Trish Stratus: A Pay-Per-View Retrospective Part III
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 09/26/2006
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Guest Column By Jakey Emmert
As we head into October, Unforgiven and what was be the last pay-per-view appearance of Trish Stratus are behind us and a look back is warranted at the past Pay-Per-View appearances of the seven-time Women's Champion.
Counting international pay-per-view matches, Unforgiven marked Trish's 39th match on Pay-Per-View. Trish has also made non-wrestling appearances that will receive honorable mentions due to their historical importance (her turns at WrestleManias X-7 and XX come to mind).
So with no further ado, here is Part III of the "Trish Stratus Pay-Per-View Retrospective," highlighting her matches in 2002, the year her status went from up-and-comer to three-time Women's Champion. Presented in chronological order, the matches will be graded on an A to F scale of the following criteria:
Match Quality
Importance In Trish's Career
Importance In WWE History
ROYAL RUMBLE 2002
Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA
January 20, 2002
The Match: WWF Women's Champion Trish Stratus Vs. Jazz with special referee Jacqueline
Card Placement: 3rd of 6, after Intercontinental Champion Edge Vs. William Regal and before Ric Flair Vs. Vince McMahon
Background: Jazz made an enemy out of all male WWF fans when she attacked Trish Stratus during a wet T-shirt contest at Madison Square Garden. The next few weeks, Jazz was booked to be a monster and Trish to be a weakling as Jazz would continually blindside Trish with sneak attacks, including smashing her hand in a dumpster.
Match Quality: Good for what it was. The crowd was silently behind Trish, booked as an underdog champion, and Jazz had several false finishes with a DDT and a pinfall reversal, as well as a memorable exchange with Jackie. In the end, Trish won with a bulldog out of the corner.
B
Importance In Trish's Career: A personal favorite of this columnist, as this was the first match in her championship reign that showed what a fighter Trish was. The match is made so memorable mostly due to the commentary of Jim Ross, whose "Trish Stratus came to play here at the Royal Rumble – injured hand and all!" proved that the blonde bombshell was more than just a pretty face.
B+
Importance In WWE History: A title defense at one of the Big Four, but nothing too important.
D
WRESTLEMANIA X-8
Skydome in Toronto, Ontario
March 17, 2002
The Match: WWF Women's Champion Jazz Vs. Lita Vs. Trish Stratus in a Triple Threat Match
Card Placement: Death slot, after the Match Of The Century (Rock Vs. Hulk Hogan) and World Champion Chris Jericho Vs. Triple H
Background: Jazz defeated Trish a month and a half prior and a returning Lita proved to be an equally determined challenger.
Match Quality: The in-ring WrestleMania debut of all these ladies (if you can believe that) and they all brought their A game, with Jazz proving to be the aggressor. Trish took a hellacious bump outside of the ring with her leg caught in the bottom rope that is still cringe-worthy to watch, allowing Jazz to pin Lita with a Fisherman's Suplex off the top rope. Unfortunately, the crowd was understandably dead after having just witnessed the spectacle of Rock Vs. Hogan.
C+
Importance In Trish's Career: Her first time wrestling in Toronto since becoming a serious wrestler, the hometown girl adorned her shorts with a red maple leaf. It may not be important in the record books, but it meant a lot to Trish as she fondly speaks of the experience on her DVD.
B+
Importance In WWE History: A title defense at the biggest show of the year, but it would take another year before the women made their mark at
WrestleMania.
D
BACKLASH 2002
Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri
April 21, 2002
The Match: WWF Women's Champion Jazz Vs. Trish Stratus
Card Placement: 3rd of 9, after Scott Hall Vs. Bradshaw and before Brock Lesnar Vs. Jeff Hardy
Background: Trish became #1 Contender after beating the newly turned heel Molly Holly beating Molly at her own game by grabbing the tights
Match Quality: Shining proof that Trish Stratus was coming into her own as a wrestler. Trish not only scored several false finishes with a roll-up and a Chick Kick, she also debuted the Stratusphere for the first time on Pay-Per-View. The match also told a great story with Trish as the underdog challenger as before the match, Molly Holly attacked Trish and threw her back-first into the steel steps. This led to Jazz scoring the win with a Boston Crab/STF combo.
A-
Importance In Trish's Career: Not one of her most talked about, but showed that she could go in the ring when put with the right people.
D+
Importance In WWE History: None to speak of, although it was the last American pay-per-view with a match for the World Wrestling
Federation Women's Championship.
D
INSURREXTION
Wembley Arena in London, England
May 4, 2002
The Match: Jacqueline & Trish Stratus Vs. Molly Holly & WWF Women's Champion Jazz
Card Placement: 2nd of 8, after Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rob Van Dam and before X-Pac Vs. Bradshaw
Background: None to speak of,
Match Quality: A fast-paced diva tag team match and a lengthy one at seven and a half minutes that allowed all four ladies to shine. The match ended with a double pin with Trish scoring the Stratusfaction on the champion and Jackie nailing Molly with a DDT.
B+
Importance In Trish's Career: Surprisingly very important - Jazz re-injured her ACL during the match, leading to Trish winning the title at an earlier time than expected.
A-
Importance In WWE History: One has to do some digging to realize that this was the only Pay-Per-View win in Jacqueline Moore's historic WWE career. Kind of sad. Also, Jazz's injury led to the elevation of Molly Holly and an earlier-than-anticipated title win for Trish.
C-
JUDGMENT DAY 2002
Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee
May 19, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus (with Bubba Ray Dudley) Vs. Stacy Keibler (with Rev. D'Von & Deacon Batista)
Card Placement: 2nd of 8, after Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero Vs. Rob Van Dam and before Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman Vs. The Hardy Boyz
Background: Trish won the title for the second time just six days prior (and in her hometown of Toronto). A bikini contest between Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler was scheduled to take place on
SmackDown!, but Tajiri removed Torrie from the contest, allowing Trish to come in and take the limelight away from Stacy.
Match Quality: Not Trish's best, including an embarrassing moment in which Trish bumped for a kick that landed about three feet away. Proof that while Trish was a great worker, she wasn't yet at the Molly Holly level to carry a less experienced worker to a good match.
D+
Importance In Trish's Career: None to speak of, although it was the only time she interacted with Batista on-screen as he powerslammed her while the referee was distracted.
D-
Importance In WWE History: Stacy Keibler's only singles match on PPV for the Women's Title. Also ended with D'Von putting his brother Bubba Ray through a table an event deemed to be special as D'Von was on
SmackDown! and Bubba was on
RAW. And Batista was doing the horrible deacon gimmick! I'm stretching, yes.
D
KING OF THE RING 2002
Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio
June 23, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus Vs. Molly Holly
Card Placement: 5th of 8, after Ric Flair Vs. Eddie Guerrero and before Kurt Angle Vs. Hulk Hogan
Background: Prudish Molly had been tormenting Trish, competing with her in various mixed tags throughout the past month. Trish retaliated by famously telling Molly she had a big ass. Molly became #1 Contender after defeating Trish in a non-title match with the Molly Go Round (or, as Jerry Lawler preferred to call it, the "Butt Bomb").
Match Quality: Far better than last month's effort and Trish had her usual work rate. Memorable spots included Trish hitting the Chick Kick to Molly and knocking her off the apron and Molly missing the Molly Go Round and landing the hard way. In the end, Molly reversed a roll-up by illegally holding Trish's tights, allowing her to win the title.
B+
Importance In Trish's Career: The loss of her second Women's Championship, sending her to chase Molly for the title throughout the summer.
B
Importance In WWE History: A title change is always important, especially at this point in the history of the Women's Title when it was being played up as a reputable championship. Also the first Women's Title win for Molly.
A-
UNFORGIVEN 2002
Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
September 22, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Molly Holly Vs. Trish Stratus
Card Placement: 6th of 8, after World Champion Triple H Vs. Rob Van Dam and before Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit
Background: Trish had been feuding with Molly all summer, but the match was announced with no preamble on WWE.com instead of television.
Match Quality: Another great effort between the two with Molly showing great technical wizardry - including tying Trish upside down in the Tree of Woe and nailing her with a vicious dropkick. Trish fought back and won her third title by reversing a waistlock into a bulldog.
A-
Importance In Trish's Career: Her third Women's Championship put her in the same ranks as Ivory and Alundra Blayze, and also set her up for another memorable feud with Victoria.
A
Importance In WWE History: Again for an important title change, although this match is not one of Trish's most talked-about.
B+
NO MERCY 2002
Little Rock, AR
October 20, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus Vs. Victoria
Card Placement: Buffer match between the
SmackDown! Tag Team Finals and Brock Lesnar Vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)
Background: During a Women's Title match, Victoria hit Trish over the head with a chairshot - one of the more memorable moments from both careers. From then on, it was established that Victoria had a dark past with Trish stemming from their fitness model days.
Match Quality: A few rough spots as it was Victoria's first pay-per-view outing, but the crowd was behind them and Trish again proved to be tenacious, winning the bout with a roll-up. After the match, Victoria hit Trish with an incredibly vicious superkick, furthering the feud for another month.
C+
Importance In Trish's Career: Not much, but this match kept her feud with Victoria alive for the following month which would prove to be more important.
D-
Importance In WWE History: A buffer match to further a new feud, although made some history as this was another card with two women's matches.
D-
SURVIVOR SERIES 2002
Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
November 17, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus Vs. Victoria in a Hardcore Rules Match
Card Placement: 3rd of 6, after Cruiserweight Champion Jamie Noble Vs. Billy Kidman and before WWE Champion Brock Lesnar Vs. Big Show
Background: Trish Stratus and Victoria continued their feud for another month, with their encounters growing more and more violent. Victoria finally challenged Trish to a Hardcore Rules Match at
Survivor Series.
Match Quality: Arguably Trish's most violent and hard-fought match of her career. Yes, there was a rough spot when she botched a bulldog, but that can be overlooked when it's in a match consisting of women nailing each other with garbage lids and Kendo sticks. Victoria suffered a chipped tooth and a bloody nose, but she pulled out the win with a little help from a fire extinguisher.
A-
Importance In Trish's Career: Trish may have lost her third title, but she had to have won respect from the last of her naysayers after the physical debacle that this was. Her first hardcore match with Victoria and the most memorable next to the Chicago Street Fight.
A
Importance In WWE History: The first women's hardcore match on Pay-Per-View in three years (and far, far different than the one before it) showed that women in WWE could go just as hard as the guys. The first title win for Victoria who would go on to hold it for five months; Also furthered the Trish Stratus-Victoria feud, arguably the most fondly remembered one in Trish's career next to Lita.
A
ARMAGEDDON 2002
Office Depot Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
December 15, 2002
The Match: WWE Women's Champion Victoria Vs. Jacqueline Vs. Trish Stratus in a Triple Threat Match
Card Placement: 5th of 7, between Batista Vs. Kane and WWE Champion Big Show Vs. Kurt Angle
Background: Surprisingly well-booked as Jackie defeated Victoria in a non-title match two weeks prior. Six days before, Trish defeated Victoria in an Intergender Six-Person Tables Match.
Match Quality: Didn't hold up to the montage and back story as all women seemed to be off the mark at various points in the match. Also loses points for a ridiculous finish in which Victoria pinned Jackie after she had received a forearm from Trish. Yes, a forearm caused the Texas-tough Jackie to stay down for the three-count.
C-
Importance In Trish's Career: Not much, although it was the second time she competed at
Armaggedon in a triple threat match.
D
Importance In WWE History: Victoria's first successful title defense on Pay-Per-View, this match was simply a way to keep the Trish/Victoria feud going until
WrestleMania.
D-
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