11 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus
Check out Turnbuckle Weekly with Chuck Carroll for interviews with wrestling's biggest names.
The road from fitness buff to yoga instructor and studio owner is fairly well traveled. But it doesn't often wind its way through the world of professional wrestling. Trish Stratus went there and got the t-shirt, not to mention the championship belt and numerous other accolades.
A super successful wrestler, Stratus continues to excel in retirement. The sky, nay, the stratosphere, seems to be the limit. Here are 11 things you didn't know about WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus.
Read our recent interview with Trish Stratus.
1. Trish Stratus was born Patricia Anne Stratigias and grew up with two younger sisters in the Ontario town of Richmond Hill. Stratigias grew up a big wrestling fan and closely followed the exploits of Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage, among others. Wanting to be a doctor, she studied biology and kinesiology at York University in Toronto, where she also played field hockey and soccer.
2. In her senior year of college, Stratigias worked the front desk at a local Toronto gym. Robert Kennedy, head of MuscleMag International, invited her to do a test shoot for the magazine, which led to a two-year contract as a fitness model. She has made multiple cover appearances for that magazine and others, including TV Guide, Replay, Toronto Life, Oxygen, Today's Bride and Fitness.
3. Her modeling success in the late 1990s led to interest from World Wrestling Entertainment (then still called the World Wrestling Federation), as well as World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Stratigias signed a multi-year deal in late 1999.
4. She debuted with WWE in March the following year, scouting and then managing wrestlers. She found her way into the ring a few months later, partnering with the tag team T&A, which she managed, to beat the Hardy Boyz and Lita.
5. While recovering from an ankle injury in 2001, Stratus co-hosted the WWE show Excess. The show, which ceased airing in 2002, recounted the previous week in WWE action and included wrestler interviews and classic matches from the vaults.
Buy WWE tickets for an upcoming event.
6. Stratus won the WWE Hardcore Championship once and the WWE Women's Championship seven times. She was Pro Wrestling Illustrated's 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006 Woman of the Year and their Woman of the Decade for that decade.
7. The WWE Hall of Fame inducted Trish Stratus in early 2013, making her, at 37, its youngest ever inductee. Vince McMahon's daughter and fellow wrestler, Stephanie McMahon, did the honors. Her induction class also included Bruno Sammartino, Mick Foley, Bob Backlund, Booker T and Donald Trump.
8. Stratus managed to parlay her wrestling fame into success on television and in movies. She appeared on the short-lived CBS reality show Armed & Famous and the movie Bounty Hunters. She recently filmed Gridlocked, which also stars Danny Glover.
9. Stratus married her longtime boyfriend, whom she met in high school, in 2006. The couple has a one-year-old son.
10. Stratus runs a yoga studio called Stratusphere in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan, Ontario. Designed with sustainability in mind, the ecofriendly studio features low-voltage lighting, cork flooring and grasspaper wall coverings.
11. Stratus does extensive charity work, generously donating her time and energy to such notable organizations as Ronald McDonald House, Special Olympics and Dreams Take Flight, among many others.
Read more from the world of Pro Wrestling.
Check out even more Sports Lists.
Norm Elrod likes sports and other sanctioned forms of craziness.