2001: The Creation and Destruction of one of the Most Devastating Forces in WWE history. Royal Rumble: Triple H was finishing up a rivalry with then WWF Champion, Kurt Angle. You see, ever since Angle arrived in the WWF, Stephanie McMahon had her eyes on him, and he had his eyes on her. Triple H, married to Stephanie, was absolutely livid, and it all culminated with a WWF Championship match at the Royal Rumble. In the midst of this, juts a few months earlier, Steve Austin returned to action after having a serious neck injury that needed to be surgically repaired.

The WWE wrote his character off by having him get into a "hit and run" accident. A short while after his return, then, baby face Triple H, attacked him and turned heel saying that he was Rikishi's assistant in taking him out at the '99 Survivor Series. Ironically enough, their feud escalated at the 2000 Survivor Series when Steve Austin set up Triple H. The two squared off and Triple H tried to lure Austin to the parking lot with the help of The Radicalz. Trip got in his care and was ready to run him down. All of a sudden a crane rammed into the side of Trip's car and lifted the automobile high in the air. Steve Austin, operating the crane, dropped the car with Trip inside. They wrestled in a Hell In A Cell Match at Armageddon with four other men and the WWF Title was on the line. Kurt Angle retained but Austin and Triple H's saga was apparently finished.

To the match, twice, referee Earl Hebner was inadvertently nailed. With Kurt Angle's manager, Trish Stratus and Triple H's manager, Stephanie taken from ringside by Vince McMahon, the two fought one on one. Towards the end of the match, Steve Austin ran to the ring and took down Triple H with the WWE Championship belt and threw the ref back into the ring. The ref was still down and a bloody Triple H was getting back to his feet. Austin rushed the ring and hit him with a Stunner and Angle pinned him for the victory.

The main event of the Royal Rumble was the Royal Rumble match, with the winner going against the WWF Champion in the main event of WrestleMania. Steve Austin entered in the mid 20s when Triple H attacked him before he could get in the ring. Austin was busted open and hurt badly. He made his way to the ring and despite the attack, Austin won and was going to WrestleMania 17.

Before WrestleMania 17, there was No Way Out, where The Rock defeated Kurt Angle in the main event to win the WWF Championship. However, Triple H and Steve Austin went at it that night in a Two out of Three Falls Match. Austin won the first fall, which was a regular wrestling match. Triple H won the second fall which was a Street Fight. And Triple H won the third and deciding fall which was a Steel Cage Match. The feud now seemed to be over.

At WrestleMania 17, Steve Austin defeated The Rock by the help of Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon, however, had been aiding Triple H for quite some time. The next night on Raw, The Rock wanted his rematch and he got it in a Cage Match . During the show, Triple H confronted Vince McMahon and asked him why he was helping Austin. McMahon just told his to stay out of it. So during the Cage Match, Austin and McMahon were taking it to The Rock when Triple H's music hit the arena and he stormed the ring with a sledgehammer. Upon getting in the ring, he stared down Austin but he took down The Rock with the sledgehammer. The two beat down The Rock and Austin retained his title. On Smackdown, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship. Shortly after, The Undertaker & Kane won the WWF Tag Team Championship for Edge & Christian. The two wanted a match with Austin and Triple H. They got it at Backlash. However, Vince told Trip and Austin that the titles were on the line. They didn't care much because they thought that only the WWF Tag Team Championship were up for grabs. Vince said that that wasn't the only title on the line. Trip asked why his belt was up for grabs. Vince said that the IC title wasn't the only one on the line as well. Austin couldn't believe this news. At Backlash, with the WWE Tag Title, The IC Title and the WWE Title on the line, Triple H pinned Kane and Triple H and Steve Austin won the Tag Titles. This meant that Austin was the WWF Champion, Triple H was Intercontinental Champion and they were both the WWF Tag Team Champions as they had all the belts.

The concept of Triple H and Steve Austin on the same team with the backup of Vince McMahon & Stephanie McMahon was one of genius because here were the two top stars in the company with the two most hated personalities. I absolutely loved their dominant, yet short lived run. The next month, things began to deteriorate. Triple H lost the Intercontinental Championship to Kane at Judgment Day when Austin screwed up. Later that evening, Triple H saved Steve Austin from losing the WWF Championship by interfering in his match against The Undertaker. On the next Raw, Triple H told Steve Austin that he still had the WWF Championship because of him. Also, he said that Austin caused him to lose the Intercontinental Championship. It certainly appeared that a Triple H face turn was in the works. That night in the main event, the most dominant duo in, my opinion, and their run came to an end. The team of Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho, who also had an intense feud interestingly enough, defeated Steve Austin and Triple H for the WWF Tag Team Championship. However, most people will remember this match for what happened to The Game. Chris Jericho locked Steve Austin in the Walls of Jericho. Triple H came to his aid and nailed Jericho with a running forearm. In the process, Trip tore his quad and noticeably in extreme pain. Triple H finished the match and actually took the Walls of Jericho on the announcer's table. Imagine how that must have felt. In the end, Trip hit Austin with the sledgehammer by accident and Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho were crowned new Tag Team Champions while Triple H was out of action until January of '02. He missed nine months. The nine months he missed, he couldn't take part in the Invasion. Who knows how much better the Invasion would have been if he was involved. Sadly, we never saw another Triple H vs. Steve Austin one on one match again. They did in fact team up again however. A week after his return, the duo defeated The Big Bossman & Booker T.

Any time I see complete dominance in the ring, I absolutely eat it up. I have intense disdain for backstage politics. However, when Triple H and Steve Austin won all three titles, I was very entertained. This "dream team" so to speak, was so well set up. When the team was disbanded, I had no idea if I would ever see that kind of potential dominance again. Insert your Brock Lesnar picture here.

by Steven P. ..