Trish Stratus came to ActionFest with her new movie Bail Enforcers and promised to Stratusfy the audience when she introduced the film. After the film I got to join some other press visiting Asheville, NC for the festival and get personally Stratusfied. The film features Stratus mixing her moves with Krav Maga as she pursues a bounty from a mob crook. She took a break from shooting the reality series Tough Enough to Stratusfy the folks at ActionFest.
Crave Online: Thank you for Stratusfying me.
Trish Stratus: I’m glad you were Stratusfied because Stratusfaction is guaranteed.
Crave Online: Was there any pressure to make a movie with WWE Films or any heat since you made one independently?
Trish Stratus: No heat and I had been retired. I’d gone out on my way, said goodbye and moved on. They actually are supporting it. I’ve been talking to them about a trailer on Trishstratus.com and they’re going to play some of that and support it. So they’re really cool with it and no heat at all.
Crave Online: Was it surprising or shocking to do your wrestling moves in real world settings?
Trish Stratus: Yes, actually it was. What’s most shocking is to watch my wrestling moves with sound effects and a soundtrack. It’s crazy actually. I really think that maybe Vince should reconsider what he does, add some sound effects. It was fun. It was neat to learn a new fighting art and to do a different style than I’m used to doing, but also of course put Trish moves in there as well.
Crave Online: Like in the ambulance fight?
Trish Stratus: You know what? Andrea [Lui] and I rehearsed and we choreographed the whole scene. It’s just another thing. My wrestling training came into play because we had this whole thing down and the space we had mapped it out in was actually completely different than the actual space we had to work with so we got to the ambulance and went wow, there is a tiny walkway and that’s really all we have to work with. So we literally went in there and took some of the pieces we had put together and we did it as I do when I’m live in a wrestling ring is put the pieces together and make it work. It really just worked, and of course having someone who can work with you like that, like we really just clicked and we were feeling each other’s movements and understanding each other’s body language and it really just works. It helped to have a great coworker like that.
Crave Online: After Wrestlemania, what’s going on in the ring?
Trish Stratus: Well, I was kind of just taking care of Snooki so I went back and we had that big match. That was a lot of fun and now Tough Enough’s on so there’s 10 weeks of Tough Enough and I’m out there promoting it. The cool thing about Tough Enough is that it’s an inside look at the world of wrestling so you’ll have definitely the wrestling fans, but it’s a chance to show the outside world what we do and how it’s really driven by passionate, athletic people and we’re excited about showcasing that.
Crave Online: What did you think when they brought you the idea of the Snooki storyline?
Trish Stratus: I thought interesting, okay. I knew she drank Long Island Ice Teas. She had a bitch slap as one of her popular moves. So I get it. I really do. I get it. It’s one of these things where it’s definitely a pop culture crossover. Surprisingly I guess 75% of the Jersey Shore viewership is women. We definitely have men watching our product but I think it’s always good to bring in the women to watch our show as well. So the Divas division, when we went back years ago, we saw a rise in the female demographic which was cool at the time. So I think it’s one way to give exposure to the women’s division and with the current Divas, giving them exposure and letting people tune in who maybe wouldn’t have tuned in before and say, “Oh, that’s cool. That’s what the women do in wrestling? That’s awesome.” So hopefully we gave that exposure to the Diva brand.
Crave Online: Will you continue wrestling?
Trish Stratus: Well, I’m officially retired right now. I consider myself still in retirement. I came out slightly for a moment but it’s kind of one of those things where I say you never shut the door. If someone calls me out or the Divas championship needs a new woman to wear it around her waist, I’m available.
Crave Online: If someone has the physical skills but lacks the public speaking ability, can you teach that?
Trish Stratus: To a certain degree. You say public speaking, we can definitely teach them the mic skills and what not but something you can’t teach is charisma. I can say from when all 14 walked in, I could pick a handful and say, “These guys have IT and these guys kind of don’t but maybe they might show us some stuff.” The athletic ability is number one and to be able to have the endurance and the stamina for the schedule as well. So if they can sustain their cardio in the ring, all that stuff counts. It’s kind of a tough business because only a handful of people in this world can do what we do, because either you’ve got it or you don’t. You can teach someone to wrestle but if they don’t have the charisma, I can’t really teach that. What’s cool is the fans are really going to dictate. They can really see through and even if you had amazing moves and you were really athletic in the ring, if you’re not real or there’s not that quality, the fans won’t connect with you and Vince won’t invest the time. He really watches that and that’s why it’s very tough because you might be an amazing wrestler but if you don’t have that thing of a connection with the fans or the ability to connect with the fans then, well, you’ll be eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
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