"We were not expecting that" - WWE Hall of Famer reveals how different she wanted her 2023 return to be
Over the years we have seen many stars from the past make their comeback to WWE. Hall of Famer Trish Stratus recently opened up regarding her 2023 return and stated how she wanted it to be different.
Stratus made a surprise return last February on RAW to help Becky Lynch and Lita against Damage CTRL. However, Trish turned heel following WrestleMania and went on to have a months-long feud with Lynch. During the Night of Champions, the veteran defeated The Man with the help of Zoey Stark. The rivalry came to an end at Payback in a Steel Cage Match, where Big Time Becks was successful in defeating the Attitude Era legend.
While speaking in issue 43 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Stratus stated that initially the storyline wasn't planned the way it turned out to be. She mentioned how The Man had called her asking if she would be interested in having a match with her at WrestleMania 39.
"I felt like I’d done the babyface comeback. They’re fine, but I don’t want to wear out my welcome. I said, if I go back, I’d like to surprise people and do it a little differently. I thought as a performer, I would like to challenge myself and do a heel run because I hadn’t touched that for so many years. It was 18 years since I did a heel promo. So Becky called me and said, 'Do you want to come back and do a match with me at WrestleMania?' But we needed me to come back and turn first."
She further detailed how the company planned her heel turn and brought in Lita to make fans more invested in the storyline:
"We were spitballing how I could turn heel and then we brought in Lita. We thought it’d be cool to see me turning on Lita. You’re more invested in me turning on my friend of 20 years than me and Becky, who had no television history at that point. I was supposed to come in for a little bit after WrestleMania, do a little something. And then suddenly I was in a storyline every single week for the next six months. So we were not expecting that. But that’s what happened." [H/T- Inside the Ropes]
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus sent out a heartfelt message to Rhea Ripley
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus recently sent out a heartwarming message to Judgment Day member, Rhea Ripley after the latter vacated her Women's World Championship on this week's RAW.
Taking to social media, Stratus heaped praise on The Eradicator as she spoke about the incredible title reign that the latter had for a while. She also advised Ripley to give herself a little break and enjoy life.
"Congrats on a spectacular reign @rhearipley_wwe 🙌🏼 With a meteoric rise and a schedule that matched it, turn this into some much deserved ‘me’ time which is hard to come by in our world. Take it, live a little life, then come back and continue to blaze that trail. No doubt the embers will still be burning @wwe," Stratus wrote.
Rhea Ripley defeated Stratus' former rival Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40. However, The Eradicator was injured last week on RAW during her segment with Liv Morgan. It was reported that Ripley would be out of action for at least three months. It would be interesting to see how Mami's future turns out to be in WWE.