Stephanie McMahon

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The Billion-Dollar Princess

Stephanie Marie McMahon-Levesque is certified pro-wrestling royalty. The daughter of promoter Vince McMahon and granddaughter of WWF/WWE founder Vince McMahon Sr., Stephanie has worked in the wrestling business since she was a teenager answering phones at Titan Tower. She has worked both in front of and behind the cameras, as a wrestler, a Heel manager for her storyline-husband (and eventual Real Life husband) Triple H, a General Manager for the Smack Down brand, and her current role as Executive Vice President of Creative Development and Operations (i.e. head writer).

That Other Wiki has an article on her life and career here.


Stephanie McMahon provides examples of the following tropes:
  • Abusive Parents: In-character only, but pretty thoroughly in-character. Vince has actually wrestled Stephanie (in a match that took place only a few days before her wedding).
  • Actually Pretty Funny: This was Stephanie's reaction when a diva left drunken voice-mail messages on Total Divas. She even saved them in case her dad wanted to hear them.
  • Alpha Bitch: Could slide into this when she was with DX and the early McMahon-Helmsley Regime days.
  • Arch Enemy: Chris Jericho, oh so much during the Attitude Era. It really went into Foe Yay territory.
  • Badass Family: The McMahons.
  • Battle Couple: With Hunter, occasionally.
  • Becoming the Mask: She and Triple H fell in love with each other during their storyline.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Chris Jericho, so much so that the fanfic writers went bonkers. Every fangirl who ever wrote wrestling fic has a Smoochy Dreamer fic in her past.
  • Berserk Button: If you're going to talk trash about her children or attack her husband, expect Stephanie to reply with either verbal or physical beat-down. Both Paul Heyman and Brie Bella found this out... though to be fair the latter the was justified because she was prevented from saving Nikki, so she attack Stephanie's husband.
    • If you really want to get her mad, just turn your back on her. Roman did.
    • Oh... it's a good idea not to imply her husband is a coward and threaten to show up with the chance one of her children could be face to face with a likely attacker. Just go ask Seth Rollins.
  • Black Comedy Rape: When Triple H kidnapped, drugged and married Stephanie in Vegas. She also fell in love with him after that. Of course, it's entirely possible he was lying to mess with Vince's head.

Triple H: The question, Vince, isn't if, but how many times we "consummated the marriage!" (thrusting his hips)

Randy Orton: "FIRE. ME. NOW."
Stephanie: "Firing you... would be too easy. We have bigger plans."

  • Control Freak: Also seems to be inherited from her father (during her heel runs, anyway). And much like her father, this often came to bite her back, due to overestimating just how much crap particular employees would take from her. It was her berating of Randy Orton that kicked off the horrific feud mentioned above, for example.

Stephanie: This is MY show!

  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Most definitely when she's in-character. Some of the rumor mills have painted her as this in real life, due to her yes-man status for her father and the high turnover in the writer's room.
  • Creator Couple: Stephanie handles most of the writing for WWE, Hunter is more active in front of the camera as well as with the showrunning aspect.
  • Daddy's Little Villain: Almost as good a heel as her father. It's just hard to top the guy frequently called "Satan" by commentators.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: She's the breast- I mean best.
  • Damsel in Distress: During the Ministry of Darkness storyline in which she was kidnapped by The Undertaker, and later, in the "Love Her or Leave Her" storyline between her brother Shane and Test.
  • Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Stephanie is often slapping wrestlers, mostly males. For many, most guys don’t often fight back or make an attempt to block in fears of revenge. On the other hand, Sting is among the few who at least makes an attempt to block despite Triple H's Berserk Buttons includes harm towards Stephanie.
  • Even Bad Women Love Their Papas: Just go ask Damien Sandow when he thought it was be funny it mock Vince McMahon. For some, like Jerry Lawler, thought it was Actually Pretty Funny, Stephanie didn’t.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In the McMahon DVD, Stephanie confirmed that Vince wanted to write her pregnancy into an angle, with Vince himself as the father. She immediately rejected it. Then he pushed for the father to be Shane. Both his kids subsequently protested.
    • She also can sense someone trying to get out of a match, especially from another heel. When AJ Lee had a match up with Vickie Guerrero, Guerrero tried to get out if it by faking injury. Unfortunately, Stephanie wasn't buying it, guess what happens.
    • While she’s just as a Jerkass like her husband, especially towards Daniel Bryan, but she looked on in horror as she saw Kane attacked Bryan in front of Brie Bella. She even went as far as warning Brie to run as Bryan did what any gentleman would do, protect his lady from a brute that what.
    • Don't even try to "steal" a champion title, or seize the chance to steal from the current one if they're down unless you win it in a match. AJ tried to use the chance to take the Diva's Champion from Paige after the latter was knocked out by Brie along with Nikkie. Stephanie quickly catches AJ in the act.
    • Don’t even think about going after civilian who pretty much had nothing to with any conflict. When Brock Lesnar went on the attack after Seth Rollins explains he got excused due to jet lag, thus denying Lesnar a rematch for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Lesnar attacked anyone who in his way. Stephanie was terrified by this, and she had enough when a cameraman was attacked. Since the cameraman was considered a civilian, not a wrestler, Stephanie had enough.
    • OOC Is Serious Business: In general, if she, her husband, and/or her dad happens to be the voice of reason, then you know the line has been crossed.
  • Executive Meddling
  • Fan Nickname: Nipple H.
  • Face Heel Turn: When she first appeared, she was the innocent little girl that somehow remained as such while having a Complete Monster of a father. Then, she turned on him and got with Triple H as revenge for the Ministry of Darkness Break the Cutie plot, causing Vince to leave the company for months in a Despair Event Horizon, leaving her and Triple H as the head of the WWF. She turned out to be much more capable a heel than she ever was as a face.
  • Family Business
  • Faux Action Girl: Was technically capable of wrestling (as in, could take bumps, had a few offensive moves), but mainly stuck to taunting opponents, bitch-slapping, and hiding behind Dad or Hunter or Shane when things got bad.
  • Foe Yay: With Chris Jericho in the early 2000's. While a lot of the wrestlers mocked her, Jericho was obsessive about it to the point where fans were wondering when the two were just going to have planet-cracking hate-sex and get it over with.
    • When you think about it, Jericho's hate for her made a lot of sense. He would always mock her for being easy… for everyone except him.
  • Mama Bear: Don't make any kind of insults involving her children... we're looking at you.
  • Fire the Hypotenuse: What Chyna claimed that Stephanie did to her in 2001, if she's to be believed.
  • Gag Boobs: Went from being flat-as-a-board to a D-cup almost overnight.
  • It Runs in The Family: Paul Heyman, in a 2008 interview, referred to Stephanie as "The Vincess".
  • Hollywood Pudgy: Her weight was commented upon when she made her last few appearances. Of course, that's post three children.
  • Hoist by Her Own Petard: Whenever someone who she targets either gets fried or quits, she's open for an attack because at that point she no longer has control that person.
  • Hot Chick in a Badass Suit: In her GM role.
  • Large Ham: Pretty much invented the screechy-heel character that Vickie Guerrero now plays to the hilt.
  • Nepotism: She is the boss's daughter.
  • The Maiden Name Debate: Kayfabe forced her to dance all around this. She went by Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley while she and Triple H were Kayfabe married and goes by Stephanie McMahon-Levesque in real life, but since Hunter doesn't go by his real name, she just goes by Stephanie McMahon any time she appears in-character.
  • Mean Character, Nice Actress: During the storylines in recent times, she has been proven to be just a Jerkass like her husband. However, she evidently viewed as a Reasonable Authority Figure as any viewer of “Total Divas” has seen, but it’s only if you done something questionable. If you didn’t any wrong, she’s rather has an easy-going personality.
    • She's also involved with many chatiries.
  • Morality Pet: Zach Gowen
  • Never Hurt an Innocent: Well... she considers civilians as innocent bystanders, such as a cameraman. Sure she'll go after a Face, but at least, they have to be a wrestler as fans are OFF LIMITS. Brock Lesnar didn't get the memo.
  • Nice Hat: Wore an ECW motorcycle cap during the InVasion storyline.
  • Rape as Drama: Implied when The Undertaker kidnapped her and held her in a seedy motel.
  • Real Life Writes the Plot: By 2005, everyone and their brother knew she was married to Triple H. This lead to various angles - most notably DX making rampant and gleeful speculation on who the father of her baby was - and references to their marriage and family.

Triple H: (dressed as Vince) When I pass, I'm gonna hand my company to my beautiful daughter, Stephanie...and to whoever that guy is that knocked her up!

Stephanie: Dad, you have serious problems. You've embarrassed this family long enough. It's time I embarrassed you. (makes out with Triple H)
Hunter: See ya at home, Steph!...ooh, I mean, your brother's a gnome!

  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: She stands 5'9.
  • There Are No Female Wrestling Bookers: Subverts it, but she's the only one. And that's probably due to Daddy's intervention.
  • Vocal Evolution: While she might be forever known for that whiny screechy harpy voice, in recent years, her voice has seriously mellowed out, with her voice becoming smoother and more authoritative as time has gone on.
  • Warrior Princess: Being the daughter of WWE's owner, she can be considered as such.
  • Wrestling Family: Fourth-generation and proud of it.
  • Younger Than They Look: While Stephanie has always looked fairly age appropriate, her voice radically changed around early/mid-2002 (most likely due to her role as the Screaming Woman during the McMahon-Helmsley era). By early-2003, she sounded more like she was 46 than 26 (her actual age at the time).
  • Yandere: If she's a heel.