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The 25 Most Memorable Trish Stratus Moments On Her 25 Year Anniversary

Celebrate the 25-year anniversary of Trish Stratus' WWE debut with the 25 best moments of her career.
Sid Pullar III|
WWE.co

On March 19, 2000, one of the most influential stars in WWE history debuted in Trish Stratus. Coming in as a valet, the iconic star soon developed into one of the most decorated female talents to ever grace the squared circle.

Building a legendary career unlike any woman before her, Trish has been part of some special moments that have stayed in the fans' memories for years now. Here are the 25 most memorable Trish Stratus moments of all time.

25. Vince McMahon makes Trish Stratus "bark like a dog"

24. Return in the 2025 Royal Rumble Match

23. WrestleMania 39 six-woman tag team match

22. Team Bestie wins at WWE Evolution

21. Return as John Cena's tag team partner

20. No Way Out 2001 Match with Stephanie McMahon

19. Lita street fight in 2000

18. Named Diva of the Decade in 2003

MORE: Trish Stratus On Why She Thinks WWE Match With Sasha Banks Didn't Happen [Exclusive]

17. Hardcore Match vs. Victoria in 2003

16. Attacking Lita & Becky Lynch to turn heel in 2023

15. Return in the first Women's Royal Rumble Match in 2018

14. Inducted into the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame

13. Winning 4th WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 19

12. Winning WWE Women's Championship from Jazz in Toronto in 2002

11. Mickie James heel turn

10. Debuts as the manager of T&A

After slow starts to their individual careers in WWE, Test and Prince Albert aligned to form a tag team. To take the team to the next level, an attractive woman made her debut to scout the duo on the March 19, 2000 episode of WWF Sunday Night Heat.

The next night on Raw Is War, Stratus was properly introduced as the tag team's valet and gave them the name of "T&A." The double entendre worked to give some character to the tandem and give fans an idea of what Trish was about immediately.

9. Bubba Ray Dudley puts Trish through a table

In her first storyline, Trish Stratus played a crucial role in Test and Prince Albert's rivalry with The Dudley Boys. Following Bubba Ray Dudley developing a crush on the valet, Stratus used her "assets" and their opponents' love for tables to taunt one half of the former tag team champions.

Thanks to the distraction of Trish, T&A defeated The Dudley Boys. However, Stratus paid the price post match when she took her first major bump of her WWE run. Bubba Ray got revenge for her taunting by driving the blonde beauty through a table to a huge pop from the crowd.

8. Mickie James kiss under the mistletoe

The Trish Stratus and Mickie James storyline is arguably the most popular angle of the icon's illustratious career. From James being introduced as her obsessed fan to Mickie beating Trish for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22, there were several different moments that could have been chosen for this entry.

While the official heel turn or the "V-lick" moment from Mania could have been here, James giving Stratus a Christmas surprise, ending with a kiss really showed how far Mickie's obsession with her favorite wrestler had gone.

7. Stealing the show with Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2019

Taking things closer to the modern era, Trish Stratus has made several returns to WWE over the past two decades since her official retirement in 2006. However, her 2019 comeback came with one of the best matches of her entire career.

A dream match and generational battle was set up for SummerSlam 2019 when Trish faced Charlotte Flair. In a back-and-forth contest, Trish turned back the clock and showed she could keep up with the best female star on the roster. This absolute show-stealer ended with Flair coming out with the win, but Stratus showed the world that she "still got it."

6. Epic Steel Cage Match with Becky Lynch at Payback 2023

Speaking of another Trish Stratus comeback, 2023 saw the icon return once more, but this time for a much longer stint. Returning ahead of WrestleMania 39, Trish's WWE return led to a partnership with her long time rival Lita and Becky Lynch, but Stratus soon showcased her true colors.

After betraying both women and aligning with Zoey Stark, this led to the "Thank You Trish" era for the legend and culminated with a Steel Cage showdown with "The Man" at WWE Payback 2023. In front of a raucous Pittsburgh crowd, Trish and Becky left it all in the ring to put on a memorable cage match that could make the strongest argument for the best match of Stratus' entire career.

5. Capturing first WWE Women's Championship at Survivor Series 2001

Entering the top five, Trish Stratus began to wrestle full-time in 2001 after turning on Vince McMahon (more on that later). This led to the first big achievement of her WWE run.

Receiving training from Fit Finlay, Trish became one of the fastest learners ever taught under the WWE system and parlayed that guidance from the legend into championship gold. At Survivor Series 2001, she entered a six-pack challenge with five of the fiercest competitors on the roster.

Defeating Ivory, Mighty Molly, Jacqueline, Jazz and Lita, Trish shocked many fans when she finally claimed her first singles title by capturing the WWE Women's Championship. This would start a trend that fans would see quite often throughout her legendary run in the promotion.

4. Turning on Vince McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven

In what was Trish's first major storyline, Stratus became the on-screen mistress for then-WWE Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon. After institutionalizing his wife Linda McMahon, Mr. McMahon took things too far by asking for a divorce and making out with Trish in front of his near-comatose wife.

This relationship with Trish Stratus further made McMahon the most hated figure in WWE and also angered the boss' daughter, Stephanie McMahon. This led to Trish and Stephanie feuding and eventually facing at No Way Out 2001 as well as the infamous and embarrassing Trish "bark like a dog" segment.

When Vince finally faced his son Shane in a Street Fight at WrestleMania X-Seven, Stratus chose this spot to finally say "enough is enough." Slapping Vince across the face to a huge pop from the sold-out Houston Astrodome, Trish officially turned babyface against Mr. McMahon before brawling with Stephanie to the backstage area. She also helped Linda to get her revenge as well to an even bigger pop later in the match.

3. Heel Turn on Chris Jericho & aligning with Christian at WrestleMania 20

From one memorable WrestleMania turn to another, the storyline involving Trish Stratus, Chris Jericho and Christian was one of the most entertaining and simplistic angles of the mid-2000s in WWE.

After the two Canadian Chrises decided to make a Canadian dollar bet over if Jericho could sleep with Stratus, the future AEW World Champion developed real feelings for Trish and vice versa. However, when she found out about the betrayal, it nearly broke her heart.

MORE: Trish Stratus Planning Next Move Ahead of WWE 25-Year Anniversary [Exclusive]

Following the demise of their partnership and an attack on Trish, it led to Jericho facing Christian at WrestleMania 20. In what appeared like a miscommunication, Stratus "accidentally" cost Jericho his match on his former tag team partner.

Post match, it was revealed to be no accident at all when Stratus slapped Jericho twice and helped Christian hit the Unprettier on her former boo. Walking up the stage together, Trish then shared a passionate and somewhat disgusting kiss with the dastardly Christian, signalling a shocking heel turn at "The Grandest Stage of Them All."

2. First all-women's main event of WWE Raw with Lita in 2004

The Trish Stratus and Lita feud might be the most impactful rivalry in the history of the women's division in WWE. One of the key matches of this legendary tale came on the December 6, 2004 edition of Monday Night Raw.

On this night, Trish and Lita made history as it was the first time a singles match between two women had closed an episode of Raw or SmackDown up to that point.

That alone might make this bout fondly remembered, but the match became more infamous as Lita saw her feet get caught in the ropes and fell head-first to the floor.

With a broken neck that would take months to recover from, Lita regained her bearings in the match and actually pulled out the victory to become the new WWE Women's Champion on this evening. This contest is often remembered for setting a standard that would be unmet for over a decade until the "Women's Revolution."

1. Retiring as a 7-time WWE Women's Champion in her hometown of Toronto at Unforgiven 2006

Topping our list, the Trish Stratus and Lita rivalry is back again in what may be the best match of their legendary feud. In 2006, Stratus had decided that she had fulfilled her potential with a stellar run on top of the WWE women's division and wanted to call it a career.

With Unforgiven 2006 taking place in her hometown of Toronto, Trish wanted one more shot at the WWE Women's Championship and challenged her career rival Lita for a showdown to close out her career.

In front of a sold-out crowd at the Air Canada Centre, Trish and Lita went to war one final time in an epic encounter with everything up for grabs. Not only was this to be Stratus' retirement match, the gold was on the line on Trish's birthday and it would determine who would be the definitive winner of their rivalry.

For over 11 minutes, Trish and Lita left it all in the ring one last time with Stratus locking on a Sharpshooter in the closing moments to the roar of her hometown to win her record-breaking seventh WWE Women's Championship.

If Stratus never made another comeback, this would be in the running for one of the greatest final matches in WWE history, but it will have to settle for being the greatest moment of her superb career.

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Published | Modified
Sid Pullar III
SID PULLAR III

Sid Pullar III is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who has been covering the business for the past eight years. Starting off as a podcaster and creator of the Tru Heel Heat Wrestling YouTube channel, he made the transition to news and feature writing with Sportskeeda and WrestleTalk in 2020. His passion for the industry has been documented with over 3,000 videos on YouTube and 8,000 written pieces across multiple outlets, such as Fightful, WrestleTalk, The Takedown and more. Follow him on X @TruHeelSP3

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