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Chyna

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Joanie Marie Laurer (born December 27 1969 in Londonderry, New Hampshire) is an American professional wrestler and actress.

A former female bodybuilder, she is best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation, where she was known as Chyna and nicknamed The Ninth Wonder of the World (with the eighth wonder being André the Giant).

Wrestling career

Joanie Laurer trained at Killer Kowalski's Wrestling School in Salem, Massachusetts, where she briefly dated Perry Saturn, and worked for various independent promotions. Her career reached new heights when she met WWE wrestlers Paul Levesque (then Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now Triple H) and Shawn Michaels in a bar in 1997. Struck by her appearance, they helped her get into the World Wrestling Federation. Her original role was as the laconic bodyguard of D-Generation X, often getting physically involved in Triple H's matches.

The day after the 1999 Royal Rumble Laurer turned heel by betraying Triple H, aligning herself with his enemy Vince McMahon. She was a thorn in the side of Triple H until he too joined McMahon's group at WrestleMania XV. The duo became part of the Corporation, and later Shane McMahon's Corporate Ministry, harassing rebels like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kane, X-Pac and The Rock.

In late 1999, Laurer became a face again, allying with The Kat and feuding with Jeff Jarrett over the Intercontinental Championship. She defeated Jarrett for the title in his last WWE match on October 17 1999 becoming the first and only woman to win the Intercontinental Championship at No Mercy. She claims that Jarrett demanded (and received) $250,000 from Vince McMahon in order to lose the title cleanly to a woman (his contract had expired on October 16, and he was therefore not obliged to appear on the Pay Per View. If he had not appeared, the WWF would have been criticised for false advertising, and the lineage of the title would have been broken). She would go on to hold the title two more times

In 2000, Laurer briefly teamed with Chris Jericho, before becoming the on-screen girlfriend of Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero and Laurer became very popular during the Summer of 2000, with Guerrero dubbing her his "Mamacita". They split in the Autumn of 2000 after Eddie was found cavorting in the shower with two of The Godfather's "Hos", Mandy and Victoria. At the same time, her appearance in Playboy attracted the unwanted attention of Right to Censor, a straight-laced group of wrestlers who lampooned the Parents Television Council. Laurer was announced as injured after a vicious double team piledriver at the hands of Ivory and Val Venis.

Laurer returned a few weeks later and began a feud with Ivory over the Women's Title. This culminated in a angle at the 2001 Royal Rumble where Laurer appeared to re-injure her neck while performing a handspring back elbow. The fake injury was criticized as being tasteless by many fans, as color commentator Jerry Lawler left the commentators' booth and entered the ring to check on Laurer, something he had not done since the in-ring accident in 1999 that led to the death of Owen Hart. The highly publicised return of Laurer from the "injury" culminated in her winning the Women's Title from Ivory at WrestleMania 17 in a squash match.

Laurer was an extremely dominant champion, defeating challengers Lita and Trish Stratus with little problem. However, during her contract renegotiations, Laurer was unhappy with the pay she was offered and the fact that she was expected to compete principally in the women's division rather than against men. It is also rumored that the relationship between Triple H, her former boyfriend, and Stephanie McMahon, with whom he had an affair then left Laurer for, was a factor in her departure. She left the company on November 30, 2001, several months after negotiations had broken down and she had been taken off television.

Laurer's in-ring career since then has been very limited. She has sang and wrestled at a Ultimate Pro Wrestling event, and was scheduled to appear on a talk show hosted by Jonny Fairplay on a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Pay Per View, but did not appear, supposedly due to a dispute over travel costs. She also made several appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and in celebrity boxing tournaments.

Profile

Finishing and signature moves

File:Playboy November 2000.jpg
On the cover of Playboy, November 2000. The issue ended up being one of the magazine's all time best sellers.

Singing, modelling and acting career

Laurer has modelled nude, notably for Playboy, and has breast implants ("Chyna 2000s"), one of which once ruptured during a match. She has a love-hate relationship with wrestler Sean Waltman (X-Pac / Syxx-Pac), who she was engaged to in 2003, and who she was arrested for assaulting in January 2005. In December 2004 the same company that distributed Paris Hilton's infamous video released similar footage of Laurer and Waltman entitled One Night in China. In a press release, Laurer announced that in a pre-emptive strike she had taken full rights to the footage and would receive a percentage from sales. However, she later claimed that she had received no royalties.

Laurer has made numerous guest appearances on television series, including Third Rock From The Sun, Pacific Blue, Relic Hunter and Fear Factor. Most recently, she appeared in the 4th season of VH1's show The Surreal Life with Da Brat, Jane Wiedlin, Christopher Knight, Verne Troyer, Marcus Schenkenberg (who she was rumoured to be dating), and Adrianne Curry. It became clear in 2005 after appearances on the Howard Stern Show that she had severe substance abuse problems. Several months later Laurer returned to TV for The Surreal Life reunion where she claimed to be drug-free, and had regained much of her former muscle mass. She also said that she had left her former boyfriend Sean Waltman, who was seen on The Surreal Life in November 2004 yelling and cursing at her, painting a much different picture of their relationship than Waltman had claimed.

Movies

  • Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion (2000)
  • Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002)
  • Hunter: Back in Force (2003)
  • One Night In China (2004)
  • Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy (2005)
  • Illegal Aliens (2006)

Titles and accomplishments

Joanie Laurer is the only woman to have held the WWE Intercontinental Championship (which she held three times), the first woman to hold a WWE title besides the Women's Championship (Molly Holly held the now-defunct WWF Hardcore Title briefly in 2000), and the first woman to compete in the Royal Rumble match and King of the Ring tournament.

Chyna first held the Intercontinental Championship on October 17, 1999 when she defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Good Housekeeping match at the No Mercy pay-per-view. Her first reign ended when she lost to Chris Jericho at the Armageddon pay-per-view on December 12 of that year.

Her second Intercontinental Title reign was disputed. The title was held jointly between Chyna and Chris Jericho after an unresolved match on Monday Night RAW on January 3, 2000 until Jericho regained complete claim of the title in a triple threat match between Chyna, Jericho, and Hardcore Holly at the January 23 2000 Royal Rumble.

Chyna won the Intercontinental Title for the third and final time on August 27 2000. She and Eddie Guerrero defeated Val Venis and Trish Stratus in an intergender tag match at Summerslam 2000. She lost the title to Guerrero on Monday Night RAW on the following September 5.

Chyna's only reign as WWE Women's Champion came after defeating Lisa Moretti (Ivory) at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001. She remained Women's Champion until she left the company due to a contract dispute later that year. The next Women's Champion was Trish Stratus.


WWE Intercontinental Championship
Preceded by:
Jeff Jarrett 		First Reign Succeeded by:
Chris Jericho
Preceded by:
Chris Jericho 		Second Reign
(disputed) 		Succeeded by:
Chris Jericho
Preceded by:
Val Venis 		Third Reign Succeeded by:
Eddie Guerrero


WWE Women's Championship
Preceded by:
Ivory 		First Reign Succeeded by:
Trish Stratus

Further reading

  • Chyna: If They Only Knew, Harper Collins, New York, 2001 ISBN 0007127650
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