Trish Stratus looks back on the last time she wrestled in a WWE ring.
The Hall of Famer took on Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2019, a matchup that many remember due to the status of both women in the industry, with some even calling it a passing of the torch moment. Despite Stratus putting up an incredible effort, the Queen emerged victorious on that night.
Ahead of her return at WrestleMania 39 Stratus spoke with Bleacher Report about her showdown with Flair in 2019, and how satisfied she was or that to be her final in-ring outing. You can check out her full thoughts on the matchup in the highlights below.
On her SummerSlam 2019 matchup against Charlotte Flair:
I don’t think it was a conscious choice to go back and say, ‘I have more in me.’ The Charlotte match was a perfect ending. It was a generational faceoff: The best of that generation against who they say is the best of my generation. It was in Toronto and absolutely perfect, and for that to bring closure, I was very satisfied with that. But then having these little interactions at live events, it was fun to have that generational mix-up. When I retired, I said I’d return if it was fun… and maybe not to pass the torch necessarily but to influence a new generation.
Says she thrives on challenging herself, and wants to challenge herself against the current crop of WWE talent:
There’s an element of proving yourself. You always feel like you have to prove yourself. I know with my Charlotte match, that was my driving force and proving to not only to the fans that I could still do this, but also to myself. I thrive on the challenge. Can I still hang with these girls? Trust me, before I accepted, I did a few rounds in the ring and had to make sure the question of whether I could still do this was rhetorical.
How her return came together:
I’ve been speaking with WWE for a little while now about doing a little something because I did the live events. There’s always ideas thrown at me. Once they saw me get in there with the girls, it becomes ‘This could be something.’ I have a great relationship with WWE, so we’ve always talked. ‘Would you come back?’ ‘Yeah, if there’s a right moment.’ If the right moment is challenging and I can touch another generation and make a difference, that would be great, and those boxes would have to be checked.
In a separate interview, Stratus spoke about what WWE could do to continue to build its female viewership. You can read about that here.
