WWE Hall of Famer Blasts Trish Stratus For “Setting Back” Women’s Wrestling

Written by Craig Ballantyne • Published 14th May 2023
Trish Stratus

In the years following her WWE debut in 2000, Trish Stratus became one of the most popular stars of her era.

By the time she stepped away from the ring in 2006, Stratus had racked up seven reigns with the Women’s Championship and become an inspiration to a whole new generation of women wrestlers.

Recently, the star made her return to wrestling, first assisting her old rival Lita and Becky Lynch against Damage CTRL before turning on her partners by attacking Lynch and turning heel for the first time in years.

While explaining her actions on Raw, Stratus claimed women’s wrestling was “a joke” when she arrived on the scene and she turned it around single-handedly.

“When I first came to WWE, women’s wrestling was a joke, and I proceeded to single-handedly change everything. I brought credibility to a non-existant women’s division and I know you some of you are going to say it was ‘Trish and Lita,’ no, no, no, no, there was no we. It was just me. I was the women’s division.”

However, one Hall of Famer has taken issue with this version of history, instead claiming Stratus actually set the women’s division back.

Madusa claims Trish Stratus turned women’s wrestling into a “sideshow”

Madusa – who was known as Alundra Blayze in WWE – was one of the defining women’s wrestlers of her generation. She wrestled all over the world before arriving in the company in 1993 and becoming the first Women’s Champion since the title was deactivated a few years before.

In a post on social media, she blasted Stratus for spoiling the work she had done to “legitimize” the division. Going further, she said it was her rather than Stratus who built the foundations for the ‘Four Horsewomen’ – Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, and Sasha Banks (now known as Mercedes Mone).

“Trish has set the women back and turned them into a sideshow after all the work I did to get the women respected and legitimize them as the superstars that they are.

“Do you really think I literally threw that title in the trash without a plan of longevity and meaning?

“Trish brought in the blueprint that WWE used for decades that had to be UNDONE by the women who were inspired by men and the women that came before her. Trish made room for the Bella Twins and others, but I built a foundation for the 4 Horsewomen.”

Stratus and Lynch’s rivalry continued on the May 8th edition of Raw when The Man returned and attacked the star before sending her packing up the ramp.