The WWE career of Trish Stratus featured many legendary moments that changed the landscape of women’s wrestling. Stratus arrived during the Attitude Era and hoped to make her mark in the industry. The ascension of Trish featured success from her time as a manager to being a part of romantic storylines to becoming a major wrestling star.
Stratus raised the game for women in WWE by making history and piling up new accolades. The visual memories of Trish’s time in wrestling will spark the memory of any fan as they witness her career unfold. WWE’s current women’s division is thriving at a higher level and that wouldn’t have come without Stratus’ foundation. The following pictures show everything a fan needs to know about Trish’s career.
10 Surprising Debut
The background of Trish Stratus was in fitness modeling before she received interest from WWE. Stratus had the look that WWE wanted from their female performers in the Attitude Era. The debut came on Sunday Night Heat when the mysterious woman was scouting talent.
WWE wanted to have Trish on the roster ahead of WrestleMania 2000 since they viewed her as a potentially strong manager personality. The debut came on a secondary show, but it was done in a way to make fans realize she’d be bound for bigger things.
9 First Act Managing Test & Albert
The first project for Trish Stratus saw her picking the wrestlers of Test and Albert to become the names she managed. T & A was the tag team name given to Test and Albert to play into the eye candy of Stratus while using their names.
Trish helped Test and Albert find new credibility after struggling in their prior roles. T & A never won the World Tag Team Championship, but they were always in a relevant role due to Stratus. Fans warmed up to Trish who fit into wrestling well as a heel character.
8 Dating Vince McMahon
WWE quickly placed Trish Stratus in a massive storyline as Vince McMahon’s lover when he was cheating on Linda McMahon. The heel character of Vince reached new lows when making out with the younger Stratus in front of his comatose wife.
Trish played a gold digger character looking to get ahead by dating the boss. The angle was a huge step up from tag team feuds as she worked with the biggest names of Vince, Stephanie, Kurt Angle, Triple H, and a few others.
7 Getting Revenge On Vince
The storyline of Vince McMahon dating Trish Stratus took a few twists and turns to put their characters in different directions. McMahon turned on Stratus in favor of his daughter Stephanie and started degrading Trish to send a message.
The face turn of Stratus finally played out at WrestleMania 17 during this legendary moment slapping Vince. Trish no longer was following the orders of Vince and didn’t drug Linda to have her snap out of it. Shane eventually defeated Vince during this match when Linda got involved in the finish after Stratus fought Stephanie to the back.
6 Leading Women's Division Rise
WWE turning Trish Stratus face in 2001 saw her character reaching new levels of popularity. Stratus was working hard before the shows to train and improve in the ring. The hope for a women’s division would be realized in the photo shown here at Survivor Series 2001.
Trish won the Women’s Championship when winning a six-pack challenge to bring the title back after some time away when Chyna vacated it. The win for Stratus here represented change as the women’s division reached new peaks with her matches against Jazz, Molly Holly, Victoria, and her other top rivals.
5 Iconic Rivalry
The careers of Trish Stratus and Lita will always be linked together for their great rivalry. Both women were fighting to get more opportunities for the women’s division when becoming two of the most popular female performers of all time.
The peak of their rivalry came during their 12/06/2004 match, which was their Raw main event. Lita hitting the moonsault on Trish won her the Women’s Championship in a historic moment. WWE trusted them to have the first women’s main event in many years, leading both stars and the entire division to great success.
4 Dominant Heel Champion
There are arguments for different versions of Trish Stratus as the best of her career. Stratus turning heel at WrestleMania 20 against Chris Jericho to align with Christian showed a new side after her previous few years as a top face.
The heel side of Trish may have sparked the best run of her career as a dominant champ. Stratus took over the division by winning the Women’s Championship and winning all her feuds. WWE witnessed Trish performing at the highest level with solid matches and supreme character work.
3 Retiring On Top
The rivalry between Trish Stratus and Lita returned in 2006 with the characters flipped. Lita was now a heel dating Edge when Stratus was looking to defend the Women’s Championship one final time in her hometown before retiring. Years earlier, Trish was the villain in their feud.
WWE gave Trish her dream retirement match, scoring one more victory against Lita via the sharpshooter in front of the Canadian fans at Unforgiven 2006. Stratus was emotional after the victory, ending that chapter of her life as a full-time wrestler.
2 Returning To The Wrestling World
Trish Stratus had a few one-off returns for WWE after retiring due to her name value. WWE always loved to bring Stratus back, but it wasn’t until the Women’s Evolution that she became a more consistent fixture for big returns.
The return of Trish for the first women’s Royal Rumble match in 2018 saw her back again later that year. Stratus and Lita were granted the request to work together at the Evolution event, defeating the team of Alicia Fox and Mickie James. WWE witnessed the former rivals having another great moment together in tag team action.
1 Final Match In Spotlight
WWE would give Trish Stratus the biggest spotlight once more at the SummerSlam 2019 event in Toronto, Canada. Stratus had another farewell match in her home country when facing Charlotte Flair in an attraction match.
The argument can be made for Trish and Charlotte to be the two biggest female stars in WWE history. Stratus more than held her own with The Queen who was on top of her game. Flair won the match, but Straus received nothing but love and respect from the hometown fans.