Trish Stratus Explains How Slapping Vince McMahon Changed the Trajectory of Her WWE Career
Trish Stratus Explains How Slapping Vince McMahon Changed the Trajectory of Her WWE Career
Neda AliSun, August 30, 2026 at 1:30 AM UTC
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Trish Stratus looks back at one WrestleMania moment as the point when her WWE career started moving in a completely different direction. The Hall of Famer recently explained how working closely with Vince McMahon helped her learn the business before a storyline involving the former WWE chairman gave her the opportunity to step out on her own.
Stratus joined WWE in 1999 and made her in-ring debut in 2000. Early in her run, she was primarily used as a manager and valet before gradually taking on a bigger role inside the ring.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, “The Quintessential Diva” reflected on how quickly she developed while working with McMahon. She said being around the boss pushed her to bring her best and learn as much as possible.
“No, that was just, I don’t know if they just thought that’s, like, ‘She feels like a bad girl.’ I don’t know. I hear that. Like, she got so good at wrestling, like, so, like, in the business, right? Had the right head in the business so quickly. But it’s like, because I worked with the boss. Like, I’m gonna bring my A game, you know what I mean? I worked with him, learned a lot from him.”
The McMahon storyline eventually reached its payoff at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001. After being involved in a controversial storyline with Vince, Trish Stratus turned against him during his Street Fight against Shane McMahon, slapping him before brawling with Stephanie McMahon. The moment turned Stratus into a fan favorite and helped set up the next stage of her career.
Stratus said she understood that WrestleMania was going to be more than just another appearance. For her, the slap represented the moment when her character could finally stand on her own and begin showing what she could do as a wrestler.
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“There was the moment where we knew, like, WrestleMania was gonna sort of switch everything, right? It was, sort of, like, it culminated to this moment where it got to slap Vince McMahon and Trish Stratus got to stand up on her own, and, you know, show the world what she could do, and then I got to have the run and start wrestling a little bit, and, yeah, changed the whole trajectory where I was going.”
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Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton on WWE ‘SmackDown’(via WWE)
The change was followed by a rapid rise in the women’s division. Stratus won her first WWE Women’s Championship later in 2001 at Survivor Series and eventually became a seven-time Women’s Champion before retiring from full-time competition in 2006.
That early career transformation remains an important part of Stratus’ legacy. She has since returned for major WWE appearances, including her 2023 run that culminated in a Steel Cage Match against Becky Lynch at Payback.
Stratus has also recently discussed her early friendship with Lilian Garcia, revealing that the two bonded after experiencing what she described as bullying during their early days in WWE.
Looking back, the WrestleMania X-Seven moment stands out as the point when Stratus stopped being defined by the storyline around her and started building the wrestling legacy that followed.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Aug 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Wrestling section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
