Trish Stratus Recalls Dealing With ‘Puppies’ Chant in WWE, Trying to Desexualize Her Matches

Trish Stratus began her wrestling in an era where women weren’t viewed as wrestlers, and she recently recalled how she and others moved WWE past the era of sexualized chants and gravy bowl matches. Stratus was among those like Lita, Jazz, Victoria and others who pushed WWE to view women’s wrestlers as more than talent to be sexualized. In doing so, they set the stage for WWE women to make strides to where the division is today.

Stratus reflected on the matter in an appearance on Pod Meets World. She recalled how they had to sneak in actual action to the matches and more. You can see highlights below:

On Getting People To Look Past Her Looks:

“Oh yeah [it was difficult]. I mean, it wasn’t even — so it was almost like you had to like reprogram the audience. They were used to chanting ‘Puppies,’ you know… back in the day, it was like women would come out and they’re like, ‘We want puppies!’ So we went through a phase where we’re like, ‘We’re gonna have a wrestling match.’ And they’re chanting [for ‘puppies]’…

“And it’s so funny. Because it’s almost like — you know when you go back and you watch a Disney movie like Pinocchio, and you’re like, ‘Is he like, is he…?’ So back in the day when you watch that old school wrestling, you’re kinda like, ‘Did Jerry Lawler just say…?’ Yeah, he’s referring to breasts, yeah. So we had to endure that. We had to get through it, you know? And my whole — the only way to do it was to prove that you deserve to be there more than just those chants.”

On Starting To Push WWE Away From That Era:

“So I remember there’s a turning point. I remember, we started wrestling a little bit more. So the audience was kind of like learning to see us wrestle now. And there was a — it was Thanksgiving. So they approached us, and we felt like we’re kind of starting to move out of the girly stuff. Like the cat fights, and the things like Paddle on a Pole Match, crazy stuff. And back when we were doing it, we knew we were like, ‘I think we have to like go through the motions, fly up the radar, but start getting some real stuff in.’ We thought, ‘We’re gonna trade the slaps and the hair pulls for like punches and for chops.'”

On Producers Pushing Back Against That:

“So slowly we started to do that. And we were kind of like reprogramming the audience to expect that from us. And believe me, even backstage there was producers going, ‘Yeah, people don’t wanna see women punch each other. They wanna see hair pulling, they wanna see cat fighting. They don’t wanna see that from the girls.’ We were told that, and it was like literally like, ‘Stop that. Don’t do that.’ So we had to like, ‘Anyone looking? Boom.’

“So we just knew it was like, if we just keep sort of slipping it — and be under the radar. So they’re like, ‘Oh, the women’s match. Don’t worry.’ And for a while we were the popcorn match, we were the bathroom break. We were that until we started to just deliver. And then when we went out there — and I think the turning point was a woman, her name was Jazz. It was Jazz, Victoria, these are women that I worked with that we were like, ‘We need to change the narrative. We need to change the conversation, and change what they expect from us to in the ring. They expect us to just be hot.'”

On Trying to Desexualize Her Matches:

“I even know there was a point where I was dressing dressing down, I wasn’t wearing what they wanted me to wear. I was like, ‘Don’t notice what I’m wearing.’ I didn’t wear shorts, I was like, ‘I’m putting on full brigade.’

“Then we had a guy, an agent who was working with his backstage. And he was like, ‘I wanna see you guys punch as well.’ And he goes, ‘Just do it. Just go do it. You can ask for forgiveness and permission at that point, right?’ So we just started to go do it. And slowly but surely, the ‘We Want Puppies’ chants turned into [cheering].”

On the Gravy Bowl Match:

“So this gravy bowl match, there was a Thanksgiving. We thought we were getting out of crappy little pillow fights, and things like that. But they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna have a gravy bowl match. And we’re like, ‘Oh, we thought we were past this.’ But you have to do it. It’s your job, right? So I’m like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna have a gravy bowl match. I’m gonna start it really cool.'”

“So we come out on the stage, and the ramp used to be really high back in the day. And so we had the top, and I had Stacy [Keibler] just like, she tossed me right off the top. I took a big bump from the top, and the fans were like, ‘Holy S**t!’ So you know, just kind of slipping in the cool and the good action.’ And after a while, they just started to become programmed to see us like that and started to come around. And the ‘Puppies’ chants went away and the cheering for us in matches and false counting for our false finishes started to happen.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Pod Meets World with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.