Trish Stratus was actually discussing one final WWE run, but those plans never got the chance to play out. What started as a carefully planned 25th anniversary story was eventually put aside after something much more important happened in her personal life.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Stratus explained that the whole thing started with her 25th anniversary. Rather than coming back for another full-time schedule, she and WWE wanted to pick out a few meaningful moments throughout the year.
“Last year was my 25th anniversary and I said, thank you. I did it 25 years. I’m still alive. So I, you know, I talked to WWE. We’re like, what can we do to make it kind of special? I didn’t have to, like, do a full-time run. I’m just like, let’s pick some cool moments to come back on.”
Stratus didn’t want those appearances to be random either. If she was going to keep coming back, she wanted each appearance to either help someone else or build toward something fans actually wanted to see.
“I’m all about these moments that really make a difference, that matter. You know, there’s a few boxes that I need to check if I go back, and it’s, you know, it has to be not self-serving. It has to be like, let’s pay the business forward a bit. Let’s do something that maybe, like, is a fan fantasy matchup or something like that.”
The first piece came at the Royal Rumble, where Nia Jax eliminated Stratus. That might have looked like nothing more than a Rumble elimination at the time, but Stratus says she was already thinking ahead.
“Who threw me out? Who was it? Nia. Nia. You see, I’m all about storytelling, planting seeds. Planted a little seed there.”
The Tiffany Stratton story had actually been planted even earlier. When Stratus hosted Money in the Bank in Toronto, she specifically worked with WWE’s writers to create a moment between herself and Stratton that they could potentially revisit later.
“This is me with the writers, okay? … They always go, they just go along with it. ‘Yeah, sure, Trish, if it pans out.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, it will.’ … So we planted a little seed of Tiffy back then.”
That one did pay off. Stratus and Stratton eventually worked together before facing each other one-on-one at Evolution. But Evolution apparently wasn’t supposed to be the end of the bigger idea. Once they got there, Stratus says discussions had moved toward putting together a finale and potentially giving her one last run.
“And then we thought it’d be good to do the Evolution, you know, one-on-one babyfaces facing each other. And then we would sort of thought about a little finale, a little final run.”
That’s where everything changed. Stratus’ mother became ill, and whatever wrestling plans were being discussed suddenly didn’t matter nearly as much. She stepped away, and the possible final run was shelved.
“So my mom got sick last year, as you guys may have, may or not know. And so I just kind of took a break from everything.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the idea is dead forever. Stratus made it clear that she’s still open to another WWE return, but she isn’t interested in coming back just to add another appearance to the list.
“If I was to go back, it needs to be like, things gotta be in place and it’s gotta be the right person and the right time.”
This comes after Stratus revealed how her match with Stratton almost didn’t happen. So WWE and Stratus did get far enough to discuss a possible final run. Her family situation ultimately stopped that story before it could reach its planned next chapter, leaving the door open for Stratus to eventually get that finale if the right opportunity comes along.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
Would you still like to see Trish Stratus get one final WWE run? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
