Tonight’s episode of WWE Raw will feature Trish Stratus’ protege, Zoey Stark, taking on her current rival Becky Lynch in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. The match takes place just days before Stratus and Lynch will step inside a steel cage at WWE Payback. Just a few weeks ago, Stratus and Lynch wrestled to a double count-out on Raw that resulted in both women trashing the lobby and merchandise area well after the bell rang to conclude the bout. That’s when WWE authority figure Adam Pearce intervened, declaring the two top stars would eventually settle their differences in a cage.
This will not be the first time Stark and Lynch will have gotten physical. Back in May, Stark initially aligned herself with Stratus at WWE Night of Champions, hiding under the ring and waiting for the right moment to attack Lynch. Once Lynch was on the outside, with the referee’s back turned, Stark leaped into action, grabbing The Man and hitting her with her signature Z360 finisher, setting Stratus up for the win. While she did not fully break Lynch’s nose with the move, she definitely made contact, leaving the former WWE champion bloody.
In an exclusive Haus of Wrestling interview conducted during WWE SummerSlam week, I asked Stark about the incident and what the reaction was like backstage after it happened.
“Statement made,” she laughed. “In all seriousness, we did talk, and she was fine. She’s good, like, her nose, you know, it happens. We’re in a very physical sport. I don’t ever want to hurt anybody, but when it happens, it happens, and you go back and you apologize, and that’s exactly what I did. I went back, ‘I’m so sorry.’ It sucks when it happens. It sucks. But it happens.”
My full conversation with Zoey Stark is now available on the Haus of Wrestling YouTube channel and podcast feed.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling and link back to this article