It’s been a long time since I’ve written a column, and I felt that my next topic should be special. I’ve spent my time checking out all the ballots submitted to me through e-mail, or the TBL Forums, for the 2004 Year-End-Awards. It is that time of the year, when it’s time to reflect at the past twelve months, and come to a realization of where things stand in the business. I remember this process to be very fun just a couple of years ago, and how dreadful it’s become as of late. However, there’s always one or two categories, where you know who the winner will end up, and you’re always excited to read people’s opinions as to why they picked who they picked.
This year’s “special case” is a very special talent. It seems that 95% of the people that submitted a ballot felt that Trish Stratus, was without a doubt, the diva of 2004. A similar result has occurred in the past two years, although Stratus had more competition, and was just beginning to improve, whereas this year she enters the ballot as a veteran in some people’s minds.
I’ve been a huge fan of hers for a long time, and I’ve even made the bold move of selecting her as Performer of the Year (our most prestigious category) last year, but it had never really hit me as to what Stratus has really done in WWE for a very short period of time.
Brought into the company as a piece of T & A, the expectations of her started with her skinky outfit, and ended with her sexual innuendo, and “T & A” references. She was definitely considered a very “hot attraction” and was treated differently than most women valets at the time. However, overall, she was simply a piece of T & A, and that’s the realm of it. Sound sexist? Not at all. Welcome to WWE’s reality.
At a time where women wrestling was almost non-existent, Stratus was kept away from the women’s division, or from wrestling in general, other than the usual lingerie battle, and bra and panties match. With Stephanie McMahon enjoying a lengthy reign as Women’s Champion (that saw a very few title defenses, or matches for that matter), the title was pretty much dead. (And had been for a while.) It wasn’t until Lita‘s popularity grew when the strap was given some attention again, but it was still just a secondary belt to any other title the company had, and since Lita had nobody to work with, it didn’t mean all that much.
In my opinion, women’s wrestling picked up in 2002. After suffering a foot injury that resulted in surgery, Stratus, after a brief stint as a co-host on WWF Exxcess, returned to the women’s division… in an entirely different fashion. She had long moved away from being a piece of T & A, and had started working as a wrestler. She was sloppy at first, and her mistakes could be easily pointed out during matches. But so could her great effort and desire to improve with each week. And so she did. Fast-forward to 2004, when you have an all-rounded superstar, who seems to have done it all. A woman, once made to bark on national TV by Vince McMahon, participated in the first-ever street fight on Monday Night RAW, and what a bout it was. The Chicago Street Fight, as it became known, against Victoria, is probably not remembered by many today, but it certainly left an impact at the time. The fact that so little of the accomplishments the divas, and especially, Stratus have achieved are remembered tells you what state the division is in.
Having your own employer work against you never stopped Stratus to continue improving week after week. After being made to make out with Bubba Ray Dudley in 2000 before being put through a table, the same “blonde bombshell from Toronto” that WWE pushed when she made her debut, was in the midst of a storyline with Victoria that certainly changed women’s wrestling in WWE. The woman, who at the worst of moods in the RAW locker room during a downfall of the company, had a suggestion as to how to improve some aspects of the show, at a talent meeting was told to “shut up” because she doesn’t “understand the business” by the owner of the company and some of the agents. That same woman had no problem risking her entire progress in the past two years by participating in the Christian/Chris Jericho feud, which saw her in a completely new role, and left her with a very few wrestling dates on the calendar. Coming out of 2004, I think Stratus should be glad she was a part of the storyline. Although many feel WWE blew it big time (and I’m one of those believers), I think that Stratus gained a lot out of it. Her character, after a continuous improvement over a two-year period, simply had nowhere else to go. She was given the green light in the women’s division, but there was nowhere else for her to go.
Turning her heel was a bad decision, many felt, following WrestleMania XX. For probably the millionth time in her career, Stratus let the people talk their mind, and simply ignored anything that was said. Instead, she turned herself into a slimy heel, who cracked up tons of people this entire year. It was a complete make-over that took a lot of time to master, but once again, Stratus didn’t give up. Criticism by Internet, and constant humiliation by WWE (on many levels) didn’t get in the way either. Stratus comes out of 2004 as the Diva of the Year, according to almost everyone who sent in a ballot to TBL. She wrapped things up, like a real superstar does – by putting a fellow co-worker over, and helping once again lead a division that’s been ignored and buried on many occasions. That is what a real superstar does.
Stratus may come out of 2004 with the Diva of the Year “award,” but realistically speaking, she has earned much more. She has earned the respect of a true superstar, as far as I’m concerned. In a business that has always been male-dominated, and in a company that has clearly expressed its disinterest and lack of care for women’s wrestling, Trish Stratus was never stopped by anything or anyone. She proved that you don’t have to be a mutant woman that is 6 feet tall and weighs more than 225 pounds to be successful. She personified what a real wrestling superstar (I would use the word legend, but I feel that Trish is not there yet, and has plenty more to go before reaching that status) is all about — ignoring backstage influences and negativity, focusing on improving your work every week, and working harder than you ever have to make the tons of fans out there happy. In a time where we have to focus on why Triple H is killing this guy, and why the company is burying that guy, as well as why they’re not creating new superstars, or completely ignoring others, it’s very sad that we don’t get the opportunity to realize what the fan side of this industry is all about. Wrestling is no doubt a business, and its goal is to make money, but it’s the most beautiful business there is, and the core of it are fans that get a very special excitement out of the industry, that they can get nowhere else. At least that’s how it always used to be. The only person in the WWE locker room who was able to bring that excitement to reality this year, was Trish Stratus.
I think that in today’s wrestling industry, there’s a very few people who deserve the same respect and appreciation that Trish Stratus deserves, and has earned in a very short period of time. The others who deserve that very same respect have taken years to reach their goal due to the nature of the business, and the current state of WWE. Stratus’ ability to carry on with nothing but a clear goal of her own ahead is very inspiring. For wrestling through two serious injuries this year, performing in an outstanding manner and giving her best effort week after week, ignoring all the negatives that a corrupted, disorganized, and careless company and some Internet fans threw at her in 2004, for having the respect that a real wrestling superstar (the only person who has gotten this kind of recognition and respect I can think of is The Rock) should have – having absolutely never refused to do what has been requested of her, and having never been affiliated with ANY negative comments by ANYONE in the back, as well as for giving back to the division she helped made and in the way helping make Lita’s dream come true again, and finally managing to cope with the hardest task of all in professional wrestling – transforming a wrestler’s character with time so it can remain fresh and in-touch with the audience, Trish Stratus is my selection for Diva of 2004, as well as Performer of 2004 for the second time in a row.
Eddie
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