As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, 7-time Women’s Champion Trish Stratus is on the cover of the latest issue of The Wrestler Magazine [on newsstands today]. Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the sister magazine of ‘Wrestler’, has posted some excerpts from the interview on their official blog.
The interview was apparently 90 minutes long and from what I understand, the piece spans over 16 pages in the magazine. Read the quotes below:
On her relationship with T&A, Test and Albert: “Test was really adamant on making me earn his respect. He didn’t want to give me too much credit and made sure I knew it when I made a mistake. Albert would tell me not to worry and that I was a fine. It was a good mix. Test would say I sucked, and that I’d have to improve.”
On her willingness to take bumps: “I guess everyone realized I was a team player when I would take a chokeslam from Kane, I was cool with getting the stinkface, and I didn’t mind getting tossed over the top rope by The Big Show.”
On the “Bark Like A Dog” segment with Vince McMahon: “People think I must have felt humiliated. Are you kidding? Look at the result. I was simply an actress doing a part which allowed me to show emotion—that’s a good thing”
On the inspiration of The Rock: “I had to have surgery. It was the worst thing that could happen. But that allowed me to sit back and study matches. I watched a lot of The Rock’s stuff, and thought, There are no girls doing what he’s doing—why not, maybe I could be the female version of The Rock.”
Continue reading:
On today’s Divas: “Today, I see the girls doing each other’s moves. They should go to the videogame and play the character! Everyone has their own signature moves!”
On the “next” Trish: “When I saw Melina debut with M-N-M, I remember thinking that was the new T&A. But she was so much sexier than me, when she came in with that split! I was like, ‘Damn, that is hot!’”
On her legacy: “When WWE aired a package talking about how WrestleMania was the place where legends were made, and it mentioned Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, and Trish Stratus, it was shocking to me. Whether that’s accurate or just WWE marketing, it’s pretty awesome.”
On the possibility of a comeback: “I always want to do something that is challenging and impactful, no matter what I do … Absolutely, I’d go back—but only if I could do something that makes a difference.”
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19 Comments
lol, Melina is more like the next to be released if she keeps getting injured. And besides, Trish never directly said Melina was the “next Trish”. She just referenced how MNM reminded her of T&A, that’s all.
Melanie Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
It’s an excerpt, not a full quote. The ‘next Trish’ statement was implied by the author as coming from Trish.
Nice interview
I was never a fan of Trish Stratus but you gotta admire her charisma.
There will never be another Trish. The biggest mistake WWE can make is to think they will capture lightning in a bottle again like that. It’s why Cena has never quite caught on the way they wanted him to, because he is really just a poor man’s Rock. The kids might like him, but most adults, especially men, still hate him.
She’s friends with Melina, put over her entrance as being sexy, but I doubt Trish really believes she’s going to become that sort of star. It would have happened by now if it was going to. Five years is a real long time for a diva in WWE, I think Melina is pretty close to her expiration date. Plus she is always getting hurt, is not really that over with the fans, and is a terrible face.
I doubt Trish will comeback. They are too inconsistent with booking the divas for it to be worth her while. She probably just said she might because it was asked. She is not really considering it. She is right about the divas needing to develop their own styles. Melina is about the only one that tries, although she bothces most of the time.
And I’m glad to see she finally admited she was always trying to be the female Rock. That’s who she reminds me of. Hopefully that means she can be talked in to more than one movie.
I would say that Mickie was the closest thing to the next Trish and they dropped the ball with her when she was doing absolutely nothing on Raw for months and months. They could possibly do it with Kelly, who is still very young and is insanely over with the fans, but it’s up to her to work hard and creative to have faith in her. Tiffany could also be another good one, but she is totally generic and no one really cares about her yet. All that being said, I doubt there could ever be another Trish, she really changed the game for the women and since creative had faith in her and she was over (plus her looks) she was able to carry the division to a new height. Right now the WWE doesn’t view the women as an important aspect of the company and aren’t giving them good angles, characters or lenghty matches. Trish was around when the Divas had all these and it helped a lot.
Btw, I love Trish, very well spoken. But Trish in her prime (and even now kind of) is hotter than Melina IMO :)
@justbringit: Some of your points aren’t totally hideous, but constantly attacking Melina gets tiresome. From calling her downright ugly to a horrible face…well, it says a lot, really.
Anyway, I’d like to see the full interview. I remember loads of people comparing 2005 Melina to an early Trish with better mic and wrestling skills, and obviously there are other similarities, but Melina has said hat she wants to be her own wrestler, as opposed to the next whoever. I agree…Trish was great and all, but there won’t be and there shouldn’t be a ‘next Trish’. WWE have wanted to accomplish that since they started pushing Christy, Candice etc, but they’ve fallen flat on their face each time. The three most notable women since Trish IMO – Melina/Mickie/Beth – stood out because they were allowed to develop strong characters early on (Mickie/Melina), or because they stand out physically (Beth). The model-turned-champion-overnight formula that WWE want to push doesn’t work.
There can never be a Next Trish! There is only one…
I dnt think Melina wants to be the nxt Trish she wants to be what she always was Melina Perez 4x Champion! She may admire trish , and look up to her but I think she would rather create her own sense of style instead of ppl saying ur the nxt Trish or however the article was interpeted…..I luv My Melina btw!!! :)
Melina would be the next Melina.
Well, she may not have said it directly, but I’ve always thought Melina was as close to the “next Trish Stratus” as anyone. BUT, I hate saying “the next blah blah blah”, so I stick to comparisons. Melina is like Trish in many ways, but Melina is just Melina. And Trish is just Trish. I said it from day one, these women come in to blaze their own trails, not to follow someone elses. Everyone has there own story and their own way, so let it be. Why is everyone so obsessed with the next whoever? These women want to make history as themselves, not someone else. So let them.
@ seasons-of-love
I’m “constantly” attacking Melina? First of all, I didn’t call her ugly, so maybe that’s something you have in the back of your own mind if you thought I said that. But she isn’t very pretty, so what’s your point?
Secondly, Melina is a terrible face. If fans liked her so much, how come Maryse got some of the biggest cheers of her career when she attacked Melina last year? Maybe watching somebody scream like a hyenna every time they attempt to do a move doesn’t make fans want to cheer for them. Especially when they can’t do them correctly. Just a thought.
It’s not just Melina though. I’m so sick and tired of people calling Trish overrated, and then praise the current women like they are so great. Beth has no charisma, she’s just a prettier version of Chyna, minus the popularity. Michelle, who people want to say is better in the ring than Trish, couldn’t draw heat to save her life. Kelly gets nice pops, but nice is about it. She also has no clue what she’s doing when she is out there. Maryse, kind of an amusing character, but one dimensional. She’s already peaked as a performer.
If you want to go after Trish, just remember turnabout is fair play. I have no problem pointing out how much the current women suck if you want to take cheap shots at her. It’s really easy to point out the flaws in most of them.
And Trish is as beautiful as ever, more beautiful now if you ask me. Her hotness has gone up a great deal since she got in to yoga.
Trish was the perfect choice to be spearhead the women’s division in the 00′s. She looked great, she gave good promos and she worked hard to be great in the ring, all without developing the huge ego Sable supposedly had. As far as “the next Trish”, Mickie James was probably the closest. As long as WWE has the mindset of hiring women based solely on their looks with the belief that any woman can be taught to wrestle, there will never be another Trish.
Oh gosh, so you just called her very unattractive, and said that the less said about her looks, the better. It still says a lot about you.
I’d advise you to watch that attack again. Maryse got a few cheers for flipping her hair. Otherwise, the crowd was dead, on account of it being a hideous segment. Melina proved that she can be a solid face when she was getting bigger cheers than Mickie when she first turned and when she got people to react to a McCool match at NOC.
I took cheap shots at Trish? Huh? You mean when I said 2005 Melina was more impressive than early Trish? I’m guessing you weren’t watching back then? Trish didn’t become ‘OMG! Trish Stratus’ until her third or fourth title reign. I think that even she admitted that she was nothing special early on.
@justbringit
1. Melina isn’t that bad as a face. But compared to her heel run…. well you get what I mean.
2.Comparing Beth to Chyna and calling her a” prettier version of Chyna, minus the popularity” is wrong. Beth has alot more training, more moves, crisper execution, and clean while Chyna took steroids. If WWE had Beth as a face longer and in matches with men as well as playboy, she would get a “Chyna pop”.
3.Michelle could draw heat. Remmember the Piggie James angle? And her earlier Smackdown heel run as Womens Champion.
4.Trish is overated. 7 time womens champion. She may have had good improvement but not enough to grab that many title reigns. She got good reaction because she was in more men-related storylines then the other divas. Although Lita was a better wrestler, drew more reaction (as heel or face), and took more hits. Yet Trish got 7 women title reigns, called the best diva ever and even has her own video game. But Lita got only 4 womens title reigns and left WWE known as Egge’s slut. So in a sense, Trish is overated.
there’s been a rather big handful of women both during and after trish’s time that had potential to have been the next big thing. mickie, candice even maria. i think it’s less a case of the “next trish” and more a case of finding somebody who not only strives to improve but also has a huge backing by vince nd the powers that be. to be honest, though, i’d rather see the next ivory or molly before i see the next stratus.
although i have to say i don’t get where all the praise from people in the business concerning melina is coming from. don’t get me wrong, she is good and more often than not very solid in the ring, but for me, her flaws far outshine anything else.
Here come the ship wars again…
Sounds like a good interview. And it’s nice of Trish to put over Melina. She didn’t have to say anything but she did. Melina’s just being herself, not trying to be anything or anyone else. She gets a great reaction from the crowd, heel or face, she gives her all in the ring and her passion is authentic. And on top of that, she’s beautiful. I don’t think the WWE will be letting go of her any time soon, she still has that drive & love for wrestling that they want their employees to have.
And Beth is NOTHING like Chyna. She was getting over as a face before her unforunate injury. She has an authentic background in wrestling from high school that she was able to transfer to pro-wrestling, she has plenty of popularity, charisma and tenacity. To say she’s nothing but a prettier version of Chyna is insulting.
Melina is ok. If we’re gonna compare her to a previous diva I would say she’s more like Ivory but only a little less effective on the mic. They’re both reliable, great heel, but forgettable as a face. I have to agree with the posters, Mickie was the closest thing to that diva superstar level both Trish and Lita enjoyed.
for the sake of discussion…
Chyna had the luxury of being connected with the main eventers for almost her entire tenure. Sharing the stage with the big boys can do wonders for ones career. Not even Lita at her prime or Trish can get that kind of reaction from the crowd. Sable’s on a different league.
I’m a lita fan but even I can admit that while everyone around her was improving she was regressing. She was undoubtedly the worst out of all the trained wrestlers during
her day. Trish stepped up and elevated her game and surpasses Lita in terms of ring skills.
@Mojodoom I disagree with your opinion on Lita being the worst. But whatever I’m done with that..well actually I’m not, look for me on Smackdown next month-front row with a huge WHERE’S THE LITA(leader) OF THE DIVAS sign. ;) just to show some support. Ill be sure to hide them under other posters. I don’t want them to take them from me haha.
Anyway, Trish is always very nice. Although I agree she’s overrated, I like her personality outside of the wrestling world. I saw her on Armed and Famous and she’s a total sweetheart. Everyone recognized her and she was doing the sweetest things. She’s never been the greatest actress but she definitley has a heart of gold. And she’s tougher than a lot of guys. We’ve all seen the taser shot she took. It was one of her hottest moments ever too. The power of a hot Stratus haha..that moment was a lot of things lol.
@Madslam-Also, just because Lita was getting bigger reactions than her, Trish still made a lasting impression on WWE TV. Everyone wants to be the next Trish. I have yet to see the next Lita. No offense cause I’m a bigger Lita fan myself, but her impact was subdued by The E’s head honchos.
1 – Melina was a trained wrestler when she debuted and Trish was simply a fitness model. It’s obvious that Melina was better when she debuted than Trish was. Why are you arguing about this? And it’s not Melina’s fault that they don’t care to give her a face character that just points and smiles. Trish was the only person that really worked for and that’s because she was the only one who did it during her time. Now every face Diva does that and it’s kind of annoying and boring and generic.
2 – How attractive someone is, is based off opinion. Debating over that is dumb and pointless.
3 – Beth and Chyna aren’t similiar at all. Chyna didn’t have very many moves in her set and had the priviledge of being with Triple H and some of the other heavy hitters. That benefited her a lot. Plus, they cared more about the women then and Chyna got storylines and character development. I don’t think Beth has even reached her peak yet.
4 – Trish is not overrated. She worked hard and earned everything she got. She has remained humble and I have the upmost respect for her. She had the looks, the drive, she could work, was willing to take the bumps and improved in every aspect over time. There is a reason she is still relevant in the wrestling world. I don’t think she tried to be the female version of The Rock, she was the female version. Long live Trish Stratus!
5 – Lita was never a good wrestler, she was just a risk taker. Very sloppy and all over the place in the ring. Would you call Jeff Hardy a good wrestler? No, you wouldn’t. You’d call him a high flyer, or a risk taker. There ya go.
6 – I think that the biggest issue with finding the next big female star is finding the person that has the drive, can work, creative is behind them and they are over. Some people have certain aspects, like Maryse is sort of over and creative/management is obviously high on her, but I don’t think she has the passion. Then you have Kelly, who is very over and on good backstage terms but she can’t work yet. Eve is the same way, she can work good enough (still needs more training) and management likes her, but she isn’t over yet. There is nobody yet who possesses all the qualities right now like Trish did when she started spearheading the Diva’s division. I think it’ll be sooner rather than later though, that creative finds the girl they want to push heavily to reinvent the women’s division. The division was in a stale state right before they pushed Trish and then things picked up, so hopefully that’ll happen soon with the current girls.