Jump to content

Two-Man Power Trip

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by OrphanBot (talk | contribs) at 15:12, 22 March 2006 (Removing image with no source information. Such images that are older than seven days may be deleted at any time.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.


The Two-Man Power Trip was the former heel tag team of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H in the World Wrestling Federation (presently known as World Wrestling Entertainment) in 2001.

Career

Formation

On April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania 17, Austin took on The Rock for the WWF Championship in a face vs. face match. During the match, Mr. McMahon interfered, which eventually led to Austin barbarically dismantling The Rock with a steel chair to win the WWF Championship and in the process aligning himself with his long-time enemy. The next night, in a rematch between the Rock and Stone Cold (this time in a Steel Cage Match). Triple H would get involved in the picture when he demanded to know why Vince aligned himself with Austin. Vince arrogantly replied with "Austin was a winner at WrestleMania... you weren't", which led Triple H to leave the arena in frustration.

Triple H entered the cage with his sledgehammer with the crowd believing that he would help The Rock. However, that was not the case, and along with Stone Cold he 'destroyed' The Rock. Stone Cold showed a new, more vicious side to him as he would attack wrestlers like The Undertaker, Kane, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and even Lita with the steel chair. The two, whom did not christen themselves under any name, were named as The McMahon Alliance for a brief time before being officially known as The Two-Man Power Trip (or The Power Trip for short)

Gaining All of the Gold

At Backlash, the Two-Man Power Trip (as they were now called) beat the Brothers of Destruction for the WWF Tag Team Titles, thus making them the "Golden Team" (Stone Cold also had the WWF Title & Triple H also had the Intercontinental Title). At Judgment Day, Austin accidentally hit Triple H with the WWF Title during his Chain match with Kane, causing Triple H to lose the belt. But Triple H did not return the favor, instead he helped Stone Cold retain his title against the Undertaker.

The End of the Power Trip

The next night on RAW, the Two-Man Power Trip faced Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho with the tag titles on the line. In this match, Triple H suffered a legitimate and career-threatening injury when he misstepped, causing him to suffer a tear in his left quadricep muscle. Despite his inability to place any weight on his leg, Triple H was able to complete the match. Near the end of the match, Benoit tried to pin Stone Cold, but Triple H got in the ring and tried to hit Benoit with the sledgehammer. Benoit avoided the blow and the sledgehammer instead hit Austin in the chest, a situation Benoit and Jericho took advantage of to win the match and the titles.

Austin and McMahon would continue this line, only Austin turned on Triple H, claiming that Triple H disrespected him and that he deserved to be on the shelf with his injury (Before the Tag Team match, Triple H had spoken to Austin about teamwork, in which Austin felt was disrespectful). Austin made no attempt to win back the Tag Championship, but he did cost Jericho and Benoit their gold before meeting them at the 2001 King Of The Ring. Austin and McMahon's version of the Power Trip were given a comedic side to it, with Austin being a little too attached to McMahon by hugging him and buying him gifts. Kurt Angle also got involved, though he was not an official member of The Power Trip stable. The Power Trip, were at a time taking a slight transition of being faces (with WCW wrestlers being presented as the true "bad guys" at the time) due to their comedic antics. Steve Austin himself was slowly turning into a face also, despite being officially a heel.

The situation with WCW got worse, and ECW entered the picture with Stephanie McMahon being named as the "Owner of ECW". Eventually, McMahon pleaded with Austin to bring back the "old Stone Cold", who was brutal and violent, especially compared to the "new Stone Cold". Austin, however, was heartbroken, thinking that McMahon did not appreciate his friendship and left the arena. Several attempts to console Austin failed and Austin found himself in a bar drinking on his own while the WCW-ECW "Alliance" took over and overpowered WWE. Austin finally became angry and attacked Alliance members with a pool cue. Austin was perceived as a face, and The Power Trip combination of Kurt Angle and Steve Austin were not only established but also became a serious duo rather than comic relief. This changed however when Austin betrayed Kurt Angle and assisted The Alliance to win the Inaugural Brawl of WWE Invasion. Austin's betrayal of the WWE would lead to the return of The Rock and the end of the Power Trip.

Championships/Accomplishments

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Two-Man_Power_Trip&oldid=44956828"