Ranking Trish Stratus WWE Women’s Championship Reigns

Trish Stratus recently returned to WWE, performing on house events and Raw from Toronto. Since Canada’s Greatest Export is on many fans’ minds, I ranked Trish’s seven WWE Women’s Championship title reigns from worst to best. These rankings are based on the number of days she held the title throughout each reign and my personal preference for her character work and stories.

#7. Seventh Reign

This reign was scarcely a reign, yet it was nevertheless essential to Trish’s career. Trish will face Lita for the WWE Women’s Championship at Unforgiven on September 17, 2006. Unforgiven was filmed in Trish’s hometown of Toronto, therefore she chose it to conclude her career. Trish became the WWE Women’s Champion for a record eighth time after defeating Lita with a Sharpshooter. She also made history by retiring as Women’s Champion. Since it was her retirement match, the championship was vacated the next night on Raw, making this reign shorter than one day. 

#6. Fourth Reign

Trish Stratus’s fourth reign as champion was also her shortest. Trish held the Women’s Championship for 27 days after Wrestlemania XIX. During that time, she had a short affair with Jeff Hardy, a successful defense against Jazz (the referee missed Jazz’s foot on the rope), and a tag team fight when Jazz defeated Trish through submission. Jazz won the Women’s Championship from Trish at Backlash after the referee missed Trish’s foot on the rope during a pinfall attempt.

#5. First Reign

Trish Stratus won her very first Women’s Champion on November 18th, 2001, at Survivor Series when she defeated Lita, Jazz, Ivory, Mighty Molly, and Jacqueline in a six-pack challenge to determine the WWE Women’s Champion. Chyna, the previous champion, was leaving the company and therefore vacated the championship. She had quite an impressive first reign as it lasted for 77 days. She defended against Lita, Stacey Keibler, and Jazz before losing to Jazz in a Royal Rumble rematch on February 24, 2002’s Raw. Trish wasn’t on the show or involved in non-title stories backstage for much of this reign. The Women’s Championship was still a problem for WWE, as it didn’t seem as important in her first reign as in her future reigns.

#4. Second Reign

Stratus’s second reign began on the May 13th, 2002, episode of Monday Night Raw when she won the championship in a mixed tag team match. She teamed with Bubba Ray Dudley to take on Hardcore Champion Steven Richards and Women’s Champion Jazz, with a winner take all stipulation. Trish Stratus pinned Victoria to win her second Women’s Championship. Trish held the title for 40 days which included successful title defenses against Stacey Keibler, Molly Holly, Terri Runnels, and Jacqueline. Stratus lost the championship to Molly Holly at King of the Ring in 2002. 

#3. Third Reign

Trish started her third reign as Women’s Champion on September 22nd, 2002, at Unforgiven when she defeated Molly Holly. Her 55-day reign featured two successful title defenses against Victoria, Jacqueline, and Molly Holly. She successfully defended her championship against Victoria, Stacey Keibler, and Victoria at No Mercy. Victoria won Survivor Series on November 17, ending Trish’s championship streak. Trish’s second and third reigns were similar in quality, but her third was longer and she defended it more.

#2. Fifth Reign

Trish’s fifth reign as WWE Women’s Champion was her greatest because she was in her prime. At Bad Blood 2004, she beat Lita, Gail Kim, and champion Victoria to win her sixth title. Lita pinned Gail Kim, but Trish rolled Lita to win. This began a vicious and protracted feud with Lita, which led to them becoming the first women to main event Raw on December 6, 2004.

Trish held the championship for 175 days. She had many successful defenses and was doing some of the best work of her career as a heel. During this time, she was out of action for about a month when she suffered a broken hand. Trish held on to the WWE Women’s Championship while she was out with her injury.

#1. Sixth Reign

There is no doubt about it in my eyes. Trish’s sixth title reign was clearly her best as she held it for an incredible 448 days. She was the longest reigning Women’s Champion of the modern era until Asuka, and later Kay Lee Ray beat her record at 523 and 649 days respectively. Trish began her sixth reign by defeating Lita at New Year’s Revolution in 2005. In May 2005, Trish suffered a herniated disk which caused her to be out of action for four months. She remained champion throughout the entire length of her injury, ignoring the rule WWE has to state that a championship must be defended at least once every 30 days. Trish had many memorable matches during the 448 days including a successful title defense at Wrestlemania 21 against Christy Hemme.

Trish Stratus could continue to hold onto the Women’s Championship until Wrestlemania 22 when she lost to Mickie James. Trish vs. Mickie at Wrestlemania 22 is one of the greatest women’s Wrestlemania matchups ever, and their feud is still talked about today.

#TrishStratus