The Authority was one of the most polarizing factions in WWE history. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon playing a heel tandem running the show was once again a strong part of WWE television over a decade after their time as the McMahon-Helmsley faction. However, fans had mixed opinions about the ups and downs to come from the group.Valid arguments exist on both sides for The Authority being one of the most beloved and hated factions in recent memory. The style of wrestling fans will dictate how they felt about the main event stable. More time going by makes it easier to look back at the impact this act had. The following reasons give the scenario of The Authority being both one of the better and worse factions in WWE history.
10 Best: Seth Rollins Became Singles Star
The shocking twist of Seth Rollins betraying The Shield to join The Authority led to him becoming the protégé of Triple H. Rollins adopted a new persona and received a huge push as the next top heel star breaking away from Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose.
The momentum led to Rollins winning Money in the Bank and cashing in at WrestleMania 31 to become WWE Champion. Even the fans upset about The Shield ending would acknowledge that it helped Rollins become a bigger star faster than expected.
9 Worst: Randy Orton Got Stale
Triple H started The Authority faction by costing Daniel Bryan the WWE Championship in favor of Randy Orton. The heel character of Orton started off well, but it ended up being a bit too forced of a push as his title reign went on.
Orton had lackluster feuds with Big Show, John Cena and Roman Reigns during his time in The Authority. WWE having Orton removed from the group to feud with Seth Rollins as the new top star saved the end before it hurt his momentum even more.
8 Best: Rhodes Family Storyline
WWE set up a secondary storyline for The Authority that became arguably their best as a faction. Cody Rhodes was fired for standing up to the group and suffering a loss at the hands of Randy Orton. Dustin Rhodes returned as Goldust to stand up for his family and Dusty cut promos in support of his sons.
The storyline got so deep that Dusty was removed his on-air NXT authority figure role to sell the tension with Triple H. Cody and Dustin scoring massive wins over The Shield to get their jobs back and to win the WWE Tag Team Championship provided outstanding payoffs.
7 Worst: Made Many Opponents Look Weak
Not every wrestler to feud with The Authority ended up looking as good as the Rhodes brothers. Daniel Bryan took beatings every week until unexpectedly getting revenge down the line. Big Show became a target of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon using his financial woes in storyline against him.
Other faces like Rowan and Dolph Ziggler also came off poorly when having singles matches with members of the group. The Authority needing to look strong caused more issues for the wrestlers to face them coming off weak.
6 Best: Epic Survivor Series Match
One group match did see The Authority getting their comeuppance at Survivor Series 2014. The biggest issues with heel authority figures in wrestling come when the face wrestlers don’t get wins over them to pay it off.
John Cena led a face team in the traditional elimination match with Triple H and Stephanie removed from power if The Authority lost. The match became one of the best in Survivor Series history with the shocking debut of Sting helping Dolph Ziggler score the pin for Team Cena.
5 Worst: Erased Survivor Series Stipulation Quickly
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon losing their power felt like the best way to build towards a Sting vs Triple H with The Authority out of the picture. However, WWE chose to bring them back less than two months into their removal.
Seth Rollins threatened to break the neck of Edge if John Cena didn’t go back on his word and used his power to bring back The Authority. Triple H and Stephanie once again gained power and acted like nothing had happened after a few weeks without them.
4 Best: Daniel Bryan Is More Than B+ Player
WWE didn’t initially plan for Daniel Bryan to come out as the winner in his feud with The Authority, but it ended up working out for the best. Bryan was placed into a Wyatt Family storyline with WWE looking to have Batista challenge Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30.
The fans turning on Batista and refusing to stop cheering for Bryan changed all plans. Bryan scoring wins over Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton all in the same night led to a career-defining performance. The biggest show of the year saw Bryan finally getting revenge to stop The Authority.
3 Worst: Too Many Members
The Authority was at its best with few members of Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and Kane working closely with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. WWE still felt like the group should have a power in numbers with more heels joining them.
Big Show turning heel saw him becoming a henchman for the group. The New Age Outlaws returned to television and even had another WWE Tag Team Championship reign in the faction. Other heels like Luke Harper, Mark Henry and Rusev became associates to provide some slight confusion.
2 Best: Triple H's Last Great Run
An argument can be made that The Authority was the final true great run of Triple H as an active on-screen character and wrestler. Triple H entered feuds with Daniel Bryan, Sting and The Shield during this time as the hated boss.
The match against Bryan at WrestleMania 30 was one of the best of Triple H’s career and arguably his last great match. Evolution reuniting to feud with The Shield provided another outstanding chapter for Triple H. The recent retirement of Triple H will see fans appreciating this time in his career more moving forward.
1 Worst: Stephanie Reigning Supreme
One of the biggest criticisms towards Stephanie McMahon as a character is that she always comes out as the winner and faces don’t get revenge on her. Stephanie became a prominent part of the show again as a leader of The Authority running down others.
Big Show getting slapped around by Stephanie every week ruined his credibility before a title shot against Randy Orton. Even the rare instance of a woman standing up to Stephanie saw Brie Bella losing their feud. Stephanie holding too much power saw her always looking strong with rare moments of others getting one over on her.