By the time Trish Stratus debuted in WWE, the Monday Night Wars had turned into a one-sided rout. Still, she became an important part of Monday Night Raw quickly -- while she was initially a manager for the team of Test and Albert, within months she had a new role as Vince McMahon's mistress. This put her in direct conflict with Vince's daughter, Stephanie, and in early 2001, while WCW was on its last legs, the two had a surprisingly compelling feud -- and a match at No Way Out that exceeded all expectations. WWE has long been famous for its "soap opera"-style storytelling, and that was even more pronounced during the Monday Night Wars. Trish Stratus fit seamlessly into WWE's unique brand of programming, bringing a talent that helped WWE finally bury WCW. Also, in a little-know fact, WCW actually made a play for Stratus before she joined WWE. In the end, she chose to go with the juggernaut that was Vince McMahon's company.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
