Chyna, pioneering female pro wrestler and ‘9th Wonder of the World,’ found dead at 45

So, Chyna (aka Joanie Laurer) was found dead yesterday. She was 45.

First off, holy shit that's way too young. When I saw her on TV, I figured she was at least 10 years older than me.

Chyna was a pro wrestler in the mid-90s and she was always one of my favorites. Mostly because at the time, women's wrestling was something of a joke. It almost never got airtime and it was really more of a T&A show than anything else.

Chyna was ripped and absolutely ready to wrestle -- and she wasn't afraid to go after men in the ring. Although she actually had a match with Eddie Guerrero she almost never got a proper match with a guy (because that's too unbelievable for wrestling) and don't think she went after the women's title because, as mentioned above, it wasn't given any real consideration. She wanted to wrestle -- seriously wrestle and when she got some time in the ring she proved she had skills as a brawler

I always thought she was wonderful and amazing (and tall!) and I always had a tremendous amount of respect for her and what she was trying to do. Alas, she was born too soon -- over the past couple of years women's wrestling has really stepped up its game and thanks to the efforts of female wrestlers (and a huge groundswell of support from the fans), it's gotten a lot more airtime on the main shows. If she had been up and coming she would've been the Andre the Giant of women's wrestling and it would have been awesome.

Sadly, her personal life was pretty rough. One of the reasons why I don't follow pro wrestling more closely is that it chews people up physically and mentally. There were no signs of foul play and her death hasn't been ruled a suicide, but she went through a hell that would've crushed most people long before 45.

Chyna will always be my ninth wonder of the world and I'm sad that she's gone.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/21/chyna-former-professional-wrestler-turned-adult-film-star-turned-esl-teacher-dead-at-45/