Tranny ain't that weak. Its not STI strong but there are FA cars with 3-500whp on stock clutch and trans as I'm sure you know.
The guy driving that wrx needs a few pointers, not to mention if he has bolt ons w/out a tune the car probably runs like junk.
Ahh, then the newer 6 speed in the wrx's is a hell of allot better than the old 5 speed, those were ticking timebombs new. I had an 11 sti so my info/opinions are from that generation of subie products, which I guess only still hold true to the sti seeing as it's basically the same since 2004, seriously wtf Subaru, guess people keep buying em. But anyway, those trans/awd/axel setups were bullet proof, after ya upgraded the clutch, for serious fun/abuse.