It’s been many years since Trish Stratus was a regular part of WWE television. However, if you watch WWE NXT, you might have to do a double take some weeks to make sure you aren’t seeing the former WWE Women’s Champion on your screen. Or at least that’s been the case for Stratus herself.
The shot that started the confusion was posted to the official WWE NXT Instagram page below.
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Stratus said that she saw the photo and thought at first that she was looking at a picture of herself. It even prompted her to wonder when she wore the outfit that Mandy is wearing in the picture.
Ha! I actually thought that was me! I was wondering when I wore that outfit lol. Wow @WWE_MandyRose ๐ฏ https://t.co/hzhVFPOeQn
โ Trish Stratus (@trishstratuscom) September 8, 2017
If you took a fan from the Attitude Era who hasn’t watched WWE years and showed them the above picture, you can definitely see how people could mistake Mandy for Stratus. Their hair style and color, tan, and body type certainly are dead ringers for one another.
Stratus is of course one of the greatest female wrestlers in WWE history. Her transformation from a fitness model, hired to be a valet in 2000, to perennial WWE women’s champion was amazing to watch. Some have even went so far as to say that they’ve never seen anyone pick up on wrestling as fast as Stratus did. She ranks in the upper echelon of greatest WWE female stars of all time, perhaps even the greatest.
Stratus grew up a massive wrestling fan in Canada, so the interest in improving as a wrestler and becoming as tar was always there for her. WWE had a segment on a DVD years ago where Trish gave a tour of her home, and it was filled with WWE memorabilia (including quite the collection of action figures).
If Mandy truly hopes to be mistaken for Trish, or even surpass her, she’ll have to put years of hard work into crafting her ability in the ring. She’s already improved quite a bit since coming into wrestling during Tough Enough a couple of years ago. With her athletic background and look, the sky is the limit for Mandy Rose.
Being mistaken for Trish Stratus in the looks department is certainly one of the ultimate compliments, but being mistaken for her in the ring would really put her career over the top.