The Authority was a villainous professional wrestling stable in WWE, which originated due to Triple H helping Randy Orton win the WWE Championship from Daniel Bryan at the 2013 SummerSlam pay-per-view immediately after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. The name of "The Authority" was introduced on October 7, 2013 on Monday Night Raw during a match between The Shield vs Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan. Jerry Lawler first said "The Authority" during that match. The Authority initially referred to only Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as a power couple. The Authority shares similarities with The Corporation and The McMahon-Helmsley Faction, and also had ties to Triple H's previous stables D-Generation X (DX) and Evolution, the latter of which existed alongside The Authority for a brief period in 2014.
The stable was led by company executives Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Many other wrestlers were a part of the group, most prominently including Randy Orton as The Authority's hand-picked champion and "Face of the WWE" until November 2014, Seth Rollins as "The Man" until suffering a knee injury in November 2015, and Kane as the "Director of Operations" until October 2015. The Shield (Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose) formerly acted as The Authority's main henchmen to offer protection or carry out attacks until March 2014.
The stable became inactive following WrestleMania 32, when Triple H was dethroned as WWE World Heavyweight Champion by Roman Reigns and Shane McMahon received authority to run Raw. Triple H and Stephanie reunited against Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 33, where Rollins defeated Triple H, but the two were not referred to as The Authority again until February 2018, where Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were defeated by Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 34 in a mixed tag team match.
History
2013
From June 2013, members of the McMahon family began to dispute various elements of the control of WWE, such as the fates of Daniel Bryan, as well as Raw and SmackDown General Managers Brad Maddox and Vickie Guerrero, respectively. On the July 15 episode of Raw, John Cena chose Bryan as his opponent for his WWE Championship defense at SummerSlam. In the following weeks, Mr. McMahon repeatedly offered Bryan a corporate makeover, which Bryan constantly refused. Triple H subsequently announced himself as the special guest referee for the match.
At SummerSlam, Bryan defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship. After the match, Triple H gave Bryan a Pedigree, allowing Randy Orton to cash in his Money in the Bank contract both turning heel for the first time since 2006 and 2010 respectively. The next night on Raw, Orton had a championship coronation along with Mr. McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, with Triple H inviting Bryan to the ring to clear the air from the night before. This was a ruse, as Orton attacked Bryan and cemented the formation of the group. That same night, The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins) began to work for Triple H as his enforcers. Kane also joined The Authority as the "Director of Operations".
During this time, The Authority were also feuding with Big Show, who as well as Bryan, was voicing his displeasure of Triple H's regime. As punishment for this, Big Show was placed in a 3-on-1 tornado handicap match against The Shield, which Big Show lost. He was then forced to sit at ringside during his friends' matches and watch them being attacked by members of The Authority at the risk of being fired. The Authority later claimed that Big Show was broke (kayfabe) and forced him to knock out the likes of Bryan and The Miz, again at the risk of being "fired". At Battleground, Big Show interfered in the WWE Championship match between Bryan and Orton and knocked out both of them, sending a message to The Authority and causing the match to end in a no contest. The following night on Raw, Big Show was "fired" by The Authority after he announced he was ordered to only knock out Bryan the night before. Following this, Big Show knocked out Triple H before being escorted by officials out of the arena. After Stephanie McMahon took possession of Big Show's house and Triple H banned him from WWE for life (kayfabe), Big Show began to run-in and attack various superstars over the next several weeks until the November 4 episode of Raw, when The Authority was forced by the Board of Directors to give Big Show whatever he wanted in return for not suing the company. Big Show asked for his job back and a WWE Championship match against Orton at Survivor Series, which he received. At Survivor Series, Orton successfully retained his title.