Chyna had no interest in working with female WWE star, Jim Ross says
Chyna, real name Joanie Laurer, was one of WWE's top attractions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a recent podcast episode, Jim Ross recalled how the former D-Generation X member did not want to face Nicole Bass.
Bass worked for WWE between March 1999 and July 1999 after debuting as Sable's bodyguard at WrestleMania 15. At the time, it was widely speculated that she could feud with Chyna in a battle between two of WWE's most imposing women.
Ross was WWE's lead play-by-play commentator and a talent relations executive during Bass' stint with the company. On Grilling JR, he gave an insight into why the rivalry was never going to happen:
"The match quality would have been horrible," Ross said. "It would have been terrible to force our fans to sit through that particular presentation, and I can assure you from endless talks with Joanie, Chyna, she had no interest in working with Nicole Bass." [56:12 – 56:29]
As Ross referenced, Bass was more known for her intimidating presence than her technical wrestling ability. She only competed in four televised WWE matches, including a 27-second win over Kane's former on-screen girlfriend Tori at No Mercy 1999.
Jim Ross explains why Chyna did not want to face Nicole Bass
Unlike today's WWE, women occasionally wrestled against men during the Attitude Era. In 1999, Chyna made history by becoming the first and only woman to hold the Intercontinental Championship. She also captured the title again in 2000.
According to Jim Ross, The Ninth Wonder of the World took pride in her matches and felt she could produce better performances working alongside men:
"Joanie was old school in that regard. She wanted to have good matches, and I think that's why she was so adamant about working with men, because she knew the match quality would be better. I remember talking to her about working with Ivory. Ivory was a much better worker but wasn't the attraction that Chyna was." [56:31 – 56:51]
Ross added that a match against Nicole Bass would have been a "disaster" and a "trainwreck."
Do you think the 1999 rivalry should have happened? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.