If you’re a guy of a certain age, then it’s pretty much a certainty that Trish Stratus is in your list of first crushes.
The WWE Diva made waves in the early 2000s as one of the women to revolutionise her division in wrestling, prompting the company to hire women based on their ability as well as their looks.
Now she’s a WWE Hall of Famer, and rightly so, to be quite honest – Vince McMahon objectified her to the point of no return, so having the highest honour in the business bestowed upon her is the least he could do. He made her crawl around the ring and bark like a dog, for goodness’ sake.
Although Trish recently made her first appearance in the ring for five years, showing up in the first ever women’s Royal Rumble match last month, the master of Stratusfaction has taken a completely different route since hanging up her wrestling boots.
Born Patricia Anne Stratigeas, Trish formally retired from the ring in 2007, defeating fellow Diva Lita in her final match to win a record seventh Women’s Championship in her home town of Toronto.
Since then she has made sporadic WWE appearances as a guest backstage and occasionally in the ring.
As well as changing the colour of her hair, she has also drastically changed her career.
Since retiring, she has gone on to become an award winning yoga instructor, opening her own studio called Stratusphere in 2008 – known as ‘Canada’s largest eco-friendly yoga studio’.
Since Trish opened Stratusphere, it has won the 2009 ‘Top Choice Awards’ Best New Business award’, ‘Business Woman of the Year’ in 2010 and ‘Top Choice Awards’ Best Yoga Studio award’ in 2013. Not a bad second career to have.
