Wendi Richter vs. Trish Stratus

[Sephiroth]

Just how do these two stack up against each other? In a way Wendi was kind of the Trish of her time; she had the total combo of looks, talent, charisma, and prominence. If things hadn't turned out as they had, i do believe she would have been the biggest female star of the 80's and probably would have lasted well into the 90's. Trish really changed the face of women's wrestling in North America-she was just such a perfect talent that it is hard for any other women to measure up. They were pretty much THE women of their respective time periods.

[chazraps]

There was a point in the mid-80s where Wendi was as big of a star as Hogan, and while Trish changed the face of woman's wrestling in North America, she did so at a time when business began to dropoff and become unpopular.

They're both easily the biggest names in female wrestling of their times, but those eras are so different I don't think it would be doing either of their contributions justice to compare the two.

I will say, because of how much the landscape of wrestling changed over 20 years, Trish may have the stronger body of work if only because the WWE gave her a better access to quality opponents than Richter really was ever in a position to get.

[celticjobber]

Trish was hotter and a better talker, and I enjoyed her matches more.

It was before my time -- so I could be wrong, but I think alot of Wendi's popularity was due to her association with Cyndi Lauper.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

No could haves about it. Wendi WAS the biggest female star of the 80s and one of the biggest wrestling attractions of that decade period, even though she wasn't around to long. Consider her tenure kind of like the Ultimate Warrior a huge flash.

Wendi was popular before Cyndi came to the scene, that's why Cyndi associated with her, but no doubt Lauper took her to prime time in that way Mr. T would for Hogan. Wendi doesn't get near the credit she deserves. Trish was great but gets almost to much credit. Wendi was a wrestler who was attractive, Trish was attractive first and added wrestling to that. It's kind of splitting hairs but it's the simplest way to differentiate the differing environments and mindsets of the girls.

You could make the argument that Moolah was as big but she needed Wendi to be noticed. With Trish though you could argue that Chyna or Lita were more important in the 2000s. And both were marketable on their own.

[Sephiroth]

Wendi is nowhere near as recognized today as Sherri Martel or Madusa Miceli are-I think this is because she did not stick around long enough to appear in WCW or ECW. Its epsecially ironic since her falling out with Vince is the stuff the newz mags are made of before they were really around. Moolah was the bridge for women's wrestling, but by the time Vince took it maintream Moolah was already well past her prime-Wendi was just coming into her own, and Moolahd herself seemed to have her marked as the successor. Trish, on the other hand, came into the biz at a time when it was still red hot and became the top woman based on her sheer adapatation to it, which was amazingly fast.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

Jan 25, 2013 1:47:38 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Wendi is nowhere near as recognized today as Sherri Martel or Madusa Miceli are-I think this is because she did not stick around long enough to appear in WCW or ECW. Its epsecially ironic since her falling out with Vince is the stuff the newz mags are made of before they were really around. Moolah was the bridge for women's wrestling, but by the time Vince took it maintream Moolah was already well past her prime-Wendi was just coming into her own, and Moolahd herself seemed to have her marked as the successor. Trish, on the other hand, came into the biz at a time when it was still red hot and became the top woman based on her sheer adapatation to it, which was amazingly fast.

True but a lot of that comes from her complete deletion from history for the last twenty years. By those same standards though Golddust is more recognized today then Ultimate Warrior, however I don't think that really reflects how big they were during their primes. Within ten years time Chyna will be a footnote in the history of DX and Dusty Rhodes in the NWO will get more mention then she will, but the truth of the time period is a lot different then the story told by those who get to tell the story.

Truth is Wendi was more than just a WWF star she was an MTV sensation when MTV was a cultural touchstone. So while her tenure was short it was bigger than most peoples careers would ever be.

[mizerable]

Jan 25, 2013 1:47:38 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Trish, on the other hand, came into the biz at a time when it was still red hot and became the top woman based on her sheer adapatation to it, which was amazingly fast.

Trish was eye candy during the time when WWE was ratings fire, she didn't start wrestling until the ratings started to drop off in late 2001. She didn't hit her stride until 2003 when she had some great people to work with.

If we want to talk about anyone who was a super popular female wrestler during a time when wrestling was big, it would have been Chyna. She got a ton of coverage during her last 2 years with the company. So honestly, the better question here would be Wendi vs. Chyna. Both of which were popular, but were gone just as fast as they hit their stride.

[memphis25]

Richter was a key part in something that changed the course of professional wrestling history with her and Moolah setting the MTV ratings record at the time with their match and that exposure made WrestleMania possible. Her run was short due to the falling out with Vince ending with her losing to the title in the original screwjob after a couple years but that time was game changing.

Without Wendi taking women's wrestling to the next level along with being an instrumental player in the branding of the WWF as a household name via the rock 'n' wrestling connection Trish and countless other stars would never been heard from in the first place.

Lou Albano being in the right place at the right time made pro wrestling as big as it was today but if Wendi wasn't the right person connecting with the people at the time it may have not worked out and none of us would be here talking about this.

[Sephiroth]

Wendi getting blackballed is a solid point. Like I said above, part of it was her own doing; after the WWF she largely spent her time overseas, and when she did perform in North America it was in smaller feds that did not have national TV-if she had worked in WCW or ECW, as I suggested, she would be a bigger presence in the mind of current fans. But indeed Vince pretty much whitewashed her time in the WWF and her role in the Rock N Wrestling period-its only recently that she has begun to be acknowledged again. I honestly don't blame her at all for still giving Vince the cold shoulder-what was done to her was the definition of betrayal. But I also notice that Bret, Hogan, and Jesse Ventura all fell out with Vince pretty harshly and still managed to eventually reconcile and that is probably a big part of why WWE upholds their legacies today.

I also think its worth noting that women in Wendi's day did not get anywhere near the level of cross promotion they do today. Wendi was very unique in that she appeared on MTV and her likeness was featured on that Hogan cartoon. These days diva's appear in magazine photo spreads, they guest star on mainstream tv shows, and many of them either move into wrestling from other careers or go on to other things afterward.

[molson5]

Jan 25, 2013 10:14:26 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

I also think its worth noting that women in Wendi's day did not get anywhere near the level of cross promotion they do today.

And compared to other woman that wrestled than, Wendi was the most beautiful woman in the history of the universe. It was like when the leading home hitters in the late teens had 9-10 home runs, and then Babe Ruth showed up and hit 50.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

Jan 25, 2013 2:38:49 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Jan 25, 2013 1:47:38 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Trish, on the other hand, came into the biz at a time when it was still red hot and became the top woman based on her sheer adapatation to it, which was amazingly fast.

Trish was eye candy during the time when WWE was ratings fire, she didn't start wrestling until the ratings started to drop off in late 2001. She didn't hit her stride until 2003 when she had some great people to work with.

If we want to talk about anyone who was a super popular female wrestler during a time when wrestling was big, it would have been Chyna. She got a ton of coverage during her last 2 years with the company. So honestly, the better question here would be Wendi vs. Chyna. Both of which were popular, but were gone just as fast as they hit their stride.

That's another big point. I mean before Wendi came Moolah but Vince didn't buy the rights to her championship until Wendi was on the horizon for the big push. However before Trish women were big deals Chyna was marketable before her and before Chyna Sable was a money machine for Vince. Sable came right after Sunny who was bigger then anybody she managed and was really WWF's first big penetration on the early internet. So I'd argue Trish's path was a bit clearer and the pressure a little less. She transitioned into the role quite well as the face of the Divas. Wendi just started out there.

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

Sable and Sunny were eye candy. Nothing more. Wendi was a bonafide athlete who had beauty and charisma.

[norsisclouds]

Jan 25, 2013 2:38:49 GMT -5 mizerable said:

Jan 25, 2013 1:47:38 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Trish, on the other hand, came into the biz at a time when it was still red hot and became the top woman based on her sheer adapatation to it, which was amazingly fast.

Trish was eye candy during the time when WWE was ratings fire, she didn't start wrestling until the ratings started to drop off in late 2001. She didn't hit her stride until 2003 when she had some great people to work with.

If we want to talk about anyone who was a super popular female wrestler during a time when wrestling was big, it would have been Chyna. She got a ton of coverage during her last 2 years with the company. So honestly, the better question here would be Wendi vs. Chyna. Both of which were popular, but were gone just as fast as they hit their stride.

I agree with this.

Chyna was a guest on the freaking Tonight Show. She was invited to talk shows. She walked the red carpet. She guest starred on television shows. She was known. People who never watched wrestling know who Chyna is...I think I've said this before a few times, but my SO who hates and has never watched any wrestling, had heard of Chyna.

My parents who don't watch heard of Chyna, and they are in their 50s.

Trish never ever ever achieved that type of notoriety outside of wrestling. Chyna may not get the attention she deserves now because of her personal problems, but I think the better comparison would have been between those two. Sure, WWE models their women after Trish now, but how many women got into wrestling period because they saw Chyna on television/knew of Chyna? She was hugely influential.