50 Absolute Worst Things WWE Has Done In The 21st Century
6. Trish Stratus “Barks Like A Dog” (2001)
Trish Stratus was a rarity in women's wrestling long before she became a legend. She knew her role as an eye candy "Diva" when she first arrived on the scene in 2000, but Trish quickly developed an undying need to prove that the women could wrestle just as good as the men. She, along with Lita and obviously Chyna, helped shift some perceptions around what females were capable of in WWF/WWE.
The 5 March 2001 episode of Raw featured a salty segment that hardly anyone looks back on fondly though. An irate Mr. McMahon bullied Stratus into stripping down to her underwear, crawling around the ring and literally barking like a dog. This was all done with comeuppance at WrestleMania X-Seven in mind, but it was just another example of Vince booking himself in sexually suggestive situations with female talent.
That's become a distressing thought due to allegations of sexual misconduct from former WWE employee Janel Grant more recently. That scandal has put a scathing light on some of McMahon's behaviour as company figurehead for decades, and it doesn't exactly paint segments like the one with Trish in a good light. Comeuppance or otherwise, this was an exploitative, demeaning skit that played before lots of macho whooping and hollering.
Vince and some of his audience got a twisted thrill out of degrading Stratus. She's pointed out that she was only playing a TV character and knew the story going in. Fair enough, but that won't change the segment from being viewed unfavourably by a lot of people given more recent real-life events.