Bottomline - Chyna should be inducted into the Hall of Fame
After Stone Cold’s podcast interview with Vince McMahon, I truly thought that his podcast was here to stay in the WWE Network, but weeks passed by and no other episodes were aired. It was just a one-off special thing that happened because of the guest involved, namely Vince McMahon.
So it was great news that Stone Cold Steve Austin will be coming back for an interview with another guy who’s not in the same pedestal as Vince McMahon but nonetheless a powerful figure in the WWE today. Triple H answered many great questions put forth by The Rattlesnake.
One of the answers that might have attracted a lot of attention and deservedly so were his comments about the lingering question about Chyna’s induction into the Hall of Fame.
The Woman named Chyna
For the person reading this and having no clue whatsoever as to who Chyna is, here is a glimpse. Chyna made her way into the WWE at a time when the company was doling out hypersexualized females in a very hypermasculine era full of content they would like to term as ‘edgy’. She usually made many question whether she was a woman at all because of her body and the strength she displayed. She seemed like she was at par with the men. She was introduced as being the bodyguard for Triple H and Shawn Michaels and was one of the original members of DX. For a woman to do all of that was considered a big deal and unbelievable for a heteronormative audience. Even her name was a play of words. Her name came from the porcelain or ceramic called fine china which essentially means delicate and fragile which was in stark opposition to her character. She was called the ‘Ninth Wonder of The World’.
Due to her having this unique appearance compared to other females in the company, she was portrayed as having more physical prowess than any other woman in the company and hence officially allowed to battle men in physical fights or matches.
Chyna‘s unique appearance and persona got enough attention but ultimately the powerful women in such an industry of entertainment, never achieve a settled state of power, but are in a continual process of struggle to exercise control over themselves and others. She was never considered at par with men backstage and McMahon never really thought of her being the WWE Champion, even if she was given the opportunity to win the IC title.
Points to Note
Now, here’s the hierarchy at display. The Women’s Championship is the highest prize for a woman in the company. The WWE Championship was the biggest prize for the men. Now, in the masculine world of WWE, what men fight for is considered to be far greater than whatever the women fight for.
That’s obvious, you’ll say. But here’s another fact. Even in the backstage world, men get away with quite a lot.
Triple H hinted that Chyna’s impending induction is problematic because of her adult career. And if a kid googles her and finds this out, that falls on the unacceptable side of things.
Mike Tyson was accused of rape, Stone Cold has had domestic violence charges, even Kevin nash has had his issues. And that very well talked about ‘Attitude Era’ has a lot of room for controversy and that is just so easy to google.
Despite all of that, the WWE survives, the casual fanbase survives.
There is another way of looking at it. This may seem a bit fanciful, but Triple H putting the political connotation out there may get more voices from the fans calling for Chyna’s induction and that might convince the doubtfuls in the management to finally induct her.
That’s just one way of looking at it.
But in all honesty and practicality, Chyna’s adult career can’t erase her from wrestling lore. She made a huge impact in the wrestling scene and she deserves all the adulation that comes with it.