Trish Stratus On If She Was Asked To Take Mickie James' Spot At NXT Takeover, Why She Retired
Recently on The Ross Report, legendary professional wrestling broadcaster Jim Ross welcomed fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus to the program. During the conversation, Stratus talked about her retirement from professional wrestling, whether she was originally planned to appear at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, and whether she was ever approached about being a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center.
Stratus admitted that she did not have an exit strategy for her professional wrestling retirement. Rather, her mother was diagnosed with cancer as her WWE contract was expiring and she took it as a sign to focus on her family.
"There wasn't really any exit strategy as far as 'what will I do when I retire?'. It was just the right time, but I was 100% happy with the way everything went, obviously, on a number of fronts. My [WWE] contract had come up and they came to me and wanted me to sign for another five years. And I was just ready [to retire]. I was going to be 30 [years old] that year. A big thing was my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and, for me, it was like, 'okay,' it was a sign almost, to be like, 'I need to be with her during treatment. I can't be on the road. It would be impossible for me to give her the support she needs'. So that was, obviously, like, the sign from above that meant 'this is the right time' because there were times where I thought, 'is it the right time?' But I felt really satisfied with my [professional wrestling] career at that time."
According to Stratus, her WWE run had "a storybook ending" and that she could not have asked for a better exit. Moreover, going out at Unforgiven in 2006 in front of her hometown crowd was WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's idea.
"I was ready. And then, that sign from above that my mom was needed to have me [nearby] and it was about family at that point. I was ready to leave and I remember I talked to Vince about it and he supported my decision. And, in fact, it was him who said to me, I mean, I didn't know how I was going to exit. And I just knew I think my contract was coming up in August or something. It was in the summertime and he said, he came up with the idea. He said, 'you know, [Unforgiven] is in Toronto [Canada] and I think it would be pretty awesome to go out there. Would you want to stick around a couple more months?'"
Also, during the interview, Stratus shared that WWE never talked to her about appearing for the company over Survivor Series 2016 weekend, as WWE contacted her about something else a few months earlier and found out she was pregnant at that time. Accordingly, Mickie James' spot at NXT TakeOver: Toronto was never meant for 'Canada's Greatest Export'.
"No, I did not [get approached], actually, that was a big rumor that even my team, my staff, was asking me." Stratus added, "there were no plans whatsoever to do anything. It seems, obviously? no. I mean, they had not asked me. And, at that point, I mean, I was backstage. I did go backstage and I was about seven months pregnant. I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant. There was really nothing that could have been done at that point. So no, they had never talked to me about that. But they had known I was pregnant too. There was some talk a few months earlier about doing something with them, just collaborating on something. And so they all knew I was pregnant. So that was just a full-blown rumor. It wasn't anything they had thought about doing and then didn't work out, and then, they got Mickey and all that stuff. No, Mickie [James] was the girl for that match."
Stratus divulged that she was asked by Triple H to be a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center, but it the timing has not worked out given her pregnancies.
"I think just because of how it [has] happened with my choice of pregnancy timing, it hasn't worked out. And I know that Triple H talked to me at [one point], just a brief conversation at one point. And I guess either I was backstage for something or we talked about the idea and I said, 'yeah'. Maybe the Performance Center was just going to be starting and he said they'd love me to come down and I would have absolutely love to have gone down there. And then, I got pregnant. And then, I had a newborn. And then, expecting, et. cetera, so it hasn't really worked out. But yeah, I'd love to see the kids in action and to see what goes on in that because I am just so impressed with what they're churning out. Like, everyone, I mean, everyone, all of them, they are all on point."
Click here to listen to this edition of 'Slobberknocker Audio'. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Ross Report with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Ross Report