Jim Ross Recalls How The Triple H-Stephanie McMahon Relationship Pushed Out Chyna

Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Stephanie McMahon are nearing 20 years of marriage this year, and WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently reflected on how the relationship affected a fellow Hall of Famer — Chyna.

On the latest episode of "Grillin JR," the legendary commentator discussed Triple H and Stephanie's engagement in 2003 and said that he got a heads up about their relationship from Vince McMahon as he knew that JR would "need to get in front of the backlash" as then-Head of Talent Relations. Before Triple H and Stephanie's relationship, Levesque had been dating Chyna and their breakup sent Chyna on a downward spiral in her personal life, which according to JR made her difficult to negotiate with.

"I think her conduct and her mood and attitude quickly eliminated her from consideration from another contract," JR said, noting that Chyna's "seeming instability" was too much of a risk.

The late star went on to wrestle briefly in Japan for NJPW and also made a brief appearance in TNA Wrestling but ultimately ended up becoming a staple of reality television and adult entertainment, a career path that led to her being essentially excommunicated from WWE. 

Chyna was desperate to repair her relationship with WWE, the subject of which was the center of a controversial documentary "Wrestling With Chyna," that was in production before her death in 2016 at the age of 46. She was finally inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of D-Generation X in 2019. A new documentary about Chyna premiered earlier this month on Reelz Channel.