mandy rose she has been compared to Trish Stratus since the day she entered the wrestling business due to her looks. The comparisons were obvious as Rose had a similar athletic build and blonde hair that Stratus had when he too entered WWE. Both ladies have even publicly discussed how much they enjoy this comparison.
Rose has intentionally worn outfits to pay homage to Stratus’ WWE career. Trish even joked that she once thought she was looking at an old picture of herself when she saw one of Mandy’s outfits. Rose’s wrestling journey still has a long way to go to match Stratus’ achievements. Mandy and Trish have the following things that make them different as well.
10 Similar: Joined WWE without any formal training
WWE believed in Trish Stratus and Mandy Rose enough for them to enter the world of wrestling for the biggest company without any formal training. Stratus signed with WWE in 1999 thanks to her modeling career and was sent to Ron Hutchinson’s school to learn the trade from her.
Mandy had a slightly different scenario when she joined the reality show Tough Enough. WWE also found Rose because of her experience as a model for her and wanted her on that big project at the time. Mandy trained on the show as part of the reality show angle, before moving to the Performance Center when she signed on.
9 Different: Trish Stratus worked with bigger names faster
The Age of Attitude created a sink or sink environment for talents to immediately top. Trish Stratus started out on the T&A team but moved into a main story at the end of her rookie year. Vince McMahon having an affair with Trish placed her in big storylines.
Stratus worked with the likes of Vince, Stephanie McMahon, Kurt Angle and Triple H for a few months to keep learning as he went. The biggest name that has had a story with Mandy Rose so far is probably Dolph Ziggler, which speaks volumes about the different starting points there.
8 Related: Homewrecker Heel Storylines
Trish Stratus and Mandy Rose have each placed themselves in the same controversial story genre in their careers. Vince McMahon’s affair with Trish led to her bragging in front of Linda McMahon until Vince started roughing her up.
Mandy Rose had a similar story with a different twist when she got into a fight with Naomi. The heel’s evil desire to ruin Naomi’s life saw her trying to seduce Naomi’s husband, Jimmy Uso. She seemed to get away with it when Jimmy showed up at her hotel until he revealed that Naomi was with him for a fit. .
7 Different: Mandy Rose competed for three WWE brands
The brand split has been a notable part of Mandy Rose and Trish Stratus’ respective careers. Stratus was the top female talent when WWE started the first brand division and had her as the face of the Raw women’s division.
SmackDown did not have a women’s title, so Trish spent the rest of her career solely on the Raw brand. Mandy was called up in the brand split era and saw her work on both Raw and SmackDown. Her return to NXT makes it the third brand in which she has been present in front of Stratus.
6 Similar: Instantly Loved By WWE Management
Many of the top female names in WWE history had to win over management like Becky Lynch and Lita. However, there were also instances where WWE management loved the talent from the start and wanted them to become big stars.
Trish Stratus joined with a lot of publicity and was instantly given TV time with minimal experience. Mandy Rose trained in NXT and many pushes stopped her, but WWE always believed in her. The return to NXT 2.0 and the show building around it showed how much WWE still valued Mandy.
5 Different: Trish Stratus started as manager
One of the reasons that helped Trish Stratus get a lot of television time early in her career was that the role of manager made it easier. Stratus, Test manager, Albert, Val Venis and a few other wrestlers introduced her to the wrestling audience.
Many fans felt that Mandy Rose could have been better off starting there as well, but WWE placed her in the wrestling fire. Although Rose managed Otis for a short time, she mainly fought. Trish was able to take on that role after her character was established as a manager.
4 Similar: Get to the next level during the title reign
The use of a title reign is intended to elevate both the title and the person who holds it. Trish Stratus and Mandy Rose did just that on their first gold medals. WWE actually regained the Women’s Championship after Chyna walked out without losing it to crown Trish.
The title reign and the split of the Raw brand helped make Stratus a bigger star and the entire women’s division by proxy. Mandy had the same experience with her first reign as NXT Women’s Champion and taking her career to new heights.
3 Different: Mandy Rose leading her own faction
Many all-time greats like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels added new chapters to their legacies by leading factions. Mandy Rose may have created the first chapter of her wrestling legacy on the same stage.
Toxic Attraction has become the hottest act in NXT 2.0 with Rose leading Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne to great success together. Trish Stratus never had that for her, as she only managed a team or worked alone. There was a loose alliance with Molly Holly and Gail Kim at one point, but they were just a makeshift team.
two Similar: Big fight with best friend
One cool thing that both Trish Stratus and Mandy Rose can say is that they had big fights with their best friends. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville started together in Tough Enough and were called up in NXT at the same time. The eventual breakup led to a heavy feud with Rose winning a Loser Leaves Town match.
Stratus clearly got the peak of her feud when she worked against her best friend Lita. WWE witnessed Lita vs. Trish become the premier female rivalry in company history for over a decade. Their careers remain intertwined as best friends in and out of the ring.
1 Different: Trish Stratus was a better face
Trish Stratus deserves a lot of credit for being able to thrive in both the face and heel roles throughout her career. It can be argued that Stratus is the best female face and female heel in WWE history looking back at his work.
Mandy Rose has clearly had the opposite scenario where she has thrived as a heel thus far. Her early career teaming with Sonya Deville and now leading the Toxic Attraction group shows her natural heel charisma. Rose’s run dating Otis and teaming with Dana Brooke ultimately ended with her returning to NXT to rebuild her name.