Trish Stratus Recalls Retirement In Wake Of Mother's Illness, Message From WWE HOFer

WWE legend Trish Stratus has discussed the final match of her first retirement from WWE and why it was special.

Stratus retired from WWE in 2006, ending her six-year run with the promotion, where she had become one of the most important women stars on the roster. In a recent edition of the "WWE Retrospective" on the WWE Vault YouTube channel, she explained that her mother's illness led her to call time on her career.

"In 2006, I made the decision to retire. My contract was coming up, and I had a couple of thoughts at that time. My mom had Hodgkin's lymphoma, and when you're a WWE Superstar, you go on the road a lot. Your life is pretty much consumed by this career. I knew that if I was to be on the road, I wouldn't be able to be with my mom during her recovery and her journey to deal with that," she said.

Her final match was against Lita at Unforgiven, who had a storied rivalry with Stratus, while it was doubly special because it happened in Stratus' hometown of Toronto.

"Of course, it was like, who better to end this journey with than my longtime bestie, arch-nemesis, rival, Lita? So, yeah, the storyline went to Toronto. This was obviously a bittersweet moment for me because I am in my hometown, Toronto, I'm having this storybook ending, but I'm also walking away from the business I love. So, it was a very emotional night, for sure."

Trish Stratus' final match in WWE saw her defeat Lita and retire with the WWE Women's Championship around her waist. She secured the win after putting Lita in a Sharpshooter — a move made famous by another celebrated Canadian wrestler, Bret Hart. 

Following her win, Hart sent her a message to congratulate her on the match, which was a special moment for her.

"It was important to end it in a special way. Obviously, I did the Sharpshooter, which I think took everyone by surprise," she recalled. "You can hear a shift in the audience when I hook that. When the Stratusfaction happens and it wasn't the pin, and people thought, 'Oh!' And then when I hook the Sharpshooter, it's pretty special. The greatest thing out of all that was that Bret sent me a message that night, and gave me huge kudos for the match itself but also recognized that moment and what it meant to him as well. So, that was really special, to get that message after this really special night."

Stratus' retirement lasted just a few years as she wrestled two years after her initial retirement, and continued to make sporadic appearances and wrestled in a few matches. After a hiatus of seven years, she made yet another comeback at the 2018 Royal Rumble, with her last match coming earlier this year at the Elimination Chamber show.