Authority

The word authority (derived from the Latin word auctoritas) can be used to mean the right to exercise power given by the State (in the form of government, judges, police officers, etc.), or by academic knowledge of an area (someone can be an authority on a subject).

When the word Authority is used in the name of an organization, this name usually refers to the governing body upon which such authority is vested; for example, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It is also the right to do something.

In various settings

Government

In government, the term authority is often used interchangeably with power. However, their meanings differ: while power is defined as "the ability to influence somebody to do something that he/she would not have done", authority refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power. For example, while a mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by lynching, people who believe in the rule of law consider that only a court of law has the authority to punish a criminal legally as the law says.

The Authority

The Authority is a superhero comic book series published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint. It was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, and follows the adventures of the Authority, a superhero team mainly composed of Ellis-created characters from Stormwatch.

Members

The founding members of the Authority were:

Following the "Outer Dark" storyarc, Jenny Sparks was replaced with:

After the "Revolution" maxi-series, new members of the Authority included:

Randy Orton

Randall Keith "Randy" Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor who has been employed by WWE since 2001, but is on hiatus due to injury as of February 2016. He is a 12-time world champion, having held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship eight times and the World Heavyweight Championship four times. He was the final holder of the World Heavyweight Championship.

Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., his father "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and his uncle Barry Orton all competed in the professional wrestling business. Before being promoted to the main World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) roster, Orton trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling for a month. He was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he held the OVW Hardcore Championship twice.

Orton became a member of the stable Evolution shortly after his WWE debut, which quickly led to a Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. He also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting and then physically attacking WWE Hall of Famers and wrestling veterans. At age 24, he became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship. With this win, he departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, they held the World Tag Team Championship.

John Mellencamp

John J Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), also known as John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, painter, and actor. He is known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He rose to superstardom in the 1980s while "honing an almost startlingly plainspoken writing style that, starting in 1982, yielded a string of Top 10 singles," including "Hurts So Good," "Jack & Diane," "Crumblin' Down," "Pink Houses," "Lonely Ol' Night," "Small Town," "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.," "Paper in Fire," and "Cherry Bomb." He has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven, and has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. Mellencamp released his latest album, Plain Spoken, on September 23, 2014, to widespread critical acclaim.

Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois, to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 31 years, and as of 2016 the organization has raised over $48 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

Seth Rollins

Colby Lopez (born May 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler who is signed to WWE under the ring name Seth Rollins.

After signing with WWE in 2010, he was sent to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) where he was the first FCW Grand Slam Champion. After WWE rebranded FCW into NXT, he became the inaugural NXT Champion. Rollins debuted on WWE's main roster in 2012 alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns as The Shield. Rollins is a one-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Champion (the first and only wrestler to hold both titles concurrently), a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Reigns), and was the 2014 Money in the Bank winner, as well as the 2015 Superstar of the Year.

Prior to signing with WWE, Lopez wrestled as Tyler Black for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he held the ROH World Championship once and the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice (with Jimmy Jacobs), and was the winner of the 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament. He also wrestled for various independent promotions including Full Impact Pro (FIP), where he was a one-time FIP World Heavyweight Champion, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he was a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion (also with Jacobs). Along with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, Rollins is one of three men to have been world champion in WWE and ROH. Industry veteran Steve "Sting" Borden described Rollins as the most talented wrestler he has ever watched, or worked with.