Wrestling / Chyna

The Ninth Wonder Of The World

"Don't treat me like a woman
Don't treat me like a man...
Don't treat me like you know me...
Treat me for just who I am."

Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1970 – April 20, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, glamour model, pornographic actress, bodybuilder, and television personality. She was one of the more famous "Divas" in WWE's history. She was a notable character in the Attitude Era, an element of many notable incarnations of D-Generation X, and served as a bodyguard to Hunter Hearst Helmsley. She was trained by Killer Kowalski, a Golden Age heel wrestler. Before joining WWE, Chyna was named 1996 PGWA rookie of the year.

She was one of the founding members of the aforementioned D-Generation X, the first woman to compete in both the Royal Rumble and King of the Ring, the first woman to hold an official male title (and the only one so far to hold the Intercontinental Championship), and the first woman to be crowned as #1 contender for the WWF title.

Her frosty relationship with HHH and the McMahons became a major issue, and she left professional wrestling to pursue work in pornography. After a brief return to wrestling at TNA's Sacrifice PPV in 2011 (as Kurt Angle's mistress), Chyna announced that she was returning to the adult film industry. One of her roles was She-Hulk in both Avengers XXX and a solo movie.

Chyna was found dead in her home on April 20, 2016. In December, her autopsy revealed she died of a drug overdose.

She was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as part of D-Generation X's group induction, the thirteenth woman overall to be inducted and the first to be inducted both posthumously and as part of a group.

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Don't treat me like a trope page

• Aborted Arc: Her budding feud with Lita was ended when Chyna abruptly left the company. Her final match was the 2001 Judgement Day PPV, where she retained the title against Lita. And she was never seen again.
• Alternate Company Equivalent:
  • Seen by many as a knockoff of Jacqueline, who was in WCW at the time as "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan's second, upon her original debut, and spent much of her time fighting the men.
  • In 1999, WCW offered up their own copy, introducing Christi Wolf as "Asya".
• Amazonian Beauty: While not the traditional example of the kind of woman WWE would push as a Ms. Fanservice character, like Sable or Trish Stratus, she had her fans who saw her as a sex symbol all the same. Fan signs such as "I Like to Eat Chynese" and "Fine Chyna 3:69" prove this. She was given a Girliness Upgrade in 2000 and did pose for Playboy though.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • Marlena at first, since she debuted during HHH's feud with Goldust in February 1997. From that point on, except for the month or so between her joining the Corporation and HHH joining it and until she went after Jeff Jarrett's IC Title, it was generally whoever HHH and/or DX as a group was/were feuding with at the time. Mark Henry, Chris Jericho, and Right to Censor later filled this role.
  • In New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Masahiro Chono. She was basically introduced by Antonio Inoki to humiliate Chono, who Wouldn't Hit a Girl at first. The feud got so heated that Chono claimed he would give her his role as GM if he did not get rid of her in their anticipated match. Fortunately, he won and later reconciled with her as a Worthy Opponent.
• As Herself: Did her own voice in Celebrity Deathmatch, as did most WWE stars who appeared on the cartoon.
• Bash Brothers: Triple H, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Kane, Eddie Guerrero, Justin McCully and Glamor Boy Shane.
• Big Entrance: She somehow got an Egyptian-themed entrance in NJPW, with her as a queen and chaired by slaves.
• The Brute: Certainly the first woman to fill the latter role in WWE history. While there had been larger women, the WWF usually had no idea what to do with them (Monster Ripper) and none of them served as serious bodyguards for a man.
• Bodyguard Crush: Towards Triple H back in the day. He reciprocated her feelings which led to a Relationship Upgrade.
• Celebrity Resemblance: After her surgery, some fans noticed a passing resemblance to Lucy Lawless of Xena: Warrior Princess fame. No wonder some fans dubbed her 'Xena of WWF' at times.
• Censored for Comedy: During her feud with Jeff Jarrett in late 1999, she cut a promo where she said after that night they might be the same sex, because "the balls are in my court," and the words my court were muted out.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: She was recognized as the strongest female wrestler in WWE history.^note Nicole Bass was probably stronger - she had the same physique as Chyna but was 4 inches taller, 30 lbs heavier, and regarded as one of the largest and strongest women in the world - but most people have forgotten that Bass worked for WWE
• Chickification: Pushed as a brute and deadly threat to the males in WWF at first. In 2000 she became Eddie Guerrero's girlfriend, was presented less as a tough competitor, and eventually joined the women's division instead.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Disappeared after the Judgment Day PPV on May 20, 2001, with no In-Universe explanation ever offered. This left the WWE Women's Championship she was holding at the time vacant for the next six months.^note They couldn't take the title off her while she was still under contract. They had to wait for her contract to expire before declaring the title vacant and crowning a new champion.
• The Comically Serious: As a member of DX, she was the no-nonsense contrast to Triple H and Shawn Michaels's clownish antics.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Her nickname was a big one for the WWF as she was the 9th wonder of the world while André the Giant had been named the 8th.
  • A humorous - and unofficial - example came after her breast surgery, Triple H and Shawn Michaels declared them the 10th and 11th wonders.
• Cosplay: Done a few times in her porn career, she's more remembered as She-Hulk made for the Porn Parody of The Avengers even outside porn. She was so successful with the role that the studio gave her a solo movie as She-Hulk.
• Dark Action Girl: And one of the few women guys could hit without anyone batting an eye, though the WWF had to build up to this point.
• Defeat by Modesty:
  • She often assaulted Masahiro Chono in NJPW after his matches, but in one of them, Chono got tired and ripped her top to make her run away to cover herself.
  • Although it wasn't a match situation, Lita managed to subdue Chyna just long enough by ripping her dress off, leaving her too stunned to fight back.
• Designated Girl Fight: In 2000 she won the Intercontinental Championship again but did so by pinning another woman (Trish Stratus) and only held it for eight days.
• Determinator: During the mid-'90s feud between Triple H and Mankind, one of the continual sources of drama in the feud was that Chyna could not be kept from interfering. Once they went so far as to suspend her in a cage above the ring. She bent the bars and escaped.
• Disposable Fiancé: She says she & Triple H were engaged when he started seeing Stephanie. Former WWE diva Ivory says they fell in love after working so close together, and sadly Chyna got the shaft because of it. Eventually Chyna was gone from WWE, disappeared in Kay Fabe with no explanation given, and effectively replaced by Stephanie who had HHH, became his tag-partner, and was an Action Girl in DX.
• Domestic Abuse: Unfortunately it reared its ugly head during her unhealthy relationship with Sean Waltman. Ironically, though, it was Chyna who was arrested for supposedly beating X-Pac! Don't laugh.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Officially changed her name to "Chyna." Though on her appearance on MTV's Cribs, she referred to herself as "Joanie" once or twice.
• The Dreaded: Chyna was, at one point, the most feared female wrestler in televised wrestling and officially the strongest woman in the history of the WWE. Hence, Karen Jarrett had a major Freak Out when she learned she would have to be in the same ring with Chyna in 2011.
• Et Tu, Brute?: The cause of the break-up of her kayfabe romance with Eddie Guerrero was that he was caught on camera with two of the Godfather's hoes. Chyna was completely heartbroken, especially considering she had accepted an offer to marry him.
  Chyna: I loved you! I trusted you! I respected you!
• Face–Heel Revolving Door: Towards the end of 1999. She was still allied with Triple H and technically a heel but had begun feuding with Straw Misogynist Jeff Jarrett - which caused crowds to cheer for her. Especially egregious at the Rebellion PPV ^note Exclusive to the UK where she was the face in her match against Jarrett but was at ringside for Triple H's match against The Rock and helped Triple H cheat quite a bit.
• Face–Heel Turn: Was in the middle of one prior to her abrupt departure. She had previously been acting a lot more cocky and full of herself during matches, seeing the rest of the Divas as no competition to her. In her final match against Lita, although they shook hands afterwards, she acted very heelish before that which seems to suggest she would have turned heel eventually.
• Fanservice Model: She eventually became this after her surgery, but and even more obviously one when she was a pornstar.
• Fanservice Pack: In 2000 as she received some cosmetic surgery, her ring gear became slightly more sexy. Then she ended up posing for Playboy.
• Fetishized Abuser: For Eddie Guerrero at first, although their antics proved endearing enough to turn them both into fan favorites. In real life, she was abusive with X-Pac and said by other sources to be so to Triple H as well.
• Finishing Move: HHH's Pedigree, Press Slam, Powerbomb, Sleeper Slam.
• Freudian Threat: She taunted Masahiro Chono in many ways: insulting his wife, claiming that she wanted to make him wear a female kimono, that she wanted to break his arms and legs... but especially threatened with castrating him.
• Frying Pan of Doom: Used one in the Good Housekeeping Match with Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy 99.
• Funbag Airbag: Claims Matthew Broderick accidentally did this to her one time at the Emmys. He was trying to step back out of the way when Joan and Melissa Rivers wanted to interview his wife Sarah Jessica Parker but didn't look where he was going and wound up with his face right between Chyna's boobs.
• Girliness Upgrade: Around 2000 she started wearing more makeup and was seen in dresses more often. This eventually crossed over into her ring gear in 2001.
• Godiva Hair: Used for some shots on the 2001 Divas in Hedonism DVD.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: The March 10, 1997 Raw featured Goldust winning a squash. After the match, Chyna and HHH attacked Goldust until Marlena jumped on Chyna's back. As the referees separated the women, Chyna threw one of them, Harvey Wippleman, into the crowd.
• Groin Attack: Chyna was notorious for doing these. The video game WWF Attitude even dubbed the move 'Chyna Downstairs'.
• The Heart: In Degeneration X, being Hunter's bodyguard & eventual lover who stuck by him when he formed DX with HBK. An intimidating woman who acts as the group's enforcer. Being a woman of few words, her actions & facial expressions conveyed a more maternal side. During a triple threat match with Rock, Hunter, and X-Pac, a rift occurred between the latter two and the match ends in DQ with Rock losing but getting to keep his belt. Triple H and X-Pac are frustrated, meanwhile Chyna can only glare at them in silent reprimand.
  • Another case occurs when Hunter fights X-Pac who is KO'd in the end and Chyna is the first to go kneel beside & check on him
• Heroic BSoD: Was left sitting on the metal steps in abject horror when she saw that Eddie had cheated on her.
• Hidden Depths:
  • In WWE, Chyna was mainly known for kicking, punching people in the crotch, and throwing around those smaller than her. In New Japan Pro Wrestling she displayed much more athleticism and dexterity during her matches. Even within WWE itself, she was a power wrestler, but one of her signature moves was also the handspring elbow.
  • She taught English as a foreign language in Japan. In fact, she was bilingual, which Triple H made a joke about on an episode of Raw. In actual fact, Chyna apparently spoke no less than ''four'' languages other than English.
• Home Porn Movie: She and then-boyfriend Sean "X-Pac" Waltman (yes, that one) had one, which even saw an official release under the title 1 Night in China. This probably doesn't need to be said, but it's absolute Nightmare Fuel.
• Huge Schoolgirl: She felt a little self-conscious about it growing up. In her autobiography, she recalls a specific event in a fitness competition. She was 5'10" and around 150 pounds at the time, while the rest of the girls were petite little things all under 5'5" and around 100-120 pounds. She recalls a wide shot they filmed with all the contestants in a row and said she looked like an adult trying to sneak into a children's matinee.
• "I Am" Song: The lyrics at the top of the page are from her entrance theme, "Who I Am."
• Lovely Angels: After winning the Intercontinental Championship the first time, Chyna also won the services of Jeff Jarrett's valet Miss Kitty. The two appeared together for several months and even briefly held titles together (Chyna as Intercontinental and Miss Kitty as Women's).
• My Nayme Is: Her ring name is usually spelt with an "i".
• One of the Boys: Her feature in the Come Get Some video treats her as such. While the rest of the Divas get more feminine (and Fanservicey) segments, Chyna's focused on her at the gym. It could easily have been a feature on a male wrestler.
• Pie in the Face:
  • She tossed Masahiro Chono's birthday cake into his face. Naturally, he was not amused.
  • During her 'Good Housekeeping' match with Jeff Jarrett, pies were among the objects used.
  Jim Ross: "She just wasted two good pies!"
• Power Stable:
  • D-Generation X (one of the founding members, with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Rick Rude)
  • The Corporation, and the result of its merging with The Ministry of Darkness, The Corporate Ministry
  • (in New Japan Pro-Wrestling): Foreign Army
• Red Baron: "The Ninth Wonder of the World."
• The Rival:
  • Before making it to the big time, one of them was Angel Orsini, who showed up in ECW but never got to wrestle Chyna on National TV. Also, Violet Flame in the International Wrestling Federation.
  • In WWE, Lita was the only woman who came close to giving Chyna any sort of trouble in a straight one on one fight. Not that it ever really looked like Lita could beat Chyna but Lita was able to hang around without cheating. After WWE, there was Nicole Bass, who Chyna did clothesline once in WWE but never had a real program with. Even after WWE, Bass and Chyna's rivalry was more managerial than wrestling.
  • Ultimate Pro Wrestling in California was building up Chyna for a confrontation with Rio Storm and eventually, Erica Porter, but it did not work out.
• Self-Deprecation: One of her first adult movies is a WWE-styled movie, Chyna is Queen of the Ring. Including a literal example of Chyna's accusations of being Screwed by the Network (site is SFW - it's the first part of a wrestling page's recap of the movie, retelling the scenes as if they were matches)
  Vince repeatedly attacks her from behind while Stephanie is just kind of sitting there holding Chyna's head down towards the general vicinity of the billion-dollar pelvic bone. I guess this is to make sure that Chyna can't break Vince's hold.
• Ship Tease: With Billy Gunn around 2000/2001.
  Jerry Lawler: "Is he 'The One' or are they 'The Two'?"
• Small Name, Big Ego: She first saw signs of this in her 2001 autobiography, Chyna: If They Only Knew, and her ego became even more inflated after her 2001 release. Killer Kowalski, who trained her, slammed her book, calling her "the biggest liar I have ever come across," and suggested that her fame had gone to her head.
• Squash Match: Defeated Ivory for the WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania X-Seven in a mere 2:39. She had several TV matches that were very short as well.
• Statuesque Stunner: She was about the ideal supermodel height. The exact same height and weight as Mr Tall, Dark, and Handsome Prince Devitt!
• The Stoic: In D-Generation X, though she did have her Not So Stoic moments in DX; on one occasion, Triple H was cutting a promo while Shawn Michaels kept staring at Chyna's enhanced bust, only to look away quickly when Chyna tried to catch him in the act. After a few times, she had a small but visible grin on her face.
• Stripperiffic: Par the course for professional wrestling, but Chyna's outfits became a late-night comedian joke as her career went on.
• The Unfought: She never faced Jacqueline in any capacity, despite them spending nearly four years in the company together. Notable because Jackie had competed in a few intergender matches as well, and was touted among fans as an opponent who could possibly give Chyna a run for her money.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Triple H challenged The Rock for the WWF Championship in an "I Quit" match on the January 25, 1999 Raw. Triple H had Rock set up for a Pedigree on the English announce table when The Corporation ran out. Kane had Chyna set up for a chokeslam and the Big Bossman threatened that they'll break her neck unless he gives up the match. Triple H agreed, and Kane let her go. Triple H turned toward Kane and it looked like they were going to fight...until Chyna lowblowed Triple H instead, thus turning heel and joining the Corporation.
• Unperson: Chyna was not really acknowledged much following her departure. The only time WWE went out of their way to mention her was when she got nominated for the 'Diva of the Decade' award in 2003 (which Trish Stratus won). She was however acknowledged after her death.
• Villainous Cheekbones: When she debuted as the bodyguard to Shawn Michaels and Triple H, less so after getting plastic surgery and leaving D-Generation X.
• Woman Scorned:
  • To Triple H, which caused her to side with Vince McMahon and Kane.
  • After Eddie Guerrero broke her heart, she fought him in various matches to take revenge.
• Worked Shoot:
  • She had a shoot fight in Japan, defeating female boxing champion Chika Nakamura, but it is considered a work.
  • At the 2001 Royal Rumble WWE did a worked injury angle where she suffered whiplash on her injured neck trying to perform a handspring elbow on Ivory. Jerry Lawler even got up from the announce table to check on her in the ring - something he had done only twice before in his career, the very real Owen Hart tragedy and Darren "Droz" Drozdov's in-ring accident, which left him permanently paralyzed, both of which happened within five months of each other in 1999.^note It was supposed to be Steven Richards hitting her in the back of the neck with something as she did the move, but he completely messed up the timing so she sold the whiplash anyway
• Would Hit a Girl:
  • Superstars were reluctant at first but she credits "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for kickstarting her career by making it ok for men to hit her. Even in Japan, Masahiro Chono at first refused to fight her, and Yuji Nagata was downright embarrassed with the idea.
  • In her King of the Ring match, Road Dogg was at first reluctant to strike her and resorted to holds. After Chyna got aggressive enough, he stopped holding back.
• Writing Around Trademarks
  • After leaving the WWF in 2001, she changed her name to Chynna Doll, as the WWF owned the Chyna name at the time. After WWE's trademark on "Chyna" expired, Laurer legally changed her name to "Chyna" in 2009.
  • Also, the title of her porno film, "1 Night in China", a play on Paris Hilton's sex tape, "1 Night in Paris" (also produced by the same studio as Chyna's sex tape). To help get away with it, the producers flew X-Pac out to the Great Wall of China and interviewed him there.
• You Go, Girl!: Several weeks saw the airing of her beating up the WWE champion Bret Hart so fans would not mind when someone finally hit her back, then show she could take it so they would mind even less. Once her ability to hang with the boys was firmly established, she competed regularly in intergender competition for about two years and won many of her matches, including holding the Intercontinental Championship, competing in the King of the Ring tournament, and briefly becoming #1 contender to the WWF Championship.

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