Trish Stratus
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Patricia Anne Stratigias (born December 18, 1975 in Richmond Hill, Ontario), better known by her stage name, Trish Stratus, is a Greek Canadian fitness model and professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment under its RAW brand; she is the brand's current Women's Champion. Her mother, Alice is a teacher of Polish decent and her father, John is a real estate agent of Greek decent.
She is advertised by WWE as the first woman in its history to have held the Women's Championship six times, more than the four title reigns of The Fabulous Moolah in which WWE recognizes. [1] (http://www.wwe.com/inside/title_history/women/) However, this claim is dubious, since one of Moolah's reigns were not continuous. Stratus's ability as an in-ring performer has evolved over the years and she is generally seen as one of the best women professional wrestlers in the business.
As a fitness model, she has been featured on the cover of many major health and fitness magazines such as Musclemag, Flare and Total Women's Fitness. She also released a popular calendar series called "Dream Team". As a sports entertainer, she was proclaimed the WWE Diva of the Decade on RAW's 10th Anniversary, indicating her position as one of professional wrestling's most influencial women. She was voted as the three time WWE Babe of the Year (2001-2003) but was defeated by Stacy Keibler in the 2004 competition.
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World Wrestling Entertainment
Stratus attended York University in Toronto where she studied kinesiology and biology, but fell into the path of wrestling after her University went on strike. One of her first jobs related to sports entertainment was a co-host of a Canadian radio talk show called Live Audio Wrestling or "The LAW."
Stratus began her career with the WWE as a heel manager, handpicking Test and Albert to form a new tag team known as "T & A." She debuted in the WWE on March 19, 2000 when she "scouted" Test and Albert on Sunday Night Heat. She briefly expanded her faction to include Val Venis.
Trish's first WrestleMania was WrestleMania 2000, where she accompanied T&A during their tag team match against Al Snow and Steve Blackman. The faction ran afoul of the Acolyte Protection Agency after Stratus reneged on her offer to put her clothes on the line in a game of poker between her clients and the A.P.A. This led to the faction ambushing the A.P.A before a match and occupying their office, renaming the business "The T & A.P.A", until the return of the rightful owners at Armageddon 2000.
After the breakup of her team in January 2001, she became the onscreen mistress of the villainous Vince McMahon, who openly conducted an affair with Stratus while his wife Linda was kept sedated following a nervous breakdown. Tensions grew between Stratus and Vince's daughter Stephanie as they vied for his attention. Vince eventually effectively sided with Stephanie, forcing Stratus to perform degrading acts to retain her position such as strip in the middle of the ring and bark like a dog, while Stephanie treated Stratus like a servant, on one occasion asking her to crush ice by hand using a spoon in preparation for a victory celebration. This effectively led to a double turn, with the heel Stratus and the face Stephanie slowly switching places in the sympathies of the fans. At WrestleMania X-Seven, Stratus turned on Vince, slapping him in the face in the middle of his match with his son Shane before chasing Stephanie away from ringside. This solidified her face personna.
After WrestleMania, Stratus began concentrating on her wrestling career. She began a feud with Women's Champion Chyna which was abruptly ceased when Chyna was taken off television after failing to negotiate a new contract. At the outset of the WCW Invasion storylines, Stratus and Lita teamed together to repel WCW divas Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler, who they defeated in a Bra and Panties Match at Invasion.
At Survivor Series 2001 Stratus won the vacant Women's Championship for the first time in a Six Pack Challenge which also included Lita, Jacqueline, Ivory, Mighty Molly, and Jazz. After winning the title, she lost and regained the belt from opponents such as: Jazz, Victoria, Molly Holly, and Lita. While recoving from a later injury, Trish used her skills from a wrestling news radio show to host a WWE Newsmagazine show called Excess. On May 6, 2002, she defeated Crash Holly for the Hardcore Championship, under its 24/7 rules; she lost the title shortly thereafter.
Recently she is involved in a long-running feud with her rival Lita and newcomer Christy Hemme. She has also participated in a love triangle angle involving Chris Jericho and Christian, in which Trish turned heel once more and betrayed Jericho for Christian.
In May 2005, Stratus was removed from competition, due to a herniated disc. Storyline wise, she was attcked by Viscera after he failed to take out Lita's "husband" Kane. She berated him after the match and he gave her a bearhug and followed up with a big splash.
Outside of wrestling
Stratus has appeared on Mad TV twice and various comedy shows in Canada including Royal Canadian Air Farce and performing on stage at Second City. Stratus has also recorded a song called "I Just Want You", as part of the WWE-produced compilation album, WWE Originals.
Trish is also one of the many WWE Divas who continually refuses to pose nude for Playboy. In a March 15, 2005 inteview with Byte This! (an online talk show), Trish is quoted as saying;
- "I just feel that I want to leave my mark in the ring. And I want to walk away, [unlike how] people will say about Torrie Wilson, 'Oh yea, she's the one that did Playboy.' And I don't want that to be overshadowed by anything I do in the ring. I want people to go 'Oh right, Trish Stratus. She was the greatest Women's Champion ever.'" [2] (http://www.pwtorch.com/artman/publish/article_12541.shtml)
Additional statistics
- Natural Hair Color: Brunette
- Eye Color: Hazel
- Measurements: 36-24-36
- Shoe Size: 7 & 1/2
- Dominant Hand: Right
Finishing maneuvers
Signature maneuvers
- Stratusphere (Handstand Frankensteiner)
- Air Canada (Lou Thesz Press)
- Spinebuster
- Spear
- Matrix Evasion (bends backwards to avoid an opponent's attack, as seen in The Matrix)
Feuds Over The Years
The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, Lita, Rikishi, Chyna, Crash Holly, Molly Holly, Test, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Vince McMahon, Terri, The Big Show, Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler, Ivory, Jacqueline, Jazz, Steven Richards, Victoria, Gail Kim, Christian, Miss Jackie, Chris Jericho, Team Dream (2004 RAW Diva Search Finalists, Nidia, Christy Hemme, Kane, Viscera.
Managed
Championships/Accomplishments
WWE highlights
- 6-Time WWE Women's Champion
- 1-Time WWE Hardcore Champion
- 3-Time WWE Babe of the Year(2001-2003)
- WWE Diva of the Decade
Title lineage
| WWE Women's Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Vacated |
First reign | Followed by: Jazz |
| Preceded by: Jazz |
Second reign | Followed by: Molly Holly |
| Preceded by: Molly Holly |
Third reign | Followed by: Victoria |
| Preceded by: Victoria |
Fourth reign | Followed by: Jazz |
| Preceded by: Victoria |
Fifth reign | Followed by: Lita |
| Preceded by: Lita |
Sixth reign | Followed by: Current Champion |
| WWE Hardcore Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Crash Holly |
First reign | Followed by: Steven Richards |
Job titles
- Trish Stratus Enterprises - Fitness Model
- Live Audio Wrestling - Co-host / Sports Entertainment Analyst
- Apocalypse Wrestling Federation - Sports Entertainer
- World Wrestling Entertainment - Excess Co-host / Color Commentator
- World Wrestling Entertainment - Sports Entertainer
Trivia
- Trish has two sisters, Christy and Melissa.
- Her motto is, "Preparedness meets opportunity."
- Trish's catchphrase is "Stratusfaction Guaranteed", in which True Stratusfaction is the feeling of constantly being challenged and meeting those challenges.
- She has won the PWI Woman of the Year Award in 2002 and 2003.
External links
- Trish Stratus' official website (http://www.trishstratus.com)
- WWE's Mini-Site for Trish Stratus (http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/trish_stratus/)
- Live Audio Wrestling (http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com); radio show Trish used to host
- Stratus-Faction.net (http://www.stratus-faction.net); officially recognized fansite
- Five years of Stratusfaction (http://stratus-faction.com/5years/); Commemorative summary of the first five years of Trish's WWE career.
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