Trish Stratus Explains Motivation For SummerSlam Return, Getting Mentally Prepared

WWE legend Trish Stratus makes her return to the wrestling ring on Sunday night at SummerSlam, her first singles match in over eight years.

The former women’s champion and WWE Hall of Famer has worked several tag team matches since that last singles match, as well an entry in the 2018 women’s Royal Rumble, including this past Monday night on RAW. But that final singles bout was a two minutes and 30 second match with Vickie Guerrero on a 2011 RAW. Prior to that, you’d have to go back to WWE Unforgiven 2006 to find a singles match that really pushed Stratus.

The 2006 Unforgiven match was a title contest against Lita where Stratus won the women’s title in what was to be her last match at the time. That match happened in Toronto in the very same venue that her match with Charlotte Flair takes place this Sunday at SummerSlam.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Stratus talked about why she’s coming back once again this weekend at SummerSlam.

“As you get older, you decide this is it,” she said. “I don’t need to keep coming back. I’ve had my ride. But this scenario was so special. To face a superstar like Charlotte Flair at this point of my life. In Toronto. At the second biggest pay-per-view of the year (WrestleMania is first). What could be more right? 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. 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.”

She went on to explain how she’s been getting herself ready for what should be her most challenging match in 13 years.

“There’s a lot of buzz about the event, about my match. Personally, I had to dig deep to find my inner-Trish Stratus again,” she admitted. “I had to do that. I’m a mom now. ‘I’m a bad-ass mom,’ I keep telling myself. I had to find that inner fire in me. You think, ‘Can I do it? Am I able to do it?’ I watch the tapes (of training) and I see it coming together. 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.’

“Sometimes I don’t know how I’m doing all of this. Being a mom, running a business, it takes crazy time-management. Now you throw in training and preparing for this. It’s been a lot. But it’s been fun. I feel like I’m doing this for the moms out there. For every mom, maybe, who’s lost themselves. I had to find that bad-ass wrestler inside of me. It took some time to get there.”

Stratus also clearly admires Flair as a performer.

“She’s the best of the best right now. To see a woman of that size do a corkscrew moonsault is amazing. I’m not surprised (by how good she is),” Trish said. She continued, “I remember seeing her train in NXT. Charlotte is amazing. She’s passionate about what she does and it’s beautiful to see.”