As of April 20, 2016, a trailblazer passed away unexpectedly. Her name was Joan Marie Laurer, but everyone knew her as Chyna. It is because of her that WWE even entertained the idea of having a women’s division.
Statuesque at five foot ten and armed with muscles most people cower in fear of, she taught women everywhere that sometimes you needed to be twice as good for half as much recognition.
Chyna emerged in the WWE not as a talent, per se, but as the role of security for the tag team Degeneration X, the brainchild of giants Triple H and Shawn Michaels. At the time, the thought of a female security for anyone was completely unheard of. Triple H and Shawn Michaels had used their professional pull to keep her on in the 1990s. She was tough, she was intimidating, and she is the reason that women signed up to be talent in that company. She was the ninth wonder of the world, and she was a lot more than the girl who could bench press Triple H with a smile.
Before her, WWE was very much a boys club. Women were just accessories for the male wrestlers. Enter Chyna, and after her came Sable, and after her came, Alundra Blaze. Chyna was the first woman to qualify with for the legendary King of the Ring match. She won the Intercontinental Championship, back when the company was the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990s. Chyna mattered as a wrestler, and this is what people are talking about when they say they need representation. She showed girls that it is perfectly okay to not want to look delicate, small, and rail thin. Chyna showed us as women that being strong and being beautiful was not in the least, a dichotomy- that we can have both. Your beauty is up to you, and there is nothing wrong with a girl who could fight.
Chyna's biggest appeal was that, Vince McMahon, the viewers, and the talent coordinators, did not know where to put her. In a society where women need to be categorized before they are even heard speaking, Laurer was hard to pin point. She was strong, so that meant she was rough. She wore makeup and had implants, just like the rest of the women’s roster, so that made her feminine. She struggled with mental illness her whole life, eating disorders, and troubles with relationships. And yet, she still walked into that ring, ready to take on the world and cemented her role in WWE history, gaining the love of the fans and the respect of the men she competed against. As a fan, as a feminist, as a girl; I want to say thank you Chyna. Without you, we would not have the likes of Lita, Trish Stratus, AJ Lee, and Paige to show us that beauty and strength comes in all shapes and sizes.
