Relationships in the wrestling biz rarely last, whether in real life or in storyline.
For over a year, Victoria and Stevie Richards were the on-screen power couple of Raw (or in Stevie’s case, Heat). But when Victoria turned babyface, Stevie faded from the picture.
Though Victoria soon regained the Women’s championship, life as a solo act was no picnic. With no one at ringside to counter Tyson Tomko’s interference, she lost her title to Trish Stratus…
…and was herself relegated to Sunday Night Heat.
Once again, Victoria was easy prey to outside interference, this time from Molly Holly. But before Molly could cost her the match, she was thwarted—not by Stevie Richards, but by a woman.
A very tall woman with broad shoulders and a decidedly masculine gait.
Of course, this wasn’t actually a woman, because no woman in WWE looks remotely like this in 2024, let alone back in 2004.
Remember, this was the same year as the first Diva Search, the “Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal”, and the Playboy Evening Gown Tag Match. When it came to the Divas (“women”, to use the modern parlance), looks were the number one concern.
Another clue came on a subsequent edition of Heat, where the mystery woman accidentally wore a jacket with “Stevie” printed on the back.
Okay, not really, but this extended camera shot made things about as obvious as they could possibly get.
Yet even with Stevie Richards’s face clearly visible on camera, all the announcers could surmise was that this woman was ugly.
And that wasn’t even strictly true! No, by far the ugliest thing about this mystery woman was her clothes, which couldn’t have cost the wardrobe department more than ten bucks.
You’d think the same announcers who laughed at Molly’s cheap wig would have realized the mystery woman wore one, too.
For weeks, the bag lady roughed up Divas and bailed out Victoria, who had no idea what to make of this six-foot-two stalker.
As broadcast journalists, Al Snow and Todd Grisham could have drawn up a list of suspects, people who might act like a crazed ex-lover.
People such as Victoria’s crazed ex-lover, Stevie Richards.
Instead, the announcers played dumb, not even questioning how this woman got backstage every week.
One week, the mystery woman didn’t show up. Instead, Stevie Richards got in Victoria’s face, costing her the match via distraction.
Once, the mystery woman even flattened Rodney Mack with a clothesline. And still, the idiot announcers had no idea anything was amiss.
After nearly two months of this inanity, she finally appeared live on Raw, saving Victoria from Tyson Tomko.
“Is that Lita?” asked Lawler, giving away that he didn’t watch Sunday Night Heat (or know what Lita looked like)
Jim Ross, on the other hand, had seen this woman many times on Raw’s B-show. And he still couldn’t figure out who she was.
I mean, the fans all seemed to know, chanting “Stevie! Stevie!”.
If that weren’t obvious enough, one fan spelled it out for the entire TV audience.
“Stevie Richards!”
he shouted clear as day…
…at which point, Jim and Jerry reiterated how utterly unsolvable this mystery was.
Eventually, somebody in WWE realized that this angle was making everybody in the company look like a massive dunce…
…so when the mystery woman appeared on Raw again, the announcers competed to wink the hardest at the audience. In fact, it was so obvious to Lawler that “she” was a man, he didn’t even mention her bra or panties. (That would come later)
This time, the mystery woman randomly tripped and fell. It was as if WWE was saying, See? This has always been a comedy storyline and you can’t prove otherwise.
At Unforgiven, Tyson Tomko once again put his hands on Victoria, costing her her match…
…before the mystery woman once again made the save…
…hitting Tomko with a Stevie-T. I mean, DDT.
But before WWE could cut to a video package for the next match, Tomko grabbed the mic.
“I’m gonna solve the mystery of the mystery woman”, said Tyson, challenging “it” to a match right then and there.
Impromptu matches are rare indeed on pay-per-view, but when you’re in a hurry to get a bad storyline over with, you’ll do whatever you can.
And so the “cross-dressing hermaphrodite” (Tomko’s words) accepted the challenge.
This kind of match, it turned out, could only happen on pay-per-view; were it shown on free TV, everyone would change the channel.
Even calling it a “match” is generous; it’s more like a hate crime with a ref and an opening bell.
Tyson Tomko methodically assaulted Stevie Richards…
…stripping him of his wig, blouse, and skirt piece by piece to reveal what Jim Ross called WWE’s “worst-kept secret”.
Jerry Lawler, on the other hand, didn’t know when to let the joke go, talking incessantly about granny panties.
But neither announcer could muster even the slightest hint of interest in the match. Lawler was too bored to squeal, while Ross sounded as checked out as I’ve ever heard him.
All the while, the fans sat in absolute silence. For six and a half uncomfortable minutes, Tomko brutalized and berated Richards…
…stomping his head into the ground…
…then tearing off his bra and jamming the stuffings down his mouth.
“You’re a punk!” said Tomko, master of storytelling. “A big sissy!”
“Well that was rather definitive”, remarked a bored JR.
When Stevie could stand this humiliation no more…
…he fought the “sissy” accusations with a handful of Tyson’s genitals.
Stevie mounted a brief comeback…
…but foolishly stopped to pick up his torn bra.
This distraction allowed Tomko to hit Stevie with his finisher, pin him, and drop him straight down the memory hole.
And that was that. After Unforgiven, Stevie Richards went right back to Heat, Victoria continued as a solo act, and the mystery woman was (thankfully) never mentioned again.