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The following biography
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Joanie Laurer (born December 27, 1971 in
Londonderry, New Hampshire) is an American professional wrestler and actress.
She is best known for her appearances with the World Wrestling Federation
* * * *
Wrestling career
Joanie Laurer trained at Killer Kowalski's
Wrestling School in Salem, Massachusetts, where she briefly dated Perry Saturn,
and worked for various independent promotions. Her career reached new heights
when she met WWE wrestlers Paul Levesque (then Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now
Triple H) and Shawn Michaels in a bar in 1997. Struck by her appearance, they
helped her get into the World Wrestling Federation. Her original role was as the
impassive bodyguard of D-Generation X, often getting physically involved in
Triple H's matches.
At the 1999 Royal Rumble Laurer turned heel by
betraying Triple H, aligning herself with his enemy Vince McMahon. She was a
thorn in the side of Triple H until he too joined McMahon's group at
WrestleMania XV. The duo became part of the Corporation, and later Shane
McMahon's Corporate Ministry, harassing rebels like Stone Cold Steve Austin,
Kane, X-Pac and The Rock.
In late 1999, Laurer became a face again, allying
with The Kat and feuding with Jeff Jarrett over the Intercontinental
Championship. She defeated Jarrett for the title in his last WWE match on
October 17, 1999 becoming the first and only woman to win the Intercontinental
Championship at No Mercy. She claims that Jarrett demanded (and received)
$250,000 from Vince McMahon in order to lose the title cleanly to a woman (his
contract had expired on October 16, and he was therefore not obligated to appear
on the Pay Per View. If he had not appeared, the WWF would have been criticised
for false advertising, and the lineage of the title would have been broken). She
would go on to hold the title two more times
In 2000, Laurer briefly teamed with Chris Jericho,
before becoming the onscreen girlfriend of Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero and Laurer
became very popular during the Summer of 2000, with Guerrero dubbing her his "Mamacita".
They split in the Autumn of 2000 after Eddie was found cavorting in the shower
with two of the Godfather's "Hos", Mandy and Victoria. At the same time, her
appearance in Playboy attracted the unwanted attention of Right to Censor, a
straight-laced group of wrestlers who lampooned the Parents Television Council.
Laurer was announced as injured after a vicious double team piledriver at the
hands of Ivory and Val Venis.
Laurer returned a few weeks later and began a feud
with Ivory over the Women's Title. This culminated in a tasteless angle at the
2001 Royal Rumble where Laurer appeared to reinjure her neck while performing a
handspring back elbow. The fake injury was criticized as color commentator Jerry
Lawler left the commentators' booth and entered the ring to check on Laurer,
something he had not done since the tragic accident that led to the death of
Owen Hart. The highly publicised return of Laurer from the "injury" culminated
in her winning the Women's Title from Ivory at WrestleMania 17 in a squash
match.
Laurer was an extremely dominant champion,
defeating challengers Lita and Trish Stratus with little problem. However,
during her contract renegotiations, Laurer was unhappy with the pay she was
offered and the fact that she was expected to compete principally in the women's
division rather than against men. It is also rumoured that the relationship
between Triple H, her former boyfriend, and Stephanie McMahon, with whom he had
an affair then left Laurer for, was a factor in her departure. She left the
company on November 30, 2001, several months after negotations had broken down
and she had been taken off television.
Laurer's in-ring career since then has been very
limited. She has sang and wrestled at a Ultimate Pro Wrestling event, and was
scheduled to appear on a talkshow hosted by Jonny Fairplay on a Total Nonstop
Action Pay Per View, but did not appear, supposedly due to a dispute over travel
costs. She also made several appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and in
celebrity boxing tournaments.
Profile
-
Height: 5'10" (177.8 cm)
-
Weight: 165lbs (74.8 kg)
-
Birthday: December 27, 1970
-
Hometown: Rochester, New York
-
Resides: Los Angeles, California
-
Trained By: Killer Kowalski
-
Professional Debut: 1995
-
Previous Identities: Chyna, Chyna
Doll, Chynna Doll, Joanie Lee, Just Joanie
-
Previous Manager(s): The Kat
Finishing/signature
moves
Singing, modelling
and acting career
Laurer has modelled nude, notably for Playboy, and
has breast implants ("Chyna 2000s"), one of which once ruptured during a match.
She has a love-hate relationship with wrestler Sean Waltman (X-Pac / Syxx-Pac),
who she was engaged to in 2003, and who she was arrested for assaulting in
January 2005. In December 2004 the same company that distributed Paris Hilton's
infamous video released similar footage of Laurer and Waltman entitled One night
in China. In a press release, Laurer announced that in a pre-emptive strike she
had taken full rights to the footage and would receive a percentage from sales.
However, she later claimed that she had received no royalties.
Laurer has made numerous guest appearances on
television series, including Third Rock From The Sun, Pacific Blue, Relic Hunter
and Fear Factor. Most recently, she appeared in the 4th season of VH1's show The
Surreal Life with Da Brat, Jane Wiedlin, Christopher Knight, Verne Troyer,
Marcus Schenkenberg (who she was rumoured to be dating), and Adrianne Curry. It
became clear in 2005 after appearances on the Howard Stern Show that she had
severe substance abuse problems. Several months later Laurer returned to TV for
the Surreal Life reunion where she claimed to be drug-free, and had regained
much of her former muscle mass. She also said that she had left her former
boyfriend Sean Waltman, who was seen on The Surreal Life in November 2004
yelling and cursing at her, painting a much different picture of their
relationship than Waltman had claimed.
Movies
-
Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion
(2000)
-
Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002)
-
Hunter: Back in Force (2003)
-
Just Another Romantic Wrestling
Comedy (2005)
-
One Night in China(2004)
Titles and
accomplishments
Joanie Laurer is the only woman to have held the
WWE Intercontinental Championship (which she held three times), the first woman
to hold a WWE title besides the Women's Championship, and the first woman to
compete in the Royal Rumble match and King of the Ring tournament.
Chyna first held the Intercontinental Championship
on October 17, 1999 when she defeated Jeff Jarrett in a Good Housekeeping match
at the No Mercy pay-per-view. Her first reign ended when she lost to Chris
Jericho at the Armageddon pay-per-view on December 12 of that year.
Her second Intercontinental Title reign was
disputed. The title was held jointly between Chyna and Chris Jericho after an
unresolved match on Monday Night RAW on January 3, 2000 until Jericho regained
complete claim of the title in a triple threat match between Chyna, Jericho, and
Hardcore Holly at the January 23, 2000 Royal Rumble.
Chyna won the Intercontinental Title for the third
and final time on August 27, 2000. She and Eddie Guerrero defeated Val Venis and
Trish Stratus in an intergender tag match at Summerslam 2000. She lost the title
to Guerrero on Monday Night RAW on the following September 5.
Chyna's only reign as WWE Women's Champion came
after defeating Lisa Moretti (Ivory) at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001.
She remained Women's Champion until she left the company due to a contract
dispute later that year. The next Women's Champion was Trish Stratus.
Championships/Accomplishments
-
3-time WWF Intercontinental
Champion
-
1-time WWF World Women's Champion
-
1-time IWF Women's Champion
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanie_Laurer
Date Article Copied:
July 20, 2005
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