During an appearance on the Wilde On podcast, Trish Stratus talked about her retirement from WWE in 2006:
“At the time, it was a couple of things that happened. Number one, my contract was coming up. You don’t really think about what’s next until you’re forced to think about what’s next, especially in wrestling. You’re in this constant go, go, go, and it’s almost like this frenetic pace. So, contract up, and that meant I have to think about it for the first time and put some awareness towards my two to five years and think about what I want or need for myself. It made me analyze everything I had done to that point, which was kind of cool because we don’t really do these fulfillment checks……what else did I want to accomplish? What else can I accomplish? I thought I’ve literally worked with every female that’s available on the roster and been so lucky to have these fantastic, robust feuds with all these women – not just a fleeting match, but great feuds and rivalries that to this day people talk about and love and connect with.”
“And then my mom got sick and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It was just the universe saying, ‘This is your time to talk away and focus on family again.’ If you’re on the road, you can’t be there. I wouldn’t get to her treatments or be there for her. I could not imagine that……she’s recovered now, and sometimes there are just signs that it’s just the time. I never thought, ‘I’ll go back one of these days” because I think back then, you knew Ric Flair and other people kept coming back. That was my time – my little bundle of my career – and I was happy with it. I felt proud of it.”
