Page 24 - Real Style Holiday 2018

Stratus-Fied
24 Real Style Holiday 2018
see someone under six feet execute huge power moves. Ultimately, it’s the desire to be the best that drives you.”
Of course, showing what you can do in the ring is only part of the story. “My main objec- tive when I first started was to earn the respect of my co-workers,” Stratus says. “And I did that by showing them how I was willing to put my body on the line each and every night, for 300 nights of the year.” Throughout her career Stratus really did put her body on the line, more than a lot of people realize.
When non-wrestling fans or casual view- ers hear the words “WWE Wrestler” they start thinking terms like fake and scripted, but what they fail to recognize is that there are real risks involved, and people really do get hurt. Stratus is no different, and she’d like to tell those people something to help them better understand it. “I would say check out my missing knuckle and my three-time broken nose,” Stratus says. “Check out any one of the joints that were dislocated and let’s talk about my almost career-ending herni- ated disks! Although wrestling is predetermined, the physicality is real. It takes a high-level athlete with extensive training to be able to pull off those well-coordinated moves.”
Stratus came in like a whirlwind to the world of wrestling, and then just as quickly, after six plus years in the industry, she walked away from it all. There wasn’t just one factor contributing to her decision, though. “When I retired,” Stratus says, “I was 30 years old. I had won more Cham- pionships than any woman before me had, I had worked with all the women that were available in my industry. Not to mention external personal factors: marrying my high school sweetheart who had been through it all with me and my mom be- ing diagnosed with cancer. It was just the right time.”
Just because Stratus retired from wrestling, doesn’t mean her life and career slowed down at
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