Trish Stratus Talks WWE Return Wish List, Options Weighed

Trish Stratus hasn’t wrestled since dropping a WWE Women’s Championship match to Tiffany Stratton at Evolution in July 2025, but the Hall of Famer is once again fueling speculation about stepping back between the ropes. In a recent conversation with Chris Van Vliet, Stratus made clear that any comeback would need the right circumstances, saying there are “a few boxes” that would have to be checked before she laced up her boots again.

Stratus’ 2025 run was framed as a celebration of her 25 years with WWE, featuring a Royal Rumble entrance, a tag win alongside Tiffany Stratton over Nia Jax and Candice LeRae at Elimination Chamber, and the eventual title shot at Evolution. Since then, she’s stayed largely out of action, but her comments to Van Vliet — plus a habit of publicly praising and calling out current stars — have kept the door open for one more chapter.

A few names have emerged as logical connections. Stratus was effusive about Sol Ruca after watching her beat Bayley at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025, saying she was “blown away” by the performance before Ruca’s move to Raw that April. Given that Stratus has talked about wanting any return to “pay it forward” to the next generation, a program built around elevating a rising star like Ruca — potentially even a run at the currently vacant-for-them WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, a title neither has held — would fit that stated philosophy.

Then there’s the dream-match angle. When Van Vliet asked the crowd for suggestions during the interview, Rhea Ripley’s name drew the strongest reaction from Stratus, who said she’d love the challenge and believes she could hang with The Eradicator. The timing is complicated: Ripley has been sidelined since undergoing knee surgery and hasn’t wrestled since a non-televised house show in Portugal on June 3. Both women’s in-ring timelines are uncertain right now, but a showdown between a modern locker-room leader and one of the sport’s most decorated veterans is the kind of match that sells itself whenever it happens.

The most dramatic possibility floated is a retirement match, and Blake Monroe has put herself squarely in that conversation. The former Mariah May recently pitched a “Legend Killer” persona for herself, name-dropping Stratus alongside the Bella Twins and Paige as potential targets. Monroe is still building her case on the main roster, and a high-profile feud — especially one that could double as Stratus’ curtain call — would be exactly the kind of rocket fuel a rising heel needs.

None of these are confirmed plans, just plausible paths based on what Stratus and others around her have said publicly. But the fact that her name keeps surfacing in connection with Ruca, Ripley and Monroe suggests WWE creative has options on the shelf whenever Stratus decides the timing — and the boxes — line up. For now, fans are left to speculate on which door she walks through, if any, and whether her next match might also be her last.