User:Hollie004/sandbox
Trish Stratus | |
---|---|
Birth name | Samantha Louise McMahon |
Born | Hartford, Connecticut, U.S | May 30, 1980
Spouse(s) |
Randy Orton
(m. 2007; div. 2013)Chad Michael Murray (m. 2015) |
Children | 4 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Tori Trish Stratus |
Billed height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
Billed weight | 125 lb (57 kg) |
Billed from | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Trained by | Ron Hutchison Dave Finlay |
Debut | November 1999 |
Retired | September 17, 2006 |
Samantha Louise McMahon (born May 30th 1980), known professionally as Trish Stratus, is an American corporate executive and retired professional wrestler currently working for WWE as Chief Media and Digital Officer (CMDO).
A fourth generation wrestling promoter as part of the McMahon family, she has worked for WWE since she was a teenager beginning in the television distribution department which led to her current CMDO position. She is the great-granddaughter of Roderick "Jess" McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent J. McMahon, daughter of WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and retired WWE CEO/current Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon, the younger sister of WWE part-owner/wrestlers Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon.
Stratus began regularly appearing on WWE television (then WWF as the World Wrestling Federation) in 1999 as part of a storyline with her family and Kane under the name Tori. After a brief relationship with Kane, she was unveiled as the illegitimate daughter of Vince McMahon under the name Trish Stratus. From 2001, Stratus began working as a wrestler, eventually becoming a seven-time WWE Women's Champion, before retiring from in-ring competition in 2006. She has maintained a presence on television since.
In 2013, McMahon became the youngest-ever member, and second McMahon, to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Business Career
[edit]In May 1996, Stratus announced she had dropped out of school due to a number of issues including bullying. Whilst her father Vince accepted the decision, he made her begin work at the family business. She began in September 1996 in what was due to be a full tour of the company, interning in different departments for 2 months but at the end of her two months with the television licensing and distribution department, she requested she be allowed to remain there as that was where she wanted to work. McMahon agreed and she continued as an unpaid intern.
In January 2000, the Director of distribution Ruth Endell announced her departure from the company and McMahon asked her opinion on who should replace her. Endell advised McMahon to promote his daughter due to the strength of her work. Initially unsure, he agreed and Stratus took the job a month later.
Executive Vice President
[edit]In January 2005, Stratus replaced Jim Ross as the Executive Vice President, Talent Relations. Her title was later expanded to EVP, Talent & Distribution in July 2005. She maintained this position until March 2009 when she was replaced by her Senior Vice President, John Laurinaitis in the talent relations department, reverting to EVP, Distribution from that date. From April 2013, Stratus took over the management of developing the WWE Network.
Chief Officer
[edit]On December 4, 2013 it was announced by WWE that McMahon had been promoted to Chief Network and Distribution Officer where she takes more control over the distribution of television rights around the world and the management of the WWE Network where she will be responsible for driving subscriber growth and the commissioning of new programming.
In February 2018, McMahon's job title changed to Chief Media & Digital Officer due to the restructuring of WWE's financial reporting departments and being more reflective of her role which has including digital media since 2014. A press statement said "McMahon will continue to grow WWE's television presence around the world, renegotiating key television licensing rights, the growth of WWE Network and bringing new programming as well as the growth of our digital media footprint."
McMahon is also a key member of the WWE creative writing team, a position she has held since 1999. She is currently the lead writer for NXT and 205 Live, works with EVP, Talent, Live Events and Creative Paul Levesque on the development of future talent through the NXT development promotion and the WWE Performance Center.
Job Titles
[edit]- 1996-1998: Intern - Television & PPV Licensing
- 1998-2000: Account Manager - Television & PPV Licensing
- Responsible for negotiating television rights throughout the United States. Responsible for negotiating WWE's move from USA Network to The New TNN in October 2000.
- 2000-2005: Director of Distribution - Television & PPV Licensing
- Responsible for overseeing the negotiation of television and pay-per-view licensing rights around the world, monitoring of television ratings and PPV buy rates.
- 2005-2009: Executive Vice President, Talent & Distribution
- Responsible for overseeing the negotiation of television and pay-per-view licensing rights around the world, monitoring of television ratings and PPV buy rates. Also responsible for the scouting, signing and bringing to television of new talent to WWE television and the development of talent through developmental systems.
- 2009-2013: Executive Vice President, Distribution
- Responsible for overseeing the negotiation of television and pay-per-view licensing rights around the world, monitoring of television ratings and PPV buy rates. From April 2013, McMahon took control of the WWE Network being responsible for its launch in 2014.
- 2013-2018: Chief Network & Distribution Officer
- Responsible for overseeing the negotiation of television and pay-per-view licensing rights around the world, monitoring of television ratings and PPV buy rates. Also responsible for growing subscription of the WWE Network, bringing new programming to the network and the growth of digital media through WWE's social media platforms on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more.
- 2018-Pres: Chief Media & Digital Officer
- Responsible for overseeing the negotiation of television and pay-per-view licensing rights around the world, monitoring of television ratings and PPV buy rates. Also responsible for growing subscription of the WWE Network, bringing new programming to the network and the growth of digital media through WWE's social media platforms on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more.
Professional Wrestling Career
[edit]1999-00: Debut as Kane's girlfriend & member of DX
[edit]In November 1999, McMahon debuted under the name Tori after months of promoting her character as the girlfriend of Kane. By December, Tori was involved in a feud with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon due to their treatment of Kane when he was placed in a handicap match. Stephanie retorted by challenging Tori to a match that night, which she accepted. Stephanie, however, replaced herself with X-Pac who was feuding with Kane who won the match with ease as Kane was ambushed backstage by the Mean Street Posse. Kane received a shot at the WWF Championship on December 20th with the stipulation that, if he lost to Big Show, Tori would have to spend the Christmas weekend with X-Pac. Kane lost the match after the New Age Outlaws distracted him. Tori insisted upon her return that X-Pac had been a perfect gentleman. Around the same time, Tori began to become paranoid, and grew hysterical after Test hugged her. Kane promptly destroyed Test in the ring, believing Tori's claims that he had harassed her. Other wrestlers began to exploit Tori's neurotic-ism, using it to unleash Kane on their enemies. This included Mankind, who manipulated the duo into attacking a fake Mankind hired by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon who manipulated Tori to get Kane to attack Chris Jericho.
Kane continued to feud with X-Pac, and on January 27, 2000 he was ambushed in the ring by the McMahon-Helmsley Faction, X-Pac's allies. After tying Kane up, Tori revealed that she was actually the daughter of Vince McMahon, that her name was really Trish Stratus and that their relationship had been faked. She proceeded to kiss X-Pac and began to accompany him and his partner Road Dogg to the ring, becoming a member of the new D-Generation-X in a heel turn. She helped X-Pac defeat Kane at No Way Out, but was unable to stop Kane from defeating him at WrestleMania 2000 and was also given a Stink Face from Rikishi during the match. Additionally, she helped Stephanie McMahon win the Women's Championship from Jacqueline in March. At the King of the Ring in June, Stratus, X-Pac, and Road Dogg participated in a table and dumpster match against the Dudley Boyz that ended with the Dudleyz powerbombing her through a table. Stratus was sidelined with a torn labrum on June 24. She underwent surgery with Dr. James Andrews. On the October 30 edition of Raw, Stratus returned in a segment at WWF New York, confronting and slapping X-Pac due to the events at King of the Ring.
2000-01: Aligning and turning on Vince McMahon
[edit]On December 7th 2000, Stratus returned to television in a segment where her father Vince McMahon demanded a divorce from his wife Linda who was later kayfabe institutionalized. Stratus' growing relationship with her father angered her half-sister Stephanie. On the February 19 episode of Raw, Stephanie and Trish were scheduled for a match which was cancelled due to Stephanie getting stunned by Steve Austin. At No Way Out on February 25, Stratus and Stephanie squared off, with Stephanie scoring the victory after a run-in by William Regal. In the midst of a tag team match that pitted Vince and Stratus against Regal and Stephanie the next night on Raw, Stratus was the victim of a set-up by Vince, Stephanie and Regal. Regal executed his finisher, the Regal Cutter, on Stratus and Stephanie then dumped slop over Stratus' body. Vince stood over Stratus, and he told her she was a "toy" with which he had "grown tired of playing with". The angle continued the next week on Raw, with Vince forcing Stratus to bark like a dog in the middle of the ring. The storyline came to an end at WrestleMania X-Seven, when Stratus slapped Vince during his match against his son Shane, becoming a fan favorite in the process. The following night, Stratus was kicked out of the arena and written off television.
In June 2001, Stratus returned to television when she aligned with Shane against their father in the Invasion storyline. She began to accompany WCW stars to the ring when they attacked WWF superstars. On July 9, Stratus was reunited with Stephanie who was unveiled as the new owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling who joined The Alliance with Shane's World Championship Wrestling.
At Survivor Series 2001, Stratus participated in her first ever WWF Women's Championship match in a six-pack challenge against Ivory, Jazz, Jacqueline, Lita and Mighty Molly, winning the title for the first time. The Alliance lost the winner takes all match against Team WWF at the event. Stratus however managed to avoid being fired from the WWF due to her holding the title.
2001-03: Women's Champion
[edit]Stratus was next involved in a feud with Jazz over the Women's Championship, where she retained the championship at the Royal Rumble, but dropped the championship to Jazz two weeks later on the February 4, 2002 episode of Raw. Stratus the attempted to regain the title for several months, including competing in a triple threat match at Wrestlemania X8 against Lita and Jazz in her billed hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada but failed to win the match. While chasing after the Women's Championship, Stratus won the WWE Hardcore Championship on May 6, pinning Crash Holly after Bubba Ray Dudley hit him over the head with a trash can. She lost the title to Steven Richards soon afterward however, due to the stipulation that the belt was to be defended 24/7 as long as there was a referee present. One week later, she regained the Women's Championship in a tag team match with Bubba Ray Dudley. During this time, Stratus began wrestling solely on the Raw brand after being drafted in the WWF Brand Extension.
Stratus' second reign as champion came to an end on June 23, when she was defeated at King of the Ring by Molly Holly. The two Divas continued their storyline feud for the next three months. After a failed attempt to win the title in July, Stratus won the championship back at Unforgiven. While feuding with Holly, Stratus was also involved in an angle with new Diva Victoria, who held a storyline grudge against Stratus. The two competed in several title matches, with Stratus retaining until Survivor Series, where Victoria won the title in a Hardcore match. On March 17, 2003, Victoria and Steven Richards defeated Jazz and Stratus in a tag team match when Jazz walked out on Stratus. After the match, Jeff Hardy saved Stratus from an attack by Victoria and Richards and then kissed her, resulting in Stratus becoming Hardy's on-screen girlfriend. The two would talk and kiss backstage, compete as an intergender tag team, and come to each other's aid when in danger during singles competition. The storyline was suddenly dropped when WWE released Hardy in April. Stratus and Hardy had been in an off-screen relationship from 1999 until January 2003 which wasn't acknowledged on-screen until they had split up.
At WrestleMania XIX, Stratus ended her feud with Victoria by defeating her and Jazz to capture her fourth Women's Championship, only to lose the title to Jazz at the following pay-per-view, Backlash. The Raw after Backlash, Eric Bischoff ordered a No Disqualification match between him and Stratus. If Stratus won, she would get a championship rematch the next week; if Bischoff won, he would get to spend a night with her. Bischoff would go on to win the match, though the stipulation was nullified when Linda McMahon confronted him after the match.
2003-05: Teaming and feuding with Lita
[edit]In the following months, Stratus was placed into an alliance with Gail Kim. It was short-lived, however, as Kim turned on Stratus and teamed with Molly Holly, putting the women in a storyline feud. The duo defeated Stratus and several tag team partners until Stratus allied herself with a returning Lita. The team defeated Kim and Holly in several matches, including a match at Unforgiven. Stratus began an on-screen romance with Chris Jericho during the November 10 episode of Raw when she agreed to go on a date with him. Subsequently, they participated in an intergender tag team match as partners on December 1. After the match, Stratus overheard Jericho talking to then-heel, Christian, who was involved in an on-screen romance with Lita at the time, about who could sleep with their respective woman first. One week later, Stratus and Lita confronted the men about their actions, leading to a feud between the two men and women which resulted in a "Battle of the Sexes" tag team match at Armageddon, which the women lost. A rematch the next night ended in a no contest. Her relationship with Jericho continued into the next year with a new angle of Stratus developing feelings for Jericho. Christian would also briefly turn face once again, but only revealed to be a hoax as he would attack and defeat her in a match ordered by Eric Bischoff. This would start a feud between Christian and Jericho, who was defending Stratus. During their match at WrestleMania XX, however, Stratus became a villainess for the first time since her Alliance days by betraying Jericho and siding with Christian. Stratus claimed her reasons for siding with Christian were that he was a "real man", and Jericho was a "love sick puppy". The duo feuded with Jericho for several months and competed in a 2-on-1 Handicap match at Backlash. The team of Stratus and Christian were joined by "problem solver" Tyson Tomko the next night on Raw.
Stratus won the WWE Women's Championship for a fifth time at Bad Blood on June 13. She defended the title until she suffered a legitimate broken hand in July that caused her to be out of action for approximately a month. Upon her return, she continued to defend the title against numerous challengers before losing the championship to Lita on December 6, when both women wrestled in the main event of Raw for the championship. Stratus recaptured the title a month later at New Year's Revolution, after Lita suffered a legitimate knee injury during the match. Stratus was originally booked to lose the championship back to Lita at WrestleMania 21, but due to Lita's injury, she wasn't cleared to wrestle. A new angle was then developed between Stratus and 2004 Raw Diva Search winner Christy Hemme over jealousy of Hemme's Playboy magazine exposure, with Stratus attacking Hemme and spray painting the word "slut" across her back. Stratus was challenged by Hemme, who later revealed she was being trained by Lita, for a championship match at WrestleMania 21, where Stratus successfully retained her championship. Stratus would then demand a rematch against Hemme the next night on Raw; before the match started, Stratus hit Hemme with the Chick Kick, and re-injured Lita's knee. The next week, after losing a tag team match, Stratus was chased around the arena by Lita's storyline husband, Kane, narrowly escaping. The week after, Stratus almost got chokeslammed onto the stage, but Viscera saved her. Stratus would then form a short-lived alliance with Viscera, who was ordered to protect her.
2005-06: Storyline with Mickie James and retirement
[edit]In May 2005, Stratus was sidelined with the Women's Championship after suffering a herniated disc, with the storyline explanation that Viscera had injured her at Backlash after she insulted him for losing to Kane. This left the company without a Women's Champion for four months, as Stratus remained the champion during the time of her injury, thus ignoring the 30 day clause stating that a champion must defend their respective title at least once every 30 days. She returned to Raw on September 12, 2005 as a face by siding with Ashley Massaro against Vince's Devils (Candice Michelle, Victoria and Torrie Wilson). The feud also involved the debuting Mickie James, who introduced herself as Stratus' biggest fan In November, during the Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show, Stratus took part in an inter-promotional Divas battle royal that was won by SmackDown! Diva Melina.[57] The next week, MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) kidnapped Stratus for Melina, who challenged a tied up and gagged Stratus to a match for the Women's Championship. The two fought at Survivor Series, with Stratus defeating Melina. Stratus and Mickie James continued teaming together in late 2005, while James became increasingly obsessed with Stratus. On the December 26 episode of Raw, the storyline between Stratus and James developed into a lesbian one, when James initiated an intimate kiss with Stratus under a sprig of mistletoe, causing a surprised Stratus to flee the locker room.
The odd relationship between Stratus and James continued into 2006, with the two Divas competing against each other in a title match at New Year's Revolution, where Stratus emerged victorious. Despite the defeat, James continued to be enamored of Stratus which made her feel uncomfortable, and on March 6, Stratus confronted James, telling her that she needed space. The duo briefly reconciled on the March 18 episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, teaming together to defeat Candice Michelle and Victoria; however, after the match, James turned on Stratus and attacked her. A match at WrestleMania 22 saw Stratus lose the Women's Championship to James, ending her 448-day reign. The match, at the time, was widely recognized as one of the best women's matches in the company. During a rematch at Backlash, Stratus suffered a legitimate dislocated shoulder after taking a bump to the outside of the ring. While she was rehabilitating for six weeks, she continued to appear on-screen.
Stratus returned to the ring on June 26, where she had a Women's Championship match with Mickie James. Stratus would go on to lose the match, thus finally ending their nine-month long storyline. On the same night, she started a romantic angle with Carlito after he saved her from a double team attack by Melina and Johnny Nitro. They competed as a team, and won a mixed tag team match against Melina and Nitro at Saturday Night's Main Event on July 15. As a couple, Stratus and Carlito briefly feuded with WWE Champion Edge and Lita (who turned heel) after the pair interrupted Stratus' title match with Mickie James. The two couples competed in several tag team matches, including a six-person tag team match where Edge, Lita and Randy Orton defeated Stratus, Carlito and John Cena after Orton RKO'd Stratus and Lita followed up with the pin. Stratus' last match on Raw occurred on September 11, 2006 where she defeated former rival Mickie James. In late August, Lita stated that Stratus would retire following the Unforgiven pay-per-view, which was later confirmed by Stratus. At Unforgiven on September 17, in her hometown of Toronto, Stratus won against Lita with fellow Canadian Bret Hart's signature submission maneuver, the Sharpshooter. Her victory earned her a seventh Women's Championship, the most in WWE history, and she retired as the champion.
2006-07: Managing DX
[edit]Two months after her retirement, Stratus returned to WWE television at Survivor Series. During a match between Team DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and CM Punk) vs Team Rated RKO (Randy Orton, Edge, Mike Knox, Gregory Helms and Johnny Nitro), Melina attempted to attack Jeff Hardy leading Stratus to run to the ring and stop the interference. She continued to manage Triple H and Shawn Michaels, officially becoming a member of the DX reunion. DX challenged for the World Tag Team Championship against Edge and Orton at New Year's Revolution. The fight ended in a no contest after Michaels hit the referee. During the match, Triple H suffered a legitimate torn quadriceps. After the match, DX beat down Rated-RKO with steel chairs and on the announce tables.
After Triple H's injury, Stratus continued to manage Michaels who continued to uphold the DX image by himself leading into WrestleMania 23. Michaels would still come to the ring with the DX music and attire even though Triple H was not joining him during this period. During this time, she also managed John Cena who captured the World Tag Team Championship with Michaels as well as goin on to face Cena at WrestleMania 23 for the WWE Championship. Michaels would continue to use the D-Generation X motif until Backlash, at which point he reverted to his traditional entrance music and attire, thus ending this incarnation of D-Generation X and Stratus was written off television again.
2007-13: Sporadic appearances
[edit]Stratus and Lita made a special appearance on December 10, 2007 during Raw's 15th Anniversary special, attacking Jillian Hall. The following year, Stratus appeared on Raw in Toronto on May 5, in a backstage segment involving Ron Simmons and Trevor Murdoch. Stratus wrestled her first match in over two years on the December 22, 2008 episode of Raw, when she and John Cena defeated Santino Marella and his former on-screen protégé Beth Phoenix in a mixed tag team match.
On the February 16, 2009 episode of Raw, Stratus returned to tend to her brother and sister who had been RKO'd by Randy Orton. As she was on the ramp to the ring with brother Shane, Orton grabbed her by the hair and gave her an RKO. Stratus went on to appear at Wrestlemania XXV, slapping Cody Rhodes who attempted to interfere before leaving television again. She briefly returned on September 14, 2009, Stratus served as the guest hostess of Raw, and participated in a six-person tag team match, teaming with Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry to defeat Phoenix, Chris Jericho, and Big Show.
Stratus made a surprise appearance at the 2011 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view to announce that she would be a trainer on the revival of WWE Tough Enough and stopped LayCool (Layla & Michelle McCool) from attacking Kelly Kelly. The following month, on March 14, she lost a match to Vickie Guerrero due to interference from LayCool and Dolph Ziggler. After the match, John Morrison and Raw guest star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi came to her aid. At WrestleMania XXVII, Stratus, Snooki, and Morrison defeated the team of Ziggler and LayCool. The night after WrestleMania, on Raw, Stratus and Morrison defeated Guerrero and Ziggler. She also appeared on Raw on June 6 and SmackDown on September 16. The following year, on July 23, 2012, she made two appearances on Raw's 1000th episode. On the January 28, 2013, episode of Raw, Stratus was announced as a WWE Hall of Fame inductee as part of the 2013 class, Stratus chose Stephanie McMahon to induct her into the Hall of Fame in April.