Trish Stratus Planning Next Move Ahead of WWE 25-Year Anniversary [Exclusive]

Will we see Trish Stratus back in a WWE ring again, and if so, how does she top her steel cage match with Becky Lynch?

WWE.co

People from all walks of life converged on the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio's capital city this past weekend. Many of whom were decked out in their best cosplays from Deadpool to Spike Spiegel to celebrate their fandom at GalaxyCon, a massive pop culture gathering that celebrates comic books, anime and sci-fi classics.

The pro wrestling community showed up in droves for a celebration of their own as Friday marked the 20-year anniversary of 'Team Bestie' becoming the first women ever to main event an episode of Monday Night Raw.

With perhaps the only exception being Star Wars actor Hayden Christensen, who had a line long enough to wrap around the entire convention center more than once, no one garnered more fan attention over the three day event than WWE Hall of Famers Lita and Trish Stratus.

The Takedown on SI stopped off at GalaxyCon Saturday afternoon for an opportunity to catch up with Stratus. The 7-time WWE Women's Champion spent much of the anniversary weekend reminiscing about her career and soaking in, not only her impact, but her longevity in the business.

"When I see fans at an event like this and they're like, 'Hey, I've been watching you since I was a kid.' Grown ass people at this point too, right? They're with their kids though. That's super cool. The generational pass down is very cool. But then it does really settle in like, holy smokes I've been around for a while."

This coming March will mark a quarter century since Trish Stratus made her WWE debut. Looking back on all her accomplishments, it was difficult to pinpoint a more impactful moment than the night she closed the show with Lita in the old Charlotte Coliseum.

It was impossible for Stratus and Lita, at the time, to fully contemplate the potential lasting legacy of the seven minutes they'd spend in the ring together that night, but their WWE Women's Championship match was a foundational building block for the progress toward equal opportunity booking that has been made over the last two decades.

"We knew that it was important for us in that moment and for the girls in the back," Stratus said. "We knew that this was a big chance [WWE was] taking on us. Huge responsibility on our shoulders, but we did not really think about the impact it would have moving forward."

As if the pressure of being the first two women to main event WWE's flagship program wasn't overwhelming enough, the additional obstacle of ending a nationally televised program on time was a completely new experience for them both.

Naturally the show did run a little over on time throughout the night, leading to time being cut from the main event. Trish and Lita were forced to pivot and ramp up to the finish sooner than expected.

A myriad of issues could have cropped up, but they both stuck the landing when Lita came crashing down with her patented moonsault. The Team Xtreme friendly North Carolina crowd exuberantly counted along with the referee as his hand hit the mat three times to crown the new WWE Women's Champion.

"We could have sucked. We could have not finished well. The crowd could have not reacted. Amy could have died after the suicide dive," Trish said reflecting on everything that could have gone wrong, that thankfully did not. "The universe had it in play that this would be a moment for us and women everywhere."

What was referred to as the 'weird energy' prior to Raw that night had dissipated by the time both performers returned to the gorilla position. There was a standing ovation and sense of acceptance from the boys in the back after they were able to deliver on the largest stage afforded to members of the women's locker room at that point in time.

The evolution of women's wrestling into what fans have grown accustomed to watching today did not happen overnight. Many of the major milestone matches didn't take place in WWE until long after both Trish and Lita had stepped away from the business to pursue other career opportunities.

Unlike the collegiate athletes of yesteryear who have witnessed incredible change in their respective sports with the rise of big money NIL deals, Trish Stratus wasn't resigned to having to stand on the sidelines while others lived out experiences that were only ever dreams during her career.

.@BeckyLynchWWE, @trishstratuscom, @ZoeyStarkWWE, @itsBayleyWWE, @Iyo_SkyWWE and @ZelinaVegaWWE are all be in one ring for the first time before their #MITB Ladder Match this Saturday.#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/2tCaMR0LTh

— WWE (@WWE) June 29, 2023

Professional wrestling not only allowed her the opportunity to cross off a few personal bucket list items, but also to deliver Stratusfaction to an entire new generation of WWE fans. Only she'd serve it up in a much different manner.

“I knew that if I went back, I wanted to do a heel turn,” Stratus said. "I'm gonna go back and do something challenging as a performer and something different for the fans. I'd come back and done [performs her trademark point] a thousand times."

The spring and summer of 2023 served as Trish's first truly extended run with WWE in 17 years. Her lengthy rivalry with Becky Lynch checked a number of boxes for Stratus creatively. In addition to getting to work with a fellow generational talent, Trish was allowed the opportunity to take a protégé under her wing.

"I loved working with Zoey [Stark] when I went back. That was important to me because I knew that, I'm doing something. I'm giving back. I'm not giving Becky the rub, she doesn't need the rub, right?"

By the time that Stratus and Lynch first met one-on-one at Night of Champions, The Man had already established herself as a multi-time Women's Champion and had shattered the ultimate glass ceiling by winning the main event of WrestleMania 35.

"What I saw in that was like a generational face-off for fans. I know I'm giving the fans that," Trish said. "Zoey coming in made me feel like, okay, we're kind of like next-genning. Right? So it was nice."

While the journey with Lynch was not without it's rocky moments, the overwhelming consensus is that both women sprinted across the finish line at Payback when they delivered one of the most hard hitting and exhilarating cage matches in recent history.

Stratus is now dealing with the internal struggle of leaving the fans with a memory she can be proud to call her last, or lacing up her boots once again in 2025.

Recapturing the same magic she created with Becky Lynch inside the PPG Paints Arena is a nigh impossible task, but the circumstances exist for Stratus to want to give it a shot.

"I have to be able to deliver a hundred percent. Then also, it has to be something challenging and different for the fans. And it has to do something and mean something. To leave off on this epic moment that's memorable and people talk about it, it's hard. Like, what can top that?"

With her 25-year anniversary in pro wrestling just months away, Stratus imagines she'll make an appearance in WWE in some capacity next year. Whether it's a one off appearance like when she introduced John Cena at Money in the Bank this summer, or a longer stay, will depend on a number of different factors. Several of which are outside of her control.

The stars may not align for the right opportunity to present itself again, like they did back in 2019 when SummerSlam was held in Stratus' hometown of Toronto, CA.

"I was sitting in my living room, the commercial [for SummerSlam came on], and I was like, 'Oh, it's in Toronto. Oh, you know what, I should call Vince [McMahon]. That would be cool if Charlotte happened to not be working.'"

As luck would have it, Charlotte did not have any concrete plans in place when that phone call was made and McMahon loved the idea of a Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair fantasy match-up.

It was a similar situation that led to Stratus working her way back into the mix at WrestleMania 39. There was a mutual desire between herself and Becky Lynch to work together and The Man had no set reservations in Los Angeles that couldn't be rearranged to include the WWE Hall of Famer.

What the future holds for Trish Stratus remains unclear. There's certainly been some back and forth going on with Miss Money in the Bank Tiffany Stratton ever since she won that briefcase in Toronto.

Trish has also recently expressed a desire to work with WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax, but there's a great deal for the decision makers to consider when trying to craft the right story or angle to bring Stratus back to WWE programming.

"I think it's like examining the landscape and seeing what works best for everyone," Stratus said about the prospects for her return. "There's so many parties to consider. The person that is in the storyline, the WWE. It's really collaborative."

Our full conversation with Trish Stratus will drop Wednesday on The Takedown on SI YouTube Channel. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our great exclusive content.

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