Jim Ross reveals which WWE opponent Chyna felt was "beneath her"
Jim Ross has given his take on Chyna’s reluctance to face female Superstars, including WWE Hall of Famer Ivory, in WWE.
From 1997 to 2001, Chyna was one of the most prominent women on WWE television. Although she occasionally faced other women, The Ninth Wonder of the World mostly competed against male Superstars on the roster.
This week’s Grilling JR podcast focused on the 2001 Royal Rumble, which saw Chyna challenge Ivory for the Women’s Championship. Ross said Chyna felt that the match was “beneath her” because she wanted to face men instead.
“She didn’t want to wrestle Ivory. She didn’t want to wrestle anyone of her gender. And so I don’t know if we got the greatest effort out of Chyna, even if she could call part of it in and still be better than a lot because of her size, strength, et cetera, et cetera. She went into the match with a negative feeling that it was beneath her.”
Ivory defeated Chyna in a match that lasted just three minutes and 32 seconds. In storyline, Chyna suffered a neck injury and left the ringside area on a stretcher.
Chyna only wanted to face male Superstars
One of Chyna’s biggest accomplishments came at No Mercy 1999 when she defeated Jeff Jarrett to win the Intercontinental Championship. Jim Ross gave his opinion that Chyna’s history-making victory was bad for the title.
“She beat Jeff Jarrett and other guys, Intercontinental Champion, to which I say everybody beat Jeff Jarrett at one point in time, and I thought it s*** all over the Intercontinental title. Because, again, I’m not a fan of intergender wrestling, which people can take any way they want.”
Chyna was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of the D-Generation X faction.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.