5 Things you probably forgot about Chyna
Chyna built a legacy in her four-year stint with WWE that no one can come near. She was one of the first few women in the professional wrestling who defied the stereotypes. She showed that female stars aren't any less than male stars when it comes to both delivering a promo or fighting inside the squared circle. Her contributions have helped the up-and-coming women in wrestling in a major way.
It's a well-known fact Chyna had an excellent career with WWE, but it didn't end the way she hoped it would. Still, Chyna established herself as one of the greatest Superstars in WWE history. Billed as The Ninth Wonder of the World, Chyna got posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as part of D-Generation X.
Chyna last stepped foot inside a squared circle almost 10 years ago, but her contribution to the wrestling world can't be denied. With today's list, let's take a look at a few things that you probably forgot about the late Joanie "Chyna" Laurer.
#5 Chyna had a tough life before WWE
Unlike many WWE Superstars, Chyna experienced a very tough life as a teenager. When Chyna was just four years old, her parents got divorced. Following this, she stayed with her mother and stepfather for a few years, but that didn't go very well for her. As a result, Chyna had to go live with her biological father.
However, problems just kept on piling from there for Chyna, not the other way around. While attending Penfield High School in New York, Chyna suffered from bulimia. Though she got past that in a few months, she started using non-prescription narcotics. Fortunately, she overcame that too in some time.
Chyna put all of this behind when she went on to study at the University of Tampa. Chyna had an interest in learning languages. Therefore, she studied French and German there. However, Spanish was one of her favorite languages, and she graduated with a major in it in 1992.
After her graduation, Chyna wanted to make the best of her knowledge of foreign languages and work for the FBI or DEA, but that didn't work out for her. As a result, she decided to join the Peace Corps. Chyna worked for the Peace Corps for few years before realizing it wasn't meant for her, and she wanted to do something else.
As a result, Chyna left the Peace Corps and worked some ordinary jobs, such as waitress, pager seller, and singer before stepping foot inside the squared circle, and subsequently scoring a major deal with Vince McMahon's company WWE.