"Now, at this point, I can wrestle, I can go out there and cut an entertaining promo, I can also do the backstage stuff... and if you can contribute more to the show, you have more staying power"
About this Quote
Trish Stratus is quietly dismantling the myth that pro wrestling stardom is just about the pop of a finisher or the heat of a catchphrase. The line reads like practical career advice, but the subtext is sharper: in an industry built on spectacle, survival is an office job as much as it is a performance art.
Her checklist structure - wrestle, promo, backstage - is doing rhetorical work. It widens the definition of talent from what the audience can chant at to what the company can rely on when the cameras stop. That matters coming from Stratus, who rose during WWE's era of tightly controlled branding and shifting expectations for women: you weren’t only expected to be marketable, you were expected to be adaptable. “Entertaining promo” nods to the visible currency of charisma, while “backstage stuff” hints at the invisible economy: professionalism, producing, helping other talent, understanding story beats, being safe in the ring, being the person who can plug a hole when plans change at 4 p.m.
The intent isn’t humblebrag; it’s a reframing of power. Staying power isn’t framed as luck, politics, or fan nostalgia - it’s framed as usefulness. In a business where bodies break and pushes evaporate, multi-tool performers become hard to replace. Stratus is also, knowingly, speaking to a modern gig-economy audience: the real flex is range, and the real job security is being someone the whole production can’t do without.
Her checklist structure - wrestle, promo, backstage - is doing rhetorical work. It widens the definition of talent from what the audience can chant at to what the company can rely on when the cameras stop. That matters coming from Stratus, who rose during WWE's era of tightly controlled branding and shifting expectations for women: you weren’t only expected to be marketable, you were expected to be adaptable. “Entertaining promo” nods to the visible currency of charisma, while “backstage stuff” hints at the invisible economy: professionalism, producing, helping other talent, understanding story beats, being safe in the ring, being the person who can plug a hole when plans change at 4 p.m.
The intent isn’t humblebrag; it’s a reframing of power. Staying power isn’t framed as luck, politics, or fan nostalgia - it’s framed as usefulness. In a business where bodies break and pushes evaporate, multi-tool performers become hard to replace. Stratus is also, knowingly, speaking to a modern gig-economy audience: the real flex is range, and the real job security is being someone the whole production can’t do without.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
|---|
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