WWE just made a swing through Canada for TV and a premium live event. On Raw this Monday in Ottawa, one legend made a return to TV, but another one — a Canadian at that — was on hand but didn’t end up appearing.
The legend in question would be Trish Stratus, who’s been rumored for some time to be coming in to assist Becky Lynch in her seemingly ceaseless battle against Bayley and Damage CTRL. The thinking would be that Lynch would join forces with Lita (who helped Becky recently) and Stratus to take on the entire heel stable.
But while Lita did accompany Lynch to the ring to invade Bayley’s Ding Dong, Hello segment in Ottawa, there was no sign of Stratus — though not because she wasn’t there.
Fightful Select confirmed that Stratus “physically was at the show in Ottawa” but left before the segment even took place.
“When we asked what ended up happening, we were simply told a ‘creative change,'” the report concluded.
The change in question should play out next week, as Lynch and Lita challenged Damage CTRL for their Women’s Tag Team Championship. One possibility is that Dakota Kai, who’s been nursing an injury, may not be ready to compete, and that perhaps Bayley will team with IYO SKY to defend the titles in Kai’s place. There’s plenty of precedent for that throughout WWE history thanks to the Freebird Rule.
A tag team match obviously requires only one partner for Lynch, and Lita had already intervened in this particular storyline. There’s still time for Stratus to be brought in before WrestleMania if that’s where WWE is heading with all of this, but even though fans anywhere will be happy to see her, it’s too bad it didn’t work out for her to make a return in front of a Canadian crowd.