Can Stephanie McMahon’s WWE Character Work as a Face?

Can Stephanie McMahon work as a face after all that has happened in 2016?

The defeat of Triple H at WrestleMania 32 was both telegraphed and inevitable. There are as-yet-discovered tribes in the heart of the Amazon jungle who knew Roman Reigns was going to come out victorious, so the match itself was more about style rather than substance. What did get us excited was wondering what grand entrance Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had in store for us. The Game’s WrestleMania appearances have told many tales and spanned many Schwarzenegger themes from Conan the Barbarian to Conan the Terminator Barbarian. As an avid body builder himself, Paul Levesque’s admiration and association with the greatest bodybuilder of all time isn’t all that surprising.

What we didn’t expect was to see Stephanie dressed up as a dominatrix who served up a warning and reminder to both Reigns and every fan watching about why this power couple was wrestling royalty. After her soliloquy, Triple H made his way to the ring, looking appropriately like the King of Kings and flanked by future WWE superstars (including Enzo Amore and Finn Balor) wearing skull masks. Stephanie accompanied her husband with the appropriate swagger befitting a Queen of Queens and spent as much time sneering at the crowd as she did smirking. The Authority was here and every knee shall bow.

After Triple H was defeated, it appeared that we were in for more of the same as the McMahon family power struggle continued. Much to Stephanie’s dismay, Shane was handling the duties as General Manager of RAW even though he had lost his WrestleMania match to The Undertaker and thus should have been fired. The kayfabe explanation for his control of the show was “popular demand on social media” which remains one of the most implausible and ridiculous excuses I’ve ever heard from Vince. Shane and Stephanie seemed to get along as well as a brother and sister team can do in light of the circumstances. This was the start of Stephanie’s face turn as we were no longer treated to the iron-fisted princess using her position to tilt the balance of power in her favor, although it was impossible to hide her apparent dislike that her brother was in charge.

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In July 2016, Vince announced that Stephanie would be the commissioner of RAW and Shane would take over Smackdown, thus giving them joint control over the company. The next week on RAW, Stephanie announced that Mick Foley would be her co-general manager. So why did she align with one of the most beloved hardcore legends in WWE history? This allowed Foley to not only assure fans that her position was on the up and up but also that he would serve as the counterbalance if she ever got out of line.

Foley’s relationship with Stephanie struck many fans as extremely personal because it was. Many people weren’t familiar with their history, so Foley decided to go into greater detail in a Facebook post in early September. The part that struck me the most was what he said about his non-kayfabe relationship with the McMahon family:

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"“Over the years, I may have gone in and out of favor with the company, and my relationship with Mr. McMahon has been strained at times – although it’s getting much better. But there has never been a time when I have not considered Stephanie McMahon a friend. Back in 2000, my daughter Noelle was so fond of Stephanie, that she made her a pot-holder, which, rumor has it, still holds a place of distinction in the back of a drawer in the McMahon/Levesque home.”"

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Whether Stephanie remains “good” remains to be seen. Like her father, she seems most comfortable when playing the role of a villain and does so extremely well. It’s almost harder to take her seriously because she’s been a snake in the grass for so long that you are always waiting for the old Stephanie to come back to the surface and the slaps to start flying. What seems most unusual about her face turn is that it came out of nowhere. It’s hard to believe that her husband’s loss at WrestleMania 32 was so humbling that she simply decided to stop being a power-hungry demagogue and work together for the greater good of the WWE.

As I have said before, a McMahon is never to be trusted. I have also said that bringing back the old “Authority” storyline would be a mistake as that angle has run its course. Now that Triple H has returned and violently inserted himself into the championship picture by attacking both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, how will the WWE balance those interferences and his relationship with Stephanie? She claimed that she knew nothing about the attack and vowed to continue being an unbiased advocate for the RAW brand.

The WWE has created a compelling storyline in keeping us wondering about whether Stephanie will remain loyal to the show in her goal to outshine her brother or to her husband and their unquenchable thirst for power. For now, we can enjoy watching Stephanie play the role of reluctant do-gooder but we would be foolish to turn our backs on her for even a second.

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The slaps are always waiting.