Not to mention she started off as arm candy for Test and Albert (T&A, get it? Impact wasn't even innovative there either) and actually wanted to put in effort to improve when they put her in the ring.
Also I think it's funny how internet fans tend to poo-poo the importance of firsts when it comes to women in WWE, but it seems like Trish and Lita being the first women's match to main event Raw made an impression on a lot of little girls who grew up to be wrestlers today.
edit: As far as Ronda goes, I bet the plan was for her to come out doing the Ronda Mean Mug Face to everyone but she was marking out internally too hard to keep from smiling.