411’s WWE Timeline Report – ‘Do You Love Me Now?’

-Back with another episode of WWE Timeline as this week they cover the Trish Stratus/Mickie James feud from 2005-06. Let’s get to it!

-Air Date: 09.16.20
-Run Time: 31:49

-We start with WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event (03.18.06) where Mickie wants to say goodbye the right way and the crowd pops. Mickie offers a hand and then goes in for a kiss, but Trish turns her head. Mickie then kicks Trish’s head off to a pop from the crowd. “Do you love me now?” This whole feud was fascinating as a portion of the crowd turned on Trish for rejecting Mickie. This is WWE Timeline!

-Survivor Series 2001: It was the last day of the Invasion and also the night Trish Stratus won the Women’s Championship for the first time. Her rise to the top of the division was well deserved as she went from being just eye candy and former fitness model to a very good in ring worker and top star.

-Oct 2005: Trish defeats long time rival, Victoria on RAW. After the match Victoria attacks and gets saved by a debuting Mickie James. She debuted as an obsessed fan of Trish Stratus and the crowd immediately bought into her. The character touches were great as she couldn’t shut up when around Trish and wanted to be like her.

-Oct 17, 2005: Mickie makes her in ring debut in a 6 woman tag match. She delivers Stratusfaction, but gets pinned when looking for Trish’s approval.

-Oct 31, 2005: Diva Halloween Costume Party: Mickie comes out dressed like Trish Stratus to freak out Trish some more. Trish dressed as Wonder Woman just works. The crowd gets to pick the winner and really, we are all winners in this one. Mickie takes the mic to yell at the fans as they should only be cheering for Trish.

-Dec 12, 2005: Mickie vs Victoria for the #1 contender spot with Trish on commentary. Trish feels Mickie has spunk and says the two of them are acquaintances. Mickie gets the win and she is excited to be in the ring with the greatest of all time: Trish Stratus.

-Dec 26, 2005: Mickie decorates the back for Trish as her way of spreading holiday cheer. Mickie points out they are under the mistletoe and the men in the crowd pop. Mickie kisses Trish which freaks her out and Mickie immediately apologizes.

-New Year’s Revolution: Jan 8, 2006: Trish and Mickie have their first match against each other. They have a hard hitting match that would fit right in with what the division is doing today. Trish gets the win as The Mick Kick misses, but the Chick kick doesn’t. After the match Mickie thanks Trish for the match and talks about the moment their skin touched. Again, a pop from the males in the crowd. “You know you lost right?” Man, that’s kind of a dick think for Trish to say.

-RAW where Ashley Massaro (RIP) brings up to Trish that Mickie is a little obsessed. Mickie overhears and we have trouble brewing. A tag match later in the night and Mickie beats up her partner, Ashley. Trish pulls her out and as they argue, Ashley gets pinned.

-Mickie starts to crack as she breaks down in front of Trish as she has idolized her and watched her with her grand pappy. Mickie’s ability to change her emotions on a dime is great!

-Royal Rumble: Jan 29, 2006: Trish is the ref for Mickie vs. Ashley. Before the match Mickie lets Trish know that she loves her. Again, pop from the crowd. I mean yes, I know there are those out there excited about the idea of two attractive women being together but there is also the dynamic where a lot of people (but especially young males) can relate to being in love with the “hot, popular girl” and being rejected. Mickie wins the match and hugs Trish.

-Next night on RAW, Mickie celebrates as she not only won, but got to confess her love to Trish. She brings Trish out and balloons and confetti fall from the sky. Ashley out next and she tells Mickie that Trish doesn’t love her. She makes the mistake of saying Trish thinks like everyone in the crowd that Mickie is a psycho. The crowd chants “she’s a psycho,” but in a loving way. Mickie breaks down and again, how did they not think this wasn’t going to have fans turning on Trish? Trish calls her a special woman and Mickie tackles Ashley to start a brawl. A spin kick takes Ashley out and Mickie sees it as Trish helping her out.

-March 6, 2006: Mickie is the host of RAW Kiss Cam and kisses/licks a magazine with Trish on the cover. Trish lays the law down as she is tired of Mickie showing up around her, licking magazines, and just her craziness in general. She wants time away from her. Poor Mickie!

-SNME: March 18, 2006: Back to where we started as Trish and Mickie win a tag match. Mickie wants to say goodbye in the right way and goes in for a kiss. Trish wants no part of that so Mickie finally lays her out. Mickie is interviewed by Coach after the match and she lays out that she loves Trish yet she never appreciated her. Trish broke her heart, so now she is going to break her.

-RAW: March 20, 2006: Mickie has a giant present for Trish and it’s Ashley tied up in a chair. Trish attacks and tries to make the save, but Mickie lays her out with an impressive DDT while having a bloody nose. She then kisses an out cold Trish with that blood running down her face. That’s kind of gross, but made for a memorable moment.

-Mickie somewhere in the back with her Trish shrine as her new obsession is Trish’s destruction.

-WrestleMania 22: The Chicago crowd was all for Mickie on this night and it will be interesting to see how they dub this one. They have a great match that blew away most of the stuff the division was doing at the time. They leave in the pro Mickie chants and mention the crowd that night loved their Divas with a little but of crazy in them. They do omit the spot where Mickie licked her fingers….you know the one. Mickie wins with the Mick kick to claim her first WWE Women’s Title.

-The rivalry would continue for months and eventually they developed a friendship.

-Jan 2018: Royal Rumble: Both return for the first Women’s Royal Rumble match and they have a showdown that pops the crowd huge. They exchange blows and Trish gets the best of her rival again as she eliminates her from the match. Fun moment from the two of them!

-Their rivalry helped change the perception of women in the WWE and showed they could have complex storylines with layers. They helped lay the groundwork for what we become the Divas Revolution.

-Fun episode though a little short at only 30 minutes. Obviously, Lita vs Trish was the dominant rivalry of that era and easily could have been featured, but I enjoyed them focusing on a different one. Mickie had the character down cold from day one. As mentioned, looking back you can see why the crowd started to side with Mickie as the story progressed. Check this one out if you aren’t familiar with their rivalry or just want to go back and relive it. Thanks for reading!