Chyna[10] (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder, pornographic actress and television personality.
She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where she was billed as "The Ninth Wonder of the World"[11] (André the Giant was already billed as the eighth). A founding member of the stable D-Generation X as the promotion's first female enforcer, she held the WWF Intercontinental Championship (the only female performer to do so) twice and the WWF Women's Championship once.[6] She was also the first woman to participate in the Royal Rumble match and King of the Ring tournament, in addition to becoming number one contender to the WWF Championship.[12] She is considered one of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era.[13] With singles victories over several prominent male wrestlers – including multiple-time world champions Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett[14] – she left what WWE called "a lasting legacy as the most dominant female competitor of all time".[12] After leaving the WWF in 2001, she wrestled sporadically, with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in 2002 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2011. The latter was her final appearance in the ring.
Outside of wrestling, Chyna appeared in Playboy magazine twice, plus numerous television shows and films. She was considered a sex symbol. In 2005, she was a cast member on VH1's The Surreal Life, which led to several other celebrity reality appearances on the network, including The Surreal Life: Fame Games in 2007 and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew in 2008. Chyna was also known for her tumultuous relationship with fellow wrestler Sean Waltman, with whom she made a sex tape released commercially in 2004 as 1 Night in China, which won a 2006 AVN Award for Best-Selling Title. She starred in a further five pornographic titles, including AVN's 2012 Best Celebrity Sex Tape, Backdoor to Chyna.
In 2019, Chyna was posthumously entered into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of D-Generation X, making her the first woman to be inducted as a part of a group or team.
Early life
Laurer was born in Rochester, New York, on December 27, 1969.[16][17] She had two older siblings: Kathy and Sonny.
Her parents divorced when she was around four years old. She had three stepfathers and one stepmother.[18] She said her first stepfather threatened suicide at one point,[18] while her biological father had a problem with alcoholism and once accidentally stabbed her mother in the thigh with a butcher knife.[19] From 1973 to 1983, she, her siblings and her mother moved several times.
As a child, Laurer learned to play violin and cello.[20] She later said that in seventh grade she was sexually kissed by a much older teacher who worked at her school.[21] At 13, while attending Penfield High School, she began purging after she ate.[22] She left home at 16 when her mother tried to force her into a drug rehabilitation facility, and lived with her biological father.[23] That year she began working out, and because her abdominal muscles were so strong, she did not feel any pain when she developed an ovarian tumor.[21] She finished her last year of high school in Spain.
Laurer attended the University of Tampa,[25] graduating in 1992 with a major in Spanish literature.[26] She studied French and German there (she could converse in either language)[26] and said that during this time she was raped by two men after getting drunk at a party.[27] She was a member of the ROTC.[25] She originally wanted to use her knowledge of foreign languages to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation or Drug Enforcement Administration.[26] She subsequently joined the Peace Corps and was assigned to Guatemala.
After returning from abroad, she held several jobs: a cocktail waitress in a strip club, singer in a band, and a 900-number chat line worker.[29] In her mid-to-late 20s, while living in the Florida Keys, she took a six-week class to train as a flight attendant.[30] On the way to her first flight, she was in a car crash and spent four days in the hospital.[31] When she recovered, her sister Kathy helped her get a job selling pagers; they both also worked as belly dancers.
After college, Laurer began to regularly enter fitness competitions. In 1996, she competed in the New York City regional level of the Fitness America competition.[33] Because of her large size compared to the other women, she usually finished in last place
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