The Rise and Fall of Chyna, the Ninth Wonder of the World

From WWE stardom to alleged substance abuse, the former WWE superstar had her share of battles.

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Complex Original

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Last night, pro wrestling fans were shaken by news that Joanie Laurer, aka Chyna, the WWE superstar known as the Ninth Wonder of the World, was found dead in her apartment in Redondo Beach, Calif. A friend was prompted to check Chyna's residence after the former wrestler was reportedly not answering phone calls. While no cause of death has been officially reported, reports say that officials are investigating a possible overdose. She was 45.

With the WWE officially moving away from the term "Diva" to reference their women's division (after the failure of the #DivasRevolution), it's tragic that Chyna won't be here to see the seeds she sowed during her pioneering days in the WWE's Attitude Era blossom almost twenty years later. We're talking about the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble bout. The first woman to enter the King of the Ring tournament. The first woman to hold the WWE Intercontinental championship (which she did twice). She at one point was even named the No. 1 contender for the (men's) WWE Championship. That's a lot of "firsts" for someone Vince McMahon originally didn't think fans would believe could fight against men; she would later be called "the most dominant female competitor for all time."

I remember the first time I saw her in early 1997; it was during a feud between Triple H (then known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who eventually started dating Chyna in real life) and Goldust, who would be accompanied by his cigar-smoking manager Marlena. Marlena was prone to interfering in matches, and while Helmsley was the official "heel" in the feud, he felt he needed some protection and hired the massive Chyna to be his enforcer. Needless to say, her debut made a huge impact.

Out of nowhere, this massive woman appeared to be choking the life out of Marlena and there was little ringside security could do to stop her. Later in the feud, Chyna would spring into action, grabbing Marlena from behind and ragdolling her.

It was savage, brutal, and one of the first displays of what a truly badass woman could do in the WWE. It was also the type of display of force we've not seen from a woman in pro wrestling since...and probably won't see again. 

The history of women in the WWE has been rocky, at best. There have been stretches where the number of women who were actually employed to wrestle could be counted on one hand. Their championship would become a thing, but would be quickly forgotten until a new phenom came along. With the rise of the Divas like Sable and Sunny, women started to be seen as on-screen personalities, but it was Chyna who took it to the next level. She could totally dominate the other women in the federation while leaving many of the guys shook, too. It was an interesting dynamic given how, for a spell, most guys wouldn't hit her because she was a woman, but she would still flex on them at will.

Chyna became a celebrity and star during the WWE's highly-profitable Attitude Era, which lasted from late 1997 to May of 2002, even being featured on the cover of Playboy in November of 2000. However, backstage politics cut her in-ring career short after her sole WWE Women's Title win in her final WWE match (at Judgement Day 2001).

Rumors have always swirled concerning her former boyfriend Triple H and his relationship with Stephanie McMahon, now his wife. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said recently that Chyna more than likely complained to Vince McMahon himself about the situation—which Chyna mentioned in a 2015 interview with former WWE writer Vince Russo—even going as far as to say that she had a meeting with both Vince and Stephanie about the situation, before apparently being told that she would no longer be needed via fax.

With the rise of the Divas like Sable and Sunny, women started to be seen as on-screen personalities, but it was Chyna who took it to the next level.

Chyna's downward spiral seemed to coincide with the conclusion of her contract with the WWE. Her career went from wrestling to dabbling in reality television with appearances on the VH1 Surreal Life series as well as a stint on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew where she put her issues with alcohol on front street. There was also numerous porn films, ranging from home videos made with then-boyfriend Sean Waltman (aka former WWE superstar X-Pac, also of D-Generation X) to professional porn films for Vivid (which included Chyna dressing up as She-Hulk in two Avengers parodies). No matter the weight of what Chyna accomplished as a WWE superstar, these transgressions (alongside disparaging remarks she's made about her relationship with Triple H) have soured her in the eyes of the corporate WWE of today.

For some, this might seem like the scatterbrained path that any celebrity abusing drugs and alcohol might take, but Chyna's situation felt different. She's reportedly had issues early on in life, making claims in her book If They Only Knew of both sexual abuse and bulimia during her childhood and teen years. She ultimately left home at 16 instead of being put into drug rehab. Judging by the trajectory of her early life, one of the best decisions Chyna made early was getting into fitness competitions and working on her body, although the loss of the resulting fame apparently took a heavy toll.

Who knows what goes through the minds of people who are thrust into the limelight for their differences only to have that vehicle taken from them? It's impossible to know for sure, but Chyna's post-WWE life, which took her through a whirlwind of drugs, alcohol, and questionable career decisions, highlights some of the worst that can happen to a star when there are no more matches left. It's no surprise that she attempted to make amends at Roddy Piper's funeral in 2015, apologizing for comments she "said under emotional distress."

Chyna was campaigning to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

With the WWE now being a publicly-traded, PG-rated sports entertainment company, it shouldn't take Neil deGrasse Tyson to figure out why they would frown on inducting Chyna into their Hall of Fame. Especially when you consider that Triple H—who has become the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events, and Creative at the WWE—is one of the main people calling the shots in regards to future Hall of Famers. At this point, though, one would imagine that the WWE—who has made it clear that their women's division needs to be taken more seriously than ever before—would acknowledge one of the true pioneers in women's wrestling as a part of their Hall of Fame, right?

While the WWE.com website doesn't have an alumni page for Chyna at the moment (primarily because they're good at scrubbing people from their site, just as Hogan), one has to wonder: Will there be a tribute to her during this Monday's edition of Raw? Will she receive tributes/retrospectives on the WWE Network in the coming weeks? Will WrestleMania 33 feature her posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame?

When you stack up her enormous accolades against any possible off-screen friction, it's truly the least the WWE could do for a personality who almost single-handedly changed women's wrestling forever. Rest in peace.

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