Joan Laurer Biography

Joanie Laurer began her wrestling career in 1995, after training at Wladek "Killer" Kowalski's professional wrestling school. She often wrestled under the name "Joanie Lee." Joanie caught the attention of the World Wrestling Federation in 1996, and made her debut on February 16, 1997 at the WWF's In Your House 13: Final Four Pay-Per-View, during Triple H's match. She became his bodyguard, and part of D-Generation X, under the name "Chyna," where she inserted herself in numerous matches with her signature low blow.

"Joanie" took the role as Chyna, and made it larger then life between the years of 1997 and 2001, . She became the first Female to ever Compete in the Royal Rumble in 1999, and also the first Female to compete in the King of The Ring that same year. One of her most prestigious career moves was becoming the WWE's first female Intercontinental Champion (on October 17th, 1999 in Cleveland, Ohio at the No Mercy Pay Per View, in a "Good Housekeeping match" against Jeff Jarrett).

On September 25, 2000, Playboy released the November issue, featuring Chyna. During this time, she was in the midst of a feud with the stable of Right to Censor. The group would try to censor her Playboy issue, saying that it was immoral. This would lead up to matches such as Val Venis and Steven Richards beating her and Billy Gunn at No Mercy on October 22, 2000--on Pay Per View, as well as December 10, 2000, at the Armageddon pay-per-view, where Val Venus pinned her. Throughout this, Right to Censor's only female member; Ivory, instigated the feud. As the feud developed, Ivory added momentum to a piledriver performed by Val Venus on Chyna, which was the event that drove the storyline of her breaking her neck.

Ivory being Women's champion at the time, continued a verbal war against her, and challenged her to a match at the 2001 Royal Rumble. She accepted the match and dominated, only to further the storyline by re-injuring her neck, and Ivory picking up the win. This feud also promoted her book "If They Only Knew," by Ivory and the rest of Right to Censor expressing disdain for it. At Wrestlemania X-7, she defeated Ivory, to win the WWF Women's Title after hitting a gorilla press slam. From then on, she wrestled women. The new direction of her not wrestling men, was justified by her neck injury.

As WWF Women's Champion, she dominated, and defeated women such as Ivory, Molly Holly and Trish Stratus. During this time, she was in a dispute with the WWF and she was pulled off of television... This made her last WWE match her bout against Lita on May 20th, 2001, in Sacramento, CA--where she successfully defended the Championship after hitting her powerbomb finisher. On November 18 2001, in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Survivor Series, a Women's Title 6-Pac Challenge was held to crown a new Champ, in which Trish Stratus became the new WWE Women's Champion. On November 30, 2001, Joanie Laurer's WWF contract officially ran out. Rumors circulated that conflict arose when her real-life boyfriend Triple H cheated on her with WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon. After the WWF/WWE, she wrestled a few matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling.

In 2004, a Chyna sex-tape was released titled "1 Night in China," featuring Joanie engaging in sexual acts with former WWF Wrestler; X-Pac (Sean Waltman), which was highly controversial. X-Pac was her boyfriend at the time, and he would also guest appear on the forth season of VH1's "The Surreal Life," in which she was starring on.

In 2006 she appeared on the VH1 show; My Fair Brady, which starred Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry, her Surreal Life co-stars. She then starred in 2007's The Surreal Life: Fame Games.

On the May 12, 2011 edition of TNA's Impact Wrestling, Chyna made a surprised appearance, siding with Kurt Angle, in his feud against Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett. She went on to team with Kurt Angle at TNA's Sacrifice 2011 Pay-Per-View, where they defeated Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett in a Mixed Tag Team match.

After her brief return to wrestling, she starred in her first professional pornographic film. The film titled Backdoor To Chyna, was released under Vivid Video. In 2012, she then went on to star as She-Hulk in Vivid's The Avengers XXX.