"Trish Stratus. She was a seven-time champ who had a tireless work ethic, an unquenchable thirst to improve, an under-appreciated toughness, and, of course, an amazing presence."
- Jim Ross
In professional wrestling, there are female wrestlers who stand out. Some because of their looks and others because of their talent to wrestle. Some female wrestlers stand out because of both.
In all my years as a wrestling fan, one female stands above the rest. Whenever I hear "Women's Champion," "Female Wrestler," or "Diva," one name will always come to mind—Trish Stratus.
Trish first broke into the WWE as the valet for T&A, otherwise known as Test and Albert. During this time, T&A would have several run-ins with the Hardyz, which meant Trish and Lita would loosely feud with one another due to their alliances.
After T&A disbanded, her feud with Lita would be put on a temporary hold. Despite having a great talent who could put on some great matches, Vince McMahon decided to use Trish for less of the sport, and more of his entertainment.
He literally had her on all fours, stripped down, barking like a dog. This storyline would continue until Wrestlemania X-7, when she had the guts to stand up to her boss, slap him in the face, and cost him a match.
After freeing herself from Vince, she returned full-time to the Diva's division to be taken as a serious female wrestler. She took time off in the summer of 2001, until she made a return at Survivor Series to win the gold (I swear that same storyline was used by another Canadian).
Despite the match being overshadowed by the WWF vs. the Alliance storyline, no one could take away from Trish that she had just won her first ever title.
After losing the Women's title to Jazz, Trish Stratus joined Molly Holly and Terri Runnels as the only divas to ever win the Hardcore Championship.
Although she would lose that title moments later, she would regain her Women's Title a week later, defeating Jazz. After winning back the title, Trish would begin feuds with Molly Holly, Victoria, and Gail Kim, while teaming up with Lita.
Trish would be put into memorable storylines, such as teaming with Jeff Hardy to take on Victoria and Stevie Richards, teaming with, and then turning on Chris Jericho in favor of Christian, a short-lived relationship with the Caribbean Playboy, Carlito, and hiding from a demented and unmasked Kane.
As the top diva in the WWE, she would face challenges from Christy Hemme, Victoria, Melina, Torrie Wilson, and Candice Michelle, all of whom she would defeat. In what may have been the most recent actual diva storyline, Trish met her biggest fan Mickie James.
James portrayed a crazy, psychotic fan that would not leave Trish alone. They would engage in a "friendly" feud, until James turned on and defeated Trish at Wrestlemania 22. After putting James over, Trish took time off to nurse injuries until she returned for one final feud, the final chapter in her feud with Lita.
Lita and Trish may be regarded as the greatest women's feud of all time. The two would trade the title back and forth, always giving female fans across the world something to be proud of.
Their final match against one another was at Unforgiven 2006, in Trish's hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for the WWE Women's Title. After a long and hard fought battle, Trish paid homage to Canada's own Bret Hart, and defeated Lita to retire as champion. Although the hometown hero Edge was unable to prevail in his home turf in his own match, Trish was able to win one for the boys back home.
As far as looks go, Trish is one of the best. Yet she was one of the few divas who actually turned down an offer from Playboy.
Her reason? At the end of the day, she wanted to be a diva that left everything she had in the ring, and would rather be remembered as a talented, ambitious, hard worker who gave the company everything she had, rather than just a good looker.
Of all the professional wrestling companies worldwide, the WWE is the most demanding and most watched. That isn't to take anything away from any other promotion, but the WWE has the most fans, which means more criticism, and the most grueling schedule, which means more work with less breaks.
The fact that Trish was able to go on past all that and prove herself as the most important diva of this decade says a lot.
Trish has held the title more times than any other diva. She has also held it for a longer period of time than any diva with the exception of the Fabulous Moolah. With all due respect to Moolah, she did not face the same fans or competition that Trish did.
In terms of overall title reigns and length of title reign, Trish has faced six of the top-12 champions on the list. Not to mention the most demanding fans, sports entertainment has ever known.
The Fabulous Moolah will always be the most important figure in women's wrestling, who put women's wrestling on the map. Trish Stratus will always be the seven-time champion, who kept women's wrestling on the map.
She could play a good valet heel or face, work great matches and a great feud, and more importantly hold a title like no other diva could. The hottest thing to ever come out of Canada, simply left us Stratusfied.
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