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THE DEATH HAS occurred of professional wrestling star Chyna at the age of 45.
The wrestler, real name Joan Laurer, was one of the most popular female superstars in the sport in the late 1990s.
Laurer was found dead in an apartment in Redondo Beach, California, by a friend. She had died sometime before being found according to a police statement.
The friend told police that Laurer had not responded to her phone in a few days and she had become concerned for her welfare.
“Officers arrived on scene and discovered a deceased female inside the location,” Redondo Beach police said in a statement.
ABC News / Twitter
ABC News / Twitter / Twitter
The deceased female has been identified as Joan Laurer. Joan Laurer was also known as ‘Chyna’ and was a professional wrestler and entertainer.
The exact nature and cause of the death, as well as the general time of death is under investigation by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s department.
A statement on Laurer’s own Twitter account confirmed her death.
“It is with deep sadness to (sic) inform you today that we lost a true icon, a real life superhero. Joanie Laurer aka Chyna, the ninth wonder of the world has passed away,” it said.
She will live forever in the memories of her millions of fans and all of us that loved her.
Laurer first joined the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), then the WWF, in 1997.
She is the only female wrestler to win the Intercontinental Title, which she did twice.
She left the company in 2001.
“WWE is saddened to learn of reports that Joanie Laurer, best known for competing in WWE as Chyna, has passed away,” WWE said in a statement.
A physically striking and talented performer, Chyna was a true sports-entertainment pioneer.
Not only was the Superstar dubbed “The Ninth Wonder of the World” a founding member of the groundbreaking faction D-Generation X, but she also holds the distinction of being the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble Match and the first and only woman to win the Intercontinental Championship.
Unfortunately, I think this was a long time coming. Her life fell apart after wrestling.
I see a video on YouTube a while back on the amount of WWE wrestlers who have died young, unbelievable the amount of them who die way before their time.
Drugs maybe a factor?
Almost certainly. God only knows what sort of crap she had to ingest to look like that.
RIP and thanks for the memories
Seems so many of these athletes are dying extremely young.
steroids
CTE and head trauma, very little to do with steroids you don’t see bodybuilders dropping like flies.
Head trauma?? You know that they weren’t really wrestling?
James please stfu. She’s struggled with depression for years
Yes you do. I used to know one. The future is bleak for bodybuilders. The long term damage is dodgy. Weightlifter and powerlifters too. You would be amazed at the amount of weight lifers from Eastern Europe who disappeared off the face of the earth having competed in Olympic completion over the years. A number of them died, particularly back in the 70s and 80s.
Did you see Wrestlemania where Shane O Mac jumped off Hell In A Cell. Or when Owen Hart fell off the rafters live on tv and died years ago. Or multiple chair shots, or tables, or ladders or … you get the point. Yeah it’s fake and no one ever gets injured in WWE or TNA or other wrestling.
The goal is muscle not health.
James to say it’s not real therefore no chance of head injury is incredibly naive, it’s well publicised how beaten up a wrestler gets over a career due to all the bumps.
There could be more to it than that.. I believe chyna went through depression not that long ago and after going into the porn industry after wrestling, as well as not having a family looking after as seen by her not being found for several days, this COULD have been more than an accident or health issue.
An awful lot of pornstars also die young and unfortunately it’s usually by their own hand
Daniel Bryan recently retired due to the concussions received over the years, Pro wrestling may not be perceived as a real sport, but they still face injuries all the same in he name of entertaining the crowds (the current roster is plagued with injuries)
A novel thought in the journal comment section: actual scientific evidence. You can view a full report into the examination of Chris Benoit’s brain, undertaken by the Sports Legacy Institute which investigates the effects of repeated head trauma on the brain. Uninformed people also blamed steroids at the time of Chris Benoit’s death, only for the evidence to overwhelming point towards head trauma.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905224343.htm
Wrestlers take a huge amount of damage. It’s extremely dangerous. And its not fake, it’s scripted. Like most other things on TV. Shane o’ Mac didn’t fake jumping off the cell last month. Steve Austin didn’t fake his broken neck. And he still finished the match so it wouldn’t ruin the illusion for the fans.
Look up Chris Benoit. Head trauma from his years of wrestling caused severe damage to his brain and he eventually ended up killing his wife, son and himself. But yeah, you’re right, they weren’t really wrestling.
Steroids isn’t the half of what they’d be on. Steroids, growth hormone, insulin, amphetamines, and to help them sleep sedatives. Then on fight night, 5 or 6 lines of coke right before the show…
Death by masturbation..way to go
Worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices to do what a lot of modern feminists talk about but couldn’t follow through on in a million years- get on an equal footing in probably the most inequal of arenas. Love her or hate her, you couldn’t help but notice her. As tragic and turbulent as her life was, I hope history recognises the great things she has done.
Wwe can try to erase her as much as they like,but she will always be remembered as part of the original DX trio
Why the wwe want to forget it?
YouTube it. LONG story
WWE treated her appallingly, and continue to do so. I’m surprised they even acknowledged her death.
I hope the WWE do acknowledge it. She did go off the rails suffering with depression and going into part time porn.
The WWE cut all ties but they can’t forget she was the first woman to win a mans belt, the IC title twice and the first woman in the Royal Rumble.
It’s all very sad when someone obviously needed a lot of help and their friends turn their back because their company told them to.
Yea they can try hide all they want and not to induct her into the hall of fame was a joke, Stephanie mcmahon has alot to answer for there is worse people in the hall of fame.
No way!!! RIP
So young, so sad. The end of a sporting career in the mid-thirties can be very dramatic and some people struggle to adjust to life outside their sport. These people require so much help and support.
As I understand it, she has a history of depression & substance abuse which presumably is what happened here. Never nice to hear sad stories like that. RIP.
“She died sometime before being found, according to a police report.” It would be pretty poor policing if she died afterwards I guess. Chyna, Trish, Lita, Stacey, twas a golden age for Divas
Yeah Stacey Keibler with her amazing in ring skills. Now is the golden age.
Cause of death will be very interesting to see. RIP
why will it be interesting to you?
Let’s just say that steroids are rife within the so called sport she participated. Women built like blokes and some even developing that Neanderthal jaw. It’s all for the fame and cash and they totally ignore what they know are serious long term health issues not just physically but mentally. Just sayin.
The two avatars above look like they’re having a lovely conversation
Telling, she wasn’t involved in wrestling for over a decade, she wasn’t nearly as muscular as she was, nothin to do work steroids.
Her much publicised coke and crack usage however…RIP
I had heard she unfortunately got into prostitution to feed the habit. For someone to have brought so much joy to so many, and just fall apart when she was gone out of the limelight. Stardom seems to have some major pitfalls when the crowds have gone.
The long term damage both physically and mentally from steroid abuse would amaze you. Depression etc etc … Drug abuse etc etc
It’s easy to blame steroid abuse for depression and drug abuse but isn’t steroid abuse also drug abuse? Drug abuse that can be caused by not being happy with who you are. I think steroid abuse is a symptom, not the disease
A common denominator in premature death among many wrestlers isn’t steroids, its prescription painkiller/MuscleRelaxer/benzo misuse. And that’s not to undermine their character. Back in the 80s-early 2000s the lifestyle required for wrestling was brutal. Wrestling 6 nights a week, twice on a Saturday. Flying to maybe 3 cities in a week. Plus back before guaranteed contracts it was a “paid as you play” arrangement. Lower card wrestlers MIGHT make $500 a night out of which they pay for their own hotels/flights/taxes. Even higher wrestlers were terrified to lose their spot on the card. You have a herniated disc, do you take 3 nights off and lose $1500 or take a few oxys or percs and keep going? Or You’re finished wrestling at 9pm and have to catch a flight at 9am. Do you miss the flight? Or do you take a few Xanax go to sleep, and do a line of coke in the morning to get to work? And then when you’re finished wrestling you can be still left with the addictions and related problems. Not to say that’s definitely the situation here with Chyna though
I hope she isn’t inducted in the WWE HOF. It would be a completely hypocritical thing to do after how Triple H buried her on the SC podcast saying because she did porn etc it wouldn’t be appropriate etc. A joke considering some of the Wrestlers who they are happy to endorse because they politicked well. Her memory will be preserved by the fans.
Desperately sad. An icon of WWE for people of a certain generation – especially any female fans.
Sad to see anyone die so young but let’s be honest here professional wrestling is a ridiculous sport.
Pantomime with steroids.
I think that’s the point though Cal- it’s not a sport. I doubt any fan watches it now thinking they are watching a legitimate fight. It is pantomime, but that’s ok. Like everything, some people will enjoy it and some people will think it’s ridiculous. Personally I still get a great kick out of the action and storylines.
It hasn’t claimed to be a sport for sometime cal, it is pure entertainment from pretty impressive athletes.
It’s 2016 and about 20 years too late for the hip ‘it’s not real’ argument, everyone is aware of the premise behind pro wrestling
Cal, don’t you believe in the invisible man in the sky?
I’m sure xpac is sad now
Who?
What’s the point of that comment? If you read the article you’d know. Going out of your way to be a disrespectful piece of sh!t
I don’t think I was being disrespectful. In reality the number of people in Ireland who would ever have heard of her is tiny, you may as well announce the death of every minor celebrity on here then.
Of course you were being disrespectful. Given the amount of articles on the journal each day, we can afford one to a lady who was a trailblazer in her industry the likes of which we haven’t seen since.
Wrestling wasn’t your thing, but for me growing up in 90s this is an article that interests me
Attaboy Foghorn! Give Pronsias a pedigree for me too. Ridiculous comment to make Pronsias, as if who you know of and don’t means anything. I’d say you know p!ss all about cold fusion either, does that mean it’s not worth writing about?
OK I apologise to all the professional wrestling fans for asking who?
I still think that WWE is a spectacle that requires a special kind of moronic stupidity to sit down and actually watch.
I’d suggest it takes a special brand of moronic stupidity, plus some deep seated psychological and self esteem issues, to go around commenting on thejournal articles about stuff you apparently have no interest in. What on earth are you doing here?
Kids can ye lighten up, a minor professional wrestler died, I asked who. If it was Hulk Hogan the death would be just about newsworthy.
So what do you watch on tv so?
Very little, primarily news, current affairs and documentaries. I also like the Game of Thrones.
Well we can only apologise for the large portion of humanity that aren’t on your intellectual level.
Wrestling is good harmless fun, if you have an axe to grind with a form of entertainment I suggest you take your ire out on Geordie shore and the kardashians of the worlds
‘News, current affairs and documentaries’ my arse, I’d say you have the little people big world box set on loop
Ah apologies Frankie boy, I didn’t realise you had such worthy interests. Of course we are morons compared to a renaissance man like yourself. Glad you could take the time out of your intellectually stimulating schedule to come on here and show us the error of our ways.
Yep,game of thrones is about as real as it gets. My point is that nobody can judge anybody for the kind of tv they choose to watch be it game of thrones, the soaps or wrestling.
If Proinsias has a tail (and I suspect he does), it’s firmly in its place between his legs after that!!!
Wasn’t being disrespectful by asking who on an article announcing a death then decides to remove any reason to believe that claim by insulting anybody that knows who she was. Well done Pron. I guess it’s true, you can’t teach stupid
She was not allowed do her signing st wrestlcon in dallas wrestlemania week cause she turned up drunk and stoned off her ass
still cant figure out how people could pay to watch that shite
ROIDED UP TRANNY!
A broken chair was found at the scene…
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