Trish Stratus Wanted Zoey Stark Storyline To Draw Parallels To Memorable Ruthless Aggression Era Angle

Trish Stratus explains the parallels between her 2023 storyline with Zoey Stark and one of the Ruthless Aggression era’s most memorable angles.

Shortly after turning her back on Becky Lynch and Lita last year, WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus recruited a new ally — former WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Zoey Stark. While their main objective was aimed at weakening Becky Lynch, Stratus was personally keen on fulfilling another objective as well.

“One of the boxes I wanted to check was to be able to work with new talent, elevate talent and do something that benefits another and gives back to the business, so to speak,” she told talkSPORT. “So, when I was able to work one-on-one, directly with Zoey, it was great. I loved it.”

Triple H-Batista Vibes

In analyzing the storyline plans laid before them, Stratus and Paul “Triple H” Levesque tossed around the idea of drawing inspiration from the dynamic of his feud with Batista.

Batista and Triple H, of course, were initially paired together in the Evolution faction alongside Randy Orton and Ric Flair. Following Orton’s involuntary exit from the group in 2004, Batista, Triple H, and Flair continued forth as a trio until February 2005, when “The Animal” famously issued a “thumbs down” and attacked Triple H and Flair. This move would then catapult Batista into singles success.

“To be honest, when we had the storyline and [said] ”this is what we’re going to do,’ [Zoey] wasn’t part of it. That was an idea they came to us with, Hunter came to me with it, and I loved it,” Stratus said. “I sort of said ‘Could it be shades of Batista and Triple H back in the day?’ and we felt like ‘let’s pin that to the board’ because it was a good idea.”

Stark’s betrayal of Stratus occurred in the aftermath of Stratus’ grueling steel cage against Becky Lynch. Seemingly blaming her mentee for her loss, Stratus swiftly slapped Stark across the face. In response, Stark laid her out with a Z-360, effectively ending their partnership.