Counterfeit Pennies: A Closer Look at Lita vs. Trish

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In a very interesting if not popular move, WWE decided to throw the Women’s title match between Trish Stratus and Lita into the main event slot on this past Monday’s Raw. Granted, the WWE was in Lita’s hometown, but the fact that Vince McMahon and Company decided to give more than a modicum of respect to female grapplers is as surprising as a Barry Horowitz pin-fall victory.

Trish and Lita are certainly not the greatest actresses when it comes to making filmed vignettes or talking to a live crowd. In fact, Lita’s prepackaged interview about Gene Snitsky being a “dead man” was one of the most unintentionally hilarious pieces of footage ever aired on WWE programming. (Triple H schtooping a mannequin who took the form of a dead Katie Vick corpse is probably tops on that list, but that’s another column for another time.) But you know something, this is one of the longer-running feuds on Raw as of late — even if one can easily state that this has become more of a long-arched storyline by default due to the lack of experienced women wrestlers on the roster than a planned saga between the two — and for once, there’s actually been a little “juice” in a WWE main event match that wasn’t derived from steroids or force-fed nepotism.

Another reason why I was shocked to see WWE creative allow Trish and Lita lock hands in a main event match this past Monday was that every time I see Trish I can’t help but reminisce — if only for a flickering moment — about the infamous Jackie Gayda f*ckup, even though she is much-improved in the ring since that long-ago but lingering moment.

I haven’t read any reviews or ratings of the Trish-Lita match, but I did see it unfold with my own eyes as the clock struck 11:00. To me, the match took on a very ominous tone after Lita threw herself in a Kamikaze dive out of the ring and onto Trish. I cringed when I saw Lita’s head and neck snap backwards as her head hit more of the floor than her opponent, and I was shocked when Lita not only climbed back into the ring, but then she finished the match off seemingly as scripted. Lita and Trish engaged in a memorable exchange that resulted in a fierce superplex, and the hometown hero sealed the victory with a less than memorable Twist of Fate, one of those “I’m f*cking tired because I almost gave myself a concussion” type of finishing moves where the wrestler is given a little slack by fans because at least she worked her ass off to get to that point.

What Lita and Trish showed on Monday night was what the boys in the back show less frequently as the years (and careers) go on without proper progression: They exhibited heart in their most climactic match to date. So many guys learn to take their “spots” for granted, as if their names were etched into the main event slot by Michelangelo’s chisel, while all the women want is a little room on the canvas.

Kudos to Trish and (especially) Lita for taking advantage of their brush with the big-time.

That’s all for now … PEACE.

For a copy of Chris’ Amazon.com Wish List (or to share your feedback on this column), send an email to cbinsidepulse@yahoo.com. His next column will be his “year-end EXTRAVAGANZA” — coming to you on December 31!

CB is an Editor for Pulse Wrestling and an original member of the Inside Pulse writing team covering the spectrum of pop culture including pro wrestling, sports, movies, music, radio and television.