Trish Stratus & Lita vs Molly Holly & Gail Kim, 9-22-03

Nine years ago, today...

backstage problems?

I don't know if there was any real drama involved, just a decision to push Victoria as the face of the Division and the Diva brand, with Gail pushed as the top heel. There was a lot of speculation as to why, because of things that were going on at the time.

It was strange that Trish & Lita, their two most popular Divas, were both suddenly de-pushed, like that (Trish even more than Lita, since Lita still got title shots here and there, including at Backlash). Lita had her big comeback stopped. Trish, before the year was out, would go on to be voted Babe of the Year for the third straight time, so it wasn't as though she'd lost popularity.

Lita had fallen behind during her year and a half on the shelf. The other women had developed a great deal during that time under Finlay's training. It was noticeable during the Survivor Series match with Molly. It took her a while to catch back up. But, even if they'd lost confidence in her, that still doesn't explain why they tossed Trish aside.

Ivory said, in her shoot, that Gail was Johnny Ace's favorite, at the time.

It's also worth noting that, in 2003, Victoria said in an interview that she wanted to pose for Playboy, while, in that same year, both Trish & Lita had publicly expressed their dislike for the idea of posing. That did run contrary to both companies' lines about how big an honor it was to be on the cover. So, given how big a crossover promotion the annual Playboy issue was, I could see, from a business sense, the desire for someone more... cooperative to be the face of the Diva brand.