We have found out that history making women’s wrestler Chyna has died at her home.

Joanie Laurer was born on December 27, 1969 and lived an incredible and varied life. After coming from a broken home in New York and finishing high school in Spain. She began working out in high school and this would lead to many different career paths for her. Laurer later went to the University of Tampa and graduated with a degree in Spanish Literature.

This wasn’t the only language she knew as Joanie was also fluent in German and French and much later taught English in Japan. She also played the violin and cello. She was also a member of the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) and planned to join the FBI or Drug Enforcement Administration. First she joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Guatemala.

Afterwards Laurer held an array of jobs from a waitress, belly dancer, singer, 900 chat operator, selling beepers and being a flight attendant. This is when she started her body building competitions, but usually placed last due to her height and large muscular size (5’10” and 180 lbs).

Not deterred Joanie soon started training with Wladek ‘Killer’ Kowalski’s wrestling school and entering the independent circuit. She had much more success there, but was still usually fighting men dressed as women. She also had several matches set up by the famous and even more historical women’s wrestler, The Fabulous Moolah.

In 1996 after a show she met Shawn Michaels and Paul Levesque (HHH). They reviewed her tapes and immediately wanted her in the (then) WWF as a bodyguard. This promotion was halted by Vince McMahon though who didn’t like her look or think that she would go over well beating up men. He later changed his mind to keep WCW from snatching her up and her debut happened soon afterwards and was dubbed the ‘Ninth Wonder of the World’ as Andre the Giant has always been called the Eighth Wonder.

She became an enforcer/bodyguard for HHH and soon became part of the stable D-Generation X. One of the greatest factions in the WWE’s history during the attitude era. Now known as Chyna she helped the group to become one of the most well known and popular groups. Who else had the ‘suck it’ and crotch chop banned from their school? It couldn’t have just been me. Many of the male wrestlers were still hesitant to be seen on television being cleanly (without alleged cheating) beaten by a woman though.

Laurer soon made history for women wrestlers when she became the first woman to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament in 1999. She then became the first female to number one contender for the WWF championship.

In October of 1999 Chyna defeated Jeff Jarrett, then the reigning WWF Intercontinental Championship to become the first and only woman to hold the title. It’s said Jarrett made the WWF pay him $300,000 to lose cleanly to her. It was in a Good House Keeping match, because the WWF has always been a pillar of feminism, class and modernity.

Later she was also co-champions of the Intercontinental championship with Chris Jericho, even though the WWE now has redacted this and saying that it was only Chris Jericho who was champion. This wasn’t the last time the company would try to keep Chyna’s accomplishments down.

Laurer also later won the Women’s Championship from Ivory in 2000. She defended her belt from Lita in 2001 and this was to be her last match even though she won. After a terrible neck injury previously and speculated drama backstage, Laurer was let go.

Her wrestling career was sporadic afterwards with stints in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2002 and TNA Wrestling in 2011.

Joanie later moved her career over to other endeavors. She posed for Playboy twice, in 2000 and 2002. She wrote a book called If They Only Knew in 2001 that spent some time on the New York Best Sellers List. She was in several adult films, some of which she won awards for and also regular television. She appeared on The Howard Stern Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, a presenter at the MTV Music Awards. She appeared on a celebrity edition of Fear Factor, hosted Robot Wars: Grand Championship and appeared on Hollywood Squares.

She’s also appeared in music videos and had a long running appearance on the reality show The Surreal Life. Appeared on My Fair Brady, The Surreal Life: Fame Games. She also had parts in Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy and Illegal Aliens. She appeared on Larry King Live, and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

Joanie Laurer is also known throughout the plastic surgery world. After rupturing her first breast implants, she complained that the largest size available did not suit her body type. In response a new kind of implant was made customarily for her and have since then been marketed as Chyna 2000’s for large framed women and female bodybuilders.

Much of her life Joanie had trouble with alcohol and substance abuse. It became progressively worse as she got older, even after appearing on Celebrity Rehab and cleaning up for a few years. This may have contributed to her sudden death yesterday where she was found in her Redondo Beach, California home.

Hopefully Joanie Laurer, for all her problems will be remembered well by the WWE and its many followers. She had always been a fan favorite and it has been widely discussed and denounced that Laurer was never inducted into its hall of fame. The only reason given was that children googling her might come up with some unsavory pictures or videos. This is more than a bit flimsy as many other women and men wrestlers have posed for adult magazines and led lives that were not clean and yet have been inducted. Hopefully the drama and pettiness held possibly by Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon will finally be lifted and Chyna will be in her rightful place in the HOF soon.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to her friends, family and loved ones. RIP Chyna.