Trish Stratus Names Some Of Her Concerns Heading Into Match With Charlotte Flair At WWE SummerSlam
Charlotte Flair will face WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus this Sunday at WWE SummerSlam.
A former seven times WWE Women's Champion, Stratus made her long-awaited return to the ring last January at the Royal Rumble in the first women's only match. She then reappeared last October at WWE Evolution – the first all-female WWE event. On that night, Stratus teamed with long-time rival Lita to defeat Alicia Fox and nemesis Mickie James.
With over a year gone by since that encounter, Stratus returned to the ring this past Monday night on RAW, teaming with Natalya against WWE RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch and her opponent on Sunday, Flair.
After only having a handful of matches under her belt in the past seven years, Stratus has surprisingly found getting back into the ring to be quite a smooth process – saying in an interview with Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio, that your body never forgets almost "like riding a bike".
"Getting into the Royal Rumble was kind of a pleasant surprise," Stratus explains. "They say that wrestling is in your blood and it really is, surprisingly wrestling is like riding a bike for some reason, where suddenly your body is like, oh, I've got this.
"Royal Rumble was, of course, just a spot and WWE Evolution last October was a tag match so, that was just a few spots, but this, however, I don't know how long it's going to be and am a little worried about stamina, but yeah, I've been in there literally constantly since mid-July as much as I could and I am really happy.
"My brain is a little behind my body and what I mean by that is that I will do something and I will question whether what I did was any good and then I'd watch it back and I'd be like, oh, okay, that was good, and my body is saying that I got this but your brain thinks you can't do it because sometimes you feel old 'AF' and that's that, but yeah, I've been happy that I can still do this."
Her opponent, Charlotte Flair is an eight times WWE Women's Champion, and one of the best in-ring competitors in the world. Stratus is happy with how the story for the match has been built and is eager to see how it will play out on Sunday.
"I feel like I can see the match and how it's going to look. I think there's a good story behind it, and as you [Bully Ray] know coming into a match with a good story is one of the most important things and can carry a match and can give a lot to a match.
"At the end of the day you know what the fans expect from you, like the greatest hits, I think we've been doing some great work so far in connecting, so I think it's going to be great. I look at it as a challenge.
"I love and thrive on challenge and to come back and work with Charlotte it is helping me find more of myself and bringing my 'A-Game,' it's a little daunting at times after realizing what I will be doing in a few days but I feel like I am ready and have been really preparing and I feel like I am mentally and physically there and am pleased with the response my body has been giving me. I am excited."
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.