Trish Stratus and Carlito

Carlito
Carlito seems to have two things on his mind as of late. One , of course, is regaining the Intercontinental Championship. And, judging from the past couple of weeks on RAW, the other might be to spend more time with Trish Stratus.

Recently, Carlito lost his number one contender spot for the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin. Before his match, Carlito was seen talking to Trish. He whispered something to her in Spanish before asking if they could hangout later. Some say Carlito lost his match against Benjamin because he was distracted with thoughts of the Canadian beauty. Can Carlito have love and the championship or will he have to choose?

Carlito spits in the face of people who don't want to be cool, and apparently, many WWE Superstars fall into the category. Exceptionally opinionated and full of himself, Carlito projects quite the smooth demeanor. Armed with an apple in hand, Carlito isn't afraid to unload a mouthful of apple and spit it into your face after labeling you not cool. Of course, this has led to a great deal of trouble for Carlito as WWE Superstars haven't taken his attitude well.

Debuting with a big impact, Carlito defeated reigning United States Champion John Cena in his first WWE match in October 2004. Quickly making a lot of enemies, Carlito found himself in need of some back-up. Always scheming, Carlito introduced his Puerto Rican muscle - Jesus. It was around this time in November 2004 that tragedy struck, as John Cena was stabbed in a Boston nightclub following a SmackDown event. An investigation was launched, but a culprit was never found. However, Carlito and his associate were both rumored to being connected to the hideous attack on Cena.

With Carlito's cockiness and buzz growing, his momentum hit a bump in the road; he suffered a shoulder injury in late 2004, which sidelined him through the spring of 2005. Carlito's ego insists on that worldwide spotlight which is WWE, so he began hosting a talk show segment on SmackDown called Carlito's Cabana. Irritating and disrespecting countless SmackDown Superstars during the Cabana, Carlito maintained his spot as one of the most loathed Superstars on SmackDown despite being out of the ring for nearly five months.

After recovering from injury, Carlito and the Big Show butted heads and went at it for several months on SmackDown, with Carlito adding the stuttering Matt Morgan as his muscle to combat the near 500 pound giant. In June of 2005, Carlito was drafted to RAW in the 2005 Draft Lottery; once again he made history in his debut, defeating Shelton Benjamin to claim the Intercontinental Championship. Carlito held onto the gold through several rematches, but his luck ran out at Unforgiven when he was defeated by Ric Flair.

Heading into Survivor Series, Carlito asked then-General Manager Eric Bischoff for a spot on Team RAW. He promised that he would focus on wrestling, and said there would be no more Carlito's Cabana. Bischoff granted him his chance, and he defeated Shelton Benjamin on an edition of RAW to earn his spot.

After Survivor Series, Carlito moved his focus to the ultimate prize: the WWE Championship. Carlito won a spot in the Elimination Chamber Match at New Year's Revolution, forming a tenuous alliance with Chris Masters in an attempt to get the gold around the waist of some new blood. It nearly worked, as Masters, Carlito and then-champion John Cena were the final three men in the match. However, after Carlito turned against Masters to eliminate him, Cena rolled up the distracted  Caribbean to claim the victory.

Heading into the Royal Rumble, Carlito ran into issues with Kane. He angered the Big Red Monster with some comments on RAW, and on the RAW prior to the Royal Rumble, attacked Kane with a chair during their match. However, Kane sat up after taking the chair shot, sending Carlito scurrying from the ring.

In February 2006, Carlito said that he had an idea for WrestleMania 22 that was "money in the bank." On the Feb. 20 RAW, he announced that his idea was approved by Mr. McMahon, and the second Money in the Bank Ladder Match was sanctioned for WrestleMania. Unfortunately for Carlito, he was defeated by Rob Van Dam the next week, failing to qualify for the match.

However, on the March 6 RAW, Carlito was still rewarded with a great WrestleMania opportunity, as it was announced that Carlito & Chris Masters would face Big Show & Kane for the World Tag Team Championship. Masters & Carlito attacked the champions that night, and for the next month, the challengers did everything they could to throw the champions off their game. It didn't work, and when the rivalry culminated at WrestleMania, Masters accidentally clobbered Carlito, allowing Big Show & Kane to defeat them and retain the World Tag Team Championship. 

The night after on RAW, Carlito came out after Masters' victory, spitting apple in the face of The Masterpiece's opponent. All seemed well between the two, but when Masters turned his back, Carlito dropped him with a back cracker, then spit in his face for good measure. The following week, Carlito came out to gloat, but was interrupted by Masters. Carlito challenged Masters to an impromptu Master Lock Challenge; Carlito threw his apple before it began, however, and when Masters stopped to catch it, Carlito used that opportunity to hit him in the head with a chair. Following the confrontation, their match at Backlash was announced. On the final RAW before Backlash, Masters was able to get the Master Lock on Carlito, but Carlito's team was able to defeat Masters' in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. It wasn't enough, as Carlito beat his former partner at Backlash, then once again in a tag team match the next night on RAW. 

At WWE vs. ECW Head to Head, Carlito represented WWE in a 20-Man ECW vs. WWE Battle Royal. It appeared as if team WWE won the Battle Royal when Randy Orton eliminated Kurt Angle, but Big Show ripped off his shirt to reveal that he had defected to ECW. Show then chokeslammed Orton and tossed him over the top rope to claim victory for ECW.

Carlito then set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship, picking up a big win over then-Champion Shelton Benjamin in a non-title match on the June 5 RAW. Benjamin returned the favor the next week, helping Nitro get a cheap victory over Carlito. That night, Carlito took on Nitro. Benjamin got involved, holding Nitro while. Later, it was announced that the three men would meet at Vengeance in a Triple Threat Match.

At Vengeance, Nitro stole Carlito's pinfall on Shelton Benjamin to win the Intercontinental Championship. Carlito nailed Benjamin with the back cracker, but the opportunistic Nitro pulled him out of the ring and pinned the champion.

The next night, Nitro and Melina tried to attack Trish, but Carlito came out to run them off. Later, Trish thanked Carlito and the two have been close ever since. Trish and Carlito took turns watching each other's backs against the double-teaming duo or Nitro and Melina. At Saturday Night's Main Event, Trish and Carlito showed they made a good pair when they beat Nitro and Melina in a Mixed Tag Team Match. Will hey make as good of a pair out of the ring as in it? Only time will tell.

Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus will be remembered as one of the greatest and sexiest WWE Women's Champions of all time. But whether Trish held the title or not, the sultry Diva was one of WWE's elite Superstars.

Trish's beauty was second to none, and her brains, strength and ability to get the job done make her the total package. A three-time WWE.com Babe of the Year, multiple time Divas magazine cover girl and seven-time Women’s Champion, she proved that she can succeed in all facets of being a WWE Diva.

Renowned for her work as a fitness model, Stratus entered WWE in March 2000 as a manager, leading the careers of Test, Albert and Val Venis. As a manager, she led Venis to the Intercontinental Championship and began her long-standing rivalry with Lita, but her beauty and athleticism left the fans asking for more Trish. She made her in-ring debut that June, teaming with T&A against the Hardy Boyz & Lita, and looking back it’s only fitting that Trish’s first match was against perhaps her greatest rival.

After the breakup of T&A, Trish got involved with Mr. McMahon, an affair that did not please the WWE Chairman’s daughter. Thus began a long-standing hatred between Trish and Stephanie McMahon, and the two even fought at No Way Out 2000. Stephanie was victorious, and after Mr. McMahon even turned on Trish the next night, the McMahon family treated Trish rather poorly for the next few weeks. However, she would get her revenge at WrestleMania X-Seven; after wheeling a sedated Linda McMahon to ringside during a match between Shane and Mr. McMahon, Trish and Stephanie got into a catfight. Linda would eventually awaken from her sedated state to cost Mr. McMahon the match as well.

From there, Trish focused on wrestling full-time, picking up several victories over Ivory, Terri and Molly Holly. She even formed an unlikely alliance with archrival Lita, and the two teamed up to defeat Torrie Wilson & Stacy Keibler in a WWE vs. WCW Bra & Panties Tag Team Match at InVasion.

When an ankle injury forced Trish to miss a few months of action that fall, she branched out into another field, becoming Coach’s co-host on WWE Excess. However, she was soon ready to return to the ring, and at Survivor Series 2001, Trish became Women’s Champion for the first time by winning a Six-Pack Challenge for the vacant championship. She gave up her slot at co-host of Excess as a result, and went on to hold the gold for three months before losing to Jazz at No Way Out 2002. 

Trish finally regained the gold in May, and over the next two years, Trish would win the championship twice more, giving her a total of four. Over that span, Trish had rivalries with several great WWE Divas, including Molly Holly, Victoria and Jazz, and even picked up the Hardcore Championship briefly as well. Trish was also voted WWE.com’s Babe of the Year three times in that span, winning the contest in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Trish also got her first WrestleMania win in 2003, defeating Jazz and Victoria in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania XIX to claim her fourth Women’s Championship. To top all these accomplishments off, Trish was named Diva of the Decade at Raw’s 10th anniversary special in January 2003

Following the loss of her fourth Women’s Championship, Trish tried unsuccessfully throughout 2003 to regain the gold. However, she did gain something else: the affection of Chris Jericho. In October, Jericho came to the ring to help Trish fend off an attack from Steven Richards & Victoria, and over the next few months, a romance seemed to blossom. Jericho’s partner Christian was also trying to develop a romance with Lita at the same time, and the two sets of partners became inexplicably intertwined. The romances actually began as a bet between Jericho & Christian, but when Jericho truly began developing feelings for Trish, it strained his relationship with his tag team partner.

The situation came to a head at WrestleMania XX, where Christian defeated Jericho when Trish inadvertently elbowed Jericho in the face. After the match, she appeared to get in the ring to apologize to Jericho; instead, she slapped him in the face, allowing Christian to attack his now-former partner. Trish then officially cast her lot with Christian, kissing him on the stage as Jericho looked on heartbroken.

Over the next few months, Trish stood faithfully by Christian’s side, adding “Problem Solver” Tyson Tomko in the process, and in June 2004, Trish won her fifth Women’s Championship in a Fatal Four Way Match at Bad Blood. Former Trish allies Jericho and Lita became the group’s main rivals, with Trish going so far as to interrupt Lita’s wedding to Kane in August, brawling with the bride after making some derogatory comments.

As Trish continued to defend the Women’s Championship against all comers, Lita became pregnant with Kane’s baby, and Trish tormented her at every turn, knowing that Lita could not physically respond. Unfortunately, Lita lost Kane's baby, and in October, Lita snapped and attacked Trish backstage after some more insulting comments.

The two finally squared off at Survivor Series, and Lita was quickly disqualified when she nailed Trish with a chair and choked her out. The assault broke Trish’s nose, but she was unable to take time off; on the night Chris Jericho acted as General Manager of Raw, he made a rematch between Trish and Lita for the following week; and on December 6, 2004, Lita defeated Trish to win the Women’s Championship. The reign would only last a month, however, as Trish won the gold for a record sixth time in January at New Year’s Revolution; during the match, Lita tore her ACL, making her easy prey. After toying with Lita for a few minutes, Trish dropped her with a Chick Kick to win the gold. 

With Lita injured, a new challenger stepped up: Christy Hemme. Trish had assaulted Christy months earlier after she had won the Diva Search, professing her dislike for the new Raw Diva. So in February, when Christy came out on Raw to unveil her Playboy cover, Trish was there once again, attacking Hemme and defacing the cover with spray paint.

Christy then challenged Trish to a match at WrestleMania 21. Trish accepted, and as soon as she did, Christy revealed that she had been training with Lita; Lita then made a shocking return, and Christy dropped Trish with a Twist of Fate. Leading up to WrestleMania, Trish twice lost to Christy in arm-wrestling contests on Raw; however, when WrestleMania rolled around, Trish was able to turn back Christy’s challenge.

The next night on Raw, Trish and Christy had a rematch, but it was merely a set-up for Trish to attack Lita. In turn, Lita recruited her estranged husband Kane to come after Trish, forcing the champion to recruit Viscera to help her out. Trish offered Viscera some action if he could defeat Kane at Backlash; Viscera failed, and when Trish berated him in the ring, the World’s Largest Love Machine responded by attacking Trish. Viscera dropped Trish and hit her with a big splash, causing an injury that kept Trish out of action for four months.

That September, Trish returned, coming in to save 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley from an attack by Torrie Wilson, Candice & Victoria. Trish & Ashley defeated Torrie & Victoria at Unforgiven, and it was clear that the Women’s Champion was back with a vengeance. Trish & Ashley also defeated all three of their adversaries in a Handicap Bra & Panties Match at WWE Homecoming on October 3. The next week, Trish defended the Women’s Championship against Victoria; Trish was victorious, but Victoria attacked her after the match. After Ashley’s attempt to help was unsuccessful, Mickie James made her Raw debut to save Trish & Ashley. Later that night she introduced herself as Trish’s biggest fan, beginning a bizarre relationship that would see Trish go from the object of Mickie’s affection to her sworn enemy.

Mickie defeated Trish for the Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 22. In the months that followed, she battled the lingering effects of a dislocated shoulder she suffered at Backlash and was unable to regain the gold from Mickie.

Hated rival Lita ultimately snatched the Women’s Title from Mickie and leaked a bombshell revelation on Raw: Trish was planning to retire. It was true – Trish had planned to retire and decided to have her final match against Lita in front of her hometown crowd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto at Unforgiven.

Before raucous WWE fans, Trish used the Sharpshooter to defeat Lita and regain the Women’s Championship. With tears in her eyes, she said farewell to her adoring, appreciative fans and gave her storybook career a storybook ending.