trish stratus: canadian wrestler reigns over the ring

Canadian Wrestler Reigns Over The Ring

She is Canada's queen of the ring. World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Trish Stratus is the top woman in the business, delivering her "stratus-faction bulldog" wrestling maneouvre on her opponents night after night.
Stratus entered the world of fitness a few short years ago by either an accident or an act of fate -- she's not sure which.

Stratus was a biology student at York University in Toronto, until a faculty strike interrupted the school year. She found a job at a gym as a receptionist, and was approached by the publisher of Muscle Mag International to model. Stratus spent the next six months training and transforming her body and within six months had completed her first photo shoot.

Stratus put her dream of a career in medicine on hold, and kicked her new fitness career into high gear.

Her big break came after making an appearance on TSN's Off the Record where she appeared as a guest with several wrestlers. Her name made it to the powers-that-be at the World Wrestling Federation (now the WWE) and was asked to send in her portfolio.

She began training hard, and was offered a contract in November 1999. She made her professional debut in March 2000. Since then, millions of fans from around the world watch the Richmond Hill, Ontario native face off against the biggest names in the WWE.

Stratus, 27, is often credited for putting women wrestlers on the map, making them more than objects in the male dominated world of entertainment wrestling.

Winnipeg WWE superstar Chris Jericho agrees: "She's proven you can be gorgeous and a great athlete and be taken more seriously as a result of those attributes."

Stratus told CTV's Sandie Rinaldo that it wasn't easy crashing through the glass ceiling. "Women's role within the industry was as ... eye candy. There was an opportunity for women to be more physical in the ring and I knew, being athletic, that's what I wanted to do."

Just four years later, Stratus is at the height of her career and has adorned magazine covers and made television appearances both in North America and around the world.