WWE Superstar Chyna's Most Unforgettable Moments

Chyna, a WWE Hall of Famer also known as "The Ninth Wonder of the World," was a trailblazer in professional wrestling for the women in the industry today, having many memorable, unforgettable moments in her just four year-long career in the then-WWF, during its hottest time period of business, the Attitude Era. Chyna broke down many barriers in the industry, and even won a men's championship before she ever picked up the WWF Women's title.

The late Joanie Laurer was an unforgettable presence in WWF from the very beginning. After training at "Killer" Kowalski's school in Massachusetts, she met Triple H (then still known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley) and Shawn Michaels at a show in 1996. After watching tapes of her matches, the future D-Generation X leaders wanted to bring her in as a bodyguard, though Vince McMahon wasn't initially on board with the idea. She wouldn't join WWF until after initially accepting an offer from WCW to be the only woman in the New World Order. It would be Shane McMahon who told Chyna she was hired.

She made her debut in the company as a plant in the audience, and her initial appearance was her first unforgettable moment in the company. At In Your House 13: Final Four on February 16, 1997, Chyna emerged from a ringside seat and choked Marlena while Goldust was in a match against Triple H. Her debut was unforgettable, as a shocked commentary team of Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler played it off that she was disgruntled fan gone a little too far. It wasn't until the next night on "Monday Night Raw" where she once again attacked Marlena that WWF fans knew they were seeing someone who was about to make an impact in the company in a big way.

One of the first glass ceilings that Chyna shattered within WWF was when she became the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble. The unforgettable moment happened at the pay-per-view in January 1999, almost 20 years before the women of WWE would get their own Rumble match. She entered the match last, at 30, and eliminated Mark Henry, with whom she had been involved in a romantic storyline in the weeks leading up to the Rumble. Chyna revealed that their entire relationship had been a ruse during the feud between The Nation of Domination and D-Generation X, and she broke up with "The World's Strongest Man." She got her revenge fully when she sent him over the top rope, making the moment all the more unforgettable. 

Chyna would only score the elimination on Henry in 1999 before she was eliminated from the match by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. In a slightly less memorable moment, Chyna entered the Rumble match the following year at #17. She eliminated Chris Jericho, who she was feuding with at the time, only to be eliminated by Jericho shortly after throwing him over the top.

She paved the way for women like Beth Phoenix to enter the match before the Women's Royal Rumble was established in 2018. Phoenix entered the men's match in 2010 and, like Chyna, eliminated a bigger man in The Great Khali. Kharma would enter the match in 2012 and most recently, Nia Jax entered the men's bout in 2019, where she took an RKO from Randy Orton, after competing in the women's match that year as well.

Chyna would never climb the entire way to the top to capture the men's top title in WWF, but she was extremely close. She was the only woman to ever become the number one contender to the WWF Championship, a unique fact of her career. Chyna became the number one contender in an unforgettable moment when she pinned Triple H during an August 1999 episode of "Monday Night Raw." 

The then-commissioner of "Raw," Shawn Michaels, booked a triple threat match between Chyna, Triple H, and The Undertaker, and the winner of the match would get a shot at "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's championship at SummerSlam that year. During the match, Austin interfered and hit Triple H with a chair and placed Chyna on top of him for her to get the victory, making her the number one contender for Austin's title. The following week, she defeated Triple H once again, this time with the help of Mankind, to seemingly solidify her title shot. 

Ultimately, Chyna would lose the contendership to Mankind, and the match would be turned into a triple threat involving Mick Foley's personality and Triple H, and Chyna would never challenge Austin for the WWF Championship. Mankind would win the belt at SummerSlam and lose it to Triple H the following night. Chyna would get her historic moment and title win, however, but for the men's mid-card championship a few months later.

As for what happened to her title opportunity in terms of storyline, Jim Ross shared on an episode of his "Grilling JR" podcast that he believed "Stone Cold" was too "old school" to want to work with a woman in intergender in-ring action.

Long before WWE ever created mid-card championships for its women's division, which didn't happen until 2024, Chyna had one of her most unforgettable moments when she won the men's Intercontinental Championship from Jeff Jarrett in a Good Housekeeping Match at No Mercy in 1999. The match type was slightly controversial, as it played off Jarrett's heel character who believed that women should be in the home and the kitchen and not in the wrestling ring, like Chyna. The hardcore stipulation, the first and only of its kind in WWE history, allowed for anything found inside the home to be used as a weapon.

Jarrett made a critical error, however, when he used the Intercontinental Championship belt to hit Chyna in an attempt to win the match. It was ruled the belt wasn't considered a household item, so the match rolled on after the bell rang once again. In the end, it was Chyna to smash Jarrett across the head with his own guitar, which was considered a household item, to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. "The Ninth Wonder of the World" would hold the title for 56 days following the unforgettable match.

In another memorable moment, Chyna would become a two-time Intercontinental Champion when she pinned Trish Stratus in an intergender match where she teamed alongside then-love interest Eddie Guerrero in a match against Stratus and Val Venis at SummerSlam in 2000. She would only hold the title for eight days that time before dropping the belt to Guerrero. Prior to that victory, she also was a co-champion alongside Chris Jericho, but that reign is no longer recognized by WWE.

From winning the Intercontinental Championship, to qualifying in the King of the Ring tournament, to winning the number one contendership opportunity that would be ultimately taken away from her, Chyna accomplished much within WWF before she ever won the Women's Championship. Her time with the title finally came when she defeated Ivory (who was in Right to Censor at the time) at WrestleMania 17 in 2001.

The pair began feuding after another iconic moment in Chyna's career, her Playboy cover and pictorial in the magazine's November 2000 issue. WWF worked the star posing nude in the magazine into a storyline angle with Right to Censor, the conservative stable of wrestlers created to mock the Parents Television Council, and Chyna began to feud with Ivory over the title. At the Royal Rumble in 2001, Chyna worked an angle where it looked as though she injured her neck and took some time away from the ring. She returned from the storyline injury and took on Ivory at WrestleMania X-Seven in what turned out to be a squash.

At the end of the match, Chyna hoisted Ivory over her head and dropped her straight down to the canvas. "The Ninth Wonder of the World" rolled the champion over and leaned back on her, soaking in the moment, for the cover and the three count. She won her first and only WWF Women's Championship that night to the delight of the WrestleMania crowd.

One of Chyna's most unforgettable moments wasn't fully realized until after the fact. She would unknowingly leave WWF a champion. After just two official title defense against Ivory, in a WrestleMania rematch, and Molly Holly, and another few matches including a tag match alongside Lita, Chyna would face the Team Xtreme member at Judgment Day 2001. 

With Chyna's former storyline love interest Eddie Guerrero looking on from the stage of the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California, the women faced off in a 6 minute, 30 second match. In the end, Chyna hit Lita with a big powerbomb for the victory and title retention. It would be her final match in WWF and the title would be vacated quietly off-screen with no real explanation. As far as some fans knew, their favorite star retired from the company still a champion. The championship was brought back onto television in November 2001, after Chyna had officially left the company, and six women competed for the gold at Survivor Series that year. Trish Stratus would become the next WWF Women's Champion.

While the details surrounding Chyna's WWF departure were murky at the time, and still aren't 100 percent clear even following her death in 2016, as her sister revealed she was offered a new deal in 2001, Chyna remains one of the most iconic women in professional wrestling history for all she did for the business and all the unforgettable moments she had in her career.