Trish Stratus Justifies Controversial 2001 'Bark Like a Dog' Segment in New 'Mr. McMahon' Doc
The seven-time WWE women's champion said everyone involved knew what reaction they would get from the controversial segment.
Trish Stratus has defended the controversial segment she was involved in with Vince McMahon, where she was forced to strip down to her underwear and go on all fours to bark like a dog.
In Netflix's docuseries Mr. McMahon, the seven-time WWE Women's Champion reflected on that segment from a 2001 episode of Smackdown and claimed it got the reaction it was intended to have. In the segment, McMahon is on a maniacal power trip ahead of his match with his son, Shane McMahon, at Wrestlemania X-Seven and goes about humiliating Stratus in front of the WWE faithful.
He became angry with her and demanded that she get on her hands and knees to bark like a dog while comparing her to his female dog, which he referred to as a "bitch." The segment went even further when Vince ordered Stratus to remove her clothing and expose her underwear.
According to Stratus, everyone involved with the segment knew how people would interpret it, which was the intended goal. It was also a crucial moment to get the storyline of Vince cheating on his wife Linda with Stratus to Wrestlemania X-Seven where Shane would defend his mother's honor.
"With the barking like a dog segment, they want me to be like [exhales] 'it was horrible,' but that's exactly the feeling we wanted you to feel," said Stratus. "Don't you get it? We knew we were presenting a sensitive scene to the fans. We knew it was gonna be talked about, and be interpreted and misinterpreted. We were aware of that. The thing is, when we did that scene, we knew the comeuppance would come at WrestleMania."
In a 2022 appearance on For The Love Of Wrestling, Stratus discussed her initial reaction to being pitched a controversial storyline by Vince McMahon. She recalled his proposal of an angle where she would "bark like a dog" and face humiliation, to which she responded enthusiastically, knowing it would lead to her eventual redemption at Wrestlemania.
The segment and many others throughout WWE's Attitude Era were controversial and have been viewed differently since the sexual assault allegations against McMahon were made public in 2022. Now, people are wondering how much was real and scripted when it came to Vince McMahon and the Mr. McMahon character.
Mr. McMahon has given fans an inside look at McMahon and several events that transpired in the WWE, such as the boss denouncing CTE playing a role in the deaths of some of his employees.
