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By Gavin Boyle
WWE superstars Paul Heyman and Trish Stratus shared how they balance parenthood while also being the face of the wrestling industry.
“I’ve taken them to work since they were in diapers, and I’ll probably be taking them until I’m in diapers,” Heyman told Parents. “To them, it was normal for a seven-foot giant to come over for dinner or for me to run out the door to go ice fishing with Brock Lesnar. They only saw life through that lens.”
The Hall of Famer and wrestling manager is dad to two adult children (23 and 21).
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“I never really looked at it as if what I did for a living forced my hand in the way I raised my children. Both of my kids have their own individual needs, wants, goals, desires, and outlook on life,” Heyman added. “My first obligation has always been raising my children, and everything else is secondary.”
Stratus shared a similar family-first policy, something she explicitly lived out for years as she retired from the WWE Women’s Championship in 2006 so she could raise her kids and did not return to the ring until 2023. Even now that she has returned to the sport, she still prioritizes her kids, a 12-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl.
“I go home after working for days and disconnect. Just be me. I’m taking out the trash just like my neighbors,” Stratus explained. “I’m a normal person. I’m a regular mom — I just have to do my job on TV. You think I’m larger than life, but I’m actually just like you.”
The WWE has only started to emphasize the family side of wrestling in recent years as the sport looks to move away from its gritty side and reach a younger audience. Starting in January of 2025, the sport began streaming on Netflix, and earlier this year, this partnership expanded to include the sport’s extensive library as well, which was previously housed on Peacock. Heyman believes that this partnership is directly responsible for the exploding popularity of the WWE.
“Before COVID, it was a boutique industry, it was niche, it was a guilty pleasure, and then it became a multibillion-dollar guilty pleasure and a multibillion-dollar boutique industry, and now, with the distribution on Netflix, it’s no longer boutique, now it’s certified Main Street,” he told The Hollywood reporter.
“We now have to take those performances from the couch and bring that soap opera to play out,” Heyman added. “Sometimes it’s all physical, so it’s very Shakespeare. And sometimes it’s all words.”
As WWE becomes mainstream and continues to garner a family audience, it is encouraging to know that the sport’s biggest stars care about their families and understand why a family-friendly show matters.
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