Lita Names Current WWE Stars She Sees Herself And Trish Stratus In
The rivalry between Lita and Trish Stratus is among the most celebrated in WWE history. It spanned almost the entire careers of both women.
The rivalry may have peaked in 2004 when a storyline pregnancy and miscarriage led to weeks of Stratus taunting Lita. Lita was healthy and physically capable of having matches, but WWE kept her out of the ring to help sell the storyline. Lita says it was sometimes frustrating to not be able to retaliate.
"That was a bummer," Lita told Ring The Belle. "I was just told that's why I was doing it. Yeah, and I was like, here we see the fallout. Because I'm like, 'Let me at her. Like, put me in the ring'. So like, to be able to get back in the ring, and of course, Trish had been needling me the whole time in anticipation of us having a feud, but yeah. It was interesting to be like, not injured and be in a storyline that took me out of the ring."
That chapter in the rivalry culminated in Lita memorably winning the WWF Women's Championship from Stratus in the main event of an episode of RAW in December 2004. Some fans were hoping to one day see a ladder match between Lita and Stratus. But that never happened.
"So I hear lots of these rumors and I have no idea," Lita recalled. "So, because of the whole, like, prepare for the worst and hope for the best thing, I would not give anything to any rumors. Because I'm like, everything changes. Don't get stoked on some ladder match because it would be more devastating if I was just like going to bed at night dreaming about being in a ladder match and then they're just like, 'Meh, sorry. It's a bra and panties match."
Lita sees parallels between her rivalry with Stratus and the modern-day one between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Lita says there are several similarities between Stratus and Flair.
"(Charlotte Flair) is more to me like Trish. Right?" Lita explained. "Like very, like, dedicated in this way that she's regimented and like, you know, like, Charlotte was supposed to succeed, right? Like Trish was supposed to succeed. They both not only do the work but the extra credit work. Like, they're just like eat sleep train 24/7 right? But Becky was more — she wasn't supposed to make it. She was like bartending in New York and had a wild journey to get to where she was. Stars just aligned, she seized the opportunity, and that's more how I see my journey."
Lita is currently preparing to challenge Becky Lynch for the RAW Women's Championship. The match is scheduled for Saturday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ring The Belle with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.