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Joanie Laurer (born December 27 1971 in Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA) is an American professional wrestler, most famously known as Chyna while in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE; then the World Wrestling Federation, WWF). She is the only woman to have held the WWE Intercontinental Championship, 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. She held the Intercontinental Championship three times. She was nicknamed the Ninth Wonder of the World by WWE fans.
Laurer trained at Killer Kowalski's Wrestling School. There she met WWE wrestlers Paul Levesque (then Hunter Hearst Helmsley, now Triple H) and Shawn Michaels who helped her in getting into the World Wrestling Federation. She joined the company in 1997.
Laurer has also modelled nude, notably for Playboy. She is currently dating (on/off again) Sean Waltman, also known in wrestling as X-Pac. Recently the same company that distributed Paris Hilton's infamous video has released similar footage of Chyna and X-Pac entitled One night in China. In a press release and pre-emptive strike Laurer took full rights of the footage and will receive a percentage from sales.
Laurer will appear in the 4th season of VH1's show The Surreal Life with Da Brat, Jane Wiedlin, Christopher Knight, Verne Troyer, Marcus Schenkenberg, and Adrianne Curry.
Title History
Chyna became the first woman to win the WWE 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 was 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 match at Summerslam. 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.
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