A teaser video shared by WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus earlier this week has launched speculation that the legendary women’s wrestler might be returning to the company for at least one more match.
The 16-second clip, which Stratus posted on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, starts out by showing a black-and-white illustration of the seven-time women’s champion, with the words “20 Years of Stratusfaction” on the bottom of the logo. As a snippet from Stratus’ ring theme plays in the background, the date March 19 is displayed — as explained by WrestlingNews.co , this marks the 20th anniversary of the wrestler’s WWE debut, which took place during an episode of Sunday Night Heat in 2000.
What stands out in the teaser, however, appears to be the brief glimpse of Stratus facing off against current Friday Night SmackDown superstar Sasha Banks during the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble match in 2018. According to WrestlingNews.co , this image has led to rumors that the 44-year-old Hall of Famer could soon be returning to the ring, especially since both women had previously discussed the possibility of a singles match. However, the publication also cautioned that the teaser might be for a “non-WWE project” that allows Stratus to use media from her time competing for the promotion.
As separately reported by Wrestling Inc ., WWE does have a “rare” Thursday live event scheduled on March 19 in Mobile, Alabama, but Stratus is not among the advertised performers. Her rumored opponent Banks is currently sidelined due to what has been described as an ankle injury, but she is scheduled to face Naomi at the Mobile show.
— Trish Stratus (@trishstratuscom) February 26, 2020
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Stratus had previously advertised her bout against Charlotte Flair at last year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view as her farewell match. Prior to this and a number of one-off returns in recent years, she had a successful six-year run as one of WWE’s top wrestlers, announcing her retirement in 2006 after winning her seventh WWE Women’s Championship in her hometown of Toronto, Canada.
Despite all this, WrestlingNews.co wrote that — based on recent wrestling trends — it wouldn’t be too farfetched to expect Stratus to angle for a return to the squared circle with WWE. The publication also hinted that this return might take place at WrestleMania 36 , considering how Banks has yet to be officially booked for a match at the “Show of Shows.”
“[W]ith wrestlers using [All Elite Wrestling] to leverage themselves into big money WWE contracts (see: Edge and Randy Orton), you can never rule anything out,” the outlet remarked. “I guess we will find out soon.”
