Before the Women’s Revolution put a spotlight on tremendous in-ring performers like Sasha Banks, Asuka, and numerous other female talents, Trish Stratus was among the heroes of the women’s division of World Wrestling Entertainment of the previous eras. In a time when the promotion didn’t really respect the efforts of female talent, Stratus was the one giving her all and putting on some really great work -- especially given the limitations put on her division.
WWE being what it was pre-Four Horsewomen, however, it should come as little surprise to fans that Trish has been in a surprising number of romantic angles with various fellow stars. So let’s run down each and every one of them, starting with the worst one.
6 Jeff Hardy
While it’s easy to forget that Trish Stratus had a romantic angle with Jeff Hardy, it’s even easier to forget that she had TWO romantic angles with Jeff Hardy -- partially because they ended roughly the same way.
When they first tried it in 2001, it proved largely a false start, as Stratus sustained an injury that sidelined her, causing the romance to be dropped. Two years later, they tried again as Hardy saved her from an attack, leading to flirtation-riddled backstage segments and mixed tag team matches. However, this angle didn’t end up going anywhere thanks to Jeff Hardy’s release in April 2003. It’s very likely, however, that they would have eventually done some mixed tag team matches against Lita and Matt Hardy.
5 Carlito
Debuting in 2004, Carlito -- a.k.a. Carlito Caribbean Cool -- was a perennial midcarder who never quite reached his potential in WWE. He is mostly remembered for biting apples and spitting them at people, and with a reputation for being “lazy” that spilled into a storyline feud with Ric Flair. In 2006, he was paired with Trish Stratus for a romance that mostly amounted to some mixed tag team matches against Edge and Lita.
This romance would be cut short, however, in 2006 with Trish Stratus’ retirement. While the pairing of the popular veteran Stratus and the newer Carlito seemed like a possibly fruitful pairing to get him over, it can ultimately be deemed a failure, as his career didn’t really benefit from it, and he would be gone from WWE in 2010.
4 Vince McMahon
After the disbanding of Test and Albert, former T&A manager Trish Stratus found work as Vince McMahon’s assistant in an angle where she became Vince’s mistress, while his wife Linda was catatonic. This led to a feud between Trish Stratus and Stephanie McMahon, and Stratus’ loss at No Way Out 2001 led to one of the most infamous and uncomfortable moments of the Attitude Era.
Vince forcing an apologetic Trish to strip and “bark like a dog” was certainly heel work, but might have been ineffective considering the fans cheered as she took off her clothes. Stratus would turn on McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven, but it wasn’t exactly the catharsis needed to close out that story. Add to that segments where Vince and Trish made out in front of an unresponsive Linda McMahon, and this “romance” felt like watching an unhinged billionaire work out his kinks on live television.
3 The Rock
Vince McMahon didn’t forget Stratus’ WrestleMania betrayal, and was determined to make her literally kiss his butt on SmackDown in late 2001. But before Stratus could undergo another on-screen humiliation, The Rock ran in to make the save from Vince’s butt. The following week on Raw, The Rock and Trish Stratus would kiss in a backstage segment, drawing a HUGE reaction from the live crowd.
Rock and Trish -- the two top babyfaces of their divisions -- would team up for some tag team matches including a Tag Title shot at the Dudley Boyz, but the angle would be quietly dropped before it could really go anywhere. That said, given the fan reactions, it was obviously more successful than some of the more developed romances in Trish’s history.
2 Chris Jericho & Christian
In 2003, Chris Jericho and Christian had a bet -- for a single Canadian dollar -- based on who could bed their chosen female counterpart first: Trish Stratus (Jericho) or Lita (Christian). But when Stratus found out about the bet, leading to a “Battle of the Sexes” tag bout at Armageddon, Jericho had actually developed real feelings for Trish, which she reciprocated.
But the Jericho/Christian relationship would sour, leading to a match between the former friends at WrestleMania XX, which would culminate in Stratus betraying Jericho for Christian. The feud continued after that, with Tomko being added to the Trish/Christian duo as an enforcer, but a back injury would put Christian on the shelf for four months, forcing Stratus to move on. Despite the abrupt ending, it was a pretty long storyline with a lot of fun moments.
1 Mickie James
It may have been a one-sided romance, but the Mickie James/Trish Stratus feud totally counts. James arrived on the WWE main roster in 2005 as a proto-Bayley -- an excited rookie who was a huge fan of Trish Stratus, who’d been in WWE for five years at this point. The two women would not only tag together, but the sycophantic James would also often help Trish win her singles bouts.
Gradually this enthusiasm turned into an obsession, with Mickie dressing like Trish and imitating her moveset, leading to an actual, on-screen confession of love. Stratus would reject her, causing Mickie James to turn heel and become a challenger for the Women’s Title. This would lead to a match at WrestleMania 22, a bout that would go down as the best WrestleMania women’s match ever (until the late 2010s). The Mickie James feud is easily the best romance angle in Trish Stratus’ career, considering it had nothing to do with male characters and led to an actual match.