10 Things to know about former WWE Women's Champion Chyna
Far away from the hustle and bustle of the WWE’s tour of the UK, on the other side of the globe, in California, a different kind of chaos was spiralling into eternal calm. The wrestling community was jarred awake today with news of former WWE Women’s Champion Chyna’s passing.
A revolutionary Superstar often identified with being the most dominant woman performer in in the history of the WWE, Joan Marie Laurer’s proud legacy was sadly eclipsed by the demons of her life after she left the WWE.
But that doesn’t diminish the footprint Chyna left in the world of pro-wrestling. Her unexpected and untimely death is a harrowing reminder of the price WWE Superstars pay in the name of entertainment, but at this moment, let us remember the mercurial life “9th wonder of the world”.
Toubled beginnings
The native New Yorker overcame a toxic environment to become the Superstar she is remembered as. After her parents divorced when she was four years old, Chyna lived an itinerant life with a succession of stepfathers and a stepmother. Her biological father was an alcoholic and her first stepfather had suicidal tendencies.