WWE News: Trish Stratus Reveals Why She Chose To Return For Final Match At ‘SummerSlam’
On Sunday, Trish Stratus will be returning to the ring at SummerSlam and taking part in what she said would be the final one of her career. This match will see the WWE Hall of Famer compete at the Scotiabank Arena in her hometown of Toronto and face one of the current WWE roster’s top female stars in former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. But why did she decide to come back for this farewell match despite all her accomplishments as a seven-time WWE Women’s Champion during her original run with the company?
Speaking to The Toronto Sun earlier this week, Stratus discussed the reasons behind this final in-ring comeback, which follows a number of one-off returns that started early last year when she took part in WWE’s first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match. She told reporter Steve Simmons that at this point in her life, she doesn’t “need to keep coming back,” but also admitted that it’s an incredible opportunity to face someone of Flair’s caliber at a major WWE pay-per-view in front of her hometown audience.
“To face the greatest of her generation — and it’s been argued that I was the greatest of my generation — it’s a pretty unique matchup,” Stratus said. “Everything is aligning for this and with my age — how much longer can I do this or want to do this? This is the perfect time to do it.”
WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus' final match will be against Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam. https://t.co/fAOTRBVimu
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) August 8, 2019
As further noted by the Toronto Sun, the upcoming bout against Flair was WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s idea, as he thought it would be nice to book Stratus in an intergenerational match that doesn’t have any titles on the line but is inspired by classic rivalries. This prompted the 43-year-old women’s wrestling legend to train extensively ahead of SummerSlam in order to return to fighting shape and to make sure the match would play out flawlessly on the day of the big pay-per-view.
“You think, ‘Can I do it? Am I able to do it?’ I watch the tapes (of training) and I see it coming together,” she continued.
“It’s like my brain is two steps behind my body, but then your body surprises you. And you think, ‘Holy smokes, after two kids and all these years, I can still do this.'”
In addition to discussing her upcoming match at SummerSlam, Trish Stratus also talked about her influence on women’s wrestling, as she told The Toronto Sun‘s Simmons that it’s “humbling and gratifying” to know that she’s inspired so many girls and women to enter the world of wrestling as an in-ring competitor, as opposed to simply playing the role of a valet. She also admitted that it feels “kind of insane” that WWE is heading to Toronto for SummerSlam and holding shows in the city for four nights in a row.
