McMahon - Helmsley Faction The McMahon - Helmsley Faction ( also referred to as the McMahon - Helmsley Regime and the McMahon - Helmsley Era ) was a large heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation which was founded in late 1999 , had mostly faded away by early 2001 and finally ended in mid - 2002 . Although initially it was an affront to the Corporation by the daughter of the owner , Stephanie McMahon , and one of its biggest up - and - coming stars , Triple H , it evolved into an alliance between then - heel stable , D - Generation X and a resurrected Corporation . Origins . On the November 29 , 1999 edition of " RAW is WAR " , WWF owner Vince McMahon ' s daughter Stephanie was set to marry Test but Triple H interrupted the ceremony . He played a video on the Titantron showing himself marrying a drugged Stephanie at a drive - through chapel in Las Vegas , Nevada . This led to a match at Armageddon between Triple H and Vince McMahon with the stipulations being that if Triple H won , he would receive a WWF Championship title shot on RAW , whereas , if Vince was victorious , Triple H would sign an annulment . Triple H won the match , and afterwards , Stephanie turn ed on her father and hugged her new husband . The next night , Triple H announced the inception of the McMahon - Helmsley Era . His capture of the WWF Championship soon thereafter , coupled with New Age Outlaws ' dominance of the tag team division helped cement the faction ' s power . With Vince injured and Linda and Shane McMahon absent , Stephanie was the sole remaining shareholder , so she and Triple H assumed control of the WWF . Purpose . Principally , the faction ensured that Triple H did not lose the WWF Championship . The faction would therefore interefere in title matches where Triple H might lose , either intentionally causing a disqualification or attacking Triple H ' s opponent behind the referee ' s back . The group also helped Stephanie McMahon win and retain the Women ' s Championship , and assisted X - Pac in his ongoing feud against Kane . Superstars such as Jeff Hardy became targets for the group . Matt Hardy had been previously injured , so the group made it their mission to cripple him so that the both of them would be injured . Others such as Big Show , Test , Rikishi , Kane , Chris Benoit , Funaki and Too Cool and Edge and Christian ( before the duo turned heel ) were also targets of the faction . Opposition . The group was immediately opposed by Mankind who appeared on RAW to tell Triple H and Stephanie that he thought that " the McMahon - Helmsley Era kinda sucks . " The Rock would come to his defense , but Triple H forced them to face each other in a match where the loser would be fired . The Rock won the match and Mankind was fired . The Faction also tried to get The Rock fired , but their efforts failed . On January 10 , 2000 , on an edition of " Raw is War " , The Rock and most of the WWF locker room surrounding the ring and threatened to " walk out on Triple H ' s candy ass " if Mankind was not reinstated . Their backs against the wall , Stephanie and Triple H had no other choice but to comply , leading to Mankind challenging Triple H to a match or the WWF title at The Royal Rumble . After a brutal beatdown at the hands of Triple H on the January 17 episode of Raw , Mankind metamorphosised into Cactus Jack three days later on WWF SmackDown ! , therefore making the match at the Royal Rumble , Triple H vs . Cactus Jack , in a Street Fight . At the Royal Rumble , Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a brutal , bloody Street Fight . Both men were repeatedly hit with a 2x4 with barbed wire wrapped around it . Triple H was split open early , and bled a great deal . Later on , Cactus was handcuffed and lying on the entry ramp . Triple H was about to hit him on the head with a chair when The Rock hit Triple H with a chair of his own . Cactus was then released by a police officer . After pile - driving Triple H through the announcers ' table , Cactus brought a bag of tacks into the ring . Cactus was back - body dropped onto the tacks and then kicked out of the Pedigree . Triple H then pedigreed Cactus Jack on the tacks for the win . At No Way Out 2000 , Cactus Jack lost a Hell in a Cell match to Triple H in which his career was on the line , and was forced to retire . Meanwhile , The Rock was defeated by Big Show after interference from Shane McMahon , losing his WrestleMania 2000 title shot to Big Show . The Rock then challenged Big Show to a match to regain his title shot with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee . The Rock was victorious after a returning Vince McMahon punched out both Shane and Triple H ( who had attempted to intercept vince on his way to the ring ) gave the 3 count in The Rock ' s favor . Linda McMahon then brought Mick Foley out of retirement and made the WrestleMania 2000 main event a " Fatal Four Way Elimination Match " between The Rock , Big Show , Triple H and Mick Foley . Each competitor would have a McMahon in his corner . At WrestleMania 2000 , Big Show and Mick Foley were quickly eliminated , while Shane , Stephanie and Vince fought amongst themselves . As The Rock prepared to pin Triple H , Vince McMahon turned on the Rock and secured a victory for Triple H . Vince claimed that backing Triple H was the only way to reconcile with his daughter , and accepted Triple H as his son - in - law . Shane abandoned the Big Show soon after , also backing Triple H . Over the course of the next few months , the McMahon - Helmsley Faction faced opposition from a variety of wrestlers , including Rock , Steve Austin , The Undertaker , Kane , The Dudley Boyz , Chris Jericho , Too Cool ( Scotty Too Hotty and Grand Master Sexay ) , Steve Blackman and Rikishi . Mick Foley became Commissioner of the WWF in mid - 2000 and aided in the fight against the Faction . Announcer Jim Ross was also a vocal critic of the Faction . Triple H was a dominant champion throughout the first half of 2000 , but twice lost the WWF Championship to The Rock . The first loss was at Backlash , when Stone Cold Steve Austin knocked him out with a chair shot and Linda McMahon reinstated referee Earl Hebner , who Triple H had fired earlier in the year , to count the pinfall . His second loss was at King of the Ring , when he , Vince and Shane defended the title in a six - man tag match against Kane , The Undertaker and The Rock . Vince had hoped that his enemies ' individual title aspirations would lead them to fight amongst one another , allowing him to divide and conquer , but his plans were foiled when The Rock pinned Vince for the victory . After Triple H lost the title , he would feud with Chris Jericho , with the remaining members of DX by his side . Shane went on to form a short - lived stable with former Faction allies Kurt Angle , Chris Benoit , Big Show , Edge and Christian . Triple H , Shane , Stephanie , and Kurt Angle formed an alliance to win the WWF Championship from the Rock , but this alliance would crumble after the love triangle between Helmsley , Angle , and Stephanie . Dissolution . Steve Austin ' s return in October 2000 further aided in the dismantling of the group . By late 2000 , with Road Dogg out of the WWF , Billy Gunn returning as a face and X - Pac injured , the group was largely forgotten . However the following year saw Austin turn heel and join Triple H and Vince McMahon to form The Power Trip . The group mostly disbanded after May 21 , 2001 , when Triple H was sidelined by a tear in his left quadriceps muscle . By early 2002 , Triple H and Stephanie ' s marriage was on the rocks . After months of friction , Stephanie tried to fake a pregnancy to hold onto her husband but Triple H found out it was fake and dumped her when they were about to renew their vows . The marriage officially ended at Vengeance . This also ended their on - screen relationship and finally brought the McMahon - Helmsley Era to an end . By this time , Triple H and Stephanie had started a real - life relationship , which culminated in their marriage in October 2003 . In early 2006 Triple H aligned himself with Vince and Shane McMahon , but no references to Triple H and Stephanie ' s marriage would be made during that time . Toward the end of Stephanie ' s real - life pregnancy with their first child in late 2006 , Triple H often made jokes on - screen about " who the father might be " , saying that whoever it was must be " hung down to here ( pointing towards his kneecap ) " , before Shawn would stop him , and D - X even played a prank on Vince McMahon making him leave an arena in a rush thinking the baby was coming . In mid 2007 , the Faction had disbanded years prior , and Triple H was rumored to be Vince McMahon ' s ( kayfabe ) illegitimate son . After gathering the entire WWE roster , Vince came to the realization that if Triple H was indeed his son , then he and Stephanie would have committed incest , an idea which Triple H quickly brushed off . The son would later be revealed to be Hornswoggle . Members . At its height , the McMahon - Helmsley Faction included the following wrestlers : These wrestlers were also known to associate with the McMahon - Helmsley Faction :