championship match against Paige. The match ended in a no contest when Kane came out and attempted to kidnap Brie, provoking a feud between Stephanie and Brie in the process. McMahon told Bryan that if he did not give up his title, Brie would be fired. At Payback, Brie allowed Bryan to keep the championship by quitting WWE and slapping Stephanie across the face. On the June 16 edition of Raw, Roman Reigns spiked her coffee that Vickie Guerrero was giving her. After Stephanie was violently ill, she put Vickie in charge, and Vickie put Reigns in a battle royal for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot at Money in the Bank which Stephanie had earlier banned him from competing in. The next week, Stephanie faced Vickie in a pudding match, winning and then firing Vickie, but was pushed in the pudding afterwards. The following week at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Stephanie threw Brie Bella out of the arena. The following week, Stephanie would punish Nikki Bella by inserting her in handicap matches, provoking a feud.
On the July 21 edition of Raw, as part of an ongoing storyline, Stephanie was arrested for battery after she slapped Brie Bella, who had appeared as a guest for the show. It was then said she was also charged for resisting arrest. On the July 28 edition of Raw Stephanie accepted a match against Brie at SummerSlam. On the following episode of Raw, after their contract signing, Stephanie pedigreed both twins. At SummerSlam, Nikki turned on Brie, allowing Stephanie to hit a pedigree on Brie and win her first match in over 10 years.
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 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 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.
Backstage roles
In addition to her on-air character, Stephanie, like others in Vince McMahon's immediate family, was deeply involved in the business operations of WWE. She began her WWE career as an Account Executive for the WWE sales office in New York. She was promoted to Senior Vice President of Creative Writing in 2006. She oversees the hiring of scriptwriters, supervises the writing team, and is involved in the long-term booking of WWE. According to a WWE SEC filing in March 2008, McMahon's approximate salary in 2007 was $677,125. McMahon was promoted to Executive Vice President of Talent, Creative Writing, and Live Events in 2007. In November 2008, her official title in WWE changed to Executive Vice President, Creative Development and Operations. After her father Vince's retirement from WWE in July 2022 Stephanie served as Co-CEO and Chairwoman of WWE's Board of Directors until her father's return to the company. On January 10th, 2023 Stephanie resigned from WWE.
Personal life
Stephanie is married to Triple H. Together they have three daughters.
In wrestling
- Signature moves:
- Wrestlers managed:
- Nicknames
- "Billion Dollar Princess"
- Tag teams and stables
- Theme music
- "My Time" by DX Band (2000–02)
- "Bodies" by Drowning Pool (Used during The Invasion)
- "All Grown Up" by Jacki-O (WWE) (2003-2013)
- "No Chance in Hell" by Jim Johnston & Peter Bursuker (Used while in McMahon family)
- "Break it Down" by DX Band (Used while in DX)
- "Welcome to the Queendom" by Jim Johnston
- "King of Kings" by Motorhead (used while in The Authority)
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI Woman of the Year (2000)
- PWI Feud of the Year (2002) (vs Eric Bischoff)