Trish Stratus takes credit for WWE’s women’s evolution.
The seven-time WWE Women’s Champion is serving all kinds of sassy Stratusfaction in wake of her recent heel turn on Becky Lynch. During a recent appearance on WWE After The Bell, Stratus shot down the notion that Becky Lynch and the current crop of talent paved the way for a women’s evolution in WWE.
“Well, that’s the whole thing is that there was no trail, right? Right now they have a trail that they get to then make their own and make their turns and stuff like that. But for us, there was nothing,” Stratus said. “There was literally nothing, so we had to create that. There was no interest from the fans or backstage. I was told, point blank, ‘They don’t wanna see the women do that.’ So, okay, that was our first obstacle we had. We were told the fans didn’t wanna see that, and the fans were conditioned not to see that. So we had the ‘puppies’ chants and stuff because that’s what we’re giving them.”
Stratus explained that she knew what she was capable of after training with all guys at a wrestling school in Toronto. She had to condition all the guys she trained with to treat her like “one of the boys,” so she knew that they were capable of “re-educating” the fans to accept women’s wrestling.
“We had to fly under the radar, and it was hard. It was hard work because we had to work our asses off and sit through the ‘puppies’ chants to get to the point where they stopped saying ‘puppies’ and they started saying ‘holy shit’ during our match,” Stratus explained, “and that was a lot of work. So, for them to know that they don’t have those ‘puppies’ chants, they already have the ‘holy shit’ chants and ‘this is awesome’ chants, but we are the ones who conditioned the fans to give you that action. We are the ones who gave you that path, so just a little acknowledgement is all. I think that’s important.”
The WWE Hall of Famer reflected on how when she entered the business, there was only people like Miss Elizabeth or Chyna, who were more like attractions compared to the full-time women’s division we see today. Stratus reiterated that her era changed the preconceived notion of what women could do in the ring — including the feat of utilizing a chair shot — and now little girls have something to aspire to when it comes to being a wrestler in WWE.
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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit WWE After The Bell with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
