Kaitlynn Stryfe: In Memoriam

This week the wrestling world lost one of its most influential and controversial figures with the untimely passing of Kaitlynn Stryfe. Kaitlynn was well known for both her incredible in ring ability and her emotional outbursts backstage. Words cannot hope to do justice to the legacy that Kaitlynn Stryfe left behind for us, and one simple blog post is nowhere near enough to pay tribute to such person. But when God calls home one of his angels he leaves us mere mortals behind to tell the tale. And that story must be told, over and over again to preserve the history, the memory, of one held so dear by so many.

Kaitlynn began her wrestling career in the late nineties by training alongside her twin brother Robert Dale at the legendary Hart Dungeon. Such was her passion for the sport that she and her brother lied about their ages in order to begin training under Stu Hart while still only sixteen. Kaitlynn and Robert went on to form a fairly successful tag team which made a splash on the Canadian indy wrestling scene and dominated the competition at Maple Leaf Wrestling. Even while only receiving a minimal singles push from management, Kaitlynn was already accumulating a fan following thanks to the wrestling skill and charisma that came so naturally to her. When Maple Leaf Wrestling closed its doors Kaitlynn went off to find bigger and better things.

Unfortunately what she found was the World Class Wrestling Federation. She joined the company in 2001 and, in what would become a theme that plagued her career, she was immediately pushed aside and into a simple valet role and saw little airtime as a backstage personality, but she stayed with WCWF out of loyalty to her brother Robert, and she patiently waited for her shot. It didn’t come often, but when Kaitlynn got her chances to shine she was perfection. She went undefeated during her first run with WCWF before eventually moving on to Super Athletes Wrestling Federation in 2002.

It was in SAWF that several important things happened to Kaitlynn. First, she met Brad Jackson. She and Jackson would carry on a torrid love and at times violent love affair for years and they would remain close until her untimely passing. Their story got its start in SAWF where the two began a whirlwind romance that saw them elope in Las Vegas. Their relationship left them both irreparably changed, and truly they lived for better and worse. One cannot clearly define just how much Kaitlynn Stryfe helped Jackson’s career, but it’s safe to say the Darkhorse would be nowhere near the legend he is without the Volatile Vixen by his side. Kaitynn would successfully manage Jackson and several other wrestlers in SAWF. It was also the company where she won her first gold, capturing both the SAWF National and Japanese titles before the company closed its doors in late 2003.

Dark times were ahead for Kaitlynn. She found herself back in the World Class Wrestling Federation after a short stint in Global Wrestling. Kaitlynn formed a short lived tag team with a fellow SAWF wrestler. During this time she also returned to being the Darkhorse’s valet. After a series of unfortunate and life changing events, Kaitlynn spent the next year in and out of hospitals.

However, just as she always did, Kaitlynn refused to let her career die. Determined to prove she could still compete, Kaitlynn joined Elite Superstar Wrestling. She divorced Jackson and was on the verge of becoming a breakout star before the company collapsed. Still determined to make it, Kaitlynn joined Elite Wrestling Champions in 2009. It was in EWC that Kaitlynn tasted, in what were her own words, her first “real success”. She captured the Devastation and Sirens Championships. She also met her second husband Alexander Stryfe in EWC, and the two would be married in May of 2010. Unfortunatly, as the story of her life so often went, EWC closed its doors before Kaitlynn could establish herself further.

But Kaitlynn would not allow the failures of others to keep her down. She finally found a home in Femme Fatalle Wrestling and almost became the first ever FFW Champion, narrowly losing to “The Killer Blonde” Amy at FFW’s inaugural PPV, Unstoppable. The pay-per-view name was appropriate for Kaitlynn because that’s just what she was, unstoppable. She would go on to eventually win the FFW Championship, her first and only major title. And before her passing Kaitlynn competing in a few other companies and won the sYn Climax Championship and the CFW Television Title.

But it was never the championships that defined Kaitlynn Stryfe’s fifteen year career. It was also her attitude, her determination, her drive to succeed and to help others succeed as well. Kaitlynn competed at a time when women were consistently marginalized, often relegated to being in tag teams, serving as valets, and at best being kept in their own small and often overlooked division. Kaitlynn was constantly let down by the promotions she worked for, but she stood by them loyal to a fault. She worked hard for the shots she earned ten times over, and when she had her chances she turned heads and stole shows.

Kaitlynn Stryfe was a trailblazer, a rolemodel, and a major influence on many of the top female wrestlers today, and her grit and determination should serve as a model for everyone who wants to make it in this business. Anyone who complains about unfair treatment, backstage politics, or having to overcome adversity need only to look at the life of Kaitlynn Stryfe to find inspiration and a good kick in the pants.

It would be easy to talk about Kaitlynn Stryfe’s faults and her occasional attitude issues. After all, one of her nicknames was “The Bitch”. But this is no time to speak ill of the dead. Now we should remember Kaitlynn Stryfe for what she truly was, an inspiration, a truly gifted talent, a loving friend, and a woman who touched the lives of everyone she met and many she did not. The wrestling world has been left with a hole that will never truly be filled, and her friends have been left with hearts that will never fully heal. Together we shall tell her story. We will whisper name with reverence, and will repeat her praises until Kaitlynn Stryfe is where she belongs, in the realm of legend.