Last week, the World Wrestling Entertainment and its millions of fans worldwide lost a legend, role model, and friend. Joanie “Chyna” Laurer was a woman who broke glass ceilings and gender barriers for women, not only in wrestling, but with gender in general. This woman won a title previously only held by men, and was the first woman to have participated in male-dominated events, such as the Royal Rumble. She made a muscular woman’s body and the tough girl attitude seem not only possible, but acceptable. Even if men tried to get out of fighting her, she still found a way to do what she believed was her niche. But don’t let her achievements hide the true woman she really was.
This woman decided to do what she wanted ever since she was 15 years old. She decided she did not want to live the life she was living, with a then alcoholic father divorced by her mother, someone who dated often and moved her around a lot, and ran for Spain. She finished high school and came back to attend college, being fluent in not only Spanish, but cello and violin. She graduated with a 3.9 GPA within two years of college. She didn’t give up when something was not working, she changed the situation to make herself successful. She had so many things on her resume, but she eventually landed in wrestling school, and this career of hers is one many claim to be one of the most popular among wrestlers, not only during the Attitude Era of wrestling worldwide, but of all time.
Her career would have been a lot more, but the treatment she received from her co-stars suppressed her true being, chiseling away her mental health. The WWE parted ways with her when she found out her then boyfriend, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, was having an affair with his now wife, the now part-owner of the WWE, Stephanie McMahon. Laurer knew she would not stand by this, as she knew, though at times she would forget, her worth. She demanded to be treated better, just like any person in the right mind would. Even with her on again, off again relationship, with mix of abuse by and from her drug addiction problems, and her mental health declining, she still did what she always wanted to do.
With what is deemed by society as very typical of celebrities to undergo, Laurer snapped one day after years of being in this destroying pathway in life. She knew she was better, and decided to clean her life up. She left the United States once again, for Japan, teaching children English as a second language while wrestling for a Japanese promotion. She began walking a path of redemption that she hoped would lead her back to the WWE with the friends she loved and enjoyed working with, but she would never finish that path.
With her mental health being eradicated, and the lack of sports medicine practitioners who understand mental health when it comes to athletes and vice versa, she had really no one to turn to. With very little support from family and friends, she was suffering the side effects of all she had been through, alone. Her medication for sleep deprivation and anxiety was being used incorrectly, to the point where her manager and the closest of friends, most from WWE, grew concerned and asked “Intervention” to help get Laurer the assistance she needed, but it was too late. Laurer fell asleep April 19, never to wake back up, by accidental overdose of anti-anxiety medication with sleep deprivation medication.
The WWE fan base of over million worldwide went from forgetting the pioneer to saying words of kindness, including the woman who caused Laurer to lose her ex-boyfriend, Stephanie McMahon. Her friends, fans, and manager have had nothing but amazing things to say about her since.
Joanie Laurer was the epitome of eccentricity, never following the rules of society, gaining respect from many and insight on life. “She lost her battle of addiction along with mental illness, which causes more heartache to all who knew her name.”
Women worldwide need to keep her name and what she dealt with in mind, and use her as an inspiration when they feel like they can’t fix their lives. A woman like Joanie Laurer gave many people hope of possibility and changing destiny.
“Now I'm fulfilling my dreams, because I've taken chances, I've moved forward without hesitation.”
Rest in Peace Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, an inspiration to women worldwide.
