As part of our celebration of Lita‘s WWE Hall of Fame induction, Diva Dirt will highlight fan-written retrospectives on her storied career.
“Back to the Beginning” by Gerard Verterano
PART I: TRAINING
Amy Dumas was always fascinated with lucha libre competitors. Rey Mysterio was an inspiration for her to become involved in the industry. In order to attain her dream, she travelled to Mexico for training. She highlights many details of her training in her autobiography: The Reality of Amy Dumas (one of the few wrestling books I enjoyed). She served as a manager/valet on the independent scene with names like Angelica (I remember Bill Apter‘s magazine promoting pictures of her in 1999). In 1999, Paul Heyman approached her to be a part of ECW where she would be known as Miss Congeniality, being paired with Danny Doring. It was a really interesting pairing-it helped get her foot into the US wrestling scene. Thanks to Heyman and Tommy Dreamer, she was able to get her foot in the door. She underwent more training under Dory Funk‘s Funkin Conservatory, who also trained the best male wrestler of all time Kurt Angle. She graduated from Funk’s school in August of 1999, and compiled footage sending to the WWE for evaluation. WWE was impressed with what they saw, and signed her on November 1, 1999.
PART II: DEBUT
On February 13, 2000, on an episode of Sunday Night Heat, Amy Dumas made her debut in WWE alongside Essa Rios. Her ring name would become known as Lita. Lita had a very unique look from the get-go. She had fire red hair, a green shoulder tattoo, and at this time was wearing several variations of red whether it was a bodysuit or a red top with pink pants. Not only was the look interesting, but we didn’t know as fans that she was more than a manager at this point. That all changed after this debut. She displayed the same athleticism (unparalleled for any female competitor up to this point in WWE) as Essa Rios when she performed a beautiful moonsault on the defeated Gillberg. Her most memorable feud during her time with Essa Rios would be with Chyna and Eddie Guerrero over the European Championship. It’s one of the more underrated matches on a PPV (Backlash 2000) you will find. Both Lita and Chyna were over with fans, and the guys put on a really athletic match. There was a match between The Hardy Boyz and Eddie/Essa. Chyna had warned Lita that she better do her part. I loved when Lita rolled her eyes at Chyna. In the match, she went for the moonsault and it nailed Eddie. Lita was definitely somebody the company was getting behind. This feud led to dissension between Lita & Essa Rios. One reason was Lita finding Essa Rios with The Godfather’s hos. The other was Essa Rios taking out his frustrations on Lita following a loss. She was rescued by The Hardy Boyz which opened up a new chapter for all three known as Team Xtreme.
PART III: TEAM XTREME
In my opinion, Team Xtreme is one of the greatest babyface acts in pro-wrestling. Prior to Lita joining the group in May of 2000, Jeff & Matt Hardy were popular with fans, but it wasn’t until Lita joined them that became ultra popular. The second those opening chords hit from the Hardy Boyz theme music crowds would erupt as all three raced down to the ring. It was such a great pairing. Around the time, Lita changed her look up again attire wise which seemed more her style than the Essa Rios pairing. She would wear simple tan ktops, the cargo pants with the thong exposed (suggested by Edge). This attire worked so well for her, because Lita is a really beautiful woman. Guys thought she was pretty, and also liked the fact that she could kick ass. Girls liked her because she was out there kicking ass unlike most of the other girls and became the most popular woman on the roster. In 2000, Lita would develop a rivalry with Trish Stratus which would be an on-again/off-again feud for the next six years, whether it was for a championship, or intergender tag team matches. One thing I’ve always found to be really awesome is that Lita was the first woman to headline Raw in the main event. Trish Stratus would be the other woman to do this with her in 2000 (intergender matches) & 2004. However, the first female main event featured Lita vs. Stephanie McMahon for the Women’s Championship on August 21, 2000. With The Rock as the referee, Lita delivered her moonsault on Stephanie picking up her first Women’s Championship. It was really awesome seeing the last shot of RAW being Lita sitting on The Hardy Boyz shoulders while she celebrated as the new champion. Her athleticism and ability to stand up to both male & female competitors earned her more respect over the next few years. Arenas would erupt into loud Lita chants sometimes when the guys were fighting in the ring. It was surreal to see fans care more about this amazing woman at ringside. After a successful period of time from 2000-2002, Lita starred in an episode of Dark Angel. This was actually a big deal. Not only was she extremely popular in WWE, but this popularity helped her to land a role in this show. I definitely enjoyed her work as the leader of a resistance movement here. She looked badass, and completely natural in the role. Unfortunately, she broke her neck when a stunt double dropped her wrong. It would be a while before she would be back in the ring, but for the time being she was still on every week as a commentator on Sunday Night Heat with Jonathan Coachman which was great.
PART IV: RETURN
During Lita’s time away from the ring, Trish Stratus had emerged as the top female competitor. Lita, Trish Stratus, and this whole generation of female competitors was the golden age of the women’s division in WWE. At this time, Trish was feuding with Molly Holly and Gail Kim who were trying to rid the WWE of her. They felt if they could get rid of her they could run the division. Their plan was working until an unexpected outcome changed the plan. On September 15, 2003, Lita returned like a house of fire making an impactful return and one of my favorites in company history. She showed that she was back with a vengeance. This led to some interesting feuds with Molly Holly & Gail Kim and Christian & Chris Jericho (underrated in my opinion), until Trish Stratus turned heel at WrestleMania 20. In November of 2003, Lita and Victoria would be the first time women wrestled inside of a steel cage. It bothers me that women don’t get matches like this today. It just shows that Lita made alot of history, and WWE officials were confident in her ability to have stipulations matches like this. Lita would remain face at this time. During this time, she was involved with a relationship with Matt Hardy, and in 2004 it became more pronounced on television leading to an underrated rivalry with Kane. In terms of in ring action, Lita wouldn’t be involved in many matches, but she was involved in this long term angle. While many people seem to denounce this feud, I’ve always enjoyed it. I felt Kane was on top of his game here. It was the apex of his heel character at the time terrorizing Lita and Matt. The only time I was genuinely entertained by a wedding angle in WWE was when Lita & Kane had their wedding. Lita in the black dress was always an incredible visual, as it contrasted with Kane’s white outfit. This wedding/feud was great as it successfully showed how low Kane would go. It’s rare you’ll even get females involved in a storyline of any kind on WWE these days. That’s why I appreciate this feud even more now. This is a really intense feud in a lot of ways. If this feud was on a popular television series, it would be extremely compelling for viewers. The wedding was very compelling, and resulted in one of the better endings to RAW. This wedding also successfully parlayed into the Lita/Trish rivalry once again. Trish Stratus had been the Women’s Champion since Bad Blood 2004 in June following a victory in a Fatal Four-Way over Lita, Victoria, and Gail Kim. She didn’t really have many defenses, because they had introduced the Diva Search concept around this time. However, Lita & Trish’s rivalry intensified so much at the end of the year where fans wanted to see Lita beat the hell out of Trish and take that title from her. At Survivor Series, they used their match as an angle to push towards the real title match. That title match came on December 6, 2004. It also was the main event. They were trusted to go out there last and give the fans something memorable. This is my favorite women’s match in WWE history. It culminated in an awesome victory for Lita overcoming her neck injury, her storyline feud with Kane & Trish, and standing tall as a 2 time Women’s Champion. I was almost certain WrestleMania 21 would have resulted in a Ladder Match between these two, but a torn ACL at New Year’s Revolution 2005 halted that. At least Lita got her moment to get revenge in a show stealing match. At the end of the day, that’s all that mattered to me.
PART V: RATED R ERA
Following the torn ACL, I wondered what Lita would do next. She had been a successful face since 2000. In 2005, there were reports about things going on behind the scenes between her and Edge while she was with Matt Hardy. This catalyst would actually be a blessing in disguise as creative used that to fuel the best storyline in 2005, and actually change Lita’s character up which is always something good to see. During the finals of the Gold Rush tournament, it was Edge taking on Kane. The winner of this tournament would face World Heavyweight Champion Batista on RAW. Lita had assisted her storyline husband to victory in order to get to the finals. During the finals however, she swerved Kane and assisted Edge handing him his Money In The Bank briefcase to use. This resulted in Edge winning that tournament. The big news was that they aligned Lita & Edge on television. The second it happened, I was impressed. Lita had been one of the best faces ever, and now she would morph into one of the best heels ever. It’s rare that a competitor can be a great face and heel, but Lita did it. The Lita & Edge pairing was so well done, and I know at the time I was the only one that rooted for them. I was never a Matt Hardy fan, and quite frankly, storyline wise Lita turning on Kane for everything he did to her in storylines was awesome to watch. The Lita/Edge wedding helped to add more heat to the fire so to speak. This eventually led to the return of Matt Hardy, and the love triangle of Lita/Edge/Matt led to such a tremendous rivalry using realism as well as creative input to give fans something special. As I said, I rooted for Lita & Edge the whole time. Lita being involved in the matches added more to it as she would still take bumps to further the storyline-it made the feud work better. After that feud was done, Lita became involved in the biggest storyline of 2006 in the feud between John Cena and Edge. It was really awesome seeing my favorite female in the company involved in the main title feud for most of the year. She was still recovering from her ACL, and even though she wasn’t wrestling, she was having memorable moments taunting Cena while holding the WWE Title, helping Edge in his match with Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22, and taking FUs, Pedigrees, etc. She is one tough woman to take all this punishment. I respect her so much for putting her all into everything she did. While face Lita always looked beautiful, heel Lita was hot. She always looked incredible every week. The Cena vs. Edge feud is one of my five favorite feuds in WWE history, and to have Lita be a part of that is a big deal. As her heel character was well established and her ACL completely healed, she began competing in the ring again. I liked that Lita had a face & heel style. Her face style had more high flying athleticism, while her heel style was more pound and ground which worked really well. Lita’s heel style put an end to Mickie James first Women’s Title reign. It would mark Lita’s third title reign. I always thought it was awesome that Lita & Edge were the power couple of the WWE at the time. It just felt right-they looked great together, and a heel couple hadn’t garnered heat like them since HHH & Stephanie in 2000. I firmly believe Edge was at his best when he was paired with Lita. With Lita as champion and Trish Stratus retirement imminent, it was apropos that her final match would be with Lita. Unforgiven 2006 is one of my favorite WWE PPVs, and this match is one of the finest women’s matches in WWE history. THis was a culmination of their entire feud from 2000-2006. They fought hard in the ring showing how great they are. Lita did an incredible job as the heel champion here. Trish picked up the victory, but it was a special moment showing how valuable Lita is as a competitor. She put over Trish on her last night, and there was honestly no other person that could do it the way Lita could. Around this time, WWE was offereing Lita a new contract, but she was contemplating her other options. At Survivor Series 2006, Lita would head in as champion for her final match with Mickie James. I thought it was a perfect match for Lita’s last match, as Mickie was the right person to pass the torch to as she would become the standard bearer for the company with Lita & Trish leaving. Lita & Mickie had an excellent match. My only gripe with this is her send-off. Nothing pissed me off more than the ridiculous segment they did with Cryme Tyme coming out with that stupid box of stuff. It was very disrespectful in a lot of ways for a woman that meant so much to the history of the company helping pave the way for future women. Current Divas Champion AJ Lee, as well as NXT competitor Bayley looked up to Lita as inspiration for their careers. While that send-off bothered me a great deal, April 5th will be satisfying as she will finally get that proper send-off she deserves. I’d love to see her have one more match, but I don’t know if it will happen. Following her wrestling career, she focused on her rock band the Luchagores, but for me she will always be the woman that captivated me on television every week showing me how awesome women’s wrestling can be.
PART VI: LITA’S LEGACY
I believe women’s wrestling is the best aspect of the business, and I always look forward to see who the next generation of women are. Lita is a big reason why women’s wrestling has become a bigger deal over time. Her contributions to the business can never be ignored. Her athleticism changed the way female competitors were viewed in the WWE. Her toughness, attractive look, and no fear attitude gained legions of followers. She was the most popular female in the WWE for two and a half years. She was also able to transition into the most hated female on the roster, showing her versatility as a performer. She main evented Raw in history making matches, she had numerous moments displaying her athleticism or sex appeal, and she had a unique look that set her apart from other females on the roster. She is an amazing woman that has always entertained me in everything she has done in the industry whether it was her rivalry with Trish Stratus, being a member of Team Xtreme, being the Rated R Diva, or whatever she was doing at that particular moment in her career. She is a special breed of female talent that deserves the honor she will be receiving on April 5th. I like that Trish Stratus will be inducting her. There is so much history between them that IT JUST FEELS RIGHT that she’d induct Lita. At WrestleMania 27 Axxess, I had the honor and privilege of meeting this amazing woman. She was very personable, and still looked beautiful. Not many wrestling fans can say they met their favorite wrestler, but I was lucky enough to be able to. Amy Dumas takes her place among the elite in her profession with this induction. Thank you Lita for all your hard work and dedication to your craft. No matter who comes along, nobody will ever touch Lita.
