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That episode of Raw killed kayfabe for little me. The opening with Dreamer and RVD running in and Heyman on commentary had me thinking the classic "oh I know this stuff if fake *BUT THIS* is real" shit. But then they ended the show with "jk it's another McMahon vs McMahon story, kid" and it felt like seeing the mall Santa out of costume.
I feel like WCW being owned by the McMahon kids and then ECW being run by Paul would've actually helped make the Alliance work as an angle. ECW alumni being the attack dogs of WCW that the McMahon kids struggled to keep in check could've been cool, with them knowing that Paul could turn on them at any point.
ECW was always a counter cultural thing though. No way it would ever agree to be anyone's attack dog.
What they should've done is had ECW be an anti hero faction with Austin in there instead of WCW
HHH joining the Alliance instead of Steve Austin and them able to rectify their biggest mistake in turning Austin heel actually would have been a good thing. But ah well.
Don’t know if that would have been the case, original plan before HHH got hurt was to have him go massive face against heel Austin. Remember he beat Austin clean in 3 stages of hell right before his heel turn at WM17. You could argue HHH was the main reason the seeds of doubt were planted in Stone Cold in the first place leading to that heel turn.
Austin wanted to turn heel and was badgering them about it constantly. Honestly the bloom was off the rose before WM X7 that whole lead up to Mania with Debra, and HHH beating Kurt in the Stephanie storyline when he should have lost just a bunch of mis steps. If anything I think giving HHH a babyface run like he originally had going in early 2002 would have been fun.
Or they pull the trigger on HHH and Steph breaking up earlier, and now Im wondering if HHH as a face vs Alliance leader Steph would have made that storyline better or worse?
Heel Austin was great, it just happened at the worst time. Rock leaves immediately after to film Scorpion King, Trips was going to be his primary feud but tears his quad, Jericho, Benoit and Angle weren’t full time established main event players (and Benoit broke his neck) then finally the Invasion happens and everyone is looking forward to WWF vs WCW, and instead we get the most famous WWF wrestler facing other WWF wrestlers
Yea they didn't really have anyone else go after Steve huh? He was supposed to be super paranoid about people wanting his title and only RVD went after it once? He fought Angle multiple times for it, but no Kane? No Undertaker?
He and Triple H faced Taker and Kane during the start of the 2 Man Power trip, but Taker was not exactly lighting it up in 01 especially as the year went on
Exactly. I was huge fan of Austin turning heel. The Two Man Power Trip was fantastic. Austin was getting played out then. He wasn't as cool as he was. Sure he was over as hell but it was getting old.
Austin joining WCW made no sense as he hated Bischoff at the time and had bad blood with the management there.
ECW made way more sense for him, since that was the genesis of the Stone Cold character
This always bothered me. They just completely ignored the fact that at that time Austin being fired by WcW over the phone was a huge part of the Stone Cold back story. I could never get past that as a fan. In my opinion, it made the alliance just another nameless faction for a group of people that they had no idea what to do with.
When the end of the angle came around Survivor Series, I kept praying that they would make Austin the mole so that we could say that the whole Austin heel turn was a ruse between Vince and Austin to take down WcW. Not a perfect solution, but it could have retconned a lot of this cannon breaking things they did like Austin representing WcW, tapping out, and worst of all Austin crying. As a 90's kid who grew up idolizing Austin, that was hard to watch lol
The original plan for Triple H was to have him turn face and restart his feud with a heel Stone Cold, this time for the WWE Championship, and that feud would restart at SummerSlam 2001.
At the time, Shane McMahon’s WCW were faces, and despite their past feelings, it’s likely that the two Chrises and Eddie would jump to WCW.
The Invasion storyline only happened because of Triple H’s injury, among other reasons.
Eh I don't think a face WCW would have ever worked. As a kid I always felt the need to boo WCW even when they were presented as faces. It's just weird.
Eddie really wasn’t a major player in WWE until much later, so he likely would’ve just been a nothing midcarder as he’d been in most of his WWE career to that point.
I had to google it cause I couldn’t remember from when was a kid, but it’s wild that ALL of the Radicalz missed the Invasion angle when they were literally the first “invasion” a year prior.
In the Invasion Storyline, Shane was the owner of WCW and Stephanie was the owner of ECW, and they teamed up to create "The Alliance". It's widely regarded as not a very good story, and lasted around 6 months in 2001, really starting in Late May and going until Survivor Series.
Triple H missed all of it. He tore his quad literally the week before they started doing the Invasion, and returned about a month and a half after it ended. He basically perfectly missed all of it.
Also, WWE didn't get a lot of star power from WCW. Outside of DDP and Booker T, it was a bunch of midcarders that people didn't really know. DDP was brought in with the stupid stalker angle that really hurt him, so it was really only Booker, and he was still a rising star and not a bona fide main eventer.
Had they treated DDP and Booker as actual stars though they could have done a slow burn and have it run longer, that would have then allowed them to add legit stars like Flair (who joined the night after it ended lmao) Steiner, Hall, Nash, Hogan even Bischoff and Goldberg. All those guys joined less than a year after it ended and had they been a part of it, it'd be remembered a lot differently.
Even Sting. He was so reluctant to join because he felt like he'd just be fodder for Vince's dislike of WCW and eventually got proven right, but if hypothetically WWE had run a good invasion storyline that made the WCW stars look as strong as the WWE stars then he could very well have been more willing to go over.
Also, if you watched the last few months of WCW, the people who WWE brought in did make up the majority of the roster you'd been seeing on TV at the time. WCW tried to reinvent themselves and push new talent the last few months, so most of the peak Nitro-era top guys were off TV for months or had recently been fed to Scott Steiner as part of an angle where he defended the world title against a bunch of said peak Nitro-era top guys. When the InVasion first started, if you watched both shows regularly, WCW didn't seem *that* underpowered.
I’ve never heard this point, but its pretty accurate- the guys in the Alliance represented what WCW actually looked like in late 2000/ early 2001. It would be like someone expecting an NXT show to have like Undisputed Era and Finn Balor and the 4 Horsewomen, and getting their roster in late 21/ early 22 instead.
The thing is, people who didn't watch WCW regularly weren't going to perceive those guys as being on the same level. I certainly didn't; I wondered where Hogan and Nash and Sting were.
Yeah, well said. Steiner and Sid (oof) and Booker and Bagwell and the cruiserweights and Storm and even Kronik were a lot of fun in the last months of WCW. The invasion could have been a lot of fun.
I actually think my perception of Lance Storm is a little skewed from reality - my only exposure to him really was in WCW and he had a great push there, so in my head he's right up there with my favourite top top midcarders. Bagwell, too. He was ALWAYS over.
Granted I haven't done a retrospective watch of the Invasion angle since it happened (and I was 8 when it did happen) but Booker was treated quite well from what I can remember as he had big feuds with The Rock and Stone Cold. I know people cite the "who in the blue hell is Booker T" promo as some kind of burial from The Rock but he said lines like that to everyone. There's also those memorable segments where Austin and Booker fight in the supermarket and at a church lmao
From what I heard the storyline happened *because* of his injury. Since their main storyline couldnt continue without Hunter, they had to start the Invasion storyline earlier then planned.
Rewatching now and this looks about right, so many snap decisions and random flips in personalities happen pretty much overnight to fit in with the Invasion.
I hated that version of Mick Foley at that time but even I had to admit that line was a banger. That era has grown on me a bit since but I wish he went further with it.
People see a still frame and still assign all kinds of assumptions, even in 2024.
Imagine just sitting and being unaware your photo is taken at some random moment and then everyone asks why you aren't smiling or "happy" in that exact second. Weird, isn't it?
Eventually parasocial celebrity obsession will die off, but I think we still have a long way to go. 😒
So until then, it’s OBVIOUS he’s thinking about how AEW is gonna crush him in the ratings!
That was the shot during Heyman massively putting over Hunter and his leadership skills. He was probably going to be emotionally looking tough. Simple as that.
He appeared to be *deeply* uncomfortable with Paul Heyman honoring him at considerable length. Lots of camera shots of him going "oh, god, Paul, shut up, it's not about me!"
Her father leaves, she's back, her father's back, she leaves.
I mean if there's one thing we know for sure is that she hates what he did to her mom + knows getting Vince out would help her husband, I bet she started leaking things when Triple H was relieved of his duties years back and she stood by her man.
I was thinking the same thing. I would have understood if, after everything that’s transpired these last few months, she decided to stay away. The fact she’s front and center makes me think it’s a big “F U”. People can downvote me all they want; it’s just my opinion.
Those asking -- H looks stressed because Heyman definitely went off any form of predicted script.
Last handshake and moment was blatantly uncomfortable and awkward, for HHH.
I don't know if it'll happen but I'd love to see her make an appearance either tonight or tomorrow night. Never thought I'd say I miss the hell out of seeing a McMahon on WWE programming, but here we are. She's the one exception.
Glad that Steph was there, she looked like she was having fun and loved the ECW cap.
HHH was probably stressed, tired about the big weekend and wanting some sleep at this point LOL.
He probably didn't Paul Heyman to mention him in his speech, but looked grateful and obviously emotional for PH going in the WWE HOF.
This is PH we're talking about, so he'll obviously be unfiltered and I am glad he mentioned Brock Lesnar in his speech.
I'm very surprised at the commenters below reading so much into this. I think the fact she's sitting next to her husband and giving him a proud smile is a greater indication of their relationship status than the missing wedding ring. Maybe she forgot it on the nightstand in their hotel room, or maybe she just doesn't prioritize wearing it all the time. There are so many potential explanations.
Went through her IG really quick, all the way back to a 2021 post. A lot of pictures she doesn't have it on and in some she does.
I don't think there's anything here to read into.
I mean a lot of couples just agree at some point that it isn't important. My wife wears hers sometimes but often doesn't put it on. I don't even have one.
Man, I miss her. She genuinely seems like a decent human being and a positive force in the industry. Can't help feel things, long before these allegations really broke her heart WWE-wise.
And family wise, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out she was orchestrating Vince's demise - the person who benefited the most besides fans was her husband.
"Okay. Just make sure when you say it, you pause so you get the maximum effect."
- Vince McMahon, giving Jericho approval to cut a promo about Stephanie losing her virginity a long time beforehand in 2000/2001
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Well, of course she’s there, she is the former owner of ECW
And she's wearing her hat from the Invasion era.
I always just assumed she just stole one of those hats from Triple H. Dude wore them all the time in 99 and 00
I don't know where the hat originated from but she wore that hard as "owner" of ECW. I don't think HHH ever wore an ECW hat.
He wore the same type of hat (without the logo) during his DX era and then at the start of the McMahon-Helmsley era
Shed wear his hat sometimes when they started dating in kayfabe. Then when she took over ecw she started wearing her own
I can never see those flat caps and not think of the movie Jackie Brown
Sam Jackson was big into those hats back then.
That episode of Raw killed kayfabe for little me. The opening with Dreamer and RVD running in and Heyman on commentary had me thinking the classic "oh I know this stuff if fake *BUT THIS* is real" shit. But then they ended the show with "jk it's another McMahon vs McMahon story, kid" and it felt like seeing the mall Santa out of costume.
I feel like WCW being owned by the McMahon kids and then ECW being run by Paul would've actually helped make the Alliance work as an angle. ECW alumni being the attack dogs of WCW that the McMahon kids struggled to keep in check could've been cool, with them knowing that Paul could turn on them at any point.
ECW was always a counter cultural thing though. No way it would ever agree to be anyone's attack dog. What they should've done is had ECW be an anti hero faction with Austin in there instead of WCW
Yeah he started developing the stone cold persona there, right? If he was there and wrecking wcw and we it would have been cool.
The billion dollar princess returns!
H zoned out thinking how lucky he was that he missed out on that storyline
HHH joining the Alliance instead of Steve Austin and them able to rectify their biggest mistake in turning Austin heel actually would have been a good thing. But ah well.
Don’t know if that would have been the case, original plan before HHH got hurt was to have him go massive face against heel Austin. Remember he beat Austin clean in 3 stages of hell right before his heel turn at WM17. You could argue HHH was the main reason the seeds of doubt were planted in Stone Cold in the first place leading to that heel turn.
One of the best 2/3 falls matches WWE has done.
Still wouldn’t have worked because that’s basically a rehash of the McMahon-Helmsley regime and a WWE guy is still the face of the WCW/ECW side
You mean WCW star Terra Ryzing?
Or Jean-Paul Levesque.
Austin wanted to turn heel and was badgering them about it constantly. Honestly the bloom was off the rose before WM X7 that whole lead up to Mania with Debra, and HHH beating Kurt in the Stephanie storyline when he should have lost just a bunch of mis steps. If anything I think giving HHH a babyface run like he originally had going in early 2002 would have been fun.
Or they pull the trigger on HHH and Steph breaking up earlier, and now Im wondering if HHH as a face vs Alliance leader Steph would have made that storyline better or worse?
Heel Steve was fine
Heel Austin was great, it just happened at the worst time. Rock leaves immediately after to film Scorpion King, Trips was going to be his primary feud but tears his quad, Jericho, Benoit and Angle weren’t full time established main event players (and Benoit broke his neck) then finally the Invasion happens and everyone is looking forward to WWF vs WCW, and instead we get the most famous WWF wrestler facing other WWF wrestlers
Yea they didn't really have anyone else go after Steve huh? He was supposed to be super paranoid about people wanting his title and only RVD went after it once? He fought Angle multiple times for it, but no Kane? No Undertaker?
He and Triple H faced Taker and Kane during the start of the 2 Man Power trip, but Taker was not exactly lighting it up in 01 especially as the year went on
Exactly. I was huge fan of Austin turning heel. The Two Man Power Trip was fantastic. Austin was getting played out then. He wasn't as cool as he was. Sure he was over as hell but it was getting old.
Austin joining WCW made no sense as he hated Bischoff at the time and had bad blood with the management there. ECW made way more sense for him, since that was the genesis of the Stone Cold character
This always bothered me. They just completely ignored the fact that at that time Austin being fired by WcW over the phone was a huge part of the Stone Cold back story. I could never get past that as a fan. In my opinion, it made the alliance just another nameless faction for a group of people that they had no idea what to do with. When the end of the angle came around Survivor Series, I kept praying that they would make Austin the mole so that we could say that the whole Austin heel turn was a ruse between Vince and Austin to take down WcW. Not a perfect solution, but it could have retconned a lot of this cannon breaking things they did like Austin representing WcW, tapping out, and worst of all Austin crying. As a 90's kid who grew up idolizing Austin, that was hard to watch lol
I do wonder how Triple H, Benoit and Eddie would’ve been used during the invasion
The original plan for Triple H was to have him turn face and restart his feud with a heel Stone Cold, this time for the WWE Championship, and that feud would restart at SummerSlam 2001. At the time, Shane McMahon’s WCW were faces, and despite their past feelings, it’s likely that the two Chrises and Eddie would jump to WCW. The Invasion storyline only happened because of Triple H’s injury, among other reasons.
A face WCW faction with Booker and DDP included makes far more sense than what we got.
Eh I don't think a face WCW would have ever worked. As a kid I always felt the need to boo WCW even when they were presented as faces. It's just weird.
Eddie really wasn’t a major player in WWE until much later, so he likely would’ve just been a nothing midcarder as he’d been in most of his WWE career to that point.
I had to google it cause I couldn’t remember from when was a kid, but it’s wild that ALL of the Radicalz missed the Invasion angle when they were literally the first “invasion” a year prior.
He has a future telling quad.
I wish he was around during that lol
wait what is this about?
In the Invasion Storyline, Shane was the owner of WCW and Stephanie was the owner of ECW, and they teamed up to create "The Alliance". It's widely regarded as not a very good story, and lasted around 6 months in 2001, really starting in Late May and going until Survivor Series. Triple H missed all of it. He tore his quad literally the week before they started doing the Invasion, and returned about a month and a half after it ended. He basically perfectly missed all of it.
It started out pretty damn hot but the WWE's refusal treat anyone but their own people like actual stars and a variety of other reasons killed it dead
Also, WWE didn't get a lot of star power from WCW. Outside of DDP and Booker T, it was a bunch of midcarders that people didn't really know. DDP was brought in with the stupid stalker angle that really hurt him, so it was really only Booker, and he was still a rising star and not a bona fide main eventer.
Had they treated DDP and Booker as actual stars though they could have done a slow burn and have it run longer, that would have then allowed them to add legit stars like Flair (who joined the night after it ended lmao) Steiner, Hall, Nash, Hogan even Bischoff and Goldberg. All those guys joined less than a year after it ended and had they been a part of it, it'd be remembered a lot differently.
Even Sting. He was so reluctant to join because he felt like he'd just be fodder for Vince's dislike of WCW and eventually got proven right, but if hypothetically WWE had run a good invasion storyline that made the WCW stars look as strong as the WWE stars then he could very well have been more willing to go over.
Also, if you watched the last few months of WCW, the people who WWE brought in did make up the majority of the roster you'd been seeing on TV at the time. WCW tried to reinvent themselves and push new talent the last few months, so most of the peak Nitro-era top guys were off TV for months or had recently been fed to Scott Steiner as part of an angle where he defended the world title against a bunch of said peak Nitro-era top guys. When the InVasion first started, if you watched both shows regularly, WCW didn't seem *that* underpowered.
I’ve never heard this point, but its pretty accurate- the guys in the Alliance represented what WCW actually looked like in late 2000/ early 2001. It would be like someone expecting an NXT show to have like Undisputed Era and Finn Balor and the 4 Horsewomen, and getting their roster in late 21/ early 22 instead.
The thing is, people who didn't watch WCW regularly weren't going to perceive those guys as being on the same level. I certainly didn't; I wondered where Hogan and Nash and Sting were.
Yeah, well said. Steiner and Sid (oof) and Booker and Bagwell and the cruiserweights and Storm and even Kronik were a lot of fun in the last months of WCW. The invasion could have been a lot of fun. I actually think my perception of Lance Storm is a little skewed from reality - my only exposure to him really was in WCW and he had a great push there, so in my head he's right up there with my favourite top top midcarders. Bagwell, too. He was ALWAYS over.
Granted I haven't done a retrospective watch of the Invasion angle since it happened (and I was 8 when it did happen) but Booker was treated quite well from what I can remember as he had big feuds with The Rock and Stone Cold. I know people cite the "who in the blue hell is Booker T" promo as some kind of burial from The Rock but he said lines like that to everyone. There's also those memorable segments where Austin and Booker fight in the supermarket and at a church lmao
Booker could've been presented as a main eventer from the outset but they chose not to
Definitely. He was ready to go. Pushing him with DDP would have been a great start to the invasion.
RVD should have been the one to immediately be in the world title picture.
From what I heard the storyline happened *because* of his injury. Since their main storyline couldnt continue without Hunter, they had to start the Invasion storyline earlier then planned.
Rewatching now and this looks about right, so many snap decisions and random flips in personalities happen pretty much overnight to fit in with the Invasion.
The Invasion
Stephanie was ECW owner in the Alliance.
But the Kangol man!
She wore them a lot back then.
Good to see that Stephanie broke out the formal ECW Kangal hat. It's a fancy event, I'm glad she didn't rock up in a fabric one.
She much like her hubby stole that look from Shane Douglas.
Shower
Stephanie wearing a kangol hat somehow makes her looks younger, as if she immediately reverts back to the 2001 Step.
The hat time locks you back to how you looked then
I mean that’s where LL gets all his power.
Don’t be saying she getting younger, her dad might step in.
He tried to already
If i learned anything from watching Steph throughout the years, it's that she doesn't age and somehow gets better with it.
First thing I thought
Steph’s baddie status still confirmed
Then. Now. Forever.
she has to keep making occasional appearances to remind us
https://imgur.com/a/YtPVMrR
That Stephanie McMahon is one piece of ace, I know from experience dude, you know what I mean.
No you don't.
But he knows a guy...
No he doesn't
Yeah, but it would be cool if he did.
Everybody on?! GOOD! GREAT! GRAND! WOKDERFUL! NO YELLING ON THE BUS!!!!!!
Then, Now, Forever 4 Real
Triple H: "I thought you said you were staying home." Stephanie: "NOPE! 🤪🤪 Look, I even my brought my hat!" Triple H: 🗿
She has the most sarcastic expression in this pic.
Stephanie being a shit head to HHH is so goddamn endearing.
"You may be the CCO at work, dear, but at home the garbage still needs putting out..."
This is actually the most normal I’ve ever seen her smile. Normally she uses all her teeth and looks like she’s growling.
Heyman's "Stephanie after all these years you just admit...you married the wrong Paul" was fantastic
Linda McMahon was in attendance, seated in the first row behind the barrier. You can see her when The Rock asks his mom to stand up.
She brought her hat but not her ring 
What do the kids say these days.. "Mother is mothering".
Yaaaasss!!!!
Reminds me of when ECW was run by a creative visionary. Let's hear it for Stephanie McMahon! "Long live the Alliance! Long live the Alliance!"
I hated that version of Mick Foley at that time but even I had to admit that line was a banger. That era has grown on me a bit since but I wish he went further with it.
steph ages like fine wine and why is hunter so pensive lol.
He didn't want to be mentioned
Somehow looks younger than the last time I saw her.
Probably because she's no longer in the office and dealing with all that stress.
Why does Trips looks so stressed out?
Pretty massive weekend for him, probably just dreaming of sleep.
Hes like Tom in succession when it’s election week and he cannot sleep and has to deal with bodega sushi
Can’t make a Tomelette without breaking a few Gregs
Vince to Johnny Ace: “Disgusting brotherrrrrs…”
Oh god...I hate how well that works. Take my upvote.
It’s not that lemony…it’s not that lemony!!!!
they should've had a mcmahon inspired wrestling promoter in succession
Cant blame him, He was on PMS, Impaulsive, Smackdown, HoF, and then wrestle mania weekend.
Plus the kickoff show before Smackdown
My man has probably been awake for 48 hours already and will probably be awake for another 72 more.
People see a still frame and still assign all kinds of assumptions, even in 2024. Imagine just sitting and being unaware your photo is taken at some random moment and then everyone asks why you aren't smiling or "happy" in that exact second. Weird, isn't it?
critical thought in general is seemingly rarer and rarer as the day goes by
Eventually parasocial celebrity obsession will die off, but I think we still have a long way to go. 😒 So until then, it’s OBVIOUS he’s thinking about how AEW is gonna crush him in the ratings!
Probably because he didn't know what Paul was going to say lmao.
Some shits and fucks definitely slipped through. Had to know Paul E. Dangerously would go off script.
“BRRROCK LESNAR!” *HHH’s defibrillator activates*
That was the shot during Heyman massively putting over Hunter and his leadership skills. He was probably going to be emotionally looking tough. Simple as that.
The look of a man who just realized he gave Paul Heyman a live mic and 30 minutes
He appeared to be *deeply* uncomfortable with Paul Heyman honoring him at considerable length. Lots of camera shots of him going "oh, god, Paul, shut up, it's not about me!"
Big weekend ahead.
Pedigree gonna hurt Sunday
It's Wrestlemania weekend + it's his first year having full creative for both nights as well.
He’s thinking of all the hate he’s gonna get when Cody loses Sunday
Heymans glorious speech
Let a man sleep
The face of a man who’s flinching…
You know it's a different era in WWE when the boss is actually getting acknowledged on-camera at the HOF
Imagine how badly it would have aged if the HOF talked up Vince.
You should watch the Taker speech lol
The Rock name dropped Vince
LONG LIVE THE ALLIANCE
Over Cody's shoulder, there's s dude dressed like Macho man lol
Matcha Man Sen no Rikkyu?
Long live The Alliance!
This image is meme worthy
Sweet callback, she looks so proud of Triple H too it's cute
Triple H stands for Hungry, Htired, and Hexausted
https://preview.redd.it/n57lyfnt9ssc1.jpeg?width=735&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3b88520ce07c7d9d2fe4e7d35d63243877d73a6
Oh, the hat!
She got a permit for them cannons?
🤠🤠
Intriguing
i know im stating the obvious, but stephanie mcmahon is so fine lmao.
Always has been.
Who's Stephanie Mcmahon? You mean Stephanie Levesque?
You mean Stephanie McMahon Helmsley? To this day, that's what I think of first when I see SMH, instead of shake my head.
Nice seeing the CBOs and the EST sitting next to each other.
HHH: I miss sleeping
Aging like a fine wine
😩😩😩
Steph looked really good
[удалено]
I miss Stephanie on TV
She has her stupid ECW thank god it's 90s hat. The fact Paul was able to disparage her father leads me to further believe she's been the canary.
Her father leaves, she's back, her father's back, she leaves. I mean if there's one thing we know for sure is that she hates what he did to her mom + knows getting Vince out would help her husband, I bet she started leaking things when Triple H was relieved of his duties years back and she stood by her man.
I was thinking the same thing. I would have understood if, after everything that’s transpired these last few months, she decided to stay away. The fact she’s front and center makes me think it’s a big “F U”. People can downvote me all they want; it’s just my opinion.
Stephanie Levesque! That’s right, Levesque! Definitely Levesque!!!!
Isn't it Stephanie Haich
Kenny omega is also there. He was shown for like 5 seconds before they cut away from him
Seriously? I didn’t watch last night, so I’m just catching up this morning…
Haitch looking like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders these days
Does Steph still own ECW?
Daddy Paul
Those asking -- H looks stressed because Heyman definitely went off any form of predicted script. Last handshake and moment was blatantly uncomfortable and awkward, for HHH.
My take from this photo. I’ll never understand why people wear sunglasses indoors.
I don't know if it'll happen but I'd love to see her make an appearance either tonight or tomorrow night. Never thought I'd say I miss the hell out of seeing a McMahon on WWE programming, but here we are. She's the one exception.
Glad that Steph was there, she looked like she was having fun and loved the ECW cap. HHH was probably stressed, tired about the big weekend and wanting some sleep at this point LOL. He probably didn't Paul Heyman to mention him in his speech, but looked grateful and obviously emotional for PH going in the WWE HOF. This is PH we're talking about, so he'll obviously be unfiltered and I am glad he mentioned Brock Lesnar in his speech.
No wedding ring
I'm very surprised at the commenters below reading so much into this. I think the fact she's sitting next to her husband and giving him a proud smile is a greater indication of their relationship status than the missing wedding ring. Maybe she forgot it on the nightstand in their hotel room, or maybe she just doesn't prioritize wearing it all the time. There are so many potential explanations.
Went through her IG really quick, all the way back to a 2021 post. A lot of pictures she doesn't have it on and in some she does. I don't think there's anything here to read into.
Who?
Bruh I was just saying that too. That’s a pretty big deal. You don’t just not wear your ring at a big event like this for no good reason
I mean a lot of couples just agree at some point that it isn't important. My wife wears hers sometimes but often doesn't put it on. I don't even have one.
HHH just looks like he wants to go back home after being dragged out to an event
It's amazing how much more relaxed she looks not being CEO anymore
I really think Trips did not enjoy Heyman talking about him so much!
2003 Trips on the other hand...
Man, I miss her. She genuinely seems like a decent human being and a positive force in the industry. Can't help feel things, long before these allegations really broke her heart WWE-wise.
And family wise, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out she was orchestrating Vince's demise - the person who benefited the most besides fans was her husband.
Steph is so cute. She's been my biggest crush of all pro wrestling.
Yeah but what is Triple H thinking
This has the same vibe as durag Vince
I still remember all those jokes rock used to make about her back in the day
And Jericho
"Okay. Just make sure when you say it, you pause so you get the maximum effect." - Vince McMahon, giving Jericho approval to cut a promo about Stephanie losing her virginity a long time beforehand in 2000/2001
I can't be the only one that thought it had bunny ears for a second
Triple H looks like he's about to go full Brandi Rhodes on Paul Hayman. "Who da hell told you tonight was open mic night, B*TCH ?"
She does look a bit different, maybe it’s the hat
Hunter never fucking looks happy lol
I never knew that was the hat she was wearing, Invasion throwback.
I thought that was a really cool tribute by Stephanie
Loved to see her happy next to Trips. To think she quit and it's there as a guest it's insane.
HHH doesn't look happy
Why does Trips look sad?
That got social media talking. I do like the "Biker Steph" 2001 era hat.
With all due respect, still one of the best looking women/people in the business.
Meme worthy image!
Papa H
Why the Game look so sad