Line #53 Wrestling/TheCorporation


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thecorporation_2031.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:Wrestling/KenShamrock, [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]], Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, and the Wrestling/BigBossMan]]
3	->''"No chance, say that's what you got\
4	Up against a machine too strong\
5	Greedy politicans buying souls for us are puppets\
6	Won't find their place in line\
7	Now, tie a string around your finger now, boy\
8	'Cause it's just a matter of time"''
9	-->--"'''No Chance in Hell'''"
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11	'''The Corporation''' was a PowerStable in Wrestling/{{WWE}} led by WWE owner/chairman Wrestling/VinceMcMahon. The group represented Vince's corporate empire and its purpose was to enforce his authority and punish those who defied it, such as Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and Wrestling/DGenerationX.
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13	The group was formed at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1998'' when Vince not only screwed Austin, but [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mankind]], whom had been loyal to Vince for several months, out of the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWF Championship]] in a tournament. Vince and his corporate stooges Wrestling/SgtSlaughter, Wrestling/BigBossMan, [[ThoseTwoGuys Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco]], were joined by Vince's son [[Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon Shane]] (who screwed Austin out of the tournament after pretending to be his ally) and his new [[TheDragon "Corporate Champion"]], [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] (who Vince "feuded" with heading into the event, and who won the WWE title in a remake of the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob). They were later joined by Ken Shamrock, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels (who replaced Sgt Slaughter), Wrestling/{{Test}}, Wrestling/{{Kane}}, Wrestling/{{Chyna}}, Wrestling/BigShow, Wrestling/TripleH, and the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Mean Street Posse]]. The goal was to create a "corporate image" for WWE which was being threatened by the likes of Austin, Mankind, and DX. They would also later feud with [[EvilVersusEvil the Ministry of Darkness]].
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15	Things started to fall apart for the Corporation in 1999. Despite Vince's efforts to keep the title off of Austin (even fighting Austin one on one in a steel cage), Austin would win the title back at Wrestlemania XV. A few members also left such as HBK ("fired" by Vince), Wrestling/{{Kane}} (after being backstabbed by Chyna), and Big Show (who Vince slapped, leading to Show punching him out). To make matters worse, the Ministry was constantly threatening Vince's daughter [[DamselInDistress Stephanie]] during this time, and Vince shifted his focus away from his ArchEnemy Austin in order to protect her. Shane would then [[TheStarscream turn against Vince]] and take over the Corporation. Other members such as Shamrock, Test, Patterson, Brisco, and finally The Rock would leave the Corporation, leaving only Shane, Triple H, Chyna, Big Bossman, and the Mean Street Posse. Shane would then reveal he was in cahoots with Wrestling/TheUndertaker all along and the Corporation would merge with the Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness to form the Corporate Ministry. Both Shane and Undertaker had been taking their orders from a mysterious [[TheManBehindTheMan "Higher Power"]], who eventually revealed himself to be none other than Vince [=McMahon=] [[HijackedByGanon himself]], pulling another FaceHeelTurn for masterminding his own daughter's kidnapping just to get the WWE title off of Austin.[[note]]The exact circumstances of ''how'' Austin lost the title were largely ignored because the match, with Undertaker defeating Austin, took place at ''Over the Edge 99'', which is the same [=PPV=] where Wrestling/OwenHart died.[[/note]] The Corporate Ministry, and thus the Corporation in general, would finally collapse after Austin retained his title at ''Fully Loaded 1999'', which as a result Vince was "banished" from WWE ([[TenMinuteRetirement he came back a couple of months later of course]]).
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17	The Corporation would use "No Chance in Hell" as its theme music following the 1999 ''Royal Rumble'' (the song was the PPV's theme song), and it would later exclusively become Vince's theme. After it merged with the Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness their theme became a DarkReprise of "No Chance in Hell".
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19	Not to be confused with the 2003 film ''The Corporation''.
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21	------
22	!!! "No tropes, no tropes in Hell, you've got.."
23	* ArchEnemy: Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, Wrestling/MickFoley, and Wrestling/DGenerationX all together and separately fought the Corporation at the same time. At Mankind's iconic title match against The Rock, all three fought against the Corporation, with D-Generation X subduing Vince's goons while Stone Cold hit The Rock with a steel chair and helped Mankind pin him for the WWF Championship.
24	* BadBoss: Vince and Shane [=McMahon=] treated their own underlings and employees like crap.
25	* BattleButler: Ken Shamrock was Vince's major enforcer in The Corporation, and stayed loyal to Vince when he was ousted and the Corporate Ministry was formed. [[spoiler: When Vince revealed himself as the "Higher Power", Shamrock was less than pleased, declaring, "You USED me... NOW I'M GONNA ABUSE YOU!"]]
26	* BigBad: Vince [=McMahon=], the evil corporate overlord responsible for the antics of the Corporation and the main villain of the Wrestling/AttitudeEra as a whole.
27	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Being a [[TheNineties 90's]] heel stable this goes without saying.
28	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Vince, of course, but Shane was weaving toward it. Also Shawn Michaels, in his commissioner role.
29	* DistractedByTheSexy: During The Bossman and Shamrock's feud with Wrestling/OwenHart and Wrestling/JeffJarrett, their manager Debra managed to cost the Corporation a shot at the tag team titles, causing Pat Patterson to feed The Bossman and Shamrock saltpeter powder to inhibit their sex drives for the next match.
30	* TheDragon: Shane was Vince's second-in-command, however [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] was the "Corporate Champion" who held and defended the WWF Championship for the Corporation.
31	* DragonAscendant: See TheStarscream below.
32	* EvilOverlord: Vince [=McMahon=].
33	* FaceHeelTurn: The Rock (whose turn kicked the Corporation into high gear, to be precise), Shane [=McMahon=] [[note]]Prior to aligning with the Corporation, he had been helping a recently-fired Stone Cold out.[[/note]] Chyna, Triple H, & Ken Shamrock.
34	* FleetingDemographicRule: 2013 saw Triple H form a very similar stable, "the Authority", nicknamed "The New Corporation" by fans, with Randy Orton and the Shield, which was focused around protecting what was "best for business", preventing Wrestling/DanielBryan from becoming champion, and punishing any wrestlers who spoke out against HHH's regime.
35	* HeelFaceTurn: Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, Wrestling/{{Kane}}, Wrestling/BigShow, [[ThoseTwoGuys The Stooges]], Ken Shamrock, Wrestling/{{Test}}, and [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] all turned face and left The Corporation as a result. [[spoiler: Subverted with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, as he was [[EvilAllAlong the mastermind behind the Corporate Ministry]].]]
36	* HijackedByGanon: [[spoiler:The Corporation turned against Vince [=McMahon=] and it was shortly revealed that Shane was in league with Wrestling/TheUndertaker and had been taking orders from the same "Greater Power". Said Greater Power turned out to be Vince himself, meaning he was still the leader of The Corporation the whole time.]]
37	* HourglassPlot: With Wrestling/DGenerationX. By the time late 1999 had come around, every single member of The Corporation with the exception of The Big Bossman had turned face and most of them were now feuding with a heel DX. This includes Vince and Shane.
38	* KnightTemplar: In Vince and the rest of the Corporation's minds, they're doing the right thing by making the WWE more "corporate" and beating up rebels like Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and DX.
39	* OverlordJr: Shane [=McMahon=], Vince's son who joined up with The Corporation after betraying Stone Cold Steve Austin.
40	* PowerStable:
41	** The Champion: The Rock
42	** The Heir Apparent: Ken Shamrock, later Wrestling/TripleH
43	*** Though one of Shane's [[InSeriesNickname In-Series Nicknames]] was "The Heir Apparent".
44	** The Enforcer: The Big Boss Man, Wrestling/{{Chyna}}
45	** The Muscle: Wrestling/TheBigShow, Wrestling/{{Test}}, Wrestling/{{Kane}}.
46	** The TagalongKid: The Stooges and the Posse
47	** The Manager: Vince, Shane, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels
48	* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The Mean Street Posse, Shane's UpperClassTwit friends Rodney and Pete "Gas" from Greenwich, plus Joey Abs.[[note]][[AscendedExtra formerly]] a {{Jobber}} under his own name of Jason Ahrndt and who also competed in [[Wrestling/MattHardy the]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Hardyz]]' OMEGA promotion as Venom.[[/note]]
49	* TheManIsStickingItToTheMan: When Vince assembled a stable known as "The Union" (Mankind, Ken Shamrock, the Big Show and Test) to go up against the Corporate Ministry, despite that he was still in charge of the WWF. [[spoiler: Vince was also the "Higher Power" controlling the Corporate Ministry, so he was "sticking it to himself" in more ways than one until he revealed this fact and his true goal, causing the Union to collapse.]]
50	* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The primary gimmick of the stable.
51	* SixthRangerTraitor: In effect - Mabel was brought into The Corporation as extra muscle, but in his one and only match as a Corporation member (the 1999 Royal Rumble) he was kidnapped by The Ministry of Darkness and [=brainwashed/converted=] into joining them.
52	* TheStarscream: Shane [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope turned out NOT to be this]] as he was still taking orders from [[TheManBehindTheMan Vince, aka The Greater Power]]]].
53	* ThoseTwoGuys: The Stooges, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco, who were two former high-class wrestlers who got to act like absolute buffoons. Sometimes Sergeant Slaughter joined them, making it Those Three Guys.

Context Wrestling / TheCorporation