The Higher Power Angle

**The Higher Power** storyline is one of the longest, most convoluted storylines of all time. Though it is extremely difficult to summarize, we'll do our best to try.

* Around late 1998, Paul Bearer turned on Kane and reunited with The Undertaker, which turned them heel and Kane face. They began talking about *the Ministry of Darkness*, a "plague of evil" that they would soon unleash on the WWF. Undertaker later tore through the lives of Kane and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to the point where Undertaker attempted to embalm Austin alive, tried to have Kane committed to a mental asylum, and crucified Austin. Kane ended up costing Undertaker a Buried Alive Match against Austin at *In Your House: Rock Bottom*. Undertaker disappeared for several weeks, delaying his satanic plans for the WWF.

* **Meanwhile...** Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw and Faarooq formed Hell's Henchmen, a dark and brooding tag team briefly managed by The Jackyl. Shortly after their debut, The Jackyl would mention on color commentary that his acolytes would usher in "an age of tribulation" in the WWF and that The Jackyl would be the "puppet master" controlling everything from the shadows. This effectively set the stage for the Ministry of Darkness with the Jackyl acting as the man behind the curtain. Soon after this commentary stint, The Jackyl left the WWF and the Bradshaw/Faarooq team changed their name to The Acolytes, who ended up as the henchmen of a then-unknown new leader. As one of their first orders of business, The Acolytes abducted Dennis Knight on the 11 January 1999 episode of *Raw Is War* and took him to "He". Weeks later, "He" reveals himself: The Undertaker, in a far more druid-like outfit, initiated Knight as his servant via a gothic ritual that rechristened Knight as Mideon. At *Royal Rumble 1999*, the group of Undertaker, Mideon, and The Acolytes abducted the 485-pound Mabel, rechristened him Viscera, and turned him to the Undertaker's side. The trio known as The Brood (Christian, Edge, and Gangrel) ended up recruited to the Undertaker's service as well. After gathering his troops, The Undertaker made it clear that he wanted to own the World Wrestling Federation and **oust Vince McMahon from power.**

* At this point, things went off the rails. Vince turned face and, in a classic Vince Russo moment, claimed that Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) had gone too far and believed he's The Undertaker for real (i.e. Calaway believed it's a shoot). In order to shake Undertaker out of it, Vince put him in the second ever Inferno Match against Kane, who joined Vince's competing Corporation group to avoid being committed to an asylum. Undertaker defeated Kane again and reduced the WWF owner to tears at the sight of a burning teddy bear. The bear was said to have once belonged to Stephanie McMahon (as a child).

* A few weeks later, Undertaker claimed **he** answered to a higher power, one who owned the key to McMahon's heart and soul. After leaving a burning symbol resembling a crucifix in McMahon's yard, Vince ordered Corporation enforcer Big Bossman to face Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at *WrestleMania XV*. Undertaker defeated Bossman with ease. After the match, The Brood lower themselves from the ceiling onto the top of the Cell and lower a noose to Undertaker -- who sends McMahon another symbolic message by **hanging Big Bossman from the cell**.

* The night after *WrestleMania*, the WWF introduced Stephanie McMahon as an on-screen character when The Ministry kidnapped Stephanie. Corporation member Ken Shamrock later found Stephanie in a boiler room -- with the Undertaker's symbol on her forehead. In an act of vengeance, Undertaker ordered The Ministry to abduct Ken's "sister", Ryan, and "sacrifice" her on one of his symbols. (Also: when Undertaker learned Shamrock attained the information as to Stephanie's whereabouts by forcing it out of Christian, Undertaker punished Christian by flogging him.) The next week, Shamrock (with help from Mankind) found his sister crying in a boiler room, which ruined Undertaker's plans again. The next week, Undertaker tried to sacrifice Shamrock, then ordered Edge and Gangrel to sacrifice Christian as well. The Brood refused and turned against Undertaker, marking the only voluntary defection from The Ministry during its entire existence.

* Vince had a crazed Shamrock face Undertaker at *Backlash: In Your House* in the hopes that Shamrock would break Undertaker's ankle with the Ankle Lock submission hold. His plan backfired and Shamrock endured an assault from Bradshaw after the match. While Shamrock got his ass kicked, The Undertaker commandeered Stephanie McMahon's limo and drove off into the night with a screaming Stephanie in tow as the show went off the air. (This event spawned the infamous "Where to, Stephanie?" line.)

* The next night on *Raw*, Undertaker held a "Black Wedding" for himself and Stephanie. Undertaker's logic went as such: if he married the WWF owner's daughter, he'd gain control of the entire Federation. Undertaker never completed the ritual as then-WWF Champion Steve Austin interrupted the ceremony and saved Stephanie (after attempts by Ken Shamrock and other Corporation members failed). Undertaker enacted his own "Plan B" soon afterwards, though: Vince's son Shane joined forces with The Undertaker on the very first ever episode of *SmackDown* to merge The Corporation and The Ministry into the super-group known as The Corporate Ministry. ***Undertaker's new leadership over the group caused the members of both factions to forget their past conflicts and work together as a massive conglomerate.*** Shane kicked Vince out of the Corporation side of the Corporate Ministry for not having his “priorities straight”,

* This entire angle led up to an important episode of *Raw*. The week before the giant reveal, Steve Austin got a glimpse at the face of The Higher Power and looked totally shocked. (He inexplicably chose to tell no one about the identity of the Higher Power between that moment and the reveal.) At this point, the WWF had built up to to a super *super* ***super*** important episode of *Raw* in which the audience would discover how Vince would cope with these terrible odds against him and who Undertaker would reveal as his Higher Power.

#### Who the audience thought might be the Higher Power

* By this point, the audience had generally narrowed things down to three major candidates, taking in all the clues and foreshadowing that the WWF had dropped:
	+ ***Mick Foley*** -- The Higher Power hated Vince **and** Steve Austin. Foley fit this bill, as he feuded with Austin while serving as Vince's lackey in the guise of Dude Love, and Vince treated Foley no better than he treated Austin. Foley had a major reason to hate both men.
	+ ***Jake "the Snake" Roberts*** -- Well known for his pronounced dark side, Roberts had a major reason to hate Austin: at *King of the Ring 1996*, Austin beat Roberts in the finals and mocked Roberts' Christian beliefs by uttering the immortal "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!" line.
	+ ***The Jackyl*** aka Don Callis, aka Cyrus of the last days of ECW fame. It made sense given The Jackyl's gimmick was of a charismatic cult leader with a flair for brainwashing wrestlers into becoming his followers, the occult religious symbolism he and his charges were decorated with and his previous segments where he'd promise to become the leader of the WWF and that "the revolution of The Jackyl is coming". In fact that may well have been the plan, but Jackyl/Callis was fired from the WWF mid-way into the angle.

#### Who the Higher Power was

* ***Vince McMahon*** (AW, SON OF A BITCH!). In a moment that will live on in pro wrestling infamy, Vince revealed that he'd planned this months-long war between the Ministry and the Corporation that saw his family ripped apart, Bossman hanged from the Hell in a Cell structure, and his daughter kidnapped and traumatized by Undertaker as a large ruse done for the sole purpose of **pissing off Steve Austin** (and the audience).
	+ Down South in WCW, both management and talent felt nervous about the reveal, as they felt it could become the moment where the WWF turned the tide on the Monday Night Wars. On the night of the reveal, they all sat in the back crowded around a TV waiting to see what would happen. Bischoff had tried to calm them down by saying "it'll just be McMahon, because Stone Cold vs. McMahon is all they've got", but no one except Bischoff felt entirely sure about that assertion. Bischoff ended up being right for one of the few times in his miserable existence.

* The *Raw* before the *St. Valentine's Day Massacre* PPV has no clean finishes whatsoever. This includes Austin competing in a Gauntlet Match against the entire Corporate Ministry, who break up everyone else's pinfalls before Austin lays waste to everyone with Stone Cold Stunners. The *St. Valentine's Day Massacre* PPV itself ends with Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a Steel Cage Match. At the end of the match, WCW defector Paul Wight (The Giant) comes from out under the ring to chokeslam Austin through the cage -- which causes Austin to win the match. (Paul Wight would be rechristened The Big Show just a couple of weeks later.)
	+ For years, Vince had criticized WCW's booking of The Big Show. He said that only his company knew how to book giants. This meant that Austin would go over Big Show in their first major encounter. And all throughout 2002. See also: the booking of The Great Khali, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, A-Train, Rodney Mack, Goldberg...

* After *St. Valentine's Day Massacre*, the entire Corporate Ministry angle just... Disappeared. Thank God.
	+ Undertaker took an extensive break from the WWF following the end of this angle. He reappeared more than a year later as The American Badass, but that's a story for another section.
	+ Mideon hung around for a while and eventually became Naked Mideon, whose gimmick was wrestling in a thong, wrestling boots, and a fanny pack.