Trish Stratus-Lita rivalry helped revolutionize girls’s wrestling in WWE: ‘It’s the whole lot we might ask for’

WWE’s “Attitude Era” was about pushing the envelope on what was allowed and accepted on tv to win rankings towards competitor World Championship Wrestling.

Through the violence, uncooked storylines and scantily clad girls, two skilled wrestlers kicked off a rivalry that set the stage for what girls’s wrestling would change into on one of many largest phases of the business. 

Trish Stratus and Lita joined WWE, then generally known as the World Wrestling Federation, across the similar time, and their rivalry had a long-lasting influence on what girls’s wrestling turned. 

Their feud shall be chronicled on an episode of “WWE Rivals” on A&E Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Stratus and Lita joined the corporate inside a few months of each other.

Stratus, whose actual title is Patricia Stratigeas, got here from the world of feminine bodybuilding and made her debut in 2000 because the valet for the tag crew Test and Albert. Lita, whose actual title is Amy Dumas, had extra of a wrestling background working for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico and later Extreme Championship Wrestling earlier than becoming a member of WWE. 

Lita began with WWE in 1999 as a valet for Essa Rios earlier than teaming up with Matt and Jeff Hardy, the tag-team duo generally known as the Hardy Boyz.

“She debuted first, and I used to be there after. But instantly they put us collectively,” Stratus informed Fox News Digital in a latest interview. “She was with the Hardys, I used to be with T&A and that was what the rivalry was. And actually, our careers have paralleled. All alongside, proper till we each ended our careers in 2006, we have been both on the great aspect or the unhealthy aspect. Very few occasions we teamed collectively however most occasions we have been towards one another. And it was most likely the longest rivalry round. 

“People knew when Trish and Lita received within the ring it was simply pure. You didn’t know what was going to occur. Kind of like a Rock-(Stone Cold) Steve Austin-esque feeling the place we each supplied totally different fan bases. We had a distinct look. We had a distinct vibe about us. It was type of like a singular yin and yang within the ring. And it was this particular factor we had proper from the beginning, proper as much as the top of our profession.”

The timing of the feud was excellent. Lita and Stratus had an edge to push boundaries within the ring to curiosity a rabid fan base within the thick of the “Monday Night Wars” with World Championship Wrestling.

And they delivered.

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“I do assume that with the inception of our feud occurring firmly planted within the ‘Attitude Era’ had a lot to do with it as a result of there have been no boundaries on what might or couldn’t occur,” Lita informed Fox News Digital. “It was all about pushing the envelope. I would like you to say, ‘Did they really go there? Did they really do this?’ That’s what I would like you to say at house.”

Lita stated she hoped to alter the mindset of a predominantly male fan base from seeing feminine wrestlers as valets to seeing them as reliable rivals.

“We needed you to query what it appears like as feminine roles within the business,” Lita recalled.

Stratus and Lita’s feud led them to a coveted spot amongst these performing in WWE — the primary occasion for “Monday Night Raw.” The two received their showcase Dec. 6, 2004.

Lita informed Fox News Digital she was a bit skeptical after she noticed her and Stratus being pegged for the primary occasion as a result of she knew lineups might change on the drop of a hat.

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“I’m undoubtedly like a put together for the worst, hope for one of the best type of particular person and since the present — you don’t must even be an insider to know — the present adjustments the entire time till you’re going out by the curtain,” she stated. “I particularly bear in mind strolling into the constructing that day and the manufacturing assembly popping out and everybody on the manufacturing assembly simply type of giving like a sly smile. And then discovering out that we have been in the primary occasion, and I nearly I might say my first intuition was to go, ‘It’ll most likely change. … It was on there in some unspecified time in the future and that’s adequate.’”

But as soon as they realized the cardboard wasn’t going to alter they usually have been going to be final match on the present, the superstars agreed they needed to nail it.

“I do assume that with the inception of our feud occurring firmly planted within the ‘Attitude Era’ had a lot to do with it as a result of there have been no boundaries on what might or couldn’t occur.”

— Lita to Fox News Digital

“We needed to cease for a minute and go, ‘Wow, that is such an enormous alternative. We must nail this as a result of we have now to show ourselves tonight.’ This is mainly them giving us the ball, let’s see if they’ll run with it,” Stratus added. “We needed to recover from the nervousness of it. 

“And the magnitude of it definitely was not misplaced on us, however we actually simply needed to actually, ‘You know, what, we will do that.’ We’ve had wonderful matches. We had talked about moments for a few years in our profession, and we simply needed to inform ourselves we received this.”

Lita and Stratus ultimately walked away from full-time wrestling across the similar time. Stratus and Lita had yet one more match for the ladies’s championship with Stratus popping out because the winner. 

Both performers retired however made occasional appearances over the following 15 years. But their influence was indelible. Several skilled feminine wrestlers have talked about Stratus and Lita as inspirations, and girls’s wrestling has by no means been as common as it’s in the present day.

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“It’s the whole lot we might ask for,” Stratus informed Fox News Digital. “When you exit and also you attempt to make a change, make a distinction … and once more, we didn’t notice what kind of influence we have been going to be making or what we might have made as a result of there was no ruling stick. You couldn’t have a look at girls’s wrestling and assume you may revolutionize the entire business or the way it’s perceived by others.”

She stated it felt nice to encourage youthful girls and ladies to pursue their goals in life, not simply in wrestling however different fields.

Lita informed Fox News Digital she remembered being “stoked” within the thick of the rivalry however didn’t instantly notice the influence she had on these watching at house or within the arenas.

“Not solely did they see the second, assume that was cool, however they did it,” Lita stated. “I like getting the chance to play with the youngsters who noticed us doing our factor after we have been rising up and have the ability to come on the opposite aspect of it and have that chance to play together with your byproducts of the stuff you did on the entrance finish of that.

“It’s poetry to me. It’s so poetic to have the ability to forge that path on the entrance finish after which get to play in your lovely backyard that’s flourished.”