The Two-Man Power Trip

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The Two-Man Power Trip is a former heel tag team of Steve Austin and Triple H in the World Wrestling Federation in 2001.

1 Career
2 Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Career

[edit] Formation

On April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven, Austin took on The Rock for the WWF Championship in a face vs. face match. During the match, Vince 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, there would be 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. This was not the case, however; Triple H, along with Austin, attacked 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)

[edit] Gaining All of the Gold

At Backlash, the Two-Man Power Trip (as they were now called) defeated The Undertaker and Kane (the Brothers of Destruction) for the WWF Tag Team Titles, thus making them the "Golden Team" (Stone Cold also had the WWF Championship and Triple H also had the Intercontinental Title). They thus became the second team to ever hold all of the WWF's three primary titles (after Diesel and Shawn Michaels, who were WWF Champion and Intercontinental Champion, respectively, when they won the tag titles for one day on September 24, 1995).

At Judgment Day, Austin accidentally hit Triple H with a steel chair during his chain match with Kane, causing Triple H to lose his Intercontinental Championship. Triple H did not return the favor, however; instead, he helped Austin retain his title against the Undertaker.

[edit] 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 quadriceps. 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 Austin, 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. Austin would turn 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, which Austin felt was disrespectful). Austin made no attempt to win back the tag titles himself, but he did interfere in a match between Benoit and Jericho against The Dudley Boyz, costing them their titles, 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.

In July 2001, the Invasion storyline began, featuring WCW wrestlers "invading" WWF programming. The Power Trip, still nominally heels, teased a return to facedom, as in the face of the Invasion, both face and heel WWF wrestlers were seen as standing against the "true" bad guys, WCW. As the feud with WCW escalated, and as ECW entered the Invasion storyline as well, McMahon pleaded with Austin to bring back the "old Stone Cold," the one who was brutal and violent, as opposed to the "new Stone Cold," in order to lead the fight against WCW and ECW. 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 WWF. 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 WWF Invasion. Austin's betrayal of the WWF would lead to the return of The Rock and the end of the Power Trip.