Trish Stratus was this week’s guest on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette where she talked about working with Fit Finlay in WWE and how he pushed the women’s division to a new level.
“I remember that there was a year of good work that he and I were doing and we were kind of leading the cavalry. I mean, it was like a rotation of feuds and we were like ‘okay, what can we do now?’ Because there wasn’t a ton of us at the time that were working, so Lita had a neck injury at the beginning, so she was off dealing with that and so in the very beginning Jazz was brought in, and then Victoria was brought in, then Mickie James was brought in,” she explained, “so we had to present different characters and we created storylines and that was a chance to finally like be the same as the guys in that respect where before it was just ‘girl segments.’
“Then we started doing storylines and then we’d start slipping in these moves and were a little more solid, match-wise and just presented something completely different and I knew that when I started, like, when I was given the title in 2001 maybe, it was a six-pack challenge and it was all of the girls at the time,” Trish said. “There was Molly [Holly], there was Ivory, there was Jacqueline, there was Lita, there was the six of us and I won, I won for the first-time ever and I was the underdog and I knew at that point, I was like ‘look at this ball I won, I better run with it, BYE!’” [laughs]
Trish went on to explain that there was no looking back and she got a huge chance to really push things forward, especially considering there really wasn’t a proper women’s division for many years before that. She also explained how Chyna leaving the company [Chyna’s last title defense was in May 2001, and left the company in November of that year] left them without a title for a period of time, but it was a chance to change the perception of the Women’s Division and thinks they did exactly what they set out to do.
“So there was like no title, so at that point you’re just fighting for good performances and character establishing and that’s all we could do at the time. So, they finally brought back the championship and were like ‘okay, we’re gonna do this.’ and he [Finlay] remembers this too because they told him and he thought it was a rib. So, we did it and it was an opportunity to change the perception of what a female can do in this business,” Trish said, “and we went out and tried to do that and I think we did pretty good.”
Trish Stratus would go on to win the WWE Women’s Championship seven times, but she was semi-retired before the company introduced the new Divas title. Trish said it was never something she could ever get behind, noting that she didn’t believe she fit that bill and preferred being called a WWE Superstar.
“I don’t think I ever uttered the term ‘Diva’. I mean, maybe I did but in interviews, I never called myself a Diva, I refused. I just didn’t get it, I enjoyed, in the beginning, that we were called Superstars, we were all called Superstars and when they started this Divas thing, as a tomboy I was not into it, I don’t qualify, like, what they were calling a Diva, I’m not that, I don’t think I’m that at all. So, I was never behind that term at all,” Trish said, “even when they did the Divas Championship, it was just like, ‘oh okay’ but when they finally got rid of it, it was like a restart—just like when they did the six-pack challenge—it was like a reboot and a chance to turn over a new leaf, and I feel like that was their moment where they were like ‘okay, let’s get back to business here.’”
Trish closed by saying the name “is what it is” and the talent in the division are still doing the work no matter what it’s called, so she didn’t want to diminish that, but knows there’s a certain connotation that comes with name.
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