Trish Stratus has opened up about several pivotal moments from her WWE career, revealing how last-minute decisions, high-pressure rivalries, and unexpected setbacks helped shape her legacy.

Speaking with Adrian Hernandez on Unlikely, Stratus reflected on her shocking heel turn at WrestleMania 20, a moment that almost played out very differently. The storyline alongside Chris Jericho had been building toward a long-anticipated romantic payoff, with fans expecting the pair to finally unite on the grand stage. However, everything changed when Vince McMahon made a late call to completely alter the direction.

“Yeah. I was like what? So obviously just to you know if in case you don’t know the story wiki it. No I’m just kidding. The story is basically, you know, Chris Chris Jericho and Trish Stratus were finally going to become a couple after all this craziness with the, you know, the the the bet and yada yada yada… we were all working to that one moment and the fans were obvious this is the moment they’ll finally unite at Wrestlemania of course and then Vince came in and just was like we’re going to just flipped the script and we were like, ‘Oh, he’s so dumb.’ Like we were like like you you know this is how I’m we’ve been for we were foreshadowing this. We would have changed stuff around. We would have you know done things differently if we knew that. He was right. Obviously he was right. It would meant everything for my career. Fans did not expect it.”

The unexpected swerve ultimately worked in her favor, giving Stratus a fresh edge that elevated her character and remains one of the most memorable turns of her career.

Stratus also looked back on her early rivalry with Stephanie McMahon, describing the intense pressure both women faced as relatively inexperienced performers suddenly placed in a major spotlight. Despite being new, they understood the opportunity in front of them and were determined to make it count.

“Uh well surreal because being such a newbie at the time too right I was very lucky and and I credit that like my career the trajectory that I ended up taking was due to these opportunities where I was able to have these really in-depth story lines and things that were super important you know and presented importantly as well um so that helped but um we just you know there was moments where we just like and that’s why Steph and I are so close we went through this thing where there’s these newbies we’re green when you go through something like that together it really bonds you you know and we look and we’re like we cannot fail like we cannot fail you know, we were given huge spotlights. Um, and great support to to be able to make it work.”

That feud went on to become a defining chapter in her early run, helping establish her as a key figure in WWE’s women’s division.

Another standout moment came at WrestleMania 22, where Stratus faced Mickie James in a match that she believes helped change perceptions of women’s wrestling within WWE. She noted that the bout was not only significant for fans, but also for those behind the scenes.

“Oh my gosh. Well, Steph and I Stephanie and I did say in her podcast, we’re like, ‘This could be up for consideration.’ We’re just saying, but oh god, it’s really hard. Okay, I mean, of course, look, I have my Wrestlemania 22 with Mickey James, which was for many reasons incredible. Um, and it was a real like, okay, we’ve arrived moment for the fans just seeing for the uh the fans, but for the backstage, too. I think they were like, oh, they can hold a crowd at Wrestlemania. Cool.”

The match is still widely regarded as one of the most important milestones for women’s wrestling in WWE history.

Stratus also shared details about a difficult setback during a storyline that was gaining momentum involving Jeff Hardy. While training to elevate her in-ring performance, she suffered a broken ankle that halted everything.

“We were on a roll Jeff Hardy and Trish Strata started taking the little things and fans were super excited about it and then I was like but I was like okay like we knew it was like with Alita and Trish history then with the Hardies we’re like okay it could be like Lita Trish or sorry uh Lita and and Matt and and Trish and Jeff was like that’s going to be some good money stuff that could happen storyline wise, matchwise, etc. Um, and then I I so I was training super hard. I was like, I need to get I just wanted to elevate my game, make sure I could, you know, keep up with all these. They were way better than me. Let’s just put it that way. Um, and then I broke my ankle. I just I just was doing some training. I was doing some box jumps and I twisted over and I was like, no, it was the worst.”