Former WWE wrestler Chyna Dead at 46

[Caged Great]

http://abc13.com/entertainment/chyna...ge-46/1301929/

[Northendzone]

wow - will be interesting to see if they ever announce a cause of death

[FlamingHomer]

The sad part is, professional wrestler dies at age 46 isn't a shock anymore.

[CaptainCrunch]

Sad because she was just a train wreck to the end, a lot of people did try to help her originally but in the end I think everyone gave up on her.

I hope she finds the peace that she never found in live.

[Strange Brew]

Shame. Seemed she had a very hard time dealing with the fame and money that came with her success. I was a fairly regular WWE viewer when she came on the scene and her whole look and persona was very original. I was a big fan.

[Locke]

Looks like Professional Wrestling is bad for the ol' lifespan.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Locke

Looks like Professional Wrestling is bad for the ol' lifespan.

Seems to be true of a lot of 'sports' unfortunately. I recall reading the average life span of an NFL player is less than 60.

[Caged Great]

It makes a lot of sense. Regular athletes typically have shorter life spans for what they go through, add roids and all the other miscellaneous drugs and it's not a shock that most of them die in their 40's and 50's.

Sad really.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by FlamingHomer

The sad part is, professional wrestler dies at age 46 isn't a shock anymore.

For wrestling 46 is a long happy healthy life.

[t0rrent98]

Rip

[The Goon]

This one is particularly sad.

She was so kickass and elevated the status of women in the then-WWF. I loved one of her first appearances when she thrashed Terri Runnels around like a ragdoll. And her entry and performance in the 1999 Royal Rumble.

I always hoped for a resurgence for her, much like Scott Hall and Jake Roberts.

[Puppet Guy]

Mick Foley wrote a touching eulogy on his Facebook site:

MICK FOLEY, on Facebook:
GOODBYE JOANIE
My heart is aching. My eyes are swollen from crying, having just talked to Joan Laurer's manager Anthony Anzaldo on the phone and been told that Chyna, the 9th Wonder of the World was no longer with us; gone at only 45.

I will always be grateful for the friendship I shared with her, but particularly so for the kindness she showed my children, especially Noelle when she was younger - taking her by the hand at WWE events in the late 90's - off to have her makeup done, her fingernails painted; bonding time between big, strong Joanie, and her tiny sidekick. A father doesn't forget that type of kindness.

I didn't know whether to post a classic photo of Chyna in her WWE prime or of Joanie from the last time I saw her - about 10 months ago at a convention on Long Island. I went with the photo from the convention because of the emotion; because it was taken at the exact moment I saw her for the first time in many years. I was told later that Joanie wasn't sure how I would react to her, and that it meant a great deal to be accepted. Like I said, a father doesn't forget.

I called home on my way back from the convention – only about 40 minutes from my house. "I'm bringing a friend over to watch the pay-per-view" I said to my wife.

"Who's that?", my wife asked.

"Chyna"

"Chyna?"

"Yeah, Chyna!"

And that was pretty much that. A mother, you see, doesn't forget the kindness shown to her child, either.

I am so glad we had that night with Joanie. A night to let her know how much we cared about her, whether it was politically correct or not. A night to let her know we loved her -and always will. RIP my dear friend. I pray that somehow in death, you can find the peace that eluded you so frequently during the latter years of your remarkable life.

[Huntingwhale]

An all to familiar occurrence with these pro wrestlers. I was a big fan of hers when the whole D-X/Triple H's bodyguard angle was big in the 90s. IMO she'll go down as the best female wrestler of our time.

It was really sad to hear about her struggles with addiction when she was on Celebrity rehab. Hopefully she can find peace now.

[CaptainCrunch]

I don't know if you can really blame wrestling for this, she spent the past decade or so, basically slowly blowing her brains out. If I remember the WWE even tried to send her for help.

[killer_carlson]

I don't know on Chyna.

I think there are people in the WWE who would like to tell you how much they tried, but having watched different interviews with different people, i think there is a fair bit of credibility in Chyna's version of how the WWE treated her and how certain people humiliated her. I get the sense that there are a lot of people on the WWE side of the ledger that would like to tell you they reached out and tried to help, but if you've been burned by someone so often, you get pretty jaded with any offer of assistance.

She certainly contributed to her own misfortune with decisions she made, but I think her passing will be one which the WWE will hold as an albatross for a long time.

[underGRADFlame]

Who's gonna play She-Hulk now?


Seriously though... she had troubled life, I hope she has found some peace. RIP.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

It makes a lot of sense. Regular athletes typically have shorter life spans for what they go through, add roids and all the other miscellaneous drugs and it's not a shock that most of them die in their 40's and 50's.

Sad really.

Wrestlers also take way more damage than regular athletes. If a wrestler wants to get paid, they have to show up, any downtime for healing comes out of their own pocket, which is why they are all on pain killers and working injured.

People get caught up in the fake part of it, and generally don't respect how physically taxing it is. I remember Brock Lesnar talking about how he has a WWE ring set up in his personal gym, people would always say "Body slam me Brock, it'll be fun", Brock would oblige and no one ever asked for a second, because being lifted into the air by a human gorilla and being thrown onto a thin sheet of padding, plywood and steel trusses hurts like hell, no matter how you do it.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Sad because she was just a train wreck to the end, a lot of people did try to help her originally but in the end I think everyone gave up on her.

I hope she finds the peace that she never found in live.

For us that don't know much about her, what issues was she dealing with, substance abuse?

[icecube]

I had a buddy who was a ref in the independent circuits for a few years. I went down to Regina with him to watch a couple guys get trained. I had the opportunity to learn to run the ropes and take a few bumps. Just falling onto the back on my own from a standing position, running off the ropes and falling properly , etc. Beginner stuff. Did this for an hour and a half ish. Never been more sore than I was the next day. Wrestling is scripted but it's far from fake.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Thor

For us that don't know much about her, what issues was she dealing with, substance abuse?

Alcohol and substance abuse.

And it had been ongoing for a long time after she left the WWE, she was basically a train wreck.

From reading around the web, her friends were planning an intervention for her when she died.

supposedly the WWE had offered to send her to rehab a few times and eventually just gave up on her.

Wrestling is a tough gig, but it was also a party atmosphere, especially when you read some of the things that Bret Hart and Jericho and others wrote in their books. Shawn Michaels was getting pretty close to being a tragic story, Kurt Angle for a long time was on the next to die list.

About 15 years ago, the WWE softened their ring, Mick Foley talked about it in his second book. They also lightened their work schedule.

the problem though I think is that wrestling has gotten more dangerous because every wrestler fights a riskier style then they did back in the 90's and before.

The moves that used to be saved for ppv's are now being pulled out every night, and for the most part its not the bookers telling them to do these moves, they're just part of the wrestlers move set. When Daniel Bryan started breaking down, the WWE went to him and basically told him to simmer down his move set and he refused to do it.

I look at some of the crazy spots, and I'm amazed that more wrestlers aren't getting hurt badly in the ring. When Keven Owen's powerbombed Sami Zayn back first on the ring apron I thought that would be the end of Zayn.