a&e biography chyna

A&E's Biography: WWE Legends to Chronicle the Life and Death of Chyna

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Hayden Christensen Responds to Possibly Playing a Huge DCU Role

The boys creator doesn’t understand how you can root for homelander, says 'bad fans' must be a minority, the boys' lesbian firecracker actress reveals why she had to play the anti-gay extremist supe.

A&E's Biography: WWE Legends series will next take on the Ninth Wonder of the World. Before her controversial exit from the company and untimely death, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer had forever changed the professional wrestling business by showing what female performers could be capable of in the ring, serving as an inspiration for women in wrestling that continues to this day. From her debut in WWE as a "bodyguard" for Triple H through her rise as one of the most popular superstars of the "Attitude Era," Biography: WWE Legends will explore some of Chyna's most memorable moments of her life and career. You can get a sneak peek at the documentary ahead of its premiere on March 5 by watching the preview below.

"She set the table for every woman what came after her," fellow WWE legend Lita says in the preview clip. "For me personally, she encouraged me, she believed in me, and she told me any dream I had, anything I wanted to do in the company, that I could do that."

Beth Phoenix, who became the second woman to ever enter the men's Royal Rumble match following Chyna first doing so years prior, added, "I feel sad that Joanie didn't really get to see how much she meant to these next generations, myself being one of them."

The preview clip also features footage of when Chyna was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the group D-Generation X. Along with the other members of the group (Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg), Triple H can be seen giving great credit to Chyna for the success of the group, which in turn helped him continue to succeed greatly in the years that followed.

"I wouldn't be where I am without her in my career, DX wouldn't be where it is," says Triple H, before the fans can be heard thanking Chyna with a heartwarming chant.

Related: Chyna Remembered: WWE Superstars Mourn Legendary Wrestler

Chyna's Story Will Be Told at A&E

Chyna joined WWE in 1997. Her fame grew exponentially as a founding member fo the popular stable D-Generation X, and she would go on to start competing with the men in wrestling matches. Over the next handful of years, she became one of the era's most popular stars, but it all seemed to end just as quickly as it began due to behind-the-scenes drama in 2001. At the time, she was romantically involved with Triple H, who'd broken up with her to pursue a new relationship with Stephanie McMahon - the daughter of company head Vince McMahon. She never returned to WWE for any subsequent appearances, though she had been campaigning for a WWE Hall of Fame nomination in the years leading up to her death.

Biography: WWE Legends featuring Chyna will air on Sunday at 8/7c on A&E .

• News & Rumors
• Event Reports
• Hall of Fame

Select Page

WWE/A&E’s ‘Biography’ takes its turn telling Chyna’s tragic tale

Posted by Dave Hillhouse | Mar 6, 2023

It has been about a year and a half since VICE TV presented an episode of their “Vice Versa” docu-series detailing Joanie Laurer’s life , and less than a month since REELZ released their own documentary titled “Wrestling with Demons,” and now the Biography series, in its third season of co-production with WWE, joins the fray with their own telling. Truth be told, if you’ve watched all three of them, then it’s safe to say you won’t be coming away with much new from A&E’s episode. Considering the Biography series is so long-running and A&E reaches a different audience than VICE or REELZ, though, it’s also safe to say that this would be the first time for many casual fans to watch her whole story unfold.

The two-hour episode (minus commercial time) is broken up into ten parts, conveniently arranged to fit around said commercial breaks. Throughout chapters such as the “The Bodyguard,” “The Champ is Here,” and “Finding Peace,” seemingly nothing is held back when discussing Laurer’s high and low points, of which there are plenty examples of both. The list of people contributing their opinions are wide and varied from both the wrestling world and her personal life, from her mother Jan LaQue (who denounced the REELZ project for its lack of veracity) and older sister Kathy, to Mick Foley, Kia “Awesome King” Stevens, biographer Jason King, and Chyna’s former manager Anthony Alzado.

LaQue remembers Joanie as a happy baby, who as she grew up loved putting on shows for people. After an altercation between them over suspected marijuana use when Joanie was 16, Joanie left home to live with her father. Interestingly, this leaves LaQue out of the documentary until the near the end, as she had no contact with her daughter. For Joanie’s sister Kathy, they stayed in touch much longer but, in a similar fashion, when Kathy tried to get Joanie to enter rehab after her WWF days, Joanie balked and they lost contact as well. She was very good, according to Kathy, at shutting people out once she decided to do so.

Backing up to before her wrestling career, though, Kathy and Jason King describe Joanie’s finding her way into the gym as the discovery of a safe haven. She loved the physicality, but loved the attention she garnered just as much. Going from job to job but maintaining her love of working out, Laurer met Gerry Blais, who would become both her trainer and her boyfriend. A chance decision by Joanie and Kathy to attend a WWF show, both dressed to impress, led to Joanie again loving the attention they received, and she would very soon be at Killer Kowalski’s training gym looking for a way into the world of pro wrestling.

As Laurer was recording much of her in ring work to build a portfolio for herself, there are some great clips of her in-ring work from before her stoic, DX bodyguard introduction in the WWF, and her athleticism is on full display. When she is brought in to the WWF at the insistence of Triple H and Shawn Michaels (and at the warning of Vince McMahon that if it doesn’t work out, it’s all on them), she arrives to shake up what Stevens calls the “popcorn match” state of women’s wrestling in the WWF … and what Terri Runnels calls “stupid shit” like Bra & Panties matches.

After a little unsolicited love for The Attitude Era and the Monday Night War, the episode gets back to business. Michaels reveals an interesting tidbit: there were instructions in place that he or Triple H had to weaken an opponent before Chyna could attack them, which he says was to make it believable and partly to soothe the concerns by some of the wrestlers about being slammed by a woman. Foley changed that narrative when he specifically sought to take some bumps for Chyna, which encouraged more men to do the same.

While Chyna’s success in the WWF takes her to the Royal Rumble, the King of the Ring tournament, and the Intercontinental Championship, Blais re-appears to describe the ending of their relationship as a slow realization that their lives were going in different directions. By this time, also, Laurer had begun dating Triple H. After Laurer’s plastic surgery is discussed in the context of her wanting to show her inner beauty on the outside (and Michaels saying the funny thing was that Triple H had fallen head over heels for her before that anyway), the first signs of her downfall appear as her relationship with Triple H ends while his and Stephanie McMahon’s begins.

After this happens, King notes that Laurer is booked into the women’s division more often, and even winning the Women’s Championship feels like a step down from how she had been booked prior. Still, she’s a champion, appears on the cover Playboy, and seems poised to cash in when her contract with the WWF comes up for renewal. Except, her expectations of being paid at a top-tier level like Steve Austin or The Undertaker are not met, so she turns down a new contract and, suddenly, her WWF days are done.

Laurer, unable to use the name “Chyna”, tries acting, a stint in New Japan wrestling, reality TV appearances, and in the middle of all of this re-connects with Sean Waltman. Both at this time are having alcohol and drug dependency issues, and neither is much good to the other. In seeking cash, they famously produce a sex-tape which horrifies Kathy.  Laurer seems to find some peace teaching English in Japan, but there are suicide attempts and the threat of drug use always close at hand. Her manager, Alzado, concocts an idea to bring her back to America and film something like the Jake Roberts documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake , except it seems that Laurer was not ready to face her former demons, and Alzado is presented as someone who wasn’t in it for her betterment but for getting eyeballs on a film.

Indeed, right at the end, there’s a harrowing clip of Alzado approaching Laurer’s apartment following her death, filming as he opens the door to soon find her body. Thankfully, either because it doesn’t exist or because it isn’t shown, there’s nothing with Alzado actually making the discovery. Alzado was also responsible for setting up a memorial service for Laurer that LaQue says felt like a show, one which she had no intention of attending. Kathy, though shocked and saddened at the time of hearing the news, says she had nonetheless mourned for her sister years before she died, and was happy that she would find some peace.

The episode concludes with a tribute paid to Chyna at the WWE Hall of Fame induction of DX in 2019, and a touching story told by Foley about the connection that his daughter Noelle had with Laurer. Whatever the reason for a trend in presenting the life of Joanie Laurer, this entry feels like a complete telling of her story and, even if you have watched other documentaries about her, is still worth watching.

RELATED LINKS

• Slam Wrestling’s Chyna story archive
• Slam Wrestling’s A&E/WWE story archive
• Read more in Slam Wrestling's Hollywood Headlock

About The Author

Dave Hillhouse

Dave Hillhouse started writing for Slam Wrestling in 2005. His first taste of writing about wrestling was doing work for Burlington, Ontario’s Renegade Wrestling Alliance – and a lot of posting on AOL message boards. He enjoys exploring the quirky side of pro wrestling, and luckily there's no shortage of material. Much of his writing focuses on the connections between wrestling and film, TV, documentary, and more. In his off-time, he runs the Great Wrestling Tournaments fantasy voting page (click on the Facebook logo below to visit). Feel free to drop him a line (especially if you have some info about upcoming productions with a wrestling connection) at [email protected] .

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Latest Stories

• Wrestling world mourns Wild Samoan Sika
• Wild Samoan Sika dead at 79
• ‘Zig when everybody else zags’ counsels Gabe Sapolsky
• Raw: Liv Morgan gets The Judgement Day more gold
• MMA fighter says McMahon targeted men, women; names Shawn Michaels
• 2 Cold Scorpio arrested in brutal stabbing
• Matt slams Hardys’ AEW booking: Tony is more focused on having a five star match
• Indianapolis to host WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble
• RVD makes for a high F’n A&E Biography
• Madison Heights Museum uncages George ‘The Animal’ Steele exhibit

If you were a wrestling talent at the present time who would you trust to better handle your career?

Jun 30: AEW Forbidden Door Jul 6: WWE MIB Jul 7: NXT Heatwave Jul 21: TNA Slammiversary Aug 3: WWE SummerSlam Aug 25: AEW All In Aug 31: WWE Bash in Berlin Aug 31: MLW Gold Rush Night 1 Sep 1: MLW Gold Rush Night 2 Sep 1: AEW All Out Oct 12: AEW WrestleDream Nov 23: AEW Full Gear Dec 28: AEW Worlds End

About Slam Wrestling

Privacy Policy

> Archives > The Artist Canvas > Books > Career Records > Canadian Hall of Fame > Collectibles > Gaming > Movies & TV > Music > Obituary Archive > Photo Galleries > PPVs & PLEs > Sporting Connection > Video > WrestleMania

What's happening...

NXT TV Poll: Grade the June 25 edition June 25, 2024

Nxt tv results (6/25): moore’s review of tag team turmoil for a shot at the nxt tag titles, nxt champion trick williams vs. shawn spears in a non-title match, tony d’angelo vs. nathan frazer for the nxt heritage cup june 25, 2024.

Fight Life “Still Standing” results (6/23): Vetter’s review of Masha Slamovich vs. Richard Holliday for the Fight Life Title, Ichiban vs. KC Navarro, battle royal June 25, 2024

WWE Raw rating: Wyatt Sicks debut follow-up, World Tag Team Title match June 25, 2024

Sika Anoa’i dead at age 79 June 25, 2024

Rey Mysterio says Dominik Mysterio is a future world champion, didn’t think WWE had interest in signing him after the WCW sale, comments on on how long he intends to wrestle June 25, 2024

Ratings for the wwe a&e biography on chyna, plus wwe rivals on the rock vs. john cena.

March 7, 2023

Categories NEWS TICKER WWE News

By Jason Powell , ProWrestling.net Editor ( @prowrestlingnet )

-Sunday’s WWE A&E Biography on Chyna produced 481,000 viewers, according to Showbuzzdaily.com . The two-hour show finished 20th in Sunday’s cable ratings with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

-Sunday’s WWE Rivals on The Rock vs. John Cena delivered 387,000 viewers for A&E and finished 27th in the cable ratings with a 0.12 rating.

Powell’s POV: Running opposite the AEW Revolution pay-per-view didn’t hurt the WWE shows on A&E. The previous week’s A&E biography on Jake Roberts produced 453,000 viewers and a 0.12 rating, while the same night’s WWE Rivals on Undertaker vs. Mick Foley had 421,000 viewers and a 0.12 rating. Sunday’s biography focuses on Kane, while the new WWE Rivals spotlights Triple H vs. Batista.

WE VALUE YOUR PRIVACY

PRIVACY POLICY INFO HERE

Related Posts

09/17 Powell’s WWE Raw audio review: Roman Reigns vs. Baron Corbin for the WWE Universal Championship, Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship, The Undertaker appears, Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre

1/24 NXT TV results: Moore’s review of the NXT Women’s Championship Summit with Roxanne Perez, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter vs. Alba Fyre in a handicap match for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles, Tiffany Stratton vs. Indi Hartwell, Elektra Lopez vs. Wendy Choo, Thea Hail award ceremony

Impact Wrestling TV show, Dot Net Weekly, NXT weekend (reports needed), WWE Raw and Smackdown poll results, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Takayuki Iizuka

Be the first to comment, leave a comment cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Chyna Lifts WWE Biography Ratings On A&E, Rivals Sees Drop For John Cena Vs. The Rock

Sunday's episode of "WWE Biography" centered around "The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna provided a slight boost in viewership for A&E's pro wrestling docuseries in the ratings.

Per Wrestlenomics , the Chyna-focused episode led to a 6% jump in viewers from the week prior with viewership in the coveted 18-49 demographic up 20%; the episode ranked #20 in P18-49 among cable originals for the day, according to Showbuzz Daily. The previous episode had featured Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

481,000 viewers on average tuned in to watch A&E's episode on Chyna, which recapped her life and career both in and out of the squared circle. In addition to once winning the WWE Women's Championship, the D-Generation X member is one of the few women to ever compete in singles action in the men's division, twice winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship — the first and only woman to ever hold the title (she technically won it a third time, as well but temporarily served as a "co-champion" with Chris Jericho ). Chyna is also the only woman to ever qualify for the King of the Ring tournament and made two appearances in the men's Royal Rumble match.

A&E also saw viewership decrease for its "WWE Rivals" episode on the feud between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena, with 387,000 people on average tuning in, down from the previous week's episode about The Undertaker vs. Mankind. "Rivals" viewership sank 8% week-to-week while dropping 2% in the 18-49 age range. The rivalry between Cena and The Rock took place over the course of three consecutive WrestleMania main events from 2011 to 2013 and included Johnson's eighth WWE Championship win, though Cena would ultimately come out of the feud victorious.

Recommended

• PWInsider RSS Feed
• Follow PWInsider on Twitter
• Join PWInsider on Facebook
• Add PWInsider on Google+

PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

• Questions & Answers
• This Day in History
• Why go Elite?
• Signup and Go Elite
• Login to My Account
• PWInsider Polls
• DVD Easter Eggs
• Upcoming Wrestling Events
• PWInsider Super Store
• PWInsiderXtra.com

FIRST LOOK AT A&E CHYNA BIOGRAPHY, DOMINIK'S 'PRISON' WORKOUT AND MORE

WWE released the following:

Chyna leaves a legacy as a trailblazer and an inspiration: Chyna A&E Biography: Legends sneak peek

Dominik Mysterio's "Prison" workout with Sheamus is liberating | Celtic Warrior Workouts Ep. 123

Women overpowering men: WWE Playlist

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

Latest Headlines

OnlineCasinosSpelen.com

Non-GamStop Casino

casinos not on GAMSTOP

Third Party Advertising: We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site and other sites about goods and services that may be of interest to you. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, our third-party advertiser may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser.

© 2004-2024 PWInsider.com . All Rights Reserved.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Mar 5, 2023

Known as the Ninth Wonder of the World, Joanie Lee Laurer transcended all traditional boundaries of what a female could accomplish in Sports Entertainment. Known as the Ninth Wonder of the World, Joanie Lee Laurer transcended all traditional boundaries of what a female could accomplish in Sports Entertainment. Known as the Ninth Wonder of the World, Joanie Lee Laurer transcended all traditional boundaries of what a female could accomplish in Sports Entertainment.

• David Goldstein
• Kathy Hamilton
• 1 User review

• (archive footage)
• Self - Chyna's Mother
• Self - Chyna's Sister

• Self - WWE Hall of Famer
• (as Amy "Lita" Dumas)
• Self - Writer, 'Great Fall of Chyna'
• Self - Chyna's Trainer and Former Boyfriend
• (as Killer Kowalski)

• Self - Former Pro Wrestler
• (as Dan 'Freight Train' Ouellette)
• Self - WWE Historian

• Self - WWE Chief Content Officer
• (as Paul "Triple H" Levesque)

• (as Kia Michelle "Awesome Kong" Stevens)

• Self - Former WWE Superstar

• (as Brian "Road Dogg" James)

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia While the documentary talks about the downfall of Joanie Laurer, and the "sex tape" she made with Sean Waltman ( Another Night in China (2009) ), it does not mention the professional pornographic videos that she made for Vivid Video: Backdoor to Chyna (2011) , Avengers XXX: A Porn Parody (2012) , Chyna Is Queen of the Ring (2012) , and She-Hulk XXX: An Axel Braun Parody (2013) .
• Connections Features WWF in Your House: Final Four (1997)

User reviews 1

• madonnagaga
• Mar 8, 2023
• March 5, 2023 (United States)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 26 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

We would like to send you notifications for the latest news and updates.

Help Support Our Website!

Fightful has been reporting all the latest breaking news from the wrestling world since 2016.

Ads have played a big part in being able to keep our content free for all to enjoy.

Please consider allowing ads on our site, and help continue to support Fightful.

Viewership Rises For 3/5 Episode Of A&E Biography: WWE Legends, Drops For WWE Rivals

The numbers are in for WWE on A&E on March 5.

Wrestlenomics reports that the third episode of season three of A&E Biography: WWE Legends, which highlighted Chyna, drew 481,000 viewers. This number is up from the Jake Roberts episode on February 26; 453,000 viewers tuned in for that episode.

The Chyna episode posted a 0.14 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic, which is also up from the Roberts episode (0.12 rating). The episode ranked #20 in the demographic among cable originals.

The March 5 episode of WWE Rivals, which focused on the feud between John Cena and The Rock, scored 387,000 viewers, which is down from the 421,000 viewers who watched the Undertaker and Mankind episode on February 26.

WWE Rivals scored a 0.12 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic, which is level with the February 26 episode (0.12 rating in the same demographic). WWE Rivals ranked #27 in the demographic among cable originals.

WWE On A&E Viewership History

- February 19, 2023: WWE Legends - 495,000 viewers, 0.15 rating WWE Rivals - 444,000 viewers, 0.14 rating

- February 26, 2023: WWE Legends - 453,000 viewers, 0.12 rating WWE Rivals - 421,000 viewers, 0.12 rating

- March 5, 2023: WWE Legends - 481,000 viewers, 0. 14 rating WWE Rivals - 387,000 viewers, 0.12 rating

Fans can find ratings information for other wrestling television shows by clicking here.

Get the Reddit app

Give a listen to WWE Mat Chat, the official podcast of r/WWE

01010111 01100101 00100111 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100111 Welcome to r/WWE A SubReddit to discuss WWE, NXT, ECW, and WCW. If you are new, check out the WWE Wiki for answers to many common questions: https://www.reddit.com/r/WWE/wiki/index Any official WWE involvement is limited and will be marked as such. Fan run community

Chyna’s A&E Biography

Just got finished watching the new episode of Biography about Chyna and I thought they did a great job. Chyna is who got me into WWE when I was a little girl watching during the Attitude Era. During my formative years, she was a huge influence.

Her struggles broke my heart and, unfortunately, damaged my image of her for a long time. As an adult, I can finally see she was just a human being with deep, lifelong insecurities and loneliness. She definitely deserved better treatment but she could also be her own worst enemy.

I was shocked that they acknowledged the HHH/Steph situation considering this is official WWE programming and they could’ve easily left it at “HHH and Chyna broke up, that’s all”. I respect them for not trying to rewrite history for HHH and Steph’s sake.

Now that they’ve ripped off the Band-Aid of acknowledging the darker side of Chyna’s WWE history and what she did afterward, I’m hopeful they’re going to properly induct her as an individual in the HoF.

Anyone else here see the ep or a fan of Chyna?

• True Crime Blog

Biography: WWE Legends

• Episode Guide
• A&E Classics
• A&E Crime Central
• Link A&E on facebook
• Link A&E on twitter
• Link A&E on youtube
• Link A&E on instagram
• Link A&E on tiktok

The Steiner Brothers

The Steiner Brothers, Rick and Scott, are regarded as one of the greatest tag teams in sports entertainment history. Rick and Scott started their career as amateurs at the University of Michigan, using their experience and physique to dominate sports entertainment throughout the ’90s, winning nearly every championship in every major promotion–WCW, WWE, New Japan and ECW. After dominating the tag team division, the brothers decided to go their separate ways. Scott enjoyed a successful singles run, which included winning the WCW World Heavyweight title, unfortunately ending with a near-death injury in 2007. Throughout it all, the brothers stayed true to themselves and their family.

Create a Profile to Add this show to your list!