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The McMahon-Helmsley Faction (also referred to as the McMahon-Helmsley Regime, the Fac-gime, and the McMahon-Helmsley Era) was a large heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation which was founded in late 1999 and eventually faded away by early 2001. 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 D-Generation X and a resurrected Corporation.

Contents 1 Origins 2 Purpose 3 Opposition 4 Dissolution 5 Members

The group began with Triple H's victory over WWF Chairman Vince McMahon at Armageddon in December 1999. This match came about as a result of the feud between HHH and his allies, D-Generation X, and Vince McMahon and his associates, the remnants of The Corporation. On an earlier edition of RAW is WAR, Vince's daughter Stephanie McMahon was to marry her onscreen fiance Test. The ceremony was disrupted when HHH interrupted the proceedings by playing a video on the Titantron showing a drugged Stephanie marrying him (HHH) at a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas. At Armageddon 1999 HHH battled Vince, with the stipulations being that if HHH won then he would receive a title shot on RAW, whereas, if Vince was victorious, Triple H would sign an annulment. The two of them clashed in a No Holds Barred Match which lasted for a half-hour. Vince McMahon, despite his lack of in-ring experience, was able to gain a surprising advantage over Triple H at times. In a shocking twist of events, Stephanie turned on her father in the course of the match and helped secure a victory for her new husband. The night after Armageddon, HHH announced the inception of the McMahon-Helmsley Era. HHH's capture of the WWF Championship soon thereafter, coupled with Road Dogg and Billy Gunn's 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, and she and HHH therefore assumed control of the WWF.

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 The Big Show, Test, Rikishi, and Too Cool were also targets of the faction.

The group was immediately opposed by Mankind who appeared on RAW to tell HHH 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 would win, albeit he would not be happy about it, and Mankind was fired. The group would also try to get The Rock fired, but their efforts failed.

On January 10, 2000, on an edition of RAW, The Rock and most of the WWF locker room surrounding the ring (almost all of them had been targets of DX), threatened to "walk out on HHH's candy ass" if Mankind was not reinstated. Their backs against the wall, Stephanie and HHH had no other choice.

At the 2000 Royal Rumble, Mankind (now wrestling as "Cactus Jack") was defeated by HHH in a Street Fight. The Rock went on to win the Royal Rumble Match. 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 The 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 where if he won he would regain his title shot, but a loss would mean that he would retire, Shane McMahon opted to become the special guest referee. The Rock was victorious after a returning Vince McMahon punched out Big Show and Shane and gave the 3 count in The Rock's favor. Linda McMahon then made the WrestleMania 2000 main event a "Fatal Four Way Elimination Match" between The Rock, Big Show, Triple H and Mick Foley, coming out of retirement to fulfil his (kayfabe) dream of main eventing WrestleMania. Each competitor would have their McMahon in their 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 HHH. 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 World Championship to The Rock. The first loss was at Backlash 2000, 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 2000, 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.

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 returned as a face and X-Pac injured, the group was largely forgotten. However the following year saw Austin turn heel and join HHH and Vince McMahon. Though some would not call this part of the McMahon-Helmsley Era, it did ensure HHH's staying at the top of the WWF. The group came to an end with HHH being sidelined on injury, and the focus of storylines on the Invasion by The Alliance.

In early 2002, HHH and Stephanie ended their on-screen relationship, which finally brought the McMahon-Helmsley Era to an end. After months of friction, Stephanie tried to fake a pregnancy^(kayfabe) to hold onto him but HHH found out it was fake and dumped her when they were about to renew their vows. The "divorce" also marked the end of any Corporate stables for the time being.

The connection between HHH and Stephanie had a last gasp at the beginning of the Brand Extension era in mid-2002, when HHH acted as a free agent at the beginning, and Stephanie, who had become the General Manager of SmackDown! competed with then-GM of RAW Eric Bischoff for The Game's services. In his own words, HHH stated he had to choose between the "arrogant prick" and the "cold-hearted bitch". At first he chose Stephanie, as he already knew what she was capable of, but Shawn Michaels came out, and convinced HHH to go to RAW instead on the auspices of a D-Generation X reunion. That reunion was a bust as HHH quickly turned on Michaels. It was during the promo that it was revealed that HHH and Stephanie's "divorce" was finalized, Stephanie revealing that she had signed the papers that day. Subsequent contact between HHH and Stephanie on-screen has been chilly at best.

By this time, HHH and Stephanie had begun a real-life relationship, which culminated in their marriage in October 2003. Toward the end of Stephanie's real-life pregnancy with their first child in late 2006, HHH (who had by then reunited legit with Shawn Michaels) often made jokes on-screen about "who the father might be", and D-X even played a prank on Vince McMahon making him leave an arena in a rush thinking the baby was coming.

The group is best remembered for unprecedented victories at huge events like WrestleMania where HHH shunned tradition and became the first heel to ever retain the WWF Championship in a WrestleMania main event. The group is also remembered for engaging in rivalries with many different WWF superstars, and for being able to gain huge amounts of heat from crowds.

At its height, the McMahon-Helmsley Faction included the following wrestlers:

• Triple H
• Vince McMahon
• Stephanie McMahon
• X-Pac
• Road Dogg
• Billy Gunn (Gunn was injured and thrown out of the group before Vince McMahon and his associates joined).
• Shane McMahon
• Gerald Brisco
• Pat Patterson
• Tori

These wrestlers were also known to associate with the McMahon-Helmsley Faction:

• The Big Show
• Kurt Angle
• The Radicalz (specifically Chris Benoit)
• Test and Albert and Trish Stratus
• The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan
• The Dudley Boyz (prior to later turning face)
• Edge and Christian (due to confusion over what to call the Faction/Regime, Edge and Christian called it the "Factgime")