1
00:00:02,085 --> 00:00:04,376
[Waves breaking]

2
00:00:17,043 --> 00:00:18,501
-You got the slow motion yet?

3
00:00:18,626 --> 00:00:20,043
-No.
We're gonna do that in editing.

4
00:00:20,168 --> 00:00:22,501
-Give me one second.
-All right.

5
00:00:22,626 --> 00:00:25,543
[Indistinct conversations,
waves splashing]

6
00:00:25,668 --> 00:00:28,876
[Down-tempo music plays]

7
00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:34,460
♪♪

8
00:00:34,585 --> 00:00:40,043
♪♪

9
00:00:40,168 --> 00:00:42,501
-My experience is really
difficult to put in words

10
00:00:42,626 --> 00:00:45,335
because it's so far
from the norm

11
00:00:45,418 --> 00:00:49,710
and it's so far from
any other female that I've met.

12
00:00:51,293 --> 00:00:54,210
It was just so totally
unaccepted at that time,

13
00:00:54,293 --> 00:00:56,710
and I got shot down every time
I tried to do something.

14
00:00:56,835 --> 00:00:59,585
It was always two steps forward,
one step back.

15
00:01:00,918 --> 00:01:04,085
I knew in my heart that I was
gonna end up doing something

16
00:01:04,210 --> 00:01:06,626
because that, I felt,
has always been my destiny.

17
00:01:06,751 --> 00:01:10,543
I would have to do that
or I'd be a very unhappy person.

18
00:01:11,418 --> 00:01:14,376
But I knew that I was going up
against a lot.

19
00:01:14,501 --> 00:01:18,585
♪

20
00:01:18,710 --> 00:01:21,418
[Dramatic music plays]

21
00:01:21,585 --> 00:01:23,793
-She was living, breathing
Wonder Woman.

22
00:01:23,918 --> 00:01:26,043
♪♪

23
00:01:26,168 --> 00:01:28,376
-Just an unbelievable sight
to see.

24
00:01:28,543 --> 00:01:30,543
-Look at the size of this woman.

25
00:01:30,626 --> 00:01:33,501
♪♪

26
00:01:33,585 --> 00:01:36,751
-She was the ninth wonder
of the world.

27
00:01:36,876 --> 00:01:39,293
♪♪

28
00:01:39,418 --> 00:01:41,501
-She was a true superstar.

29
00:01:41,585 --> 00:01:43,126
-Where did she come from,
anyway?!

30
00:01:43,251 --> 00:01:45,585
-The glass you hear break
when Austin's music hit,

31
00:01:45,751 --> 00:01:47,751
that was the ceiling
that Chyna busted through.

32
00:01:47,918 --> 00:01:51,210
-Chyna perhaps the most
physically talented woman ever.

33
00:01:51,335 --> 00:01:53,001
-You know, I don't want to
just rise to the top

34
00:01:53,126 --> 00:01:54,376
of what the women are doing.

35
00:01:54,501 --> 00:01:56,293
That's not why I joined
this business.

36
00:01:56,418 --> 00:01:58,876
-Ninth Wonder of the World
on fire here!

37
00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:00,043
-Come get some!

38
00:02:00,168 --> 00:02:02,460
Here we go!
[Crowd cheering]

39
00:02:02,585 --> 00:02:05,251
-She knew how to stand there
and let you drink it in.

40
00:02:06,543 --> 00:02:08,626
-When she came out
and she was as big as the dude

41
00:02:08,751 --> 00:02:10,960
and could beat the dude up --
Like, holy mackerel.

42
00:02:11,085 --> 00:02:13,751
This is a whole new thing.
We haven't seen this before.

43
00:02:13,876 --> 00:02:15,835
-Yes.
[Crowd cheering]

44
00:02:15,918 --> 00:02:18,376
-What?
Women can do <i>what</i> else?

45
00:02:18,543 --> 00:02:23,043
-She did things in the ring
that females had never done,

46
00:02:23,168 --> 00:02:24,710
and it took her
to another level.

47
00:02:24,793 --> 00:02:26,793
-First female
intercontinental champion.

48
00:02:26,918 --> 00:02:29,376
First King of the Ring
female participant.

49
00:02:29,460 --> 00:02:33,001
First female participant/entrant
into the WWE Royal Rumble.

50
00:02:33,085 --> 00:02:38,335
-I feel that it's time for a new
breed of female pro wrestlers.

51
00:02:38,460 --> 00:02:40,293
-You don't slow that train down.

52
00:02:40,418 --> 00:02:44,543
You let that train pull into the
station and blow people's minds.

53
00:02:45,460 --> 00:02:48,210
-She was a sought-after
sex symbol,

54
00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:51,043
someone you'd make
a movie about.

55
00:02:51,126 --> 00:02:53,418
-She is the ninth wonder
of the world.

56
00:02:53,585 --> 00:02:56,585
To readers of <i>Playboy,</i>
she is the November cover girl.

57
00:02:57,543 --> 00:02:59,001
-From the time I was
a little girl,

58
00:02:59,085 --> 00:03:02,668
I wanted to be this famous,
larger-than-life woman.

59
00:03:02,793 --> 00:03:06,376
-She shot up to fame
like a meteor

60
00:03:06,543 --> 00:03:10,668
that just kind of disappears...
and is gone.

61
00:03:10,793 --> 00:03:13,668
-I want to be top
of what I'm doing.

62
00:03:13,751 --> 00:03:16,960
And even though I feel like
I have the ability to do that,

63
00:03:17,085 --> 00:03:18,251
I can't.

64
00:03:18,418 --> 00:03:21,376
-The downward spiral
was so dramatic

65
00:03:21,501 --> 00:03:23,626
that that's what people
remember.

66
00:03:23,751 --> 00:03:26,543
-Towards the end,
the drug use sort of escalated.

67
00:03:26,668 --> 00:03:28,335
-She tried to drink away
that hurt,

68
00:03:28,418 --> 00:03:29,751
and she tried to snort away
that hurt,

69
00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:31,835
and she tried to smoke away
that hurt.

70
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:33,710
-It's one thing to get
to the top of the mountain.

71
00:03:33,835 --> 00:03:36,126
It's another thing altogether
to stay there.

72
00:03:36,251 --> 00:03:38,585
And it is lonely at the top.

73
00:03:38,710 --> 00:03:41,793
-I'm Chyna.
I'm a champion.

74
00:03:41,918 --> 00:03:50,751
♪♪

75
00:03:52,043 --> 00:03:54,001
[Mid-tempo music plays]

76
00:03:54,085 --> 00:03:59,293
♪♪

77
00:03:59,418 --> 00:04:04,001
-It's one of the greatest days
I ever had

78
00:04:04,085 --> 00:04:05,210
was when Joanie was born.

79
00:04:05,293 --> 00:04:07,710
I remember her being delivered
very quickly.

80
00:04:07,835 --> 00:04:11,543
I was kind of hoping maybe
she would be a Christmas baby,

81
00:04:11,626 --> 00:04:15,626
but as usual, she had to do
things the different way.

82
00:04:15,751 --> 00:04:18,293
-Right out of the gate,
she was a very happy baby.

83
00:04:18,418 --> 00:04:21,876
Always had a smile on her face.
She was giggly.

84
00:04:22,043 --> 00:04:24,335
She's just so stinkin' cute.
She really was.

85
00:04:24,460 --> 00:04:26,210
[Laughs]
She was a cute baby.

86
00:04:26,376 --> 00:04:30,626
-She and Sonny and Kathy,
when they were all little,

87
00:04:30,751 --> 00:04:32,543
they would play a lot together.

88
00:04:32,710 --> 00:04:34,918
-At an early age, you could tell

89
00:04:35,085 --> 00:04:39,585
that Joanie was really enjoying
being in the spotlight.

90
00:04:39,751 --> 00:04:41,793
Always wanting to entertain
people.

91
00:04:42,793 --> 00:04:44,918
-Joanie was always
a great self-motivator.

92
00:04:45,043 --> 00:04:48,626
But if there was an outside
factor that was motivating her,

93
00:04:48,751 --> 00:04:51,710
it was to impress
her big sister.

94
00:04:52,710 --> 00:04:54,751
-We used to play charades
an awful lot,

95
00:04:54,918 --> 00:04:57,210
and my grandparents were
a really good audience,

96
00:04:57,335 --> 00:04:58,793
and she fed into that.

97
00:04:59,918 --> 00:05:01,626
-She'd put on
these puppet shows,

98
00:05:01,751 --> 00:05:03,668
and she'd have
the little puppets,

99
00:05:03,793 --> 00:05:05,376
and she'd do this,
and she'd do that,

100
00:05:05,501 --> 00:05:08,085
and she'd be coming out the side
and smiling

101
00:05:08,251 --> 00:05:11,376
and blah, blah, blah, and she'd
have everybody in stitches.

102
00:05:11,501 --> 00:05:14,460
[Down-tempo music plays]

103
00:05:14,585 --> 00:05:18,293
-So, we moved an awful lot
as children.

104
00:05:18,418 --> 00:05:22,001
Um, I can't even tell you
how many apartments

105
00:05:22,085 --> 00:05:23,793
we moved around in the city to.

106
00:05:23,918 --> 00:05:26,126
There was always -- usually
a financial struggle going on

107
00:05:26,251 --> 00:05:27,710
of some sort.

108
00:05:27,835 --> 00:05:30,710
-Most of her memories
from childhood were negative.

109
00:05:30,793 --> 00:05:32,543
Her family struggled
financially.

110
00:05:32,668 --> 00:05:34,585
They were on welfare.

111
00:05:34,710 --> 00:05:37,710
They bounced around from one
low-rent apartment to the next.

112
00:05:37,835 --> 00:05:40,585
They depended on food stamps
a lot of times.

113
00:05:40,751 --> 00:05:42,668
♪

114
00:05:42,793 --> 00:05:45,543
-It's one thing to be struggling

115
00:05:45,668 --> 00:05:48,626
with not being able
to buy the kids clothes.

116
00:05:48,751 --> 00:05:53,376
But there's another thing
about the tension and the fear

117
00:05:53,501 --> 00:05:57,001
and the horrible feeling
that you feel all the time

118
00:05:57,126 --> 00:05:59,418
when you're put in those types
of circumstances

119
00:05:59,543 --> 00:06:01,710
that you can't hide.

120
00:06:03,585 --> 00:06:06,043
-Whenever Joanie would talk
about her life

121
00:06:06,168 --> 00:06:09,876
before she found pro wrestling,
it was always one person.

122
00:06:10,001 --> 00:06:11,501
And that was Kathy.

123
00:06:11,585 --> 00:06:13,960
Not only did they have
that sisterhood bond,

124
00:06:14,085 --> 00:06:15,960
Kathy was very motherly

125
00:06:16,085 --> 00:06:20,001
and in a lot of ways looking
after her and being a protector.

126
00:06:21,085 --> 00:06:25,210
-I remember that my father
was a heavy drinker.

127
00:06:25,376 --> 00:06:27,543
He was an alcoholic.

128
00:06:27,668 --> 00:06:29,543
He would go in the hospital.

129
00:06:29,668 --> 00:06:33,126
And going to visit him,
and his eyeballs were yellow

130
00:06:33,251 --> 00:06:35,501
from his liver failure.

131
00:06:35,626 --> 00:06:38,210
I remember a time
that he chased my mom around

132
00:06:38,335 --> 00:06:39,751
with a butcher knife.

133
00:06:39,918 --> 00:06:42,710
-He picked up this --
It was a butcher knife.

134
00:06:42,876 --> 00:06:44,501
And he started chasing me
with it.

135
00:06:44,585 --> 00:06:47,668
And the cops came.
It was terrible.

136
00:06:47,751 --> 00:06:49,251
And you've got
three little kids, you know?

137
00:06:49,376 --> 00:06:52,085
And they're --
they're screaming and...

138
00:06:52,251 --> 00:06:53,710
Oh.

139
00:06:53,876 --> 00:06:56,085
Those were bad days.
[Chuckles]

140
00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:58,210
-It was not good.

141
00:06:58,335 --> 00:07:01,251
It was really scary
for little kids.

142
00:07:01,376 --> 00:07:04,501
There was a lot going on
at home,

143
00:07:04,626 --> 00:07:07,876
which didn't allow us
to really feel secure there,

144
00:07:08,001 --> 00:07:10,543
because my brother left home
at 16.

145
00:07:10,710 --> 00:07:13,876
Luckily, I was going into
college, so I was out of there.

146
00:07:14,043 --> 00:07:16,835
And I think Joanie,
unfortunately,

147
00:07:16,918 --> 00:07:20,376
was sort of abandoned
by Sonny and I,

148
00:07:20,501 --> 00:07:22,210
and she was stuck there.

149
00:07:22,293 --> 00:07:24,376
♪♪

150
00:07:24,543 --> 00:07:26,626
-Eventually, Chyna's
birth parents divorced,

151
00:07:26,751 --> 00:07:28,835
and by the time she was 16,

152
00:07:28,918 --> 00:07:32,001
her mom was on
her third husband.

153
00:07:32,085 --> 00:07:35,043
-If I did ever come home
from college or we talked,

154
00:07:35,210 --> 00:07:37,376
there was just a great sense
of unhappiness.

155
00:07:37,543 --> 00:07:39,251
There was a lot of arguing
going on.

156
00:07:39,418 --> 00:07:41,668
They were accusing her
of doing drugs

157
00:07:41,751 --> 00:07:44,710
or hanging out with bad people.

158
00:07:44,876 --> 00:07:47,793
-That's when I found
what I thought was marijuana.

159
00:07:47,918 --> 00:07:52,251
There was a drug rehab building
just down the street from us.

160
00:07:52,376 --> 00:07:54,793
And so I told her -- I said,
"Come on. We're gonna go."

161
00:07:54,918 --> 00:07:57,335
♪♪

162
00:07:57,418 --> 00:08:01,460
And we went in, and they wanted
to take a sample of her urine.

163
00:08:01,585 --> 00:08:05,460
So they sent me
into the bathroom with her,

164
00:08:05,585 --> 00:08:09,126
and she went in the cup
and threw it at me.

165
00:08:09,251 --> 00:08:10,210
Just threw it at me.

166
00:08:10,376 --> 00:08:13,335
It was very, um...

167
00:08:13,418 --> 00:08:15,335
What's the right word?
Defiant.

168
00:08:15,418 --> 00:08:17,668
Like, "All right.
Take that."

169
00:08:17,751 --> 00:08:19,710
-She had caught her
with some marijuana

170
00:08:19,835 --> 00:08:22,126
and just basically
kicked her out.

171
00:08:22,251 --> 00:08:23,376
-Give me a break.

172
00:08:23,501 --> 00:08:25,626
I mean, what kid
doesn't smoke pot, right?

173
00:08:25,751 --> 00:08:28,460
I just don't like the way
that whole thing was handled.

174
00:08:28,585 --> 00:08:30,585
-"Then I'll go live
with my father."

175
00:08:30,751 --> 00:08:32,876
Well, at that time,
I couldn't stop her.

176
00:08:33,043 --> 00:08:35,335
-When her mother kicked her out
of the house at age 16,

177
00:08:35,418 --> 00:08:37,293
she never saw Chyna again.

178
00:08:37,418 --> 00:08:40,376
[Down-tempo music plays]

179
00:08:40,460 --> 00:08:42,251
One thing
that really saved Chyna

180
00:08:42,418 --> 00:08:44,043
was when she was in high school,

181
00:08:44,168 --> 00:08:46,043
she became interested
in lifting weights.

182
00:08:46,168 --> 00:08:48,585
And she kind of found
a safe haven in the gym.

183
00:08:48,710 --> 00:08:50,585
Every day after school,
she would pretty much race

184
00:08:50,751 --> 00:08:52,793
to the gym
and stay there till it closed.

185
00:08:54,043 --> 00:08:56,626
-I think she felt
very comfortable in the gym.

186
00:08:56,751 --> 00:08:58,251
It was a place
where she could go.

187
00:08:58,376 --> 00:08:59,960
She felt safe.

188
00:09:00,085 --> 00:09:03,501
She felt that she wasn't
being judged on her appearance,

189
00:09:03,626 --> 00:09:06,710
based on other places,
where maybe people would say

190
00:09:06,876 --> 00:09:09,376
she's too jacked
or she looks weird,

191
00:09:09,501 --> 00:09:12,418
she's trying to look like a guy
or, you know, whatever.

192
00:09:12,543 --> 00:09:16,085
I think being at the gym was
really sort of her safe place.

193
00:09:17,460 --> 00:09:22,210
When Joanie left home, she moved
in with my father, Joe Laurer,

194
00:09:22,335 --> 00:09:26,251
and I think he encouraged her
to go be her best self.

195
00:09:26,418 --> 00:09:28,835
There was really not a lot of
control going on in that house.

196
00:09:28,918 --> 00:09:32,251
He just sort of said,
"Go do whatever you want to do."

197
00:09:33,168 --> 00:09:36,793
-Two years later,
she was in college.

198
00:09:36,918 --> 00:09:38,543
She attended
the University of Tampa.

199
00:09:38,668 --> 00:09:40,793
She graduated from there
in 1991.

200
00:09:40,918 --> 00:09:43,460
You know, she definitely
was trying to make something

201
00:09:43,585 --> 00:09:44,960
of herself.

202
00:09:45,085 --> 00:09:46,668
But at the same time,
once he graduated,

203
00:09:46,793 --> 00:09:49,668
she still didn't quite know
what she wanted to do.

204
00:09:49,793 --> 00:09:52,335
She was kind of drifting along
in life,

205
00:09:52,460 --> 00:09:54,585
trying to find her place.

206
00:09:54,710 --> 00:09:56,668
She was working
all sorts of odd jobs.

207
00:09:56,793 --> 00:09:58,668
She tried selling cars
at one point.

208
00:09:58,751 --> 00:09:59,876
She went and joined
the Peace Corps.

209
00:10:00,043 --> 00:10:01,918
She was doing singing telegrams.

210
00:10:02,043 --> 00:10:05,168
She was a cocktail waitress
at a strip club called Melons.

211
00:10:05,293 --> 00:10:07,001
-[Laughs]

212
00:10:07,126 --> 00:10:08,460
Mm!

213
00:10:08,585 --> 00:10:09,918
♪♪

214
00:10:10,043 --> 00:10:11,710
I don't know
exactly what she did.

215
00:10:11,835 --> 00:10:15,043
She told me, as her sister,
that she was the hostess,

216
00:10:15,210 --> 00:10:19,043
and I took her at face value
on that.

217
00:10:19,126 --> 00:10:21,501
♪♪

218
00:10:21,585 --> 00:10:23,126
And then she got a job --

219
00:10:23,251 --> 00:10:25,876
She was hired to work
as an airline attendant.

220
00:10:26,626 --> 00:10:27,835
She called me up one night

221
00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:29,543
and said,
"Kathy, I got my first gig.

222
00:10:29,668 --> 00:10:32,085
I'm flying out of Miami
tonight."

223
00:10:32,210 --> 00:10:34,835
She drove to Miami,
didn't even get out of the Keys,

224
00:10:34,918 --> 00:10:36,460
and she was hit head on.

225
00:10:36,585 --> 00:10:38,668
[Mid-tempo music plays]

226
00:10:38,751 --> 00:10:40,710
She landed in the hospital.

227
00:10:40,835 --> 00:10:43,043
You know, her car was ruined.

228
00:10:43,126 --> 00:10:46,793
She had -- Basically her job
was now down the toilet.

229
00:10:46,918 --> 00:10:49,835
And I said to her,
"Joanie, that's enough.

230
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,210
Come to New Hampshire.
I'll get you a job.

231
00:10:52,376 --> 00:10:53,876
We'll live together.

232
00:10:54,001 --> 00:10:56,085
Let's just have you
start over again here.

233
00:10:56,251 --> 00:10:58,960
And let's do it together,
as sisters."

234
00:10:59,085 --> 00:11:00,918
♪♪

235
00:11:01,085 --> 00:11:03,001
-The childhood Chyna experienced

236
00:11:03,126 --> 00:11:05,668
really could have depleted
a lot of people.

237
00:11:05,751 --> 00:11:07,335
It could've really set
a lot of people back.

238
00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:08,876
But I think she was determined

239
00:11:09,001 --> 00:11:11,126
not to let that get the best
of her.

240
00:11:11,251 --> 00:11:14,126
I mean, she stared adversity
in the face,

241
00:11:14,251 --> 00:11:16,918
and she could have floundered,
but instead she flourished.

242
00:11:17,043 --> 00:11:25,210
♪♪

243
00:11:32,585 --> 00:11:34,460
[Down-tempo music plays]

244
00:11:34,585 --> 00:11:37,335
-I met Joanie 25 years ago.

245
00:11:37,460 --> 00:11:38,918
It was a typical day at work.

246
00:11:39,043 --> 00:11:41,710
A good, close friend of mine
was the manager of a gym

247
00:11:41,835 --> 00:11:42,876
in New Hampshire.

248
00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,293
He gave me a call and said,

249
00:11:45,418 --> 00:11:48,085
"Hey, I got one of my aerobics
instructors that needs help.

250
00:11:48,210 --> 00:11:51,001
She wants to do
her first fitness show."

251
00:11:51,126 --> 00:11:53,168
She comes around the corner,

252
00:11:53,293 --> 00:11:56,376
and she had
this big, huge smile,

253
00:11:56,501 --> 00:11:59,835
this red hair, full of energy.

254
00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:01,835
I walked away
from that interview that day,

255
00:12:01,918 --> 00:12:04,001
and I couldn't stop thinking
about her.

256
00:12:04,085 --> 00:12:07,001
And I know it's
very unprofessional of me,

257
00:12:07,085 --> 00:12:09,751
but I ended up calling her
a few days later,

258
00:12:09,918 --> 00:12:12,293
and I said, "Listen.
I have your plan.

259
00:12:12,418 --> 00:12:13,876
I'm very excited for you.

260
00:12:14,001 --> 00:12:17,210
We're definitely gonna do
really well in this competition.

261
00:12:17,293 --> 00:12:20,210
But would you like to go
to the movies with me?"

262
00:12:20,376 --> 00:12:21,668
[Mid-tempo music plays]

263
00:12:21,793 --> 00:12:24,835
-And then it blossomed
into a relationship.

264
00:12:26,085 --> 00:12:30,126
And their relationship really
was centered around fitness,

265
00:12:30,251 --> 00:12:34,168
physique, working out,
diet, their food.

266
00:12:34,251 --> 00:12:36,751
I mean, it was all-encompassing
in their lives,

267
00:12:36,918 --> 00:12:38,418
and they both loved it.

268
00:12:40,126 --> 00:12:43,335
-As the relationship evolved
on a romantic standpoint,

269
00:12:43,460 --> 00:12:45,001
on a preparation level,

270
00:12:45,085 --> 00:12:47,543
we just kept going at it harder
and better

271
00:12:47,668 --> 00:12:49,043
and harder and better.

272
00:12:49,126 --> 00:12:51,376
And she was all in.
[Dramatic music plays]

273
00:12:51,501 --> 00:12:54,876
-I'm 5'9", I'm 170 pounds,

274
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,710
and this is what I have
to offer.

275
00:12:57,835 --> 00:12:59,085
-We would go to the gym.

276
00:12:59,251 --> 00:13:01,460
Whatever idea I had in my head
that week,

277
00:13:01,585 --> 00:13:03,043
I would try it on her.

278
00:13:03,126 --> 00:13:06,585
And it just kept working
and working and working.

279
00:13:06,710 --> 00:13:08,543
[Up-tempo music plays]

280
00:13:08,668 --> 00:13:11,210
And she responded like that.

281
00:13:11,335 --> 00:13:13,751
-The numbers that she was
putting up in the weight room

282
00:13:13,918 --> 00:13:15,376
were just insane.

283
00:13:15,501 --> 00:13:20,460
She can bench-press 315 pounds,
four reps.

284
00:13:20,585 --> 00:13:24,876
-She was instantly getting
stronger, instantly growing.

285
00:13:25,001 --> 00:13:29,001
-Squatting 450 pounds,
10 to 12 reps.

286
00:13:29,085 --> 00:13:29,876
-Good!

287
00:13:30,001 --> 00:13:32,501
-Hard to fathom for a female.

288
00:13:32,626 --> 00:13:35,418
-People in the gym didn't know
what they were looking at.

289
00:13:35,585 --> 00:13:37,085
They were doing double takes,

290
00:13:37,210 --> 00:13:39,501
like, "Where did this girl
come from?"

291
00:13:41,251 --> 00:13:43,585
-In retrospect, she really was
ahead of her time.

292
00:13:43,751 --> 00:13:47,251
Because when I remember
the two of us going to the gym,

293
00:13:47,376 --> 00:13:50,543
there were no jacked women
in there.

294
00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:52,210
It wasn't a thing.

295
00:13:52,335 --> 00:13:55,168
-If we would go out to
a public place, like the mall,

296
00:13:55,293 --> 00:13:57,793
or we'd go to eat,
people's heads turned.

297
00:13:57,918 --> 00:13:59,876
People noticed
she was different.

298
00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,418
She loved that.

299
00:14:01,543 --> 00:14:04,126
♪♪

300
00:14:04,251 --> 00:14:06,335
-Another time, Joanie said,
"Let's go to Boston.

301
00:14:06,460 --> 00:14:09,043
We're gonna go
to a wrestling match."

302
00:14:09,210 --> 00:14:11,626
And she said,
"You and I are gonna dress up,

303
00:14:11,751 --> 00:14:13,251
and we're just gonna go,

304
00:14:13,376 --> 00:14:15,543
and we're gonna see
what people say about us."

305
00:14:16,251 --> 00:14:18,710
We had our costumes on,
and we went in.

306
00:14:18,835 --> 00:14:20,876
Right away,
we were the center of attention,

307
00:14:21,043 --> 00:14:23,043
because people
were looking at us,

308
00:14:23,210 --> 00:14:27,126
thinking, "Should I know
who these girls are?"

309
00:14:27,251 --> 00:14:29,126
-People were turning away
from the ring

310
00:14:29,251 --> 00:14:31,001
and pointing at these girls
in the stands

311
00:14:31,126 --> 00:14:33,585
'cause their biceps were
showing, they looked jacked up.

312
00:14:33,710 --> 00:14:36,210
-Anybody that was sitting
near us was watching us

313
00:14:36,376 --> 00:14:38,126
and going,
"Are they gonna do something?"

314
00:14:39,293 --> 00:14:40,876
Joanie loved it.

315
00:14:41,043 --> 00:14:43,085
She was just soaking it up.

316
00:14:43,251 --> 00:14:45,001
And Joanie would say,
"Isn't this awesome?

317
00:14:45,085 --> 00:14:47,710
People are looking at us."
[Laughs]

318
00:14:47,876 --> 00:14:49,543
Someone said to us,

319
00:14:49,710 --> 00:14:53,251
"You guys really should think
about being tag-team wrestlers."

320
00:14:53,418 --> 00:14:55,543
You know, we probably
laughed it off at the time.

321
00:14:55,668 --> 00:14:57,751
And on the way home,
we were talking about it,

322
00:14:57,876 --> 00:14:59,418
and Joanie said,
"You know what?

323
00:14:59,543 --> 00:15:01,710
There might be something
to that, Kathy."

324
00:15:01,835 --> 00:15:04,543
And I said, "Hell no.
I'm not in."

325
00:15:04,626 --> 00:15:07,210
And she said, "Okay.
Well, I'm gonna do it."

326
00:15:07,335 --> 00:15:09,626
And at the time, I kind of
laughed, and I'm like, "Sure."

327
00:15:09,751 --> 00:15:10,876
[Laughs]

328
00:15:11,043 --> 00:15:13,210
"Okay.
Go ahead."

329
00:15:13,335 --> 00:15:16,293
And, boy,
did she prove me wrong.

330
00:15:17,126 --> 00:15:20,793
Chyna, within days,
had looked up Killer Kowalski.

331
00:15:20,918 --> 00:15:22,543
[Mid-tempo music plays]

332
00:15:22,710 --> 00:15:25,376
-Professional wrestling is
the most brutal sport of all.

333
00:15:25,460 --> 00:15:27,126
Or is it?

334
00:15:27,251 --> 00:15:30,376
Believe it or not, there's a
secret school for pro wrestlers.

335
00:15:30,501 --> 00:15:31,710
And we got inside.

336
00:15:31,876 --> 00:15:33,460
To learn the secrets
of wrestling,

337
00:15:33,585 --> 00:15:35,501
you need to go
to a place like this --

338
00:15:35,585 --> 00:15:38,210
Killer Kowalski's School
of Professional Wrestling.

339
00:15:38,293 --> 00:15:43,043
-He had the reputation
of being tough, hard-nosed,

340
00:15:43,168 --> 00:15:44,626
physical type guy.

341
00:15:44,751 --> 00:15:47,293
-Killer Kowalski learned
his secrets the hard way --

342
00:15:47,418 --> 00:15:48,543
in the ring.

343
00:15:48,710 --> 00:15:50,210
He earned his name, "Killer,"

344
00:15:50,335 --> 00:15:52,543
by knocking an opponent's
ear off, then laughing at him.

345
00:15:52,710 --> 00:15:55,210
-There was no nonsense
in any of his matches.

346
00:15:55,335 --> 00:15:57,335
It was just go in there
and grab ahold

347
00:15:57,460 --> 00:15:59,210
and grind your opponent
down to the ground.

348
00:15:59,376 --> 00:16:02,126
-Now Killer imparts his secrets
to a willing audience

349
00:16:02,251 --> 00:16:04,168
of Hulk Hogan wannabes.

350
00:16:04,293 --> 00:16:07,043
-He couldn't stop staring
at Joanie.

351
00:16:07,126 --> 00:16:09,876
He got up,
walked right up to us,

352
00:16:10,001 --> 00:16:11,876
and he says, "Can I help you?"

353
00:16:12,001 --> 00:16:13,710
And Joanie's like,
"Well, you know,

354
00:16:13,876 --> 00:16:15,251
we heard about your school.

355
00:16:15,376 --> 00:16:17,710
We want to come in
and see what it's all about."

356
00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:19,918
And he goes, "All right."

357
00:16:20,043 --> 00:16:22,043
So then he jumps in the ring,

358
00:16:22,210 --> 00:16:24,085
and he starts doing
his claw thing.

359
00:16:24,210 --> 00:16:25,543
He goes, "This is what you do,"

360
00:16:25,626 --> 00:16:27,626
and he, like, puts the claw
in some guy,

361
00:16:27,751 --> 00:16:29,418
and then he body-slams him.

362
00:16:29,585 --> 00:16:31,793
And Joanie was just shaking
her head.

363
00:16:31,918 --> 00:16:33,376
She didn't know what to make
of it.

364
00:16:33,543 --> 00:16:35,793
She approached him and said,
"Well, what do I have to do?

365
00:16:35,918 --> 00:16:37,543
I'd like to do this."

366
00:16:37,626 --> 00:16:39,585
He goes, "All right.
Two thousand dollars."

367
00:16:39,710 --> 00:16:42,043
-When we graduate from this
school, we are professionals.

368
00:16:42,126 --> 00:16:44,793
We come in here as novices,
absolute amateurs.

369
00:16:44,918 --> 00:16:47,376
But when we get through,
we're mean!

370
00:16:47,460 --> 00:16:49,751
-You know, "Sign the waiver,
pay the money.

371
00:16:49,918 --> 00:16:51,835
Sign the waiver, pay the money."

372
00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,085
-And she was like, "I don't have
that kind of money on me."

373
00:16:55,251 --> 00:16:59,210
-I said, "Joanie, please,
please do this.

374
00:16:59,376 --> 00:17:01,210
This will be the greatest thing
you ever do."

375
00:17:01,335 --> 00:17:02,626
[Dramatic music plays]

376
00:17:02,751 --> 00:17:05,460
-And he said, "Okay.
I think you're legit.

377
00:17:05,585 --> 00:17:06,668
I think you really
want to do this.

378
00:17:06,751 --> 00:17:08,376
But I want you to know

379
00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:10,710
I'm not gonna give you
any preferential treatment."

380
00:17:10,835 --> 00:17:12,626
♪

381
00:17:12,751 --> 00:17:15,335
"You're gonna go into the ring.
You're gonna wrestle the guys.

382
00:17:15,460 --> 00:17:18,085
They're gonna throw you around.
You're gonna throw them around.

383
00:17:18,210 --> 00:17:19,460
And it's gonna hurt."

384
00:17:19,585 --> 00:17:22,126
-When guys get in the ring
with a female,

385
00:17:22,251 --> 00:17:23,793
there's a little bit
of hesitation

386
00:17:23,918 --> 00:17:25,335
of "What are you gonna do?

387
00:17:25,418 --> 00:17:27,668
How hard are you gonna swing?
What if you miss?"

388
00:17:27,793 --> 00:17:30,626
And you catch one
or two potatoes from Joanie,

389
00:17:30,751 --> 00:17:33,210
and you realize she's tough
enough and she can handle it.

390
00:17:33,376 --> 00:17:35,126
-Come here! You see dinner?
-[Grunts]

391
00:17:35,251 --> 00:17:36,751
-Oh!
-Stay at home...

392
00:17:36,876 --> 00:17:38,543
-Oh!
-...do the laundry...

393
00:17:38,626 --> 00:17:41,085
-[Grunts]
-...make somethin' to eat, huh?

394
00:17:41,210 --> 00:17:43,543
-She used to come home
with all sorts of bruises,

395
00:17:43,668 --> 00:17:45,335
black and blue everywhere.

396
00:17:45,460 --> 00:17:46,293
-Oh!

397
00:17:46,418 --> 00:17:48,335
-I can manhandle any guy
in here.

398
00:17:48,460 --> 00:17:51,043
-In a sadistic sort of way,
I think she thrived on that.

399
00:17:51,126 --> 00:17:52,460
You know,
"I'm not backing down."

400
00:17:52,585 --> 00:17:54,585
-Right here.
Get a close-up of that.

401
00:17:54,710 --> 00:17:57,001
I want everybody to see that.
-[Grunts]

402
00:17:57,085 --> 00:17:59,543
-I got taught by the best.

403
00:17:59,710 --> 00:18:01,210
That's Walter Kowalski.

404
00:18:01,376 --> 00:18:03,043
-[Breathing heavily]

405
00:18:03,210 --> 00:18:06,043
-I've wrestled men.
I've wrestled women, okay?

406
00:18:06,126 --> 00:18:07,710
And I've beat them all.

407
00:18:07,876 --> 00:18:11,210
-Word started going around.
Like, "This girl is crazy!"

408
00:18:11,376 --> 00:18:13,876
-Anybody else that steps in that
ring is gonna do the same thing,

409
00:18:14,043 --> 00:18:16,043
because I'm gonna leave them
behind me

410
00:18:16,168 --> 00:18:18,335
like the trash I left out
yesterday morning.

411
00:18:18,460 --> 00:18:20,918
-Joanie quit her job,
and she chased wrestling.

412
00:18:21,085 --> 00:18:22,668
[Crowd cheering]

413
00:18:22,751 --> 00:18:27,168
-She started collecting
all the video footage, pictures.

414
00:18:27,251 --> 00:18:29,293
She made her own portfolio.

415
00:18:29,418 --> 00:18:32,668
She spent hours upon hours
on a VHS machine

416
00:18:32,751 --> 00:18:36,418
with a camcorder, making
her own promotional video.

417
00:18:36,543 --> 00:18:38,710
-I spent a lot of hours
in the gym, bodybuilding,

418
00:18:38,835 --> 00:18:40,918
and now I'm putting
that bodybuilding to use

419
00:18:41,043 --> 00:18:42,251
in the wrestling ring.

420
00:18:42,376 --> 00:18:45,293
-Joanie right away
started making sure

421
00:18:45,418 --> 00:18:49,251
she looked television-ready

422
00:18:49,376 --> 00:18:51,835
and presented herself
as a professional

423
00:18:51,918 --> 00:18:55,001
<i>before</i> she got to that level.

424
00:18:55,085 --> 00:18:57,043
-Whoa!

425
00:18:57,126 --> 00:18:58,626
-And if you're hungry enough

426
00:18:58,751 --> 00:19:00,918
and you keep scratching
for that food, you get it.

427
00:19:01,835 --> 00:19:03,376
-[Grunts]

428
00:19:03,460 --> 00:19:05,126
-[Grunts]
-[Grunts]

429
00:19:06,043 --> 00:19:07,835
-Like pretty much everybody

430
00:19:07,918 --> 00:19:11,001
hanging around the
wrestling business at that time,

431
00:19:11,085 --> 00:19:12,960
you know, Joanie's goal
was very simple.

432
00:19:13,085 --> 00:19:14,918
She wanted to be in WWE.

433
00:19:15,043 --> 00:19:17,835
[Mid-tempo music plays]
-She ended up getting in her car

434
00:19:17,918 --> 00:19:20,793
with the promotional tape,
portfolio, everything,

435
00:19:20,918 --> 00:19:22,918
and driving down
to Massachusetts.

436
00:19:23,085 --> 00:19:25,043
-We were coming back
from a show,

437
00:19:25,210 --> 00:19:27,543
and we were staying in a hotel

438
00:19:27,626 --> 00:19:30,043
at the Springfield airport --
Massachusetts.

439
00:19:30,168 --> 00:19:32,460
One of the agents
that I respected most

440
00:19:32,585 --> 00:19:34,126
was in there talking to her.

441
00:19:34,251 --> 00:19:36,668
And Shawn and I see
the size of her,

442
00:19:36,751 --> 00:19:37,960
and we're like, "Holy s***."

443
00:19:38,751 --> 00:19:41,710
-Two-hundred-pound,
just jacked woman.

444
00:19:41,835 --> 00:19:46,168
I mean, just had
such a stunning presence.

445
00:19:47,251 --> 00:19:48,876
I'll be honest.
That was her sales pitch.

446
00:19:50,335 --> 00:19:52,835
-So those guys had an eye
for talent back then.

447
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,668
And when they looked at Joanie,
they saw talent.

448
00:19:55,793 --> 00:19:58,376
-The more opponents
that I can meet,

449
00:19:58,501 --> 00:20:00,418
the better I'm gonna be.

450
00:20:00,585 --> 00:20:02,876
And that's what my goal is --
to be the best.

451
00:20:03,001 --> 00:20:06,751
♪

452
00:20:13,543 --> 00:20:15,835
[Up-tempo music plays]

453
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:20,168
-We had all seen beautiful women
as valets, as seconds.

454
00:20:20,293 --> 00:20:23,376
But no one had ever seen
the likes of Joanie.

455
00:20:23,460 --> 00:20:26,043
-[Laughing] I'm not sure
who that was supposed to hurt.

456
00:20:26,126 --> 00:20:27,876
-Oh, these girls
can really take it.

457
00:20:28,001 --> 00:20:29,543
Here she comes, running
right over to the ropes.

458
00:20:29,668 --> 00:20:31,710
-You know,
before Chyna came on the scene,

459
00:20:31,876 --> 00:20:34,043
female wrestling was, like,
the popcorn match.

460
00:20:34,126 --> 00:20:37,460
And they called that the match
that they put on the card

461
00:20:37,585 --> 00:20:39,501
when nothing
was really going on,

462
00:20:39,626 --> 00:20:42,876
when people would go to
the bathroom or go buy popcorn.

463
00:20:43,001 --> 00:20:45,126
[Crowd cheering,
announcer shouting indistinctly]

464
00:20:45,251 --> 00:20:47,376
-That shampoo in the eyes.

465
00:20:47,460 --> 00:20:50,251
-Those nails,
they're digging in -- Whoa!

466
00:20:50,418 --> 00:20:51,710
What?
-Well, wait a --

467
00:20:51,835 --> 00:20:55,585
-Back that it was,
you know, stupid, silly

468
00:20:55,751 --> 00:21:00,043
paddle-on-the-pole match,
bra-and-panties match,

469
00:21:00,126 --> 00:21:01,251
tarred-and-feathered match.

470
00:21:01,376 --> 00:21:03,043
I mean, like, just stupid s***.

471
00:21:03,210 --> 00:21:05,335
-Backhand shot there.
Another knockdown.

472
00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:08,251
-[Screaming]
-Oh, Ivory down to her bra.

473
00:21:08,376 --> 00:21:09,960
-Chyna came through
and busted that glass ceiling

474
00:21:10,085 --> 00:21:12,710
and kind of said, "You ain't
putting me in a bad light.

475
00:21:12,876 --> 00:21:14,710
I'll take your light
and shove it."

476
00:21:14,835 --> 00:21:17,876
-There's only one
Heartbreak Kid --

477
00:21:18,001 --> 00:21:19,543
Shawn Michaels!

478
00:21:19,626 --> 00:21:21,543
-Shawn Michaels and Triple H,
they were at the top

479
00:21:21,626 --> 00:21:24,835
of the pecking order
at that time in the WWE.

480
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,793
So for them to put themselves
on the line for Joanie,

481
00:21:28,918 --> 00:21:30,543
she had to produce.

482
00:21:30,668 --> 00:21:32,251
-No one's ever done that
in the business before --

483
00:21:32,376 --> 00:21:33,835
a big, jacked-up female heater.

484
00:21:33,918 --> 00:21:35,918
-I know both of us at the same
time were thinking,

485
00:21:36,085 --> 00:21:38,210
like, "Ooh.
Female bodyguard."

486
00:21:38,293 --> 00:21:40,543
-We brought it to Vince,
and he hated it.

487
00:21:40,626 --> 00:21:43,460
-Like, "Oh, come on.
No one's gonna buy that."

488
00:21:43,585 --> 00:21:45,626
-"Nobody's gonna want to sell
for a girl.

489
00:21:45,751 --> 00:21:47,626
J**** C*****,
You guys are morons."

490
00:21:47,751 --> 00:21:49,585
-Meanwhile, Goldust
has cost Helmsley...

491
00:21:49,710 --> 00:21:52,043
-This was something
we both really believed in.

492
00:21:52,210 --> 00:21:54,043
We just knew it would work.

493
00:21:54,126 --> 00:21:56,751
-"But if she's a screw-up, if
she's a head case, it's on you.

494
00:21:56,918 --> 00:21:57,835
It's your fault."

495
00:21:58,918 --> 00:22:00,960
-You can have all
the credentials in the world

496
00:22:01,085 --> 00:22:02,460
if you're a football player.

497
00:22:02,585 --> 00:22:04,501
They hand you the ball,
you better not fumble.

498
00:22:04,585 --> 00:22:06,210
Well, Joanie didn't fumble.

499
00:22:06,376 --> 00:22:08,293
-Who in the hell's that?
Who is that?

500
00:22:08,418 --> 00:22:10,668
-What in the world?!
-Is that a -- Is that a woman?

501
00:22:10,793 --> 00:22:12,543
-She was an anonymous figure
first,

502
00:22:12,710 --> 00:22:15,460
coming and grabbing Marlena
from the crowd.

503
00:22:15,585 --> 00:22:18,710
And just this physical specimen
of a woman,

504
00:22:18,835 --> 00:22:20,376
unlike anything
I'd ever seen before.

505
00:22:20,501 --> 00:22:22,376
-Security taking that lady away.

506
00:22:22,501 --> 00:22:24,043
-Throw her in jail!

507
00:22:24,168 --> 00:22:26,876
-I vividly remember
the first time I saw Joanie.

508
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,043
I was actually in the audience,
kind of in disguise.

509
00:22:30,210 --> 00:22:31,460
[Crowd cheering]

510
00:22:31,585 --> 00:22:34,126
-What an insult!
-She slapped Helmsley!

511
00:22:34,251 --> 00:22:36,751
-And we saw Joanie
come out of the crowd

512
00:22:36,876 --> 00:22:39,793
and shake Terri Runnels
like a rag doll.

513
00:22:39,918 --> 00:22:41,710
-There's that woman again!
[Dramatic music plays]

514
00:22:41,876 --> 00:22:46,543
That Amazon is squeezing
the life out of little Marlena!

515
00:22:46,626 --> 00:22:51,251
-She shook the living dog caca
out of me.

516
00:22:51,376 --> 00:22:54,376
The smaller I was,
the larger Joanie was,

517
00:22:54,543 --> 00:22:56,335
the more amazing it looked.

518
00:22:56,418 --> 00:22:59,418
I remember telling her,
"Don't go easy.

519
00:22:59,585 --> 00:23:03,043
I would much rather it
hurt me tomorrow

520
00:23:03,126 --> 00:23:07,376
than it looked like s***
on live TV."

521
00:23:07,501 --> 00:23:09,793
The next morning,
we were in the hotel,

522
00:23:09,918 --> 00:23:12,376
and I went to turn,
and I was like...

523
00:23:13,626 --> 00:23:17,585
It was like I had been
in some God-awful car crash.

524
00:23:17,710 --> 00:23:20,293
♪♪

525
00:23:20,418 --> 00:23:21,710
She arrived.

526
00:23:21,835 --> 00:23:23,543
Welcome to the party, girl.

527
00:23:23,626 --> 00:23:25,335
You're now officially one of us.

528
00:23:25,460 --> 00:23:28,668
[Down-tempo music plays]
[Crowd cheering]

529
00:23:28,793 --> 00:23:32,710
-Talk about your Psalms.
Talk about John 3:16.

530
00:23:33,501 --> 00:23:37,251
Austin 3:16 says,
"I just whipped your ass."

531
00:23:37,376 --> 00:23:41,168
[Crowd cheering]
-If you smell...

532
00:23:41,251 --> 00:23:42,210
what The Rock...

533
00:23:42,335 --> 00:23:44,001
Everywhere I go somewhere today,

534
00:23:44,085 --> 00:23:47,793
somebody will come up to me
and talk about the Attitude Era.

535
00:23:47,918 --> 00:23:50,085
There was never anything like it
to that point,

536
00:23:50,251 --> 00:23:52,376
and there will never be
anything like it in the future.

537
00:23:52,501 --> 00:23:54,168
[Crowd cheering]
-Oh!

538
00:23:54,251 --> 00:24:00,001
-WWE had traditionally been
a pretty conservative company.

539
00:24:00,085 --> 00:24:04,043
But by the late '90s,
the presentation had changed.

540
00:24:04,210 --> 00:24:05,543
Limits were being pushed.

541
00:24:05,668 --> 00:24:09,501
The Attitude Era
pushed every envelope,

542
00:24:09,585 --> 00:24:11,585
crossed every line possible.

543
00:24:11,751 --> 00:24:13,001
But that was by design.

544
00:24:13,085 --> 00:24:17,335
-WWE was going hard head-to-head
against WCW.

545
00:24:17,460 --> 00:24:19,168
And at that time,
WCW was winning.

546
00:24:19,251 --> 00:24:21,835
They were stealing left and
right, taking our superstars.

547
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,043
And WWE had to come up with
something special,

548
00:24:24,168 --> 00:24:26,126
something unique.

549
00:24:26,251 --> 00:24:28,335
-As WWE was becoming edgier,

550
00:24:28,418 --> 00:24:30,335
I think DX was at the forefront
of that.

551
00:24:30,418 --> 00:24:34,210
D-Generation X --
Triple H, HBK, Chyna.

552
00:24:34,335 --> 00:24:36,710
-Hunter and Shawn are pretty
much at the top of this thing,

553
00:24:36,793 --> 00:24:38,293
and that's how
she was coming in.

554
00:24:38,418 --> 00:24:40,085
[Crowd shouting]

555
00:24:40,251 --> 00:24:43,001
[Mid-tempo music plays]

556
00:24:43,126 --> 00:24:46,376
-You make your rules,
and we will break 'em!

557
00:24:46,543 --> 00:24:48,460
-You'd see Hunter and Shawn
out there

558
00:24:48,585 --> 00:24:50,251
acting like immature schoolboys

559
00:24:50,418 --> 00:24:52,001
that should be sent
to the principal.

560
00:24:52,126 --> 00:24:55,960
And then in the back
was Chyna -- no nonsense,

561
00:24:56,085 --> 00:24:58,626
staring straight ahead at the
camera with her arms folded.

562
00:24:58,751 --> 00:25:01,793
She was the straight man
that DX needed.

563
00:25:01,918 --> 00:25:04,043
Like, in comic terms,
there's the straight man, right?

564
00:25:04,168 --> 00:25:08,335
We needed to have somebody
that was like the rudder

565
00:25:08,418 --> 00:25:10,085
for all of the other immaturity

566
00:25:10,210 --> 00:25:12,168
to kind of bounce off of
and bounce around.

567
00:25:12,251 --> 00:25:15,210
-Show us what you're bringing
to the barbecue, girl.

568
00:25:15,376 --> 00:25:17,293
[Crowd shouting]

569
00:25:17,418 --> 00:25:20,043
That is the big stick.

570
00:25:20,168 --> 00:25:24,043
-Before Joanie even debuted
in WWE,

571
00:25:24,126 --> 00:25:27,168
you know, the company wanted to
come up with a name for her.

572
00:25:27,251 --> 00:25:29,751
And they pitched a bunch
of names her way --

573
00:25:29,876 --> 00:25:32,335
Venus, Thallon, She-Ra --

574
00:25:32,460 --> 00:25:34,751
and she didn't like
any of those names.

575
00:25:34,918 --> 00:25:37,376
Then she remembered
she had known a stripper

576
00:25:37,543 --> 00:25:39,293
who called herself Chyna,

577
00:25:39,418 --> 00:25:44,168
and she described <i>that</i> Chyna
as exotic and intoxicating.

578
00:25:44,293 --> 00:25:47,460
And that was kind of
what she was going for.

579
00:25:47,585 --> 00:25:50,210
[Down-tempo music plays]

580
00:25:50,335 --> 00:25:52,418
-If Joanie was at ringside,

581
00:25:52,543 --> 00:25:55,376
you're watching her as much
as you're watching the match.

582
00:25:55,501 --> 00:25:57,668
-In the beginning, all she
had to do was just stand there

583
00:25:57,751 --> 00:25:59,668
and people were like,
"Well, what's going on

584
00:25:59,751 --> 00:26:01,793
with that person right there?
What is that?"

585
00:26:01,918 --> 00:26:03,668
-When she would move,
the crowd would react

586
00:26:03,751 --> 00:26:05,043
'cause she never moved.

587
00:26:05,210 --> 00:26:07,001
-When she stood there
with her arms crossed

588
00:26:07,126 --> 00:26:09,335
and those biceps
and those delts...

589
00:26:09,418 --> 00:26:10,876
-...197 pounds!

590
00:26:11,043 --> 00:26:15,001
The woman has
a 320-pound bench press!

591
00:26:15,085 --> 00:26:17,168
-She's got muscles in places
I don't even have places.

592
00:26:17,251 --> 00:26:19,793
That's how she got the name
The Ninth Wonder of the World.

593
00:26:19,918 --> 00:26:21,751
-So, of course, Andre the Giant

594
00:26:21,918 --> 00:26:23,543
was the Eighth Wonder
of the World.

595
00:26:23,626 --> 00:26:25,918
[Crowd cheering]
-...Andre the Giant!

596
00:26:26,043 --> 00:26:26,960
[Bell chimes]

597
00:26:27,085 --> 00:26:28,210
-He turned heads.

598
00:26:28,335 --> 00:26:31,710
He caused you to drop your jaw
and say, "Wow.

599
00:26:31,876 --> 00:26:34,001
I heard he was big, but I didn't
know he was <i>that</i> big."

600
00:26:34,085 --> 00:26:37,668
And when you saw Chyna,
you did the same thing.

601
00:26:37,751 --> 00:26:39,251
-Chyna was dangerous.

602
00:26:39,376 --> 00:26:41,418
[Dramatic music plays]

603
00:26:41,543 --> 00:26:51,043
♪♪

604
00:26:51,126 --> 00:26:53,793
It wasn't throwing
Miss Elizabeth in front,

605
00:26:53,918 --> 00:26:55,376
who's, you know, delicate,

606
00:26:55,501 --> 00:26:59,043
and a chivalrous man would never
touch Miss Elizabeth.

607
00:26:59,210 --> 00:27:00,918
But, like, you throw Chyna
in front,

608
00:27:01,043 --> 00:27:02,543
there's a new dynamic there,
a little confusion.

609
00:27:02,668 --> 00:27:04,418
"My God.
This woman's hit me,

610
00:27:04,585 --> 00:27:05,835
and it feels like a man
hitting me.

611
00:27:05,918 --> 00:27:07,460
Am I my supposed to
hit her back?"

612
00:27:07,585 --> 00:27:10,543
[Crowd cheering]

613
00:27:10,710 --> 00:27:13,543
-In the formative years
of Chyna with DX,

614
00:27:13,626 --> 00:27:15,210
nobody laid a hand on her.

615
00:27:15,335 --> 00:27:19,168
-Striking Joanie was off the
table, so we had to be creative.

616
00:27:19,293 --> 00:27:22,168
-There's a concern always
with your top male wrestlers.

617
00:27:22,251 --> 00:27:24,418
Just from a presentation
of a character,

618
00:27:24,585 --> 00:27:26,251
you don't want to
emasculate them.

619
00:27:26,376 --> 00:27:29,335
There's a way to do it where
the female star can be elevated,

620
00:27:29,460 --> 00:27:32,960
but the male star doesn't
have to be brought down a notch.

621
00:27:33,085 --> 00:27:36,043
-A lot of the pitch
was designed around

622
00:27:36,168 --> 00:27:38,835
we would make sure that we would
take care of those guys

623
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,043
so that when she did
show offense

624
00:27:42,168 --> 00:27:45,710
or look to be, you know,
beating up a man, so to speak,

625
00:27:45,835 --> 00:27:48,960
we would put them
in a vulnerable enough position

626
00:27:49,085 --> 00:27:51,835
that it seemed plausible
for her to be able to do that.

627
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,001
-Kick this Amazonian
out of here!

628
00:27:54,126 --> 00:27:56,043
[Announcer shouting
indistinctly]

629
00:27:56,168 --> 00:27:57,626
-Look out from behind!
-Look at this!

630
00:27:57,751 --> 00:27:59,918
-Oh!
What kick to the ribs!

631
00:28:00,043 --> 00:28:01,793
Chyna with --
Oh, my goodness!

632
00:28:01,918 --> 00:28:04,460
She knocks Goldust right down
to the canvas!

633
00:28:04,585 --> 00:28:07,876
-I remember one major star
just flat-out saying, "No.

634
00:28:08,043 --> 00:28:09,876
I'm not going to let a woman
do that to me."

635
00:28:10,001 --> 00:28:11,918
He actually used
some more colorful language.

636
00:28:12,085 --> 00:28:14,376
-You're complaining about
getting beat up by a woman?

637
00:28:14,501 --> 00:28:16,876
-And I kind of stepped up
as soon as I had the chance

638
00:28:17,001 --> 00:28:18,918
and said, "Let's do something.

639
00:28:19,085 --> 00:28:21,835
-Hunter Hearst Helmsley,
along with his female bodyguard,

640
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:23,835
the 200-pound Chyna.

641
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,376
[Mid-tempo music plays]

642
00:28:25,501 --> 00:28:28,710
-Triple H reversed an Irish whip
outside on the floor,

643
00:28:28,793 --> 00:28:31,668
and Joanie power-slammed me
into the stairs.

644
00:28:31,793 --> 00:28:33,168
[Crowd cheering]

645
00:28:33,293 --> 00:28:36,710
And I believe
that opened up a discussion

646
00:28:36,793 --> 00:28:39,210
among my colleagues,
who thought,

647
00:28:39,335 --> 00:28:41,543
"If Mick will do it,
then I guess we can."

648
00:28:41,668 --> 00:28:43,376
-Now, wait a minute!
Unbelievable!

649
00:28:43,543 --> 00:28:46,376
-See, the thing is that
I get paid not so much to talk,

650
00:28:46,501 --> 00:28:50,001
but to kick guys in the 'nads,
more or less.

651
00:28:50,126 --> 00:28:51,293
-Oh!

652
00:28:51,418 --> 00:28:54,710
♪♪

653
00:28:54,835 --> 00:28:56,918
-At the end of the day,
you want to make

654
00:28:57,043 --> 00:28:59,668
the best impression you can
with your time in the ring.

655
00:28:59,793 --> 00:29:02,210
And I think all of us
were well served

656
00:29:02,376 --> 00:29:04,085
by having Joanie get involved
in our matches.

657
00:29:04,210 --> 00:29:05,126
I loved it.

658
00:29:05,251 --> 00:29:07,376
-Chyna's ring debut came
as a bodyguard

659
00:29:07,501 --> 00:29:09,001
for Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

660
00:29:09,085 --> 00:29:11,876
But now she's one of the stars
of the show.

661
00:29:12,001 --> 00:29:13,543
-Most girls shouldn't be
wrestling guys.

662
00:29:13,668 --> 00:29:15,168
And most girls aren't Chyna.

663
00:29:15,251 --> 00:29:17,543
And if you can find
another woman like me,

664
00:29:17,626 --> 00:29:19,168
then we'll talk about it.

665
00:29:29,918 --> 00:29:32,710
-I don't think anything
could have prepared her

666
00:29:32,876 --> 00:29:35,710
for the speed
with which her career took off.

667
00:29:35,835 --> 00:29:37,501
It was like
the <i>Millennium Falcon.</i>

668
00:29:37,585 --> 00:29:39,876
They're driving through space,
and Han Solo hits the pedal,

669
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:41,626
and all of a sudden,
they're at warp speed.

670
00:29:41,751 --> 00:29:43,210
[Mid-tempo music plays]

671
00:29:43,293 --> 00:29:45,543
-Gosh. It was like --
My head's spinning.

672
00:29:45,710 --> 00:29:48,460
Getting ready to go on the road
again tomorrow, so...

673
00:29:48,585 --> 00:29:52,876
But this has been a lot of work
and a lot of fun.

674
00:29:53,001 --> 00:29:57,835
-She was overwhelmed
and excited and giddy.

675
00:29:57,918 --> 00:30:00,168
She couldn't believe it.
You want to just pinch yourself.

676
00:30:00,293 --> 00:30:03,376
Like, "I can't believe
I'm actually doing <i>this."</i>

677
00:30:03,460 --> 00:30:04,960
♪♪

678
00:30:05,085 --> 00:30:07,835
-One of the things
that a lot of fans don't realize

679
00:30:07,918 --> 00:30:12,085
is the camaraderie that is
inside a wrestling company

680
00:30:12,251 --> 00:30:13,251
like the WWE.

681
00:30:13,376 --> 00:30:15,876
She found some relationships
in DX

682
00:30:16,043 --> 00:30:17,710
that she hadn't had as a kid
growing up.

683
00:30:17,876 --> 00:30:20,293
[Indistinct conversations,
laughter]

684
00:30:20,418 --> 00:30:21,668
-You guys are the best!

685
00:30:21,751 --> 00:30:23,710
-When Joanie was traveling
with the WWE

686
00:30:23,876 --> 00:30:25,376
during the height of her fame,

687
00:30:25,460 --> 00:30:27,710
Joanie would often tell me
that these were the people

688
00:30:27,876 --> 00:30:30,210
that she could bond with
very easily.

689
00:30:30,335 --> 00:30:32,543
-See? It's on our shirts.
Look. Look.

690
00:30:32,710 --> 00:30:34,793
-Say, "Suck it."
-Say it.

691
00:30:34,918 --> 00:30:36,876
-See? It's on our shirts.
"Suck it."

692
00:30:37,001 --> 00:30:39,168
-Ooh. No.
[Laughter]

693
00:30:39,293 --> 00:30:41,335
-I think the acceptance
that Joanie found

694
00:30:41,460 --> 00:30:45,293
in the WWE dressing rooms
meant a lot to her.

695
00:30:45,418 --> 00:30:46,876
-It was very laid back.

696
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,460
It was really like you were
at home with your family.

697
00:30:49,585 --> 00:30:52,376
-It can sound like a cliché,
but in this case, it was true.

698
00:30:52,501 --> 00:30:56,876
Joanie was one of the boys.
We really accepted her.

699
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,043
We loved her.
We loved having her around.

700
00:31:00,126 --> 00:31:01,751
-Like, you could be in awe

701
00:31:01,876 --> 00:31:04,335
or enamored
by her physical appearance.

702
00:31:04,460 --> 00:31:05,751
But when you fell in love
with Chyna

703
00:31:05,918 --> 00:31:06,835
was when you got to know her.

704
00:31:06,918 --> 00:31:09,335
-She was very motherly with me.

705
00:31:09,460 --> 00:31:11,043
You know -- "Shawn."

706
00:31:11,126 --> 00:31:14,210
-You see this, but you meet her,
and you just see this.

707
00:31:14,335 --> 00:31:15,585
You know what I mean?
And it's just --

708
00:31:15,751 --> 00:31:16,876
You just want to hug her.

709
00:31:17,043 --> 00:31:20,960
-You were enamored by this body.

710
00:31:21,085 --> 00:31:23,376
But then she would giggle
and laugh,

711
00:31:23,501 --> 00:31:27,543
and it was just like she was
this little girl.

712
00:31:27,626 --> 00:31:29,668
-For a period of time,
my daughter, Noelle,

713
00:31:29,751 --> 00:31:31,126
who was 4 at the time,

714
00:31:31,251 --> 00:31:33,751
considered Joanie
to be her very best friend.

715
00:31:33,918 --> 00:31:35,793
-So, I would be backstage a lot,

716
00:31:35,918 --> 00:31:38,376
and my dad would go off
and do his thing.

717
00:31:38,460 --> 00:31:42,751
So Joanie was always the one
that would take care of me,

718
00:31:42,918 --> 00:31:44,210
hang out with me.

719
00:31:44,335 --> 00:31:46,418
She would do my hair
and my nails

720
00:31:46,543 --> 00:31:49,710
and just hang out
like two best friends.

721
00:31:49,793 --> 00:31:51,876
-And it was just adorable.

722
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:53,376
This magnificent woman,

723
00:31:53,460 --> 00:31:55,793
who was one of the most
popular people in WWE

724
00:31:55,918 --> 00:31:58,210
and one of the most
recognizable faces

725
00:31:58,293 --> 00:32:01,210
in popular culture at the time,
is her best friend.

726
00:32:01,335 --> 00:32:04,460
-I don't think people realize
what it is that we actually do.

727
00:32:04,585 --> 00:32:09,043
The part where we're in the ring
is not really where the work is.

728
00:32:09,168 --> 00:32:12,835
The work is traveling
250 days out of the year,

729
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,501
trying to keep your body
in shape,

730
00:32:14,585 --> 00:32:17,460
you know, trying to deal with
life outside the ring.

731
00:32:17,585 --> 00:32:18,960
It's a lot of work.

732
00:32:19,085 --> 00:32:21,418
-Joanie and Paul were together
all the time

733
00:32:21,585 --> 00:32:23,460
because they were traveling
on the road.

734
00:32:23,585 --> 00:32:26,168
I think they had a lot in common
as friends

735
00:32:26,251 --> 00:32:29,376
and it blossomed
into a relationship.

736
00:32:29,543 --> 00:32:32,001
-Eighty percent
of our relationship

737
00:32:32,085 --> 00:32:33,793
encompasses wrestling.

738
00:32:33,918 --> 00:32:36,376
-When it all happened,
it happened fast.

739
00:32:36,460 --> 00:32:39,210
Me and her were in
a serious relationship.

740
00:32:39,293 --> 00:32:41,835
She started going on the road
with Paul.

741
00:32:41,918 --> 00:32:43,376
She would go away
for four or five days.

742
00:32:43,460 --> 00:32:45,335
She would come home
for a day or two.

743
00:32:45,460 --> 00:32:48,210
She'd go away for ten days.
She'd be home for a day or two.

744
00:32:48,293 --> 00:32:50,626
And it started ripping me apart.

745
00:32:50,751 --> 00:32:53,501
So at some point,
we had to have the sit-down,

746
00:32:53,585 --> 00:32:56,168
and we just decided, "Okay.
That's it.

747
00:32:56,293 --> 00:32:57,626
We'll go our separate ways,

748
00:32:57,751 --> 00:33:00,335
and if at some point
20 years down the road,

749
00:33:00,418 --> 00:33:03,501
we can be friends again,
we'll do it.

750
00:33:03,585 --> 00:33:06,626
-Their relationship
just kind of formed,

751
00:33:06,751 --> 00:33:09,043
and I don't think any of us knew
when that happened.

752
00:33:09,210 --> 00:33:11,918
-I noticed they checked into
one hotel room.

753
00:33:12,085 --> 00:33:15,043
And I was like, "Oh, okay.
Well, maybe they --"

754
00:33:15,210 --> 00:33:16,460
Because I didn't think
they were anything

755
00:33:16,585 --> 00:33:18,376
but workout partners
and friends.

756
00:33:18,543 --> 00:33:21,710
-It was just after a while,
you sort of, you know, see them

757
00:33:21,835 --> 00:33:25,293
quietly chatting with
each other, and it's like,

758
00:33:25,418 --> 00:33:27,710
"Doesn't look like that's
a business conversation."

759
00:33:27,793 --> 00:33:30,543
-I asked Hunter, and Hunter
finally said, like, "Yeah.

760
00:33:30,668 --> 00:33:32,418
We get the same room
every night, dude.

761
00:33:32,543 --> 00:33:34,251
We've been going out for..."
[Laughs] You know?

762
00:33:34,418 --> 00:33:36,418
And I was like, "Oh, my God.
I didn't even see that."

763
00:33:37,835 --> 00:33:41,751
-I remember the first time they
came to my house as a couple.

764
00:33:41,918 --> 00:33:43,460
They stepped into the back door,

765
00:33:43,585 --> 00:33:45,876
and they were like
these two giants side by side.

766
00:33:46,001 --> 00:33:48,876
They were larger than life,
but they were so happy together.

767
00:33:49,001 --> 00:33:52,126
-I think that Hunter was
the best friend

768
00:33:52,251 --> 00:33:55,543
that she probably never had
as a child growing up.

769
00:33:55,668 --> 00:33:56,835
[Indistinct conversations]

770
00:33:56,918 --> 00:33:58,876
-Hmm.
What are you gonna get?

771
00:33:59,001 --> 00:34:01,043
-You could tell.
They worked out together.

772
00:34:01,210 --> 00:34:02,543
They did everything together.

773
00:34:02,626 --> 00:34:04,210
They, like,
held each other accountable.

774
00:34:04,376 --> 00:34:07,210
-How about some turkey
and cheese?

775
00:34:07,335 --> 00:34:09,293
-Just a regular toasted bagel.

776
00:34:09,418 --> 00:34:11,751
-Butter on it?
-A little tiny, tiny bit.

777
00:34:11,876 --> 00:34:14,376
-Can I put it on the side?
-Yes. That's better.

778
00:34:14,501 --> 00:34:16,710
-We would go to Denny's, and
I would get Moons Over My Hammy,

779
00:34:16,835 --> 00:34:20,376
and they would get 12 egg whites
and steamed so-and-so.

780
00:34:20,501 --> 00:34:22,376
You know what I mean?
And dry wheat toast.

781
00:34:22,543 --> 00:34:24,918
They just did everything
together, exactly alike.

782
00:34:25,043 --> 00:34:27,585
It was almost like, how could
they ever have an argument?

783
00:34:27,710 --> 00:34:31,251
They both agree that we should
do chest and triceps on Tuesday.

784
00:34:31,376 --> 00:34:33,293
♪♪

785
00:34:33,418 --> 00:34:35,043
-They're both muscleheads,
for sure.

786
00:34:35,168 --> 00:34:37,501
Very much into body building.

787
00:34:37,585 --> 00:34:40,251
-I'd be on the recumbent cycle,
and I would just watch them

788
00:34:40,376 --> 00:34:44,668
do each other's elbows
and chalk up and "Ra-a-h!"

789
00:34:44,793 --> 00:34:46,043
-[Grunts]

790
00:34:46,126 --> 00:34:47,376
-[Grunts]
[Plates clank]

791
00:34:47,543 --> 00:34:49,835
-[Grunts]
-They worked out every day.

792
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,876
They wrapped their knees
and squatted until they threw up

793
00:34:53,043 --> 00:34:55,168
and said, "If you don't throw up
when you're doing squats,

794
00:34:55,251 --> 00:34:56,626
you ain't doing it right."

795
00:34:56,751 --> 00:34:59,710
-I've never met somebody

796
00:34:59,876 --> 00:35:03,293
that can train as focused
or hard as Chyna does.

797
00:35:03,418 --> 00:35:06,210
-He was very respectful of
Joanie, very encouraging of her.

798
00:35:06,335 --> 00:35:09,168
And again, this is another man
in her life

799
00:35:09,293 --> 00:35:12,335
that accepted her
just the way that she was.

800
00:35:12,418 --> 00:35:14,876
-If it were not for Paul,

801
00:35:15,001 --> 00:35:19,876
she would not have made it
as easily in our industry,

802
00:35:20,043 --> 00:35:22,460
because Paul smartened her up

803
00:35:22,585 --> 00:35:25,168
and really taught her
what to do, what not to do.

804
00:35:25,293 --> 00:35:28,168
That is a gift that he gave her.

805
00:35:28,251 --> 00:35:29,710
-Atten-tion!

806
00:35:29,835 --> 00:35:30,876
-Ooh!
-Ugh!

807
00:35:31,043 --> 00:35:32,668
[Laughter]
[Laughing] Geez!

808
00:35:32,751 --> 00:35:37,418
-We are D-Generation X,
and we will take no prisoners!

809
00:35:37,543 --> 00:35:39,835
Who rules the world
of professional wrestling?!

810
00:35:39,918 --> 00:35:42,418
-D-Generation X!
-D-Generation X!

811
00:35:42,585 --> 00:35:43,751
-Yeah!

812
00:35:43,918 --> 00:35:44,960
[Crowd cheering]
-Holy moly!

813
00:35:45,085 --> 00:35:46,710
-Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.

814
00:35:46,835 --> 00:35:50,751
-I remember Joanie saying
she was tired of the guys

815
00:35:50,918 --> 00:35:53,835
always, uh, showing off their --
their butts.

816
00:35:53,918 --> 00:35:55,960
-Shawn and Billy and Hunter
all had nice asses,

817
00:35:56,085 --> 00:35:57,210
so they would moon the people.

818
00:35:57,376 --> 00:35:58,710
I go,
"I'm not mooning the people.

819
00:35:58,835 --> 00:36:01,168
I got a big zit on
my right cheek and, like, hair."

820
00:36:01,251 --> 00:36:04,210
Anyway...
-Did it ever occur to you guys

821
00:36:04,335 --> 00:36:06,210
that people are sick and tired

822
00:36:06,335 --> 00:36:08,460
of looking at your asses
every week?

823
00:36:08,585 --> 00:36:10,960
-Everybody wants to see our ass.
What's your point?

824
00:36:11,085 --> 00:36:12,876
[Crowd cheering]

825
00:36:13,001 --> 00:36:15,460
-Whoo!
-Oh, my!

826
00:36:16,918 --> 00:36:19,001
They got us.
They...

827
00:36:19,126 --> 00:36:21,335
-Fshh! She's starting to
moon people now.

828
00:36:21,418 --> 00:36:24,126
And of, course, clearly
she was in phenomenal shape.

829
00:36:24,251 --> 00:36:26,376
-My daughter turned to me,
and she said,

830
00:36:26,501 --> 00:36:29,001
"Why Chyna showing her peaches?"

831
00:36:29,085 --> 00:36:30,876
That was a father-daughter talk

832
00:36:31,001 --> 00:36:33,168
that I rather would not
have had.

833
00:36:33,251 --> 00:36:35,293
-It allowed the audience to see

834
00:36:35,418 --> 00:36:37,543
a whole different side
of her personality.

835
00:36:37,668 --> 00:36:40,460
And I think that's when she
really started

836
00:36:40,585 --> 00:36:43,460
to get over individually,
because there was so much there,

837
00:36:43,585 --> 00:36:45,251
and they were finally
getting to see that.

838
00:36:45,418 --> 00:36:47,835
That was all by design --
to go very slow

839
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,210
so that in the long run,
she was her own brand,

840
00:36:50,335 --> 00:36:51,710
her own commodity.

841
00:36:51,835 --> 00:36:53,251
-It's been real hard

842
00:36:53,376 --> 00:36:55,210
because I always wanted to
break away a little bit.

843
00:36:55,335 --> 00:36:58,085
-Now, there seems to be
this discrepancy

844
00:36:58,210 --> 00:37:00,293
about whether
we should stay together

845
00:37:00,418 --> 00:37:03,960
or whether we should...split.

846
00:37:04,085 --> 00:37:07,001
-It broke my heart a little,
personally, when we split up.

847
00:37:07,085 --> 00:37:11,418
But in professional wrestling,
you don't stay a team forever.

848
00:37:11,585 --> 00:37:14,543
When DX splits and goes
its own separate way,

849
00:37:14,668 --> 00:37:17,210
Chyna sort of does
her own thing.

850
00:37:17,335 --> 00:37:19,543
-It's extremely frustrating
sometimes.

851
00:37:19,710 --> 00:37:21,626
I would have to stand
outside the ring

852
00:37:21,751 --> 00:37:24,918
while Hunter did
this great stuff.

853
00:37:25,043 --> 00:37:28,335
Every step I take, I'll say,
"Okay. Let's try it.

854
00:37:28,460 --> 00:37:30,168
But it probably won't be
that good."

855
00:37:30,251 --> 00:37:31,668
And then I achieve it,

856
00:37:31,751 --> 00:37:33,710
and they allow me to move
to the next level,

857
00:37:33,876 --> 00:37:36,793
the next step,
to do something else.

858
00:37:36,918 --> 00:37:39,918
♪

859
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,085
[Birds crying]

860
00:37:51,210 --> 00:37:53,210
-It's a marathon,
not a sprint

861
00:37:53,335 --> 00:37:55,543
to keep your head above water
in WWE

862
00:37:55,626 --> 00:37:58,793
and to really stand the test
of time, which Joanie did.

863
00:37:58,918 --> 00:38:01,460
So I think it was
really beneficial to her

864
00:38:01,585 --> 00:38:04,210
that she was outside the ring,
causing destruction

865
00:38:04,376 --> 00:38:06,751
before we saw her
actually set foot in the ring

866
00:38:06,876 --> 00:38:08,501
as a competitor.

867
00:38:08,626 --> 00:38:10,835
And when she did, she knocked
everyone's socks off.

868
00:38:10,918 --> 00:38:13,668
[Dramatic music plays]

869
00:38:13,751 --> 00:38:15,876
♪♪

870
00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,251
-Val Venis running
right into the clothesline.

871
00:38:18,418 --> 00:38:21,168
-From the very beginning,
there were no opponents,

872
00:38:21,251 --> 00:38:23,501
from a female perspective,
on her side.

873
00:38:23,585 --> 00:38:25,918
But once she started putting
together a string of matches,

874
00:38:26,085 --> 00:38:30,043
that's when her special
athletic ability shined.

875
00:38:30,210 --> 00:38:31,918
[Crowd cheering]
-Here we go!

876
00:38:32,085 --> 00:38:35,251
-Bang! Oh, my God!
-Handspring elbow, one side!

877
00:38:35,376 --> 00:38:37,751
Handspring elbow, other side!

878
00:38:37,876 --> 00:38:40,751
Chyna upside down.
Up over, Jericho.

879
00:38:40,876 --> 00:38:44,126
-Power was at the forefront
of Joanie's offense.

880
00:38:44,251 --> 00:38:45,835
-Chyna now...
-Oh!

881
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:48,710
[Crowd cheering, announcers
shouting indistinctly]

882
00:38:48,876 --> 00:38:51,460
♪

883
00:38:51,585 --> 00:38:55,168
-To see a woman press-slamming
men...

884
00:38:55,251 --> 00:38:58,501
-Oh! Chyna showing
unbelievable strength.

885
00:38:58,626 --> 00:39:00,210
-She was the total package.

886
00:39:00,335 --> 00:39:01,585
Sorry, Lex Luger.

887
00:39:01,710 --> 00:39:03,293
-...two...
-Look! She got it!

888
00:39:03,418 --> 00:39:04,835
[Bell chimes, crowd cheering]
-She did it!

889
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,543
-Ladies and gentlemen,
it is now time

890
00:39:07,668 --> 00:39:12,626
for the 1999 Royal Rumble match!
[Crowd cheering]

891
00:39:12,751 --> 00:39:15,043
-You know, one of the most
groundbreaking things

892
00:39:15,168 --> 00:39:17,085
that I can remember about Chyna

893
00:39:17,210 --> 00:39:22,585
was she was the first woman
to enter the WWE Royal Rumble.

894
00:39:22,751 --> 00:39:26,876
-The first woman ever
to enter the Royal Rumble match!

895
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,085
-The roof went off of the place.
It was crazy.

896
00:39:30,210 --> 00:39:34,293
-And the walk down to that ring,
just all purposeful,

897
00:39:34,418 --> 00:39:36,168
not cracking a smile.

898
00:39:36,293 --> 00:39:38,668
-Her statement was,
"I'm going to go for

899
00:39:38,751 --> 00:39:41,168
the biggest, strongest man
in this ring,

900
00:39:41,251 --> 00:39:43,210
and that is Mark Henry."

901
00:39:43,335 --> 00:39:46,501
-Chyna kind of gets in the ring,
and she throws Mark Henry,

902
00:39:46,585 --> 00:39:49,626
the world's strongest man,
out of the ring.

903
00:39:49,751 --> 00:39:53,418
-And so it kind of kept being
these series of tests.

904
00:39:53,543 --> 00:39:56,210
Can Chyna hang
with all these guys?

905
00:39:56,335 --> 00:39:58,585
-Two hundred and fifty-five
pounds!

906
00:39:58,751 --> 00:40:00,543
It's over! Chyna did it!
[Bell chimes]

907
00:40:00,668 --> 00:40:03,585
Chyna has advanced to the
King of the Ring tournament!

908
00:40:03,710 --> 00:40:05,126
She'll meet Road Dogg!

909
00:40:05,251 --> 00:40:07,668
-It's almost like everybody
would set me up to fail,

910
00:40:07,751 --> 00:40:09,543
but then, when I didn't,
they'd be surprised

911
00:40:09,710 --> 00:40:11,126
and then want more of it.

912
00:40:11,251 --> 00:40:13,626
[Mid-tempo music plays]

913
00:40:13,751 --> 00:40:16,251
Well, you know,
when I was a little girl,

914
00:40:16,376 --> 00:40:17,918
I only wanted to be a princess.

915
00:40:18,043 --> 00:40:19,501
But now I'm all grown up,

916
00:40:19,585 --> 00:40:22,335
and tonight,
I'm gonna be a queen.

917
00:40:22,418 --> 00:40:23,793
-King of the Ring --
It's the first woman

918
00:40:23,918 --> 00:40:25,876
ever to be in
the King of the Ring tournament,

919
00:40:26,043 --> 00:40:27,210
and I wrestled her.

920
00:40:27,376 --> 00:40:30,210
-Road Dogg,
you got big, brass balls

921
00:40:30,335 --> 00:40:31,960
to step in the ring with me.

922
00:40:32,085 --> 00:40:36,376
-Three of the final four slots
have been determined.

923
00:40:36,501 --> 00:40:38,043
-It was about the spectacle
of it.

924
00:40:38,126 --> 00:40:41,501
It's a big, muscular woman
versus this white-trash dude.

925
00:40:41,585 --> 00:40:43,710
[Crowd cheering]

926
00:40:43,835 --> 00:40:46,376
-Road Dogg looking again.
-Man, oh, man!

927
00:40:46,501 --> 00:40:49,876
-She had hit me, a low blow,
several times

928
00:40:50,001 --> 00:40:51,793
in the build-up to this.
-Look out!

929
00:40:51,918 --> 00:40:53,376
Chyna!
Low blow from behind!

930
00:40:53,501 --> 00:40:56,293
-So that was the infamous
"I came prepared."

931
00:40:56,418 --> 00:40:57,710
-Give it to him!

932
00:40:57,835 --> 00:40:59,501
-Oh, that shot --
And she hurt her arm.

933
00:40:59,626 --> 00:41:00,960
-And as I had my back turned,

934
00:41:01,085 --> 00:41:03,418
she slipped in and hit me
in the groin again.

935
00:41:03,543 --> 00:41:05,126
And I pulled out the metal cup.

936
00:41:05,251 --> 00:41:10,126
-And the -- Oh, the Road Dogg,
he's got a protective metal cup!

937
00:41:10,251 --> 00:41:12,501
Pump-handle slam!
[Crowd cheering]

938
00:41:12,626 --> 00:41:14,418
-We had a competitive match.

939
00:41:14,585 --> 00:41:17,001
And honestly,
if a creative decision was made

940
00:41:17,085 --> 00:41:20,376
for her to beat me, she could've
beat me all day long

941
00:41:20,460 --> 00:41:22,376
and people wouldn't have batted
an eye,

942
00:41:22,460 --> 00:41:25,543
because that's how believable
she was.

943
00:41:25,668 --> 00:41:27,168
-I mean, she got to the point

944
00:41:27,251 --> 00:41:32,418
where she was a believable
contender for a title.

945
00:41:32,543 --> 00:41:33,876
-And there came a time

946
00:41:34,001 --> 00:41:37,126
when the evolution of Chyna
had to happen.

947
00:41:37,251 --> 00:41:38,793
Who's the heel?

948
00:41:38,918 --> 00:41:40,126
-Jeff Jarrett isn't scheduled
to come out here.

949
00:41:40,251 --> 00:41:42,710
-Well, Jeff Jarrett is scheduled
to meet Chyna.

950
00:41:42,835 --> 00:41:44,418
-Double J stepped up
to the plate.

951
00:41:44,585 --> 00:41:48,293
My name is Jeff Jarrett,
and I'm a man's man.

952
00:41:48,418 --> 00:41:49,793
My side of the fence,

953
00:41:49,918 --> 00:41:52,168
the way I was handling
the females and the women

954
00:41:52,293 --> 00:41:53,918
was they have their place --

955
00:41:54,043 --> 00:41:56,043
barefoot and pregnant
in the kitchen.

956
00:41:56,168 --> 00:41:59,418
-Oh, Jeff Jarrett took that ball
and ran with it.

957
00:41:59,543 --> 00:42:01,293
He's like,
"Oh, you want me to be a jerk?

958
00:42:01,418 --> 00:42:02,710
Watch this."

959
00:42:02,876 --> 00:42:06,418
-Women are only good
for three things --

960
00:42:06,585 --> 00:42:09,710
cookin', cleanin',
and makin' babies.

961
00:42:09,835 --> 00:42:11,501
-Oh, it was excellent.

962
00:42:11,585 --> 00:42:13,335
All these antiquated
stereotypes.

963
00:42:13,418 --> 00:42:14,793
Like, "This is trash."

964
00:42:14,918 --> 00:42:16,751
-This is absolutely degrading
to these ladies.

965
00:42:16,918 --> 00:42:18,626
-Come on, now. Somebody get --
Oh, come on, now!

966
00:42:18,751 --> 00:42:20,251
-It's <i>supposed to</i> make you mad.

967
00:42:20,376 --> 00:42:23,460
You need a good villain
to push all those buttons.

968
00:42:23,585 --> 00:42:25,585
And it made Chyna the hero.

969
00:42:25,751 --> 00:42:28,335
-Oh, boy!
-It's Chyna! It's Chyna!

970
00:42:28,418 --> 00:42:29,751
-Oh!
-Chyna --

971
00:42:29,876 --> 00:42:31,335
That was a frying pan!

972
00:42:31,418 --> 00:42:33,210
-Jarrett is out cold!

973
00:42:33,335 --> 00:42:34,876
And Chyna's wearing his shorts!
[Crowd cheering]

974
00:42:35,001 --> 00:42:36,710
-What took it to another level

975
00:42:36,835 --> 00:42:40,418
was I was the reigning
intercontinental champion.

976
00:42:40,543 --> 00:42:42,668
-You're gonna see
who's wearing the pants!

977
00:42:42,793 --> 00:42:44,876
And then you're gonna see
who's gonna be wearing

978
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:46,793
your intercontinental title.

979
00:42:46,918 --> 00:42:48,376
-There was nothing
like the buildup

980
00:42:48,460 --> 00:42:49,835
to that intercontinental
title match.

981
00:42:49,918 --> 00:42:52,543
-You're gonna get your rematch,
all right.

982
00:42:52,668 --> 00:42:57,210
But it's gonna be
the Good Housekeeping way.

983
00:42:57,293 --> 00:43:01,876
-And we just knew that he was
going to get what he deserved.

984
00:43:02,043 --> 00:43:04,043
And he did.
[Dramatic music plays]

985
00:43:04,210 --> 00:43:06,668
-First ever Good Housekeeping
matchup, King.

986
00:43:06,793 --> 00:43:09,543
-This was gonna be
history-making.

987
00:43:09,668 --> 00:43:12,335
-...the Ninth Wonder
of the World...

988
00:43:12,418 --> 00:43:15,751
-There was that excitement, but
I could see there was nerves.

989
00:43:15,876 --> 00:43:18,001
I think she was having
some doubts.

990
00:43:18,126 --> 00:43:21,876
"Am I gonna be able to live up
to these expectations?"

991
00:43:22,001 --> 00:43:22,876
♪

992
00:43:23,043 --> 00:43:25,085
-What is that?!
Oh, my goodness!

993
00:43:25,210 --> 00:43:27,710
He's been crowned
with a seat from the throne!

994
00:43:27,876 --> 00:43:30,710
Joanie kind of took up the torch
for all of womanhood

995
00:43:30,835 --> 00:43:32,126
in that moment.

996
00:43:32,251 --> 00:43:34,960
-They literally hit each other
with everything,

997
00:43:35,085 --> 00:43:36,918
<i>including</i> the kitchen sink.

998
00:43:37,043 --> 00:43:38,793
-The kitchen sink! Aah!
-It's the kitchen sink!

999
00:43:38,918 --> 00:43:41,043
-I just remember the plethora
of weapons being used

1000
00:43:41,210 --> 00:43:42,918
in very unique ways.

1001
00:43:43,043 --> 00:43:44,835
-She's got the tongs! Aah!
-She's got the tongs!

1002
00:43:44,918 --> 00:43:46,876
Chyna's got the tongs!
Oh, my!

1003
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:48,751
-[Laughing]
Oh, no!

1004
00:43:48,876 --> 00:43:51,626
-You know, somehow the word
had gotten out to the fans

1005
00:43:51,751 --> 00:43:54,168
that it was his last match
in the WWE.

1006
00:43:54,251 --> 00:43:56,626
So naturally,
everybody is expecting,

1007
00:43:56,751 --> 00:43:58,835
well, Jeff's gonna lose,
Chyna is gonna become

1008
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:01,918
the first female
intercontinental champion.

1009
00:44:02,085 --> 00:44:04,626
But then comes the swerve.

1010
00:44:05,668 --> 00:44:07,543
Boom!
He hits Chyna with the belt.

1011
00:44:07,710 --> 00:44:10,126
And to everybody's shock
and amazement --

1012
00:44:10,251 --> 00:44:13,210
one, two, three.

1013
00:44:13,293 --> 00:44:14,710
Jeff wins.
-I knew it!

1014
00:44:14,835 --> 00:44:17,168
-...and still intercontinental
champion...

1015
00:44:17,293 --> 00:44:19,918
-The place --
You could have heard a pin drop.

1016
00:44:20,085 --> 00:44:22,876
The -- The crowd was shocked.

1017
00:44:23,043 --> 00:44:27,043
How dare that dastardly Double J
do that to us?

1018
00:44:27,126 --> 00:44:28,710
-Wait a minute.

1019
00:44:28,835 --> 00:44:30,085
You can't take the
intercontinental championship

1020
00:44:30,210 --> 00:44:32,668
and win the match.
-The referees determined that --

1021
00:44:32,751 --> 00:44:34,168
"Wait a minute.

1022
00:44:34,251 --> 00:44:37,710
That championship belt
is not a household item.

1023
00:44:37,793 --> 00:44:39,210
The match should continue."

1024
00:44:39,335 --> 00:44:42,960
And in the meantime,
Chyna grabs Jeff's guitar.

1025
00:44:43,085 --> 00:44:45,126
-Look out, Jeff!
-Oh, man!

1026
00:44:45,251 --> 00:44:47,335
Chyna with the guitar!
-Not a household item, is it?!

1027
00:44:47,418 --> 00:44:49,626
-It certainly is! I guess it is!
I don't know!

1028
00:44:49,751 --> 00:44:51,043
Referee down for the count!
-Oh!

1029
00:44:51,168 --> 00:44:54,210
[Bell chimes]
-Chyna has made history!

1030
00:44:54,293 --> 00:44:59,043
Chyna, the first woman to become
the intercontinental champion!

1031
00:44:59,168 --> 00:45:01,043
-I mean, Chyna's standing there

1032
00:45:01,210 --> 00:45:02,793
with that intercontinental
championship.

1033
00:45:02,918 --> 00:45:04,543
She's holding it
high above her head.

1034
00:45:04,626 --> 00:45:08,001
And I could tell that she knew
that she was part of history.

1035
00:45:08,751 --> 00:45:10,251
-I remember standing
straight up,

1036
00:45:10,376 --> 00:45:12,168
and truly the first thought
that came to my mind

1037
00:45:12,293 --> 00:45:13,960
was, "Times,
they are a-changin'."

1038
00:45:14,085 --> 00:45:16,960
I can only think that, you know,
from her story

1039
00:45:17,085 --> 00:45:22,043
and how many mountains she had
to climb to get to that point

1040
00:45:22,168 --> 00:45:24,418
and how many times
she was told no

1041
00:45:24,543 --> 00:45:26,001
or, "You're not the right fit."

1042
00:45:26,835 --> 00:45:28,168
Of course you're not
the right fit.

1043
00:45:28,251 --> 00:45:29,876
You weren't meant to be
the right fit.

1044
00:45:30,001 --> 00:45:31,168
You were meant to be bigger
than that.

1045
00:45:31,293 --> 00:45:32,043
You're a star.

1046
00:45:32,168 --> 00:45:33,876
-As the years have gone on

1047
00:45:34,043 --> 00:45:37,960
and you hear little girls
who are now adults say, "Yeah.

1048
00:45:38,085 --> 00:45:40,001
I watched Chyna on TV.

1049
00:45:40,126 --> 00:45:43,751
She gave me hope
because there she was,

1050
00:45:43,876 --> 00:45:47,043
a woman succeeding
in a 'man's world.'"

1051
00:45:47,168 --> 00:45:49,960
-Right now, I'm the reigning
intercontinental champion.

1052
00:45:50,085 --> 00:45:52,418
[Cheers and applause]

1053
00:45:52,585 --> 00:45:53,460
♪

1054
00:45:53,585 --> 00:45:54,876
-That belt means

1055
00:45:55,043 --> 00:45:56,876
that she's the number-two
athlete in our industry.

1056
00:45:57,001 --> 00:45:58,335
-"We don't have

1057
00:45:58,418 --> 00:46:00,210
an intercontinental championship
for women."

1058
00:46:00,293 --> 00:46:03,210
She said, "Yeah? Yeah? Well, you
do now, 'cause I'm taking it."

1059
00:46:03,335 --> 00:46:06,293
-But I really think people
want to see a woman like me

1060
00:46:06,418 --> 00:46:08,751
kicking some guys' asses!

1061
00:46:08,876 --> 00:46:10,210
[Cheers and applause]
Yeah.

1062
00:46:10,335 --> 00:46:14,793
♪

1063
00:46:20,918 --> 00:46:24,501
[Waves breaking, birds crying]

1064
00:46:24,585 --> 00:46:26,251
-Hi.
I'm Chyna.

1065
00:46:26,418 --> 00:46:28,751
Welcome to my workout.

1066
00:46:28,876 --> 00:46:31,085
-♪ Don't treat me like a woman ♪

1067
00:46:31,251 --> 00:46:33,876
♪ Don't treat me like a man ♪

1068
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:36,876
-Wrestling is not just
a man's game anymore.

1069
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:38,460
-...the Ninth Wonder
of the World...

1070
00:46:38,585 --> 00:46:41,293
-I'm probably one of the most
recognizable female athletes

1071
00:46:41,418 --> 00:46:43,251
in the world right now.

1072
00:46:43,376 --> 00:46:44,876
♪♪

1073
00:46:45,043 --> 00:46:46,710
-If I go to India,
people know who I am.

1074
00:46:46,793 --> 00:46:48,543
If I go to Germany,

1075
00:46:48,710 --> 00:46:50,918
people are there with posters
to sign.

1076
00:46:51,043 --> 00:46:52,710
-Joanie was really beloved.

1077
00:46:52,876 --> 00:46:54,335
But in the first couple years,
at least,

1078
00:46:54,418 --> 00:46:57,876
that love did not extend
to the WWE audience.

1079
00:46:58,001 --> 00:47:00,043
So I remember
on several occasions,

1080
00:47:00,210 --> 00:47:03,335
she would come back,
and she'd have spit

1081
00:47:03,418 --> 00:47:04,793
that had landed on her.

1082
00:47:04,918 --> 00:47:07,251
And she took it in stride
as being part of the job.

1083
00:47:07,376 --> 00:47:08,876
But deep down,

1084
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,418
she was a woman who always
wanted to feel beautiful.

1085
00:47:11,585 --> 00:47:14,251
-You know, she also had
a ton of insecurities

1086
00:47:14,376 --> 00:47:16,335
and shyness inside

1087
00:47:16,418 --> 00:47:18,835
and probably a negative
self-image at times

1088
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,876
because of some of the criticism
that she would take.

1089
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:23,418
She'd walk down
the entrance ramp,

1090
00:47:23,543 --> 00:47:25,876
and people would say,
"Do you have a penis?"

1091
00:47:26,001 --> 00:47:28,626
-Her fans say
she's a great performer.

1092
00:47:28,751 --> 00:47:32,043
Her critics say she looks like
a pumped-up T**********.

1093
00:47:32,126 --> 00:47:33,501
-I'm sure you've heard
the rumors.

1094
00:47:33,626 --> 00:47:36,418
Some people even say,
"Did Chyna use to be a man?"

1095
00:47:36,543 --> 00:47:37,585
because you're so muscular.

1096
00:47:37,710 --> 00:47:38,918
Have you heard this before?

1097
00:47:39,085 --> 00:47:41,210
-Oh, please.
-You've heard all of this?

1098
00:47:41,335 --> 00:47:43,210
-Been there, done that before
a thousand times.

1099
00:47:43,335 --> 00:47:47,210
-So she's working incredibly
hard to achieve this look,

1100
00:47:47,376 --> 00:47:51,001
and then she's being knocked
and teased.

1101
00:47:51,085 --> 00:47:53,876
-She was seeing all these
wonderful changes in her body,

1102
00:47:54,043 --> 00:47:57,418
but she may not have been seeing
the feminine things.

1103
00:47:57,585 --> 00:47:59,793
And some of those things
could not have been changed

1104
00:47:59,918 --> 00:48:03,043
without a little help
from a surgeon.

1105
00:48:03,168 --> 00:48:05,001
-So she took some time off

1106
00:48:05,085 --> 00:48:06,918
to have a little bit of work
done

1107
00:48:07,085 --> 00:48:09,876
that made her feel better
about herself.

1108
00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:11,210
-I sometimes wonder
if she knew

1109
00:48:11,335 --> 00:48:14,335
how the inner beauty
that she had at that time

1110
00:48:14,418 --> 00:48:17,376
far exceeded what you might have
seen on the outside.

1111
00:48:17,501 --> 00:48:19,876
It's funny -- The irony
is Hunter fell head over heels

1112
00:48:20,001 --> 00:48:21,293
in love with the first one.

1113
00:48:21,418 --> 00:48:23,043
-[Grunts]
-Oh!

1114
00:48:23,168 --> 00:48:24,876
-What the hell was that for?!
-I'll tell you what this is!

1115
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:27,210
Why didn't you tell me
about Chyna on Monday?!

1116
00:48:27,376 --> 00:48:31,168
-I do not remember
the city we were in,

1117
00:48:31,251 --> 00:48:33,626
but we were in
the dressing room.

1118
00:48:33,751 --> 00:48:40,210
Her demeanor was just like...
like she wasn't there.

1119
00:48:40,376 --> 00:48:43,251
-Chyna had her suspicions that
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

1120
00:48:43,418 --> 00:48:46,543
were in more than just
an on-camera relationship.

1121
00:48:46,668 --> 00:48:48,543
-You mean the world to me.

1122
00:48:48,626 --> 00:48:50,251
I love you more than anything
in the world.

1123
00:48:50,418 --> 00:48:53,793
-So she had found a letter
at their house in Hunter's stuff

1124
00:48:53,918 --> 00:48:55,585
where it just came out

1125
00:48:55,710 --> 00:48:59,376
and Stephanie admitted that
she had feelings for Hunter.

1126
00:48:59,543 --> 00:49:01,918
And it devastated Chyna.

1127
00:49:02,043 --> 00:49:03,626
-I got out of control, too.

1128
00:49:03,751 --> 00:49:05,210
-Okay.

1129
00:49:05,376 --> 00:49:08,418
-I remember being on either
the bike or StairMaster,

1130
00:49:08,543 --> 00:49:13,126
and she -- she got on
the apparatus next to me,

1131
00:49:13,251 --> 00:49:16,251
and we started talking,
and she broke down in tears.

1132
00:49:16,376 --> 00:49:18,626
-I mean, I can't fathom that.

1133
00:49:18,751 --> 00:49:22,043
Where I used to be,
like, at the pinnacle

1134
00:49:22,168 --> 00:49:26,043
and now everyone's whispering
and talking.

1135
00:49:26,168 --> 00:49:29,376
-It clearly was going to make
her future in WWE

1136
00:49:29,501 --> 00:49:31,751
a lot more cloudy.

1137
00:49:31,918 --> 00:49:36,085
-Once Chyna and Triple H
broke up, you know, in a way,

1138
00:49:36,251 --> 00:49:39,460
she kind of got pushed down
to the women's division.

1139
00:49:39,585 --> 00:49:41,918
She started having more matches
with females,

1140
00:49:42,085 --> 00:49:44,876
whether it was Ivory or Lita
or Trish Stratus --

1141
00:49:45,001 --> 00:49:46,418
all very accomplished wrestlers,

1142
00:49:46,543 --> 00:49:48,668
some of the best
in WWE history --

1143
00:49:48,751 --> 00:49:51,126
but also much smaller and not
as physically strong as Chyna.

1144
00:49:51,251 --> 00:49:53,168
-Lita's in deep, deep trouble.

1145
00:49:53,293 --> 00:49:56,460
Look at the strength of Chyna,
the ninth wonder of the world!

1146
00:49:56,585 --> 00:49:59,043
-With the women, I think she was
a little bit like,

1147
00:49:59,168 --> 00:50:00,335
"Ah, this is a night off."

1148
00:50:00,418 --> 00:50:02,335
-Been up there a long time.
-Boom!

1149
00:50:02,460 --> 00:50:04,460
-She could've did
whatever she wanted with him.

1150
00:50:04,585 --> 00:50:06,210
-It wasn't personal,

1151
00:50:06,335 --> 00:50:09,210
but she did see that as, like,
"I've earned this spot,

1152
00:50:09,335 --> 00:50:12,043
and I'm not looking to give up
my spot lightly."

1153
00:50:12,168 --> 00:50:14,585
-As much as I respect
all of the women

1154
00:50:14,751 --> 00:50:17,751
in the World Wrestling
Federation -- and I do --

1155
00:50:17,876 --> 00:50:19,293
I've felt as of late

1156
00:50:19,418 --> 00:50:21,793
that I really don't have
a whole lot of competition.

1157
00:50:21,918 --> 00:50:26,751
So instead of pinning
my fellow Divas,

1158
00:50:26,918 --> 00:50:29,043
from now on...

1159
00:50:29,168 --> 00:50:31,376
I'm just gonna have to
spank them.

1160
00:50:31,460 --> 00:50:33,335
[Crowd cheering]

1161
00:50:33,418 --> 00:50:36,376
-How far can she go
working with the men?

1162
00:50:36,460 --> 00:50:39,085
Were we gonna eventually put her
against The Rock

1163
00:50:39,251 --> 00:50:40,751
or Stone Cold
and have them beat her?

1164
00:50:40,918 --> 00:50:43,376
Like, that's not good
for her either, I don't think.

1165
00:50:43,460 --> 00:50:47,293
Or are we gonna invest in,
like we see today,

1166
00:50:47,418 --> 00:50:49,710
this women's wrestling being
a thing in the future?

1167
00:50:49,876 --> 00:50:53,626
-...who will challenge
for the WWF women's title...

1168
00:50:53,751 --> 00:50:56,251
-WrestleMania XVII, I think it's
probably bittersweet for Chyna

1169
00:50:56,376 --> 00:50:58,960
because, you know, she had been
used to wrestling men

1170
00:50:59,085 --> 00:51:01,418
and being in some
real high-profile matches.

1171
00:51:01,543 --> 00:51:05,210
And now she was wrestling Ivory
for the women's title.

1172
00:51:05,335 --> 00:51:07,085
-Ivory was like
<i>the</i> most annoying thing

1173
00:51:07,251 --> 00:51:08,876
on your television at the time.

1174
00:51:09,001 --> 00:51:11,626
-Dumb as a board, too.
[Laughs]

1175
00:51:11,751 --> 00:51:14,210
-Oh! Slobberknocker slam,
and down she goes!

1176
00:51:14,376 --> 00:51:16,418
-Ivory didn't stand
much of a chance.

1177
00:51:16,543 --> 00:51:20,376
But it was the way
to get the title onto Chyna.

1178
00:51:20,460 --> 00:51:21,876
-[Grunts]
-[Crowd cheering]

1179
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,876
-Good grief.
Look at this strength.

1180
00:51:25,043 --> 00:51:27,210
Ivory upstairs
with nowhere to go but...

1181
00:51:27,335 --> 00:51:28,876
-[Grunts]
-...down.

1182
00:51:29,001 --> 00:51:31,960
-She did kind of have a
lackadaisical pinfall on Ivory.

1183
00:51:32,085 --> 00:51:34,210
You almost wonder
if she did that on purpose

1184
00:51:34,376 --> 00:51:37,793
to kind of say to the WWE, like,
"Hey. I'm better than this."

1185
00:51:37,918 --> 00:51:42,376
-Chyna is the WWE
women's champion!

1186
00:51:42,460 --> 00:51:44,710
She did it at WrestleMania!

1187
00:51:44,876 --> 00:51:47,043
[Crowd cheering]

1188
00:51:47,210 --> 00:51:49,626
-But I just think
that was a time in Chyna's life

1189
00:51:49,751 --> 00:51:51,793
where, for the first time,
she could sense

1190
00:51:51,918 --> 00:51:54,960
that men were looking at her
in a sexual way.

1191
00:51:55,085 --> 00:51:56,501
They were looking at her,
thinking, "Wow.

1192
00:51:56,626 --> 00:51:59,210
That lady is hot," you know?
And I think she loved it.

1193
00:51:59,293 --> 00:52:01,043
She was the double-headed
sex symbol.

1194
00:52:01,126 --> 00:52:02,918
One minute,
she's picking up and scowling

1195
00:52:03,085 --> 00:52:04,376
as she body-slams someone,

1196
00:52:04,460 --> 00:52:06,626
and the next day,
she's in <i>Playboy.</i>

1197
00:52:06,751 --> 00:52:08,710
[Mid-tempo music plays]

1198
00:52:08,835 --> 00:52:11,043
♪

1199
00:52:11,210 --> 00:52:13,710
-Joanie was approached
by Hugh Hefner.

1200
00:52:13,835 --> 00:52:16,210
There was some talk
about her doing <i>Playboy.</i>

1201
00:52:16,376 --> 00:52:19,251
And she was all in
right from the get-go.

1202
00:52:19,418 --> 00:52:23,043
-By doing this, and especially
by getting the cover

1203
00:52:23,168 --> 00:52:25,210
and such a big layout,

1204
00:52:25,335 --> 00:52:28,835
it's really
such a unique opportunity

1205
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:33,918
because it shows a very strong,
sexy, powerful millennium woman.

1206
00:52:34,043 --> 00:52:35,376
And I believe that that's me.

1207
00:52:35,460 --> 00:52:38,585
When people told me
that I was ugly

1208
00:52:38,751 --> 00:52:43,210
and could never grace the cover
or be <i>Playboy</i> material,

1209
00:52:43,335 --> 00:52:46,043
well, I guess that I had to
prove them wrong.

1210
00:52:46,126 --> 00:52:47,876
[Crowd cheering]
-Oh, yeah!

1211
00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:50,918
And you did it, young lady,
and we're damn proud of you.

1212
00:52:51,085 --> 00:52:52,043
-Show us!
-You ready?

1213
00:52:52,126 --> 00:52:53,043
-Yes!
I'm ready!

1214
00:52:53,168 --> 00:52:54,710
-I was so proud of her

1215
00:52:54,876 --> 00:52:59,043
because I thought she was
just stunningly beautiful.

1216
00:52:59,168 --> 00:53:01,043
She was feminine,

1217
00:53:01,168 --> 00:53:05,543
she was athletic-looking,
confident.

1218
00:53:05,668 --> 00:53:07,751
Isn't that what all women want?
Right?

1219
00:53:07,876 --> 00:53:09,501
-The <i>Playboy</i> cover
that turned out to be

1220
00:53:09,585 --> 00:53:12,251
the best-selling issue
in 10 years.

1221
00:53:12,376 --> 00:53:14,168
-Now she's being embraced

1222
00:53:14,293 --> 00:53:16,793
as one of the sexiest women
in the world.

1223
00:53:16,918 --> 00:53:19,043
♪♪

1224
00:53:19,168 --> 00:53:21,418
-It's just one other example

1225
00:53:21,585 --> 00:53:23,543
of so many of the things
that I've been able to do.

1226
00:53:23,626 --> 00:53:25,251
-I don't know if you could go
any higher --

1227
00:53:25,418 --> 00:53:26,876
you know,
on the late-night talk shows,

1228
00:53:27,043 --> 00:53:30,335
"Jay Leno," cover of <i>Playboy,</i>
cover of <i>TV Guide.</i>

1229
00:53:30,460 --> 00:53:33,876
-Chyna, the perfect combination
of brawn and beauty.

1230
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:37,376
-I am Chyna, a superstar.
I wrestle in the ring.

1231
00:53:37,543 --> 00:53:40,085
I am able to do other TV shows.

1232
00:53:40,251 --> 00:53:41,710
I've done movies,

1233
00:53:41,793 --> 00:53:44,085
and I have an autobiography
coming out in January.

1234
00:53:44,251 --> 00:53:46,876
-So she was at the pinnacle
of her career.

1235
00:53:47,001 --> 00:53:49,043
And, unfortunately,
when you're at the pinnacle,

1236
00:53:49,168 --> 00:53:53,710
there's really no place to go
but down.

1237
00:53:53,793 --> 00:53:58,543
♪♪

1238
00:54:08,126 --> 00:54:10,001
-I mean,
the last three years for me

1239
00:54:10,126 --> 00:54:11,501
feel like the blink of an eye.

1240
00:54:11,585 --> 00:54:13,460
And I just worry sometimes

1241
00:54:13,585 --> 00:54:15,793
that I dedicate everything
to this job

1242
00:54:15,918 --> 00:54:18,501
and that maybe, you know,
10 years from now,

1243
00:54:18,585 --> 00:54:21,210
I'm not doing this anymore.
and I will have not,

1244
00:54:21,335 --> 00:54:23,710
you know, gotten married
or had kids

1245
00:54:23,835 --> 00:54:27,626
or done things
that normal people do.

1246
00:54:27,751 --> 00:54:29,418
This is a very short-lived
business,

1247
00:54:29,585 --> 00:54:31,626
and I just sometimes think,
you know,

1248
00:54:31,751 --> 00:54:33,126
that that day is gonna come
for me

1249
00:54:33,251 --> 00:54:35,210
when I'm gonna plan on
being here

1250
00:54:35,335 --> 00:54:37,085
but, you know,
suddenly I'll be gone

1251
00:54:37,210 --> 00:54:40,210
and I'll think,
"Now look what I did."

1252
00:54:40,335 --> 00:54:43,376
[Down-tempo music plays]
-Chyna's contract was up.

1253
00:54:43,501 --> 00:54:45,626
So she had to go in
and renegotiate.

1254
00:54:45,751 --> 00:54:47,543
-She wanted equal pay
to the guys.

1255
00:54:47,668 --> 00:54:49,626
She was one of the main faces
of the company

1256
00:54:49,751 --> 00:54:52,543
that she busted her ass
to become.

1257
00:54:52,710 --> 00:54:55,335
And she wanted the same contract

1258
00:54:55,418 --> 00:54:58,126
that the other faces
of the company had at that time.

1259
00:54:58,251 --> 00:55:01,543
The Rock, Stone Cold,
the Undertaker.

1260
00:55:01,668 --> 00:55:03,543
-Joanie may have just drawn
a line in the sand,

1261
00:55:03,626 --> 00:55:05,876
saying, "I want a million
guaranteed."

1262
00:55:06,001 --> 00:55:09,335
-She thought she deserved it,
and the office didn't agree.

1263
00:55:09,460 --> 00:55:10,793
-This is an historic day,

1264
00:55:10,918 --> 00:55:12,918
because the World
Wrestling Entertainment today

1265
00:55:13,043 --> 00:55:15,043
is invading Wall Street.

1266
00:55:15,210 --> 00:55:16,710
-Years later,
she would tell people

1267
00:55:16,835 --> 00:55:19,293
that they didn't renew her
contract or that they cut her

1268
00:55:19,418 --> 00:55:22,210
because Stephanie McMahon
was mad at her

1269
00:55:22,335 --> 00:55:23,460
because of the Triple H deal.

1270
00:55:23,585 --> 00:55:24,835
But that's not the case.

1271
00:55:24,918 --> 00:55:27,710
Chyna was offered a chance
to stay in WWE

1272
00:55:27,835 --> 00:55:30,710
for a good salary,
and she decided not to do it.

1273
00:55:30,835 --> 00:55:32,876
And I think that was probably
the decision

1274
00:55:33,001 --> 00:55:35,668
that started her downfall.

1275
00:55:36,710 --> 00:55:39,293
-I wasn't too particularly happy
at how it all ended,

1276
00:55:39,418 --> 00:55:41,043
how it went down.

1277
00:55:41,168 --> 00:55:44,793
I mean, you -- you don't want to
see your friends hurt.

1278
00:55:45,876 --> 00:55:49,626
-I do feel like there was
a sense of abandonment

1279
00:55:49,751 --> 00:55:53,835
that Joanie felt because
we did not keep in touch --

1280
00:55:53,918 --> 00:55:55,710
we, the WWE community,

1281
00:55:55,793 --> 00:55:58,543
did not keep in touch with her
like we used to.

1282
00:55:58,710 --> 00:56:00,543
-Once you're accepted
in the club,

1283
00:56:00,668 --> 00:56:03,626
in our wrestling club, we <i>do</i>
look at each other like family.

1284
00:56:03,751 --> 00:56:05,626
And there's an intimacy
you can't avoid

1285
00:56:05,751 --> 00:56:07,876
when you're riding together
and, you know,

1286
00:56:08,001 --> 00:56:10,876
you're wrestling together,
you're getting hurt together.

1287
00:56:11,001 --> 00:56:13,585
Then, being suddenly torn out
of that world,

1288
00:56:13,751 --> 00:56:15,793
I could see that being
difficult,

1289
00:56:15,918 --> 00:56:19,001
to kind of readjust and get
your feet back on the ground.

1290
00:56:19,126 --> 00:56:21,210
[Mid-tempo music plays]

1291
00:56:21,376 --> 00:56:23,460
♪

1292
00:56:23,585 --> 00:56:25,085
-When Joanie left the WWE,

1293
00:56:25,251 --> 00:56:27,835
she decided that she was gonna
try to do some acting

1294
00:56:27,918 --> 00:56:30,960
and see if she could make a go
of the whole Hollywood thing.

1295
00:56:31,085 --> 00:56:33,543
-[Groaning]

1296
00:56:33,710 --> 00:56:35,126
Ow!

1297
00:56:35,251 --> 00:56:36,835
-What?

1298
00:56:36,918 --> 00:56:38,876
-She was stereotyped
as a wrestler.

1299
00:56:39,043 --> 00:56:41,585
So pretty much any of the roles
that she got

1300
00:56:41,710 --> 00:56:46,001
were as a big, brawny,
wrestling type of character.

1301
00:56:46,126 --> 00:56:48,918
-[Laughter]
-Oh!

1302
00:56:49,043 --> 00:56:51,543
[Purrs]
[Laughter]

1303
00:56:51,668 --> 00:56:53,585
-It was starting to get
increasingly harder and harder

1304
00:56:53,710 --> 00:56:55,043
to keep things going.

1305
00:56:55,168 --> 00:56:59,043
-"Alien Tracker."
Look for it on DVD and video.

1306
00:56:59,168 --> 00:57:02,460
-It didn't materialize
into anything that stuck.

1307
00:57:02,585 --> 00:57:05,793
-What?
You don't recognize me?

1308
00:57:05,918 --> 00:57:08,585
-She couldn't legally use
the name Chyna

1309
00:57:08,751 --> 00:57:12,710
because the WWE owned
that contract.

1310
00:57:12,876 --> 00:57:15,835
-WB lawyers have asked us not to
refer to this former wrestler

1311
00:57:15,918 --> 00:57:18,168
by her stage name.
[Gong clangs]

1312
00:57:18,251 --> 00:57:22,376
-So she couldn't sell herself
out in the entertainment world

1313
00:57:22,460 --> 00:57:23,751
as Chyna.

1314
00:57:23,876 --> 00:57:25,543
She had to go by Joanie Laurer.

1315
00:57:25,710 --> 00:57:28,168
Now, nobody knows Joanie Laurer.

1316
00:57:28,251 --> 00:57:30,376
-During this period,
Joanie's spending a lot of time

1317
00:57:30,460 --> 00:57:31,876
at the Playboy Mansion.

1318
00:57:32,001 --> 00:57:34,876
-She moved to Hollywood,
and all of a sudden, you know,

1319
00:57:34,960 --> 00:57:37,210
someone that had been clean
her whole life

1320
00:57:37,376 --> 00:57:41,126
started dabbling in drugs
and alcohol.

1321
00:57:41,251 --> 00:57:42,668
She would no-show casting calls

1322
00:57:42,793 --> 00:57:46,126
because she was hung over
or on drugs somewhere.

1323
00:57:46,251 --> 00:57:49,793
-I started hearing stories about
her partying

1324
00:57:49,918 --> 00:57:54,001
and being seen in public places,
like, not in control of herself.

1325
00:57:54,085 --> 00:57:57,376
And it was just really,
really jarring.

1326
00:57:57,501 --> 00:57:59,501
And I didn't know that person.

1327
00:57:59,585 --> 00:58:01,585
Yeah, I think she just
kind of lost her way

1328
00:58:01,751 --> 00:58:04,126
after parting ways with the WWE.

1329
00:58:04,251 --> 00:58:07,835
-I think Chyna was longing
for genuine friendships,

1330
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:09,876
and she had trouble
finding them.

1331
00:58:10,001 --> 00:58:13,293
I think most of the people
that she was hanging around

1332
00:58:13,418 --> 00:58:16,001
associated themselves with her
because she was famous.

1333
00:58:16,085 --> 00:58:17,793
[Down-tempo music plays]

1334
00:58:17,918 --> 00:58:23,376
-She'd have a couple of gigs,
and then they would go away.

1335
00:58:23,501 --> 00:58:24,960
And then now what?

1336
00:58:25,085 --> 00:58:31,001
♪♪

1337
00:58:31,126 --> 00:58:33,001
-Things started going downhill
with my wife.

1338
00:58:33,126 --> 00:58:37,543
I'd just finally had enough,
and I left.

1339
00:58:37,668 --> 00:58:41,710
I had moved out to L.A.
I was really brokenhearted.

1340
00:58:41,793 --> 00:58:45,001
My grandmother says, "Oh,
Joanie -- Chyna's out there.

1341
00:58:45,085 --> 00:58:47,835
You guys always got along great.
You should look her up."

1342
00:58:49,210 --> 00:58:51,751
My grandma had a really s*****
track record as a matchmaker.

1343
00:58:51,876 --> 00:58:53,710
That was a really bad idea.

1344
00:58:53,835 --> 00:58:55,251
[Down-tempo music plays]

1345
00:58:55,418 --> 00:58:56,710
I never looked at Joanie
like that.

1346
00:58:56,793 --> 00:58:58,210
I swear to God.

1347
00:58:58,335 --> 00:59:01,293
Like, before, like,
our relationship blossomed,

1348
00:59:01,418 --> 00:59:03,585
I never thought twice

1349
00:59:03,710 --> 00:59:06,293
about, like, anything
romantically with her.

1350
00:59:06,418 --> 00:59:07,668
I was in heaven, man.

1351
00:59:07,751 --> 00:59:09,543
Like, that was -- I was --

1352
00:59:09,668 --> 00:59:12,001
I just thought, "Okay.
Finally. Happiness."

1353
00:59:12,126 --> 00:59:14,501
And I think she felt that, too,
man.

1354
00:59:14,585 --> 00:59:17,376
Like, there was a couple
of months there

1355
00:59:17,501 --> 00:59:20,751
that everything was just,
like, heaven.

1356
00:59:20,918 --> 00:59:24,668
-Joanie became involved with
Sean, another wonderful guy.

1357
00:59:24,751 --> 00:59:27,751
Three for three with men
that loved her --

1358
00:59:27,876 --> 00:59:29,001
really, truly loved her

1359
00:59:29,126 --> 00:59:30,751
and accepted her
the way that she was.

1360
00:59:30,876 --> 00:59:32,543
But he was in a bad place, too.

1361
00:59:32,668 --> 00:59:37,501
So I think two wrongs made
a <i>really</i> bad wrong.

1362
00:59:37,626 --> 00:59:39,085
-They really met each other

1363
00:59:39,210 --> 00:59:40,960
when both of them were
at rock bottom.

1364
00:59:41,085 --> 00:59:45,001
Together, you know,
they just kind of started

1365
00:59:45,085 --> 00:59:48,376
this downward spiral
that lasted for quite a while.

1366
00:59:48,501 --> 00:59:50,335
-There's that hurt, right?

1367
00:59:50,418 --> 00:59:52,168
I'm just -- I'm hurting.

1368
00:59:52,251 --> 00:59:54,793
I'm hurting,
and she makes me feel better.

1369
00:59:54,918 --> 00:59:56,793
And she's the only thing
that made --

1370
00:59:56,918 --> 00:59:59,210
besides, like, the drugs.

1371
00:59:59,376 --> 01:00:02,960
I had just started getting into
the speed and all that.

1372
01:00:03,085 --> 01:00:04,168
And it hadn't --

1373
01:00:04,251 --> 01:00:06,710
It didn't seem like a big deal
at the time.

1374
01:00:06,835 --> 01:00:09,793
It took a little bit
for that to really, like,

1375
01:00:09,918 --> 01:00:11,751
grab ahold of me
and kick my ass.

1376
01:00:11,918 --> 01:00:15,668
-I don't want to cast aspersions
on how their relationship was.

1377
01:00:15,793 --> 01:00:18,543
From the outside,
it looked very toxic

1378
01:00:18,668 --> 01:00:20,710
and not good
for either one of them.

1379
01:00:20,835 --> 01:00:21,960
Look.
I'm itching and scratching.

1380
01:00:22,085 --> 01:00:23,501
I'm uncomfortable
talking about it

1381
01:00:23,626 --> 01:00:24,918
'cause it was just weird to me

1382
01:00:25,085 --> 01:00:27,460
and I know it wasn't a good part
of their lives.

1383
01:00:27,585 --> 01:00:30,876
-I was hiding my drug use
from her,

1384
01:00:31,043 --> 01:00:33,043
and I didn't realize at the time

1385
01:00:33,210 --> 01:00:35,751
that she was hiding hers from me
as well.

1386
01:00:35,876 --> 01:00:38,918
I was doing drugs
in the bathroom, in the shower.

1387
01:00:39,085 --> 01:00:41,418
I would spend a lot of time
in the shower.

1388
01:00:41,543 --> 01:00:43,293
A <i>lot</i> of time in the shower.

1389
01:00:43,418 --> 01:00:47,418
And, you know, finally she found
the paraphernalia.

1390
01:00:47,543 --> 01:00:49,793
[Down-tempo music plays]

1391
01:00:49,918 --> 01:00:51,501
Like, I just thought
it was over.

1392
01:00:51,585 --> 01:00:53,793
Like, "Okay.

1393
01:00:54,918 --> 01:00:58,126
Bummer, man. I'm so happy,
and this, you know...

1394
01:00:58,251 --> 01:00:59,960
And now it's all f***** up."

1395
01:01:00,085 --> 01:01:03,960
And she was just like, "Huh.
Yeah. Well, I do this."

1396
01:01:04,085 --> 01:01:06,043
♪

1397
01:01:08,376 --> 01:01:10,001
No. No.

1398
01:01:10,126 --> 01:01:13,085
And that wasn't
a very good thing.

1399
01:01:13,210 --> 01:01:18,335
♪♪

1400
01:01:23,710 --> 01:01:25,376
[Waves breaking, birds crying]

1401
01:01:27,085 --> 01:01:31,335
-So, around 2002, a new
opportunity presented itself.

1402
01:01:31,418 --> 01:01:32,710
[Mid-tempo music plays]

1403
01:01:32,835 --> 01:01:35,960
After she was invited to leave
by WWE,

1404
01:01:36,085 --> 01:01:38,960
the company New Japan
saw her worth

1405
01:01:39,085 --> 01:01:42,710
and invited her to come
and play with them.

1406
01:01:42,793 --> 01:01:45,376
[Dramatic music plays]
-Tokyo Dome -- sold out,

1407
01:01:45,501 --> 01:01:47,501
60,000-plus people.

1408
01:01:47,626 --> 01:01:49,210
-[Speaking Japanese]

1409
01:01:49,335 --> 01:01:52,251
-Masahiro Chono
against a female wrestler.

1410
01:01:52,376 --> 01:01:54,001
This was a huge deal.

1411
01:01:54,085 --> 01:01:56,710
[Crowd cheering]
Her walking down that ramp,

1412
01:01:56,835 --> 01:01:58,293
you know,
in that beautiful outfit --

1413
01:01:58,418 --> 01:02:00,293
It was like nothing
that I've seen before,

1414
01:02:00,418 --> 01:02:01,918
especially in New Japan
Pro Wrestling.

1415
01:02:02,043 --> 01:02:06,626
-He was their number one person
in Japan,

1416
01:02:06,751 --> 01:02:08,751
and she was going toe to toe
with him.

1417
01:02:08,918 --> 01:02:10,710
-[Speaking Japanese]

1418
01:02:10,876 --> 01:02:12,793
-She had, like, blood
coming out of her ear

1419
01:02:12,918 --> 01:02:16,085
and, like, her face was red.

1420
01:02:16,210 --> 01:02:17,835
♪♪

1421
01:02:17,918 --> 01:02:19,710
-Chono won the match.

1422
01:02:19,835 --> 01:02:21,210
Even with him winning,

1423
01:02:21,335 --> 01:02:24,876
she really was the star
of that match completely.

1424
01:02:25,001 --> 01:02:27,543
Obviously the star of the show.

1425
01:02:27,668 --> 01:02:30,168
-Let me wait
till everybody's in here

1426
01:02:30,251 --> 01:02:33,001
to tell you
that I didn't lose that match

1427
01:02:33,126 --> 01:02:36,585
because I beat his ass
in front of all of his fans.

1428
01:02:36,751 --> 01:02:41,460
-I can remember sitting in the
corner watching her interview

1429
01:02:41,585 --> 01:02:43,501
and how proud she was.

1430
01:02:43,585 --> 01:02:45,710
-Realistically, I was
quite honored to fight Chono,

1431
01:02:45,835 --> 01:02:47,293
'cause he's the best.

1432
01:02:47,418 --> 01:02:49,085
Thank you.

1433
01:02:49,210 --> 01:02:50,210
<i>Arigato.</i>

1434
01:02:50,293 --> 01:02:53,501
-Thank you.
See you next time.

1435
01:02:53,585 --> 01:02:57,418
-When she came home, I really
noticed that she was different.

1436
01:02:57,585 --> 01:02:59,668
I couldn't have
a regular conversation with her.

1437
01:02:59,751 --> 01:03:02,626
She would be calling me at all
hours of the day and the night.

1438
01:03:02,751 --> 01:03:04,876
The drug use sort of escalated.

1439
01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:06,876
I knew there was a problem.
[Mid-tempo music plays]

1440
01:03:07,043 --> 01:03:09,085
-She kind of stopped training
with us.

1441
01:03:09,210 --> 01:03:10,710
We just kind of saw less
and less of her

1442
01:03:10,835 --> 01:03:12,293
till eventually
it was just like,

1443
01:03:12,418 --> 01:03:14,543
"Oh, we're not doing business
with Chyna anymore.

1444
01:03:14,626 --> 01:03:19,210
-I think the change really began
after her run in Japan was over.

1445
01:03:19,335 --> 01:03:22,710
I wish she had gone about
establishing herself

1446
01:03:22,876 --> 01:03:24,501
on the independent circuit,

1447
01:03:24,626 --> 01:03:27,918
'cause she would have been
a huge draw everywhere she went.

1448
01:03:28,085 --> 01:03:31,168
But she kind of gave up
on wrestling after that.

1449
01:03:31,251 --> 01:03:35,210
And in a sense, it felt like
wrestling gave up on her.

1450
01:03:35,293 --> 01:03:37,335
♪♪

1451
01:03:37,418 --> 01:03:41,293
-For two or three years,
between about 2003 and 2005,

1452
01:03:41,418 --> 01:03:43,585
Chyna and X-Pac were doing
a lot of drugs together.

1453
01:03:43,751 --> 01:03:45,043
They were doing crystal meth.

1454
01:03:45,168 --> 01:03:47,335
-I think they called it ice.

1455
01:03:47,460 --> 01:03:50,335
She said it keeps her up
for days on end.

1456
01:03:50,460 --> 01:03:51,960
She can get so much done.

1457
01:03:52,085 --> 01:03:54,876
And then when she did
fall asleep, she would crash.

1458
01:03:55,001 --> 01:03:57,210
That's kind of how
the two of them were living.

1459
01:03:57,335 --> 01:03:58,960
-We were doing
the same exact drugs,

1460
01:03:59,085 --> 01:04:01,293
but I had graduated
to the needle,

1461
01:04:01,418 --> 01:04:04,585
and that really
f****** bothered her.

1462
01:04:04,710 --> 01:04:07,751
-Oh, it is -- it is
a great recipe for disaster.

1463
01:04:07,918 --> 01:04:09,418
Now you got two people,

1464
01:04:09,543 --> 01:04:11,126
and so you got to buy
twice the dope,

1465
01:04:11,251 --> 01:04:13,001
and so you got to get
twice the money.

1466
01:04:13,085 --> 01:04:15,001
And so now we're willing to do
anything.

1467
01:04:15,126 --> 01:04:18,043
[Down-tempo music plays]
-You're in trouble now.

1468
01:04:18,126 --> 01:04:19,793
-Oh, I know that.

1469
01:04:19,918 --> 01:04:22,043
♪♪

1470
01:04:22,210 --> 01:04:25,501
[Up-tempo rock music plays]

1471
01:04:25,585 --> 01:04:27,126
[Strap snaps]

1472
01:04:27,251 --> 01:04:35,085
♪♪

1473
01:04:35,210 --> 01:04:43,001
♪♪

1474
01:04:43,085 --> 01:04:45,960
[Indistinct talking
on television]

1475
01:04:46,085 --> 01:04:48,460
-Eventually Chyna and X-Pac

1476
01:04:48,585 --> 01:04:53,210
you know, had sexual
intercourse, they filmed it.

1477
01:04:53,376 --> 01:04:56,585
Ended up selling that film.

1478
01:04:56,710 --> 01:04:58,335
-The worst idea ever.

1479
01:04:58,418 --> 01:05:00,876
I mean, we're both
just f***** up.

1480
01:05:01,043 --> 01:05:03,376
People that have been there
as far as drugwise know.

1481
01:05:03,543 --> 01:05:06,376
Like, your inhibitions and all
that s*** goes out the window.

1482
01:05:06,543 --> 01:05:08,251
-Baby, you're quiet
all of a sudden.

1483
01:05:08,376 --> 01:05:11,126
-I am just...
[Music continues]

1484
01:05:11,251 --> 01:05:15,585
-I don't think there's anybody
that is...

1485
01:05:15,710 --> 01:05:17,043
really proud of that.

1486
01:05:17,168 --> 01:05:19,751
I think you do that
out of necessity.

1487
01:05:19,876 --> 01:05:21,376
You look around and say,

1488
01:05:21,460 --> 01:05:23,418
"Well, where else am I gonna
make this kind of money?"

1489
01:05:23,543 --> 01:05:27,335
-It ended up a deal being done
with the same people

1490
01:05:27,460 --> 01:05:32,001
that did the Tommy Lee-
Pamela Anderson tape.

1491
01:05:32,126 --> 01:05:35,126
-My initial reaction was horror.

1492
01:05:35,251 --> 01:05:37,460
-Black?
-Yeah.

1493
01:05:37,585 --> 01:05:39,043
-All right.

1494
01:05:39,210 --> 01:05:40,876
-Secondly, I thought,
"That's not the real Joanie.

1495
01:05:41,001 --> 01:05:43,251
That's just -- That's drugs."

1496
01:05:43,418 --> 01:05:48,626
She was grasping for straws
to get money, to get publicity.

1497
01:05:48,751 --> 01:05:52,210
I don't know if Joanie
ever outran the shame of it.

1498
01:05:53,168 --> 01:05:55,085
[Down-tempo music plays]

1499
01:05:55,251 --> 01:05:59,126
-Things had progressively
gotten worse, and I knew --

1500
01:05:59,251 --> 01:06:03,543
Like, I was in rough shape, too,
and at least, like, realized,

1501
01:06:03,668 --> 01:06:05,918
like, "I need help myself.
I can't help anyone."

1502
01:06:06,043 --> 01:06:07,293
-She got to the point

1503
01:06:07,418 --> 01:06:09,876
where I was so worried
about her drug use

1504
01:06:10,001 --> 01:06:12,335
and Sean was worried
about her drug use

1505
01:06:12,418 --> 01:06:14,376
that he actually called me
and said,

1506
01:06:14,543 --> 01:06:17,376
"You need to come out here and
try to get Joanie into a rehab."

1507
01:06:17,501 --> 01:06:21,043
So I actually got on a plane.
I showed up at her door.

1508
01:06:21,168 --> 01:06:23,001
She had no idea I was coming.

1509
01:06:23,126 --> 01:06:25,043
-And as I opened the door,

1510
01:06:25,210 --> 01:06:26,960
there's Kathy,
right in front of me.

1511
01:06:27,085 --> 01:06:28,376
-Classic intervention.

1512
01:06:28,460 --> 01:06:29,876
"Joanie, I think
you got a problem.

1513
01:06:30,001 --> 01:06:31,793
I really, really love you.

1514
01:06:31,918 --> 01:06:33,918
Please do this for me.

1515
01:06:34,085 --> 01:06:36,126
Will you consider
going to rehab?"

1516
01:06:36,251 --> 01:06:39,626
I somehow managed
to drag her butt on a plane

1517
01:06:39,751 --> 01:06:41,543
to this place in Arizona.

1518
01:06:41,668 --> 01:06:45,710
-She got there,
and they gave her the, you know,

1519
01:06:45,835 --> 01:06:47,293
the papers to sign in.

1520
01:06:47,418 --> 01:06:50,668
And she said, "Nope," and
walked out the door and left.

1521
01:06:50,751 --> 01:06:52,918
-And that was the end
of our relationship.

1522
01:06:53,043 --> 01:06:56,168
From then on, Joanie wasn't
really speaking to me anymore

1523
01:06:56,251 --> 01:06:59,293
'cause she was so angry at me
for trying to do this.

1524
01:07:00,376 --> 01:07:02,293
-Of all the people, like,
damaged in all that,

1525
01:07:02,418 --> 01:07:05,043
like, Kathy was hurt
the worst of anyone

1526
01:07:05,210 --> 01:07:07,376
besides Joanie herself.

1527
01:07:07,460 --> 01:07:09,251
♪♪

1528
01:07:09,376 --> 01:07:14,460
-I think all of that, like,
spun her into a downward spiral.

1529
01:07:14,585 --> 01:07:17,210
And I don't know
if she ever kicked out of it.

1530
01:07:17,335 --> 01:07:20,710
-It wasn't so much like coke
or anything at this point.

1531
01:07:20,835 --> 01:07:22,876
It was prescription pills.

1532
01:07:23,001 --> 01:07:25,293
It was alcohol and, like, Xanax.

1533
01:07:25,418 --> 01:07:28,751
-They would go on
these massive drug binges

1534
01:07:28,876 --> 01:07:30,668
where they would get in fights.

1535
01:07:30,751 --> 01:07:32,876
At one point, she punched him
and broke his nose.

1536
01:07:33,043 --> 01:07:35,293
Another time,
she allegedly attacked him

1537
01:07:35,418 --> 01:07:36,960
in front of his kids.

1538
01:07:37,085 --> 01:07:39,960
It got to the point
where he drove her

1539
01:07:40,085 --> 01:07:42,876
to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
in 2005

1540
01:07:43,043 --> 01:07:46,626
and dropped her off and said,
"This girl needs help."

1541
01:07:46,751 --> 01:07:49,751
-I never saw her again.
I never saw her in person again.

1542
01:07:49,918 --> 01:07:52,668
-It was hard, like, for a
long time after that, you know?

1543
01:07:52,793 --> 01:07:54,751
Just...

1544
01:07:56,418 --> 01:07:59,210
-Within months, Chyna went
from being in <i>People</i> magazine

1545
01:07:59,293 --> 01:08:03,293
and in <i>TV Guide</i>
to getting lampooned on TMZ.

1546
01:08:03,418 --> 01:08:06,335
[Mid-tempo music plays]

1547
01:08:06,460 --> 01:08:09,626
-Why you going to sleep?
Come on, now.

1548
01:08:09,751 --> 01:08:11,876
Cruel.
It's cruel.

1549
01:08:12,001 --> 01:08:14,043
I know. I'm sorry.
I'm a man-eater.

1550
01:08:14,168 --> 01:08:15,793
Cruel.

1551
01:08:15,918 --> 01:08:20,335
-I had found a niche at
that time and phase of my life

1552
01:08:20,418 --> 01:08:22,585
where I was placing celebrities

1553
01:08:22,751 --> 01:08:25,876
on the celebrity-based
reality shows.

1554
01:08:26,043 --> 01:08:27,626
And I had a slew of them.

1555
01:08:27,751 --> 01:08:29,876
-I knew if I saw her on TV
at that period of time,

1556
01:08:29,960 --> 01:08:31,168
it was gonna be a train wreck.

1557
01:08:31,293 --> 01:08:33,960
-[Laughs]
Whoo!

1558
01:08:34,085 --> 01:08:37,960
-No one wants to be the
boring person on a reality show.

1559
01:08:38,085 --> 01:08:39,543
But I think she overplayed it

1560
01:08:39,668 --> 01:08:42,543
to the point
where it was hard to tell

1561
01:08:42,668 --> 01:08:46,043
where the old Joanie ended
and this new Joanie began.

1562
01:08:46,126 --> 01:08:47,335
-Ooh.

1563
01:08:47,460 --> 01:08:50,210
You're a slick one.
[Laughs]

1564
01:08:50,335 --> 01:08:52,376
-When you're tuning in
to "Celebrity Rehab"

1565
01:08:52,543 --> 01:08:55,960
specifically because you know
someone who's on there,

1566
01:08:56,085 --> 01:08:58,043
that's -- that's a bad sign.

1567
01:08:58,168 --> 01:09:01,001
-What scares you most
about being here?

1568
01:09:01,085 --> 01:09:02,710
-The confusion of why I'm here.

1569
01:09:02,876 --> 01:09:04,501
-It's sad.

1570
01:09:04,585 --> 01:09:09,793
When your heroes let you down,
it's -- it's a bummer.

1571
01:09:09,918 --> 01:09:12,543
-For about 10 years,
trying to just continue to go

1572
01:09:12,668 --> 01:09:15,460
through ups and downs
and peaks and valleys.

1573
01:09:15,585 --> 01:09:18,585
But things actually got so bad
around 2012

1574
01:09:18,710 --> 01:09:21,210
that her friend got worried
about her,

1575
01:09:21,335 --> 01:09:22,543
went over to check on her.

1576
01:09:22,668 --> 01:09:24,668
Chyna was in an apartment
with no furniture.

1577
01:09:24,793 --> 01:09:26,710
There was an air mattress
on the floor

1578
01:09:26,835 --> 01:09:29,085
that she was sleeping on
with no sheets.

1579
01:09:29,251 --> 01:09:31,376
The apartment reeked of whiskey.

1580
01:09:31,543 --> 01:09:33,376
There was cigarette butts
everywhere.

1581
01:09:33,501 --> 01:09:36,793
She answered the door with heavy
eyelids, reeking of alcohol.

1582
01:09:36,918 --> 01:09:41,001
At that point, her friend said,
"Joanie, you're coming with me.

1583
01:09:41,126 --> 01:09:42,460
I'm taking you back to Hawaii,

1584
01:09:42,585 --> 01:09:43,751
and we're gonna get your life
in order.

1585
01:09:43,876 --> 01:09:45,376
And I'm not taking no
for an answer."

1586
01:09:45,460 --> 01:09:47,585
Chyna packed up her stuff,
went to Hawaii,

1587
01:09:47,710 --> 01:09:50,043
and tried to make some changes.

1588
01:09:50,168 --> 01:09:53,751
♪

1589
01:09:59,293 --> 01:10:01,460
[Birds crying]

1590
01:10:02,751 --> 01:10:05,626
-Joanie spent a very brief
period in Hawaii,

1591
01:10:05,751 --> 01:10:08,585
and then she packed up
her things and moved to Japan.

1592
01:10:08,710 --> 01:10:11,210
-And there we are!
Learn English with me.

1593
01:10:11,293 --> 01:10:13,085
-She got her head straight.

1594
01:10:13,251 --> 01:10:16,543
She was teaching
these Japanese kids English.

1595
01:10:16,668 --> 01:10:18,835
-I'm getting used to living
in Japan.

1596
01:10:18,918 --> 01:10:22,251
-I almost felt, for the first
time, a sense of relief.

1597
01:10:22,418 --> 01:10:23,543
This is what she needs.

1598
01:10:23,710 --> 01:10:25,668
She needs, like,
a boring schedule

1599
01:10:25,793 --> 01:10:28,460
that just gives her somewhere
to be,

1600
01:10:28,585 --> 01:10:31,835
something that's helping others
and giving her a purpose.

1601
01:10:31,918 --> 01:10:33,876
♪♪

1602
01:10:33,960 --> 01:10:36,293
-Joanie loved Japan.

1603
01:10:36,418 --> 01:10:38,168
She loved it.
She loved going there.

1604
01:10:38,251 --> 01:10:40,335
She loved the culture.
She loved the people.

1605
01:10:41,418 --> 01:10:43,418
-This is kind of like
a little scrapbook

1606
01:10:43,585 --> 01:10:46,168
from people that were in Japan
with her.

1607
01:10:46,251 --> 01:10:49,335
This means a lot to me
because it tells me

1608
01:10:49,460 --> 01:10:53,751
how these people knew her
not as a wrestler.

1609
01:10:53,876 --> 01:10:55,335
She looks happy.

1610
01:10:55,418 --> 01:10:58,043
She looks very happy.
[Down-tempo music plays]

1611
01:10:58,168 --> 01:11:02,293
-I'm in...Shinjuku Station
right now.

1612
01:11:02,418 --> 01:11:04,251
-I don't think Chyna
got any better in Japan.

1613
01:11:04,418 --> 01:11:05,376
I think she got worse.

1614
01:11:05,501 --> 01:11:07,210
-Oh. Okay.
Where do I go?

1615
01:11:07,293 --> 01:11:08,543
-Within a couple of weeks,

1616
01:11:08,668 --> 01:11:11,210
she was found
on her kitchen floor

1617
01:11:11,335 --> 01:11:13,710
with deep cuts in her forearms,

1618
01:11:13,835 --> 01:11:15,543
and she had to be rushed
to the hospital.

1619
01:11:15,710 --> 01:11:17,210
-It's only recently I found out

1620
01:11:17,376 --> 01:11:19,210
that they prescribed her
some medication

1621
01:11:19,293 --> 01:11:20,960
because she was in
a severe depression...

1622
01:11:21,085 --> 01:11:25,210
-I'm just sitting here in an
empty room in the boiling heat.

1623
01:11:25,335 --> 01:11:27,418
-...to the point
where she tried to take her life

1624
01:11:27,543 --> 01:11:29,668
by attacking a policeman.

1625
01:11:29,793 --> 01:11:33,418
And police in Japan
don't carry firearms,

1626
01:11:33,543 --> 01:11:35,543
or else it may have been
a different story.

1627
01:11:36,543 --> 01:11:38,126
-A group of police officers
tackled her,

1628
01:11:38,251 --> 01:11:41,043
put her in handcuffs,
and took her to a mental asylum.

1629
01:11:41,210 --> 01:11:44,085
The incidents cost Chyna
her job.

1630
01:11:44,251 --> 01:11:47,460
-I just want to leave now.
I just want to get out of here.

1631
01:11:47,585 --> 01:11:51,460
-I figured the one way that I
can get Chyna back to the States

1632
01:11:51,585 --> 01:11:53,585
and do something with her

1633
01:11:53,751 --> 01:11:57,376
is bring back the idea
of reconstruction of Chyna,

1634
01:11:57,460 --> 01:11:59,126
which, back in the mid-2000s,

1635
01:11:59,251 --> 01:12:02,001
was a reality show
that we were pitching.

1636
01:12:02,126 --> 01:12:05,960
We want to make sure that you
are provided with the lifestyle

1637
01:12:06,085 --> 01:12:08,543
and the people
that you're surrounded with

1638
01:12:08,626 --> 01:12:10,626
that is only gonna bring you joy
and happiness

1639
01:12:10,751 --> 01:12:12,085
from now until the day you die.

1640
01:12:12,210 --> 01:12:13,626
"Let's just make it
a documentary.

1641
01:12:13,751 --> 01:12:15,751
We'll film a year of her life."

1642
01:12:16,918 --> 01:12:18,710
-Eventually, she did get
out of there,

1643
01:12:18,793 --> 01:12:20,376
and that's when she flew back
to the United States

1644
01:12:20,501 --> 01:12:22,085
to try to make her documentary.

1645
01:12:22,210 --> 01:12:24,710
-She's gonna face her demons.

1646
01:12:24,835 --> 01:12:28,751
She's gonna be put in some
very uncomfortable situations.

1647
01:12:28,918 --> 01:12:31,293
-Basically, what Anthony
was trying to design

1648
01:12:31,418 --> 01:12:33,960
was like a B-level version

1649
01:12:34,085 --> 01:12:36,626
of "The Resurrection
of Jake the Snake Roberts."

1650
01:12:42,501 --> 01:12:45,543
-So, when was the last time...

1651
01:12:45,668 --> 01:12:47,668
When was the last time
you put some scissors

1652
01:12:47,751 --> 01:12:48,876
or some knives to your arm?

1653
01:12:49,001 --> 01:12:51,543
-It smelled fishy
right from the get-go.

1654
01:12:51,668 --> 01:12:53,585
She thought she was gonna make
a fresh start.

1655
01:12:53,710 --> 01:12:55,793
All it really did
was bring everything right --

1656
01:12:55,918 --> 01:12:58,043
bubble right back up
to the surface again.

1657
01:12:58,126 --> 01:12:59,960
[Indistinct conversations]

1658
01:13:00,085 --> 01:13:01,876
-Send them around to me.

1659
01:13:02,001 --> 01:13:04,710
-I feel pretty tired.

1660
01:13:04,876 --> 01:13:06,418
-That's what we charge.
-Okay.

1661
01:13:06,585 --> 01:13:08,251
-It's $100 for the two.

1662
01:13:08,376 --> 01:13:10,668
-Jet lag is starting
to set in now.

1663
01:13:10,793 --> 01:13:14,585
I'm still like, assimilating,
just being in the United States.

1664
01:13:14,710 --> 01:13:16,710
-She did her first Comic-Con
in Long Island.

1665
01:13:16,835 --> 01:13:18,710
Mick came up to her,
and they hugged

1666
01:13:18,835 --> 01:13:20,960
for like five minutes
in tears and whatnot.

1667
01:13:21,085 --> 01:13:22,335
-Hi, Joanie.

1668
01:13:22,418 --> 01:13:24,043
When she wrapped her arms
around me,

1669
01:13:24,126 --> 01:13:26,793
it was like I had rediscovered
a great friend.

1670
01:13:26,918 --> 01:13:28,710
I'm about 35 minutes away
from here

1671
01:13:28,835 --> 01:13:31,376
if you want to come over
and have dinner with the Foleys.

1672
01:13:31,460 --> 01:13:33,918
[Down-tempo music plays]
-I'm so sorry, Chyna!

1673
01:13:34,085 --> 01:13:37,210
-My dad called, and he said,
"Yeah! Joanie's coming over!"

1674
01:13:37,376 --> 01:13:40,418
And I'm like, "What?"
Like, "She is?"

1675
01:13:40,543 --> 01:13:42,918
-Look at you!
Oh, my gosh!

1676
01:13:43,043 --> 01:13:45,001
-I've grown up since
the last time you've seen me.

1677
01:13:45,126 --> 01:13:47,543
-[Exhales deeply]

1678
01:13:47,668 --> 01:13:51,585
I got the sense...
Oh, man.

1679
01:13:54,335 --> 01:13:58,543
I wish she had not agreed
to have her journey documented.

1680
01:13:58,626 --> 01:14:01,960
We are here to tell you
about a very special project.

1681
01:14:02,085 --> 01:14:03,876
It's called
"The Reconstruction of Chyna."

1682
01:14:04,001 --> 01:14:06,376
Joanie showed me
her upcoming schedule...

1683
01:14:06,460 --> 01:14:08,543
-You went away for what,
four years?

1684
01:14:08,626 --> 01:14:11,418
-...and I just felt like
she was diving

1685
01:14:11,585 --> 01:14:12,918
into the deep end of the pool

1686
01:14:13,085 --> 01:14:15,293
when she should have been
dipping her toes

1687
01:14:15,418 --> 01:14:16,710
into the shallow end.

1688
01:14:16,793 --> 01:14:18,793
-Suddenly, I wasn't remembered
for, like,

1689
01:14:18,918 --> 01:14:20,543
all the great things I did
in wrestling,

1690
01:14:20,626 --> 01:14:22,460
but, like, I'd become
this monster.

1691
01:14:22,585 --> 01:14:23,710
-I voiced my concern.

1692
01:14:23,835 --> 01:14:25,251
Like, that's all you can do

1693
01:14:25,418 --> 01:14:27,251
is give a friend
the best advice you can

1694
01:14:27,418 --> 01:14:29,710
and let them know
you were there for them.

1695
01:14:29,793 --> 01:14:31,876
-The documentary ended up being
just a series

1696
01:14:32,043 --> 01:14:34,835
of manufactured events
that would look good on TV.

1697
01:14:34,918 --> 01:14:38,085
-We're about to go into
the headquarter office of WWE.

1698
01:14:38,210 --> 01:14:41,210
-We're gonna ask for Hunter.
We're gonna ask for Vince.

1699
01:14:41,335 --> 01:14:42,918
"We're driving cross country.

1700
01:14:43,043 --> 01:14:45,043
Let's stop by and see
if they owe you any money."

1701
01:14:45,168 --> 01:14:46,751
Harmless -- to me.

1702
01:14:46,918 --> 01:14:48,835
-And he goes in
with a cameraperson

1703
01:14:48,918 --> 01:14:52,210
and forces a meeting
at the WWE headquarters

1704
01:14:52,335 --> 01:14:53,960
with no appointment!

1705
01:14:54,085 --> 01:14:56,793
-And we were asked
to simply leave.

1706
01:14:56,918 --> 01:14:58,793
We were not greeted favorably.

1707
01:14:58,918 --> 01:15:00,751
-And everybody was staring
right at me.

1708
01:15:00,918 --> 01:15:02,751
I got a couple smiles, but...

1709
01:15:02,918 --> 01:15:06,543
-She was in no mental shape
to take on that kind of schedule

1710
01:15:06,668 --> 01:15:07,960
or that kind of spotlight.

1711
01:15:08,085 --> 01:15:09,710
-Now, this morning,

1712
01:15:09,835 --> 01:15:15,626
we are on our way to Miami,
where my father is buried.

1713
01:15:15,751 --> 01:15:17,668
-There were a lot of people
that wanted to help her.

1714
01:15:17,751 --> 01:15:21,543
And she...she was very good
at keeping a distance

1715
01:15:21,710 --> 01:15:23,543
and not letting people back in.

1716
01:15:23,626 --> 01:15:25,376
And she certainly did that
with me.

1717
01:15:25,460 --> 01:15:28,918
-You told me all those things,
but then you were never there.

1718
01:15:29,043 --> 01:15:29,793
-I don't know why.

1719
01:15:29,918 --> 01:15:31,460
I mean, I think, unfortunately,

1720
01:15:31,585 --> 01:15:33,835
Joanie probably suffered
from some mental illnesses

1721
01:15:33,918 --> 01:15:38,668
at a very young age that went
undiagnosed, undetected.

1722
01:15:38,751 --> 01:15:41,876
They certainly exacerbated
all the problems

1723
01:15:42,001 --> 01:15:43,710
that she had later in her life.

1724
01:15:43,793 --> 01:15:45,668
-Hey!
What's up?

1725
01:15:45,793 --> 01:15:49,751
-Ninety percent of the time,
Chyna was incredible --

1726
01:15:49,876 --> 01:15:51,960
down to earth, hilarious.

1727
01:15:52,085 --> 01:15:55,251
Unfortunately, there was still
that 10% to 20% side

1728
01:15:55,418 --> 01:15:58,543
that wanted to be a diva,
that wanted to get s***house.

1729
01:15:58,626 --> 01:16:01,918
-Anthony showed up,
and he went like this.

1730
01:16:02,960 --> 01:16:05,668
Tossed some pictures
and some markers at me

1731
01:16:05,751 --> 01:16:08,335
and, like, f*****', like,
expected me to --

1732
01:16:08,418 --> 01:16:12,543
What the f*** are you --
Who the f*** are you talking to?

1733
01:16:12,626 --> 01:16:14,710
-She never really felt like
she had a problem,

1734
01:16:14,835 --> 01:16:17,043
an addiction problem.

1735
01:16:17,210 --> 01:16:18,668
But she obviously did.

1736
01:16:18,751 --> 01:16:21,793
-Well, my problem is that
I have been going to doctors

1737
01:16:21,918 --> 01:16:24,001
and saying,
"What do we need to do here?"

1738
01:16:24,085 --> 01:16:26,710
-She would binge
sometimes 17 straight days.

1739
01:16:26,835 --> 01:16:28,335
She'd probably sleep
two of those.

1740
01:16:28,460 --> 01:16:31,626
-I have horrible anxiety issues.

1741
01:16:31,751 --> 01:16:32,876
I can't sleep.

1742
01:16:33,001 --> 01:16:35,460
I'm having a hard time eating.

1743
01:16:35,585 --> 01:16:37,085
I need some help.

1744
01:16:37,210 --> 01:16:39,126
What do you want me --
Can -- Can you help me?

1745
01:16:39,251 --> 01:16:42,335
-You have to remember,
Joanie was fragile.

1746
01:16:42,418 --> 01:16:43,876
-I'm Chyna, bitch!

1747
01:16:44,043 --> 01:16:47,585
-As powerful as she was,
she <i>was</i> dealt a bad hand.

1748
01:16:47,751 --> 01:16:50,376
And the right people
were not there for her

1749
01:16:50,501 --> 01:16:52,043
in the right place
at the right time.

1750
01:16:52,168 --> 01:16:55,668
It's been a long
f****** 10 years, 15 years.

1751
01:16:55,793 --> 01:16:59,376
I don't know how long now.

1752
01:16:59,501 --> 01:17:02,376
But I don't -- I'm -- I'm tired.

1753
01:17:02,501 --> 01:17:05,168
[Down-tempo music plays]

1754
01:17:06,085 --> 01:17:09,376
-I'm Chyna.
I'm a champion.

1755
01:17:09,501 --> 01:17:11,335
Don't treat me that way.

1756
01:17:14,085 --> 01:17:17,210
♪♪

1757
01:17:17,376 --> 01:17:19,043
-She leaves a voicemail.

1758
01:17:19,168 --> 01:17:21,543
"Hey, guys.
I'm gonna seek rehab.

1759
01:17:21,626 --> 01:17:23,376
I'm gonna try
to clean myself up.

1760
01:17:23,543 --> 01:17:25,043
And don't tell Anthony."

1761
01:17:25,126 --> 01:17:28,251
-A day or so went by.
She wasn't responding to texts.

1762
01:17:28,376 --> 01:17:31,126
She no-showed an appointment.

1763
01:17:31,251 --> 01:17:33,543
-She probably had a big bender
right before she went to rehab.

1764
01:17:33,626 --> 01:17:35,585
A lot of people do do that.

1765
01:17:35,710 --> 01:17:38,585
-He went over,
snuck in past the security gate

1766
01:17:38,751 --> 01:17:42,210
at the apartment,
went up to her floor,

1767
01:17:42,335 --> 01:17:43,418
and the door was unlocked.

1768
01:17:43,543 --> 01:17:44,543
-Chyna?

1769
01:17:44,626 --> 01:17:46,376
-He walks in, conveniently,

1770
01:17:46,501 --> 01:17:50,251
with another guy filming
on a camera phone behind him.

1771
01:17:50,376 --> 01:17:51,918
-I think he knew
once the door was unlocked

1772
01:17:52,043 --> 01:17:53,168
and he could walk in easily

1773
01:17:53,251 --> 01:17:55,251
that something
might not be good.

1774
01:17:56,043 --> 01:17:57,376
-Chyna?

1775
01:17:57,543 --> 01:18:00,001
[Down-tempo music plays]

1776
01:18:00,085 --> 01:18:02,960
♪♪

1777
01:18:09,918 --> 01:18:12,293
-Chyna was found dead
here at her apartment

1778
01:18:12,418 --> 01:18:14,168
in Redondo Beach, California.

1779
01:18:14,293 --> 01:18:15,543
A friend told cops

1780
01:18:15,668 --> 01:18:17,585
that Chyna hadn't answered
her phone in days

1781
01:18:17,751 --> 01:18:19,085
and came to check on her.

1782
01:18:19,210 --> 01:18:21,251
That's when the friend found her
lying in bed.

1783
01:18:21,376 --> 01:18:25,876
-I was in the Atlanta airport,
and it was on the news.

1784
01:18:25,960 --> 01:18:29,793
-The news came in,
and I-I burst into tears.

1785
01:18:29,918 --> 01:18:31,376
Burst into tears.

1786
01:18:31,460 --> 01:18:35,710
It was a combination of alcohol
and sedatives.

1787
01:18:35,793 --> 01:18:39,418
You do anything in excess,
you're...

1788
01:18:39,585 --> 01:18:40,751
you're likely to pay.

1789
01:18:40,918 --> 01:18:42,876
And in this case,
it cost her her life.

1790
01:18:43,001 --> 01:18:45,460
[Down-tempo music plays]

1791
01:18:45,585 --> 01:18:51,376
-She was so much more
than just another celebrity gone

1792
01:18:51,501 --> 01:18:53,043
from an overdose.

1793
01:18:53,168 --> 01:18:55,418
She was way more than that.

1794
01:18:55,585 --> 01:18:59,793
-I think I mourned her death
years before she actually died.

1795
01:18:59,918 --> 01:19:01,626
You know, when she died,
it was horrible.

1796
01:19:01,751 --> 01:19:04,210
But I remember also thinking,

1797
01:19:04,376 --> 01:19:07,085
"Thank God this woman
finally has some peace."

1798
01:19:07,210 --> 01:19:08,876
♪♪

1799
01:19:09,043 --> 01:19:10,793
-You guys are awesome.

1800
01:19:10,918 --> 01:19:12,668
Ladies and gentlemen,
Anthony Anzaldo.

1801
01:19:12,751 --> 01:19:15,710
-The memorial service for Chyna
was like nothing I've ever seen.

1802
01:19:15,876 --> 01:19:18,376
It seemed like more
of a production

1803
01:19:18,501 --> 01:19:20,210
than a memorial service.

1804
01:19:20,335 --> 01:19:22,876
The goal was "Let's get
a bunch of celebrities here.

1805
01:19:23,043 --> 01:19:24,210
Let's sell some tickets.

1806
01:19:24,376 --> 01:19:25,876
Let's sell some shirts

1807
01:19:25,960 --> 01:19:28,376
and do something that people
are gonna talk about."

1808
01:19:28,543 --> 01:19:30,376
-They sold tickets for that?

1809
01:19:30,460 --> 01:19:33,043
Oh, f****** hell.
Really?

1810
01:19:33,168 --> 01:19:36,293
-♪ Tell me,
did Venus blow your mind? ♪

1811
01:19:36,418 --> 01:19:38,668
♪ Was it everything
you wanted to find? ♪

1812
01:19:38,751 --> 01:19:43,418
-That memorial show
was a low-rent hot mess.

1813
01:19:43,585 --> 01:19:47,085
-Yes, I was invited.
No, I did not attend.

1814
01:19:47,210 --> 01:19:49,251
In my opinion, it was a joke.

1815
01:19:49,418 --> 01:19:51,960
When he held up the urn
and he said...

1816
01:19:52,085 --> 01:19:55,793
-The bitch is in the house!
[Cheers and applause]

1817
01:19:55,918 --> 01:19:57,001
-...I was mortified.

1818
01:19:57,126 --> 01:19:59,210
-This urn was custom-made.

1819
01:19:59,335 --> 01:20:03,918
It's got her classic colors,
and the font is similar

1820
01:20:04,043 --> 01:20:07,793
to what she sort of was using
towards the end.

1821
01:20:07,918 --> 01:20:11,168
And I think that she would
really, really love this.

1822
01:20:11,251 --> 01:20:13,751
This was so -- This is Chyna.
[Down-tempo music plays]

1823
01:20:13,876 --> 01:20:16,210
-The morning after
the memorial service,

1824
01:20:16,335 --> 01:20:19,918
a small group of people
went out on a boat

1825
01:20:20,043 --> 01:20:23,085
and spread Chyna's ashes
into the Pacific Ocean.

1826
01:20:23,251 --> 01:20:28,626
-The horizon, where the sky
meets the ocean, is three miles,

1827
01:20:28,751 --> 01:20:30,460
no matter where you are
in the ocean.

1828
01:20:30,585 --> 01:20:33,918
We did it exactly three miles
out of her apartment

1829
01:20:34,043 --> 01:20:36,168
so that if you go
to her apartment

1830
01:20:36,293 --> 01:20:40,085
and you stand out and look
over the ocean, you're with her.

1831
01:20:40,210 --> 01:20:44,376
♪♪

1832
01:20:44,460 --> 01:20:47,793
-Here's this famous woman
who just not long ago

1833
01:20:47,918 --> 01:20:49,376
was on "The Tonight Show,"

1834
01:20:49,501 --> 01:20:52,043
a woman who was on billboards
and in <i>Playboy.</i>

1835
01:20:52,126 --> 01:20:54,376
And now I'm on this boat,

1836
01:20:54,543 --> 01:20:57,043
and no one that's here
toward the end of her life,

1837
01:20:57,168 --> 01:20:58,626
other than Anthony,
really knew her.

1838
01:20:58,751 --> 01:21:00,210
And it was just a sad thing,

1839
01:21:00,335 --> 01:21:02,043
but it also
just kind of illustrated

1840
01:21:02,168 --> 01:21:03,876
all the problems
that were in her life.

1841
01:21:03,960 --> 01:21:05,210
That was the issue.

1842
01:21:05,335 --> 01:21:06,710
She didn't have
any close friends.

1843
01:21:06,835 --> 01:21:11,376
♪

1844
01:21:11,460 --> 01:21:15,710
-To s-- If I had the chance
to talk to her again,

1845
01:21:15,835 --> 01:21:17,376
I would have reiterated
that I loved her

1846
01:21:17,501 --> 01:21:19,376
and I was there for her,
but more importantly,

1847
01:21:19,501 --> 01:21:21,710
I would have backed it up
with my actions.

1848
01:21:21,793 --> 01:21:23,710
There always seemed to be
a tomorrow.

1849
01:21:23,835 --> 01:21:25,918
Until there wasn't.

1850
01:21:26,043 --> 01:21:27,418
-I got some people in my life

1851
01:21:27,543 --> 01:21:29,876
I'd love to have
one more opportunity with.

1852
01:21:30,001 --> 01:21:32,043
And I would love
one more opportunity with her.

1853
01:21:32,168 --> 01:21:33,876
I'd love to have dinner.

1854
01:21:34,001 --> 01:21:36,251
I'd love to have lunch,
have a conversation,

1855
01:21:36,376 --> 01:21:38,001
have a coffee --
anything with her --

1856
01:21:38,126 --> 01:21:40,710
and just spend some time and --
and laugh.

1857
01:21:40,835 --> 01:21:42,710
I'm sorry.
She was so funny, man.

1858
01:21:42,793 --> 01:21:45,335
She was so fun to be around.

1859
01:21:45,418 --> 01:21:46,460
I just miss her.

1860
01:21:46,585 --> 01:21:48,293
♪

1861
01:21:48,418 --> 01:21:50,293
-[Voice breaking]
I didn't do that.

1862
01:21:50,418 --> 01:21:53,210
I didn't call her to say,
"Hey, guess what I'm doing now.

1863
01:21:53,376 --> 01:21:55,043
Thank you."

1864
01:21:55,168 --> 01:21:59,585
Maybe that phone call
would have...

1865
01:21:59,751 --> 01:22:05,085
let her have one less drink,
let her have one less bump.

1866
01:22:06,335 --> 01:22:08,001
That's a lot to put on myself,

1867
01:22:08,126 --> 01:22:11,543
but, you know,
you always wonder.

1868
01:22:11,626 --> 01:22:14,376
Because she meant -- She did.
She meant a lot to me.

1869
01:22:14,460 --> 01:22:15,751
She meant a lot.

1870
01:22:15,918 --> 01:22:17,543
Can we take a break?
-Let's take a break.

1871
01:22:17,668 --> 01:22:19,710
[Cheers and applause]

1872
01:22:19,793 --> 01:22:25,043
-We'd like to welcome you to the
2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.

1873
01:22:25,210 --> 01:22:29,043
-I was asked to go to the
Hall of Fame induction for DX,

1874
01:22:29,126 --> 01:22:30,418
of which Joanie was a part.

1875
01:22:30,543 --> 01:22:33,835
-I had never, ever attended
anything like that

1876
01:22:33,960 --> 01:22:35,376
in my entire life.

1877
01:22:35,501 --> 01:22:39,501
First of all, the WWE,
if they do it, they do it big.

1878
01:22:39,585 --> 01:22:43,210
-Joanie was on everybody's mind
that night.

1879
01:22:43,293 --> 01:22:45,543
Her legacy goes way beyond
our industry.

1880
01:22:45,668 --> 01:22:48,585
In some manner, I look at her
during that time frame

1881
01:22:48,710 --> 01:22:52,085
as, like, this paradigm shift
of the thinking

1882
01:22:52,251 --> 01:22:56,293
of how people saw women
and women of power

1883
01:22:56,418 --> 01:22:58,876
and what women can do
with that power.

1884
01:22:59,001 --> 01:23:02,210
It's fitting in this moment

1885
01:23:02,293 --> 01:23:03,876
that at WrestleMania
tomorrow night,

1886
01:23:04,001 --> 01:23:06,043
the women will headline
WrestleMania

1887
01:23:06,126 --> 01:23:08,710
for the first time in history.
[Cheers and applause]

1888
01:23:08,793 --> 01:23:09,918
And the night before that,

1889
01:23:10,085 --> 01:23:12,126
probably the most
impactful woman

1890
01:23:12,251 --> 01:23:14,293
to ever step foot in this ring

1891
01:23:14,418 --> 01:23:17,126
gets inducted
into the Hall of Fame.

1892
01:23:17,251 --> 01:23:20,835
-She set the table for every
woman that came after her.

1893
01:23:20,960 --> 01:23:24,043
For me personally,
she encouraged me.

1894
01:23:24,126 --> 01:23:25,626
She believed in me.

1895
01:23:25,751 --> 01:23:27,876
And she told me any dream I had,

1896
01:23:27,960 --> 01:23:29,460
anything I wanted to do
in the company,

1897
01:23:29,585 --> 01:23:31,168
that I could do that.

1898
01:23:31,293 --> 01:23:34,251
-I feel sad that Joanie
didn't really get to see

1899
01:23:34,376 --> 01:23:36,793
how much she meant
to these next generations,

1900
01:23:36,918 --> 01:23:38,585
myself being one of them.

1901
01:23:38,751 --> 01:23:40,835
-Some of those good things she
did often get forgotten about,

1902
01:23:40,960 --> 01:23:42,210
and that's
what shouldn't happen.

1903
01:23:42,293 --> 01:23:45,293
-I just wish history
had not taken so long

1904
01:23:45,418 --> 01:23:47,251
to recognize her contributions.

1905
01:23:47,418 --> 01:23:50,376
-I wouldn't be where I am
without her in my career.

1906
01:23:50,460 --> 01:23:51,960
DX wouldn't be where it is.

1907
01:23:52,085 --> 01:23:55,335
-I see her so differently
than her Chyna persona.

1908
01:23:55,418 --> 01:23:58,293
-To me, she's not Chyna.
To me, she's Joanie.

1909
01:23:58,418 --> 01:24:00,335
I really miss her
every single day.

1910
01:24:00,418 --> 01:24:02,126
[Chuckles] I miss her.
-Kathy, she's here.

1911
01:24:02,251 --> 01:24:04,501
[Applause]
She's here.

1912
01:24:04,626 --> 01:24:07,043
The real her.

1913
01:24:07,126 --> 01:24:09,626
[Music builds, continues]

1914
01:24:09,751 --> 01:24:15,043
♪♪

1915
01:24:15,126 --> 01:24:16,543
[Applause]

1916
01:24:16,668 --> 01:24:19,501
-Thank you, Chyna!
[Clapping rhythmically]

1917
01:24:19,585 --> 01:24:21,543
Thank you, Chyna!
[Clapping rhythmically]

1918
01:24:21,668 --> 01:24:23,543
Thank you, Chyna!

1919
01:24:23,668 --> 01:24:25,210
[Cheers and applause]

1920
01:24:25,335 --> 01:24:27,460
[Down-tempo music plays]

1921
01:24:27,585 --> 01:24:36,210
♪♪

1922
01:24:36,293 --> 01:24:38,418
-You know, Mick Foley had always
told his daughter, Noelle,

1923
01:24:38,585 --> 01:24:40,668
back when she was about 4,
that Chyna was strong.

1924
01:24:40,751 --> 01:24:42,626
"Oh, there's no one stronger
than Chyna."

1925
01:24:42,751 --> 01:24:47,043
-I remember saying to my dad,
"Joanie -- strong like dolphin.

1926
01:24:47,168 --> 01:24:49,668
Or she's maybe even stronger
than dolphins."

1927
01:24:51,085 --> 01:24:53,418
-That was my daughter's gauge
on strength.

1928
01:24:53,585 --> 01:24:56,126
So if you were up there
with dolphins,

1929
01:24:56,251 --> 01:24:59,335
you were doing really well,
in my daughter's mind.

1930
01:25:00,335 --> 01:25:02,210
-We all kind of found a place
on the boat.

1931
01:25:02,335 --> 01:25:03,710
We were getting ready
to drive back.

1932
01:25:03,876 --> 01:25:06,960
And all of a sudden,
someone goes, "Oh, my gosh.

1933
01:25:07,085 --> 01:25:08,376
Look at these dolphins."

1934
01:25:08,460 --> 01:25:09,876
And everyone hopped out
from their seat

1935
01:25:10,001 --> 01:25:11,501
and went over to the side
of the boat.

1936
01:25:11,626 --> 01:25:14,876
And there was literally
like four or five dolphins

1937
01:25:15,001 --> 01:25:16,293
on the side of the boat,

1938
01:25:16,418 --> 01:25:18,376
kind of escorting the boat
back to the dock.

1939
01:25:18,460 --> 01:25:20,585
And then someone said,
"They're over here, too."

1940
01:25:20,751 --> 01:25:23,210
I ran over to the other side,
and there was four or five more

1941
01:25:23,376 --> 01:25:26,710
just flanking the boat,
guiding us back to shore.

1942
01:25:26,793 --> 01:25:30,460
-Jason was there to document it,
but dolphins emerged.

1943
01:25:30,585 --> 01:25:32,168
-Whoa.

1944
01:25:32,293 --> 01:25:36,210
Dolphins emerged during
the sprinkling of the ashes.

1945
01:25:36,335 --> 01:25:38,210
That's really fitting,
I think.

1946
01:25:38,293 --> 01:25:42,710
-I felt like those dolphins...
were kind of Chyna's way

1947
01:25:42,793 --> 01:25:45,835
of saying, "Hey, I'm good.

1948
01:25:45,918 --> 01:25:47,835
I'll be okay."

1949
01:25:55,418 --> 01:25:57,876
[Down-tempo music plays]

1950
01:25:58,001 --> 01:26:06,043
♪

1951
01:26:06,126 --> 01:26:14,460
♪♪