15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Ruthless Aggression Gimmicks Actually Got Over
6. Trish Stratus | December 6, 2004
Trish Stratus was over the first second she appeared on WWE television on March 19, 2000. It’s not pleasant to reduce her in such a way, but let’s be real: she was a bombshell that was hired specifically to be over in front of the manospheric Attitude Era demographic. And she was. In time, she developed real presence, and was particularly effective in the very backwards “Jezebel” role, but when she started working matches, it felt like an excuse for WWE to put her in more revealing clothing. While she was a failure as a wrestler in that she was not exactly troubling Match of the Year charts, she wasn’t positioned to be a success. The women of the day were pushed as moving page 3 graphics.
Something unexpected happened, though; as WWE put Stratus in matches to get more out of her, she got good. Really rather good. Her improvement, and the trust she had earned, was rewarded with the first-ever women’s match main event on WWE Raw. Stratus and Lita repaid it with an outstanding match overflowing with drama.
Now, much of that drama was fuelled by a terrifying botch. Early in the match, Lita attempted a suicide dive. It did not go well; she over-shot her trajectory, landed on her throat, and her body twisted into a scorpion shape. It was horrifying, and she was very lucky not to break her neck.
In response, like any good worker, Stratus received the accidental botch as a gift, applying brutal force to a spot in which she dangled Lita by her neck when crouched on the top turnbuckle. Trish’s facial expression was superb; she looked like she was less bothered about her big TV moment and more interested in finishing the job that fate had spared.