WWE legend opens up about slapping Vince McMahon at WrestleMania
Former WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus opened up about slapping Vince McMahon during the latter's match against Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 17.
Trish Stratus was a pioneer in women's wrestling during the mid-2000s. She managed to capture the WWE Women's Championship on seven occasions and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
One of Stratus' most memorable storylines was with Vince McMahon. The legend became McMahon's on-screen girlfriend as they drugged Linda McMahon during the pair's feud with Shane. The story concluded on The Showcase of the Immortals when Linda and Trish both assisted Shane.
The 46-year-old recently appeared at the For The Love of Wrestling convention in Liverpool, where she spoke about the whole storyline and slapping McMahon:
“Vince pitched the angle to me like this — ‘so we’re going to have this angle where you are barking like a dog and get really humiliated, and basically hit rock bottom.. I knew a couple of weeks later, I would be getting my comeuppance on him and I would be slapping him on the grandest stage of them all, which is Wrestlemania, and turning on him. I was going on to stand up for myself, not needing a man to lean on and fighting for what I needed to fight for.” (H/T - WrestlingInc)
Stratus got her revenge after months of torture and disrespect from McMahon. After the Show of Shows, everyone went their separate ways as Shane began feuding with Kurt Angle.
Trish Stratus discussed the infamous Barking segment with Vince McMahon
Trish Stratus played a despised heel during her alliance with the WWE Chairman. However, fans were resentful towards Vince when he made Stratus go down on her knees and bark for the former during their storyline.
Fans dislike the character's actions even years after the segment took place. At the same convention, Stratus opened up about the moment she shared with the 76-year-old.
“I get questioned about that a lot, and most people go, ‘oh, remember you had to bark like a dog and you had to do that thing that was so degrading, right? For the character, it was, yeah, because that was what the character had to go through... That, for me, was integral for the character to be at that rock bottom, to have the foresight to say, ‘I can break free from this. I won’t let this happen to me again and let’s move on.’ And you know what? 22 years, we’re still talking about it!” (H/T - WrestlingInc)
The storyline with Vince McMahon was dropped as the Invasion angle was around the corner. Stratus is currently retired from in-ring action and is featured as a judge on Canada's Got Talent.
It will be interesting to see if the veteran returns to the squared circle one final time in the near future.
Do you think Trish Stratus will return to WWE? Will Becky Lynch face Stratus in the near future? Let us know in the comments section.