Trish Stratus, a WWE Hall of Famer and former seven-time WWE Women’s Champion, recently discussed how she laid the foundation for the current WWE women’s division.
Test and Albert’s valet Trish Stratus made her professional wrestling debut in March 1999 in WWE. Despite the fact that she became a WWE star in November of 1999. In spite of the fact that she began her professional wrestling career as a heel valet, she quickly transitioned into ring work.
Trish Stratus was named WWE’s Diva of the Decade in 2003. Before there was ever a Women’s Evolution, there was Trish Stratus paving the path and making the finest matches she could with other workhorses like Lita, Jazz, Victoria, Molly Holly, and others.
At first, like every other woman in WWE, she was depicted as a sex object in the promotional materials, which was something that WWE was well-known for at the time. When the McMahon family conflict erupted in 2001, she became a focal point of interest for the audience.
With the passage of time, she began to participate in a variety of matches. It was at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event in 2001 that she won her first women’s championship in WWE, defeating a group that featured the likes of Ivory, Jazz, Jacqueline, Lita, and Mighty Molly in a six-pack challenge. The start of the Ruthless Aggression period in 2002 established Trish as one of the most prominent figures in the Women’s division of the WWE.
It was in 2006 that she announced her retirement from professional wrestling after winning her seventh Women’s Championship. She has, however, continued to make only intermittent appearances up to this day. WWE honored her with an induction into its Hall of Fame in 2013.
With regard to the road she has blazed, Trish Stratus told the Bella Twins on their podcast that although she is glad to have built the foundation and educated the public on what they may expect from a female performer, she is equally concerned with earning the plaudits and respect of her peers.
“I just sort of go ‘you’re welcome,’ to everyone [laughs]. No, of course, it was a collaborative effort for sure. It was laying the groundwork and from the beginning, it was re-educating the fans on what to expect from a female performer, the acceptance of the fans, the acceptance of the producers backstage for them to be like, ‘Okay, we can give them this.’ I remember, one time, to have a hardcore match was a big deal. ‘I don’t think they can handle it.’ ‘Why can’t we handle it when they can handle it? We can handle it too.'”
“I took a chair shot from Victoria and people were unhappy that happened, but why? The guys take chair shots all the time and I wanted it. I consent to this. So many players along the way. Look at Jazz, Victoria, Molly Holly, Mickie James. It’s cool to watch and to hear people talk about, ‘this inspired me, this event inspired me.’ It’s touching. When you set out to do what you do in your world, the aim is to please and get the accolades from your co-workers. That was a big part for me, to earn the respect of my co-workers. I did pretty good.”
At WWE Elimination Chamber on February 19, Lita, Trish Stratus’ most formidable foe, will square off against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship in Saudi Arabia.
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