http://www.diva-dirt.com/2011/03/21/trish-says-natalya-is-untapped-wants-chyna-in-hall-of-fame/
Trish Stratus spoke to IGN about the upcoming series of Tough Enough during a recent visit to the show’s Simi Valley set.
When asked about her current favorite Diva, Trish voted for fellow Canadian, Natalya:
“She’s untapped,” Trish smiled. “Fans are starting to get to know her more and more and I’m just waiting for the day where she goes out there and really can do her thing because I don’t think she’s been given the opportunity to really get out there and show everybody what she’s got.”
With Sunny going into this year’s Hall of Fame, Trish says Chyna should be next:
“I think Chyna should be next in because she did a lot of stuff to bring attention to the women’s division itself and just presented women as a different thing,” Stratus said. “I think fans were conditioned to see women as eye candy for a long, long time and she really broke the mold with that.”
Thoughts: Natalya was finally given some spotlight last year but that quickly came to an end at the Royal Rumble in January. Like Trish, I think there is certainly a lot more that Nattie can offer in the ring and as a character. What Natalya has more of, in my opinion, than any other Diva is likability. She could be just as popular as Trish, but it all comes down to the opportunities available for Divas today as opposed to in Trish’s heyday.
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http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/115/1156664p1.html
USA network's all-new reboot of WWE Tough Enough is set to premiere April 4th at 11/10c, the day after WrestleMania XXVII, immediately following RAW. IGN had the chance to visit the set of this hard-hitting reality competition, walk through the sweet digs over at the Simi Valley Spanish-style ranch (nestled in the Santa Susana Mountains) and talk to series trainer and former seven-time WWE Women's Champion, Trish Stratus.
"A lot of the contestants have a background," Trish told us. "They come from wrestling backgrounds. They've been doing it for a few years, but it's an entirely different thing to be doing it on the big stage and to do it professionally and to do it with the grind of the big WWE machine." (Check out IGN's Meet the Cast of WWE Tough Enough here!).
Trish then talked openly about how she's brought her love of yoga into the world of Tough Enough and incorporated it into the contestants' warming up regimen. "I got into yoga at one point and I didn't realize that something like yoga would be a tool that would actually help me as an athlete and just become a better wrestler and increase my longevity in the wrestling industry," she said. "So, bringing that sort of experience and then trying to integrate it in the first time I was like 'we're going to yoga, everybody' and they're like 'oh, easy little yoga', like they didn't expect a challenge." Of course, everybody quickly learned that intense yoga was no joke.
Who was Trish's favorite opponent in the ring? "It's hard to pick just one, but Lita and I probably had the biggest rivalry," she admitted. "The minute you put the two of us in the ring, the fans just got it. We both came in around the same time so we had been in the business for the same amount of time, which gave the fans a chance to get to know us both and grow with us and see us evolve and things like that. So, there was a real connection with the audience. So, no matter if she was a good guy or a bad guy or we were both in the audience, we always felt like we could really connect with the crowd and kind of create that oh my God moment."
With Trish herself now being a part of WrestleMania XXVII, partnering with John Morrison and The Jersey Shore's Snooki against Dolph Ziggler and LayCool, what was her personal favorite WrestleMania match? "One of my favorite ones was probably WrestleMania in Toronto -- Wrestlemania 18 (Trish vs. Jazz vs. Lita)," Stratus confessed. "I didn't win the match that evening, but it was such a special time for me because I had just entered into the WWE not too long before and to be in a woman's championship match in front of a hometown crowd was just an amazing moment. I wore my maple leaf outfit very proudly and it was just a really surreal moment. Also, the match before me was the Rock and Hulk Hogan. So, to get a little 'go get them, kids' from the both of them was kind of an amazing moment."
Who is Trish a fan of nowadays? Well, she simply gushed over her fellow-Canadian Diva, Natalya. "She's untapped," Trish smiled. "Fans are starting to get to know her more and more and I'm just waiting for the day where she goes out there and really can do her thing because I don't think she's been given the opportunity to really get out there and show everybody what she's got."
With former Diva Sunny getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, Trish suggested another name who she thought should be added to the list. "I think Chyna should be next in because she did a lot of stuff to bring attention to the women's division itself and just presented women as a different thing," Stratus said. "I think fans were conditioned to see women as eye candy for a long, long time and she really broke the mold with that."
Trish then talked about the importance of not separating the guys and girls into two different training camps on the Tough Enough. "To me it was really important to not really have separate groups," she said. "It was real important to show no separation and it's like, I trained with guys when I came up. So, it wasn't like 'this is the girls' thing and this is the boys' thing.' It's an even competition all around. When you're a girl in the WWE, you're one of the boys."
WWE Tough Enough will premiere Monday, April 4th at 11/10c, the day after WrestleMania XXVII and immediately following RAW. It moves to its regularly scheduled slot in primetime, Mondays at 8/7c, starting on April 11.
