In the early part of 2001, Stratus transitioned from being a valet of the T&A tag team and a part time wrestler to the love interest of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The story was that Vince was a bad husband that had drugged his wife Linda. Isn't that something you could get charged for? Not in wrestling! Anyway, Stratus became Vince's girlfriend that helped him drug Linda and then they flaunted it on camera. Trish had issues with Stephanie McMahon around this time because Steph didn't like what her dad was doing, so they had a feud too. Vince had some doubts about Trish's loyalty to him, so he decided to test her. "Get on your hands and knees like a dog, okay?" Then after she started crawling around the ring. "Speak Trish, speak! Dammit Trish bark like a dog!" She did it repeatedly. That wasn't all, though. He told her to take off her blouse and her skirt to further humiliate her by making her walk around the ring in her bra and panties. Never mind that WWE had all kinds of bra & panties matches in those days, but it's not like she wanted to do it here. She only did it because her demanding boss made her do it. Trish has commented over the years that while she didn't really feel comfortable doing it, she understood it because there was a payoff in the end. McMahon paid for his sins at WrestleMania 17 as Trish and Linda got their revenge on him. This is still one of the most controversial segments WWE has ever done and it's not something you would see WWE promote in today's PG friendly environment.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
