#103: Lita vs. Trish Stratus, WWE Unforgiven (9/17/2006).
This is for Lita's Women's Championship, and the retirement match of Trish Stratus.
In an era where Women's wrestling wasn't taken as seriously as the rest of the world, two women rose through adversity to become arguably the two best Women's wrestlers of this era, and that's Lita and Trish Stratus.
Lita's retirement match would be a few months after this, but here, in her hometown of Toronto, Trish Stratus looks to end her career as the Women's Champion.
These two are long time friends and rivals. Their December 2004 Women's Championship match was the first legitimate Women's main event in the history of Monday Night Raw. There is no better opponent for Trish to end her career with than Lita.
Big "Thank you Trish" chant to start things out. They lock up, and Lita pushes Trish away. She Irish whips Trish into the turnbuckle, and she responds with a clothesline for a 2 count.
Hurricanrana to Lita, who rolls to the outside. Trish dives off the apron with a Lou Thesz press to Lita. Another hurricanrana to Lita sends her to the mat from the steel steps. Back in the Ring, Trish stays aggressive.
Lita fights back with hard shots to the back. She drops a hammerfist to her back next, then slams her face off the mat. She drives her knee into Trish's neck against the ropes.
Snap mare by Lita, and right into a chin lock. Despite this match following a Hell in a Cell Match, this crowd is hot. Trish tries to escape, but Lita grabs her hair and slams her to the mat. She sends Trish into the turnbuckle and continues to stay on offense with punches and stomps.
Trish fights back with kicks of her own. She fires off with some chops. Stinger Splash by Trish in the corner. Lita connects with a back elbow to the head. She goes to the top rope. Trish tries for a hurricanrana, but Lita holds on to her, and they both tumble to the outside.
Both are back on the apron, and climbing to the top rope. Trish with hard right hands to Lita, but she gets thrown into the ring with hard velocity. Lita goes to the top, and misses the moonsault. Trish makes the cover, and Lita kicks out.
Trish goes for Stratusfaction, but Lita counters it and sends Trish to the outside. Lita brings Trish back in, and gets a nearfall. Lita explodes with punches to the head. She ragdolls Trish's head off the mat. More hammerfists to the back and kidneys by Lita.
Lita connects with a snap suplex that gets a nearfall. Lita kicks Trish hard in the midsection. Next, she drops several knees to the spine. Lita taunts Trish, who gets back up and strikes the champion hard. Side Russian leg sweep by Lita, who goes into a mount and continues to punch her down.
Sleeper hold by Lita next, as she looks to grind away whatever momentum Trish has left. Trish is back up, and she hits a neckbreaker to Lita. We get a forearm exchange from these two legendary women.
Lita back elbows Trish, who hits the hurricanrana off the top rope. Trish hits the Chick Kick perfect, but Lita kicks out just at the right time. Lita rakes the eyes. She goes for the Twist of Fate, but Trish counters into a Stratusfaction attempt. Lita avoids it, and tries for a pin, but Trish escapes.
She grabs Lita's legs, and puts her in the Sharpshooter, deep in the heart of Canada! She pulls her from the ropes, and wrenches back as far as she can, and Lita taps out! Trish retires as a 7 time Women's Champion, at the time a new record.
As expected, these two delivered big time. You could always rely on these two to give you a quality match in a time when Women's wrestling was treated as a total afterthought in WWE.
But Here, both women brought their working boots and gave the Toronto faithful a super fun match. Trish certainly had more to give to wrestling at this time, but she went out at her peak, and she went out on top, setting a record that wouldn't be broken until the rise of Charlotte Flair in the late 2010s.
The finish was awesome, and the Canadian fans popped huge for the Sharpshooter. Kudos to Jim Ross as well, as he sold this finish like a huge deal. Trish came into WWE greener than green eggs and ham, but by this point, she had more than earned her keep. An absolute legend.