Big Trouble in Little Chyna

I will do my best to handle this with care. Lately, Chyna (Joanie Laurer) has been creating a firestorm by blasting Triple H, The McMahon family and X-Pac in different shoot interviews. Everybody knows about the relationship that Chyna had with Triple H. The whole world knows about the affair that Paul Levesque (Triple H) had with The Golden Daughter Stephanie McMahon. We all know about the way that this love triangle led to Chyna's exit from the WWF and how her career crumbled into shambles. She had nobody to turn to at such a troubling time in her life.

Since that time, Chyna joined the Adult Film Industry (Porn) where her wrestling career has been tarnished. Her life has fallen apart in front of our very eyes. She has told the story about the love affair between herself, Hunter and Chyna everywhere she has gone. Chyna has even recorded a video where she blasted Stephanie McMahon while being drunk during the video. When Stone Cold Steve Austin had Triple H as a guest on his podcast, he mentioned Chyna. She automatically became the top subject of discussion, as fans started coming to her defense about being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Even I was one of them. I figured that Chyna had a strong case for the HOF considering the low standards that WWE has for induction. As long as you are in good graces with Vince McMahon, you can make it into the HOF.

Chyna's Career Evaluation:
The Good:
1. Broke Barriers: Chyna was a trailblazer that empowered young women
2. Female Bodyguard: Chyna played a major role as the bodyguard for D-Generation-X.
3. Drawing Power: Her Amazon physique made her a natural attraction
4. Female Intercontinental Champion: Enough said. The only woman to do so.
5. Royal Rumble Participant

The Bad:
1. Downward Spiral: Very tragic story. A nasty downfall
2. In-Ring Flaws: She was not known to be the best worker, male or female
3. Backstage Drama: There are not many good stories about her from other wrestlers
4. Triple H Breakup: Sad end to her career. I don't agree with her response.
5. Bad Blood with the McMahon Family: Nail in the Coffin

I present those facts to make this simple point. With all of the good that Chyna brought to the table, the bad outweighs everything else by a considerable margin. Chyna was the image of empowerment for young women everywhere. She played a huge part as the female bodyguard for DX, as she stood toe to toe with the Men. She was naturally able to draw just from how unique she was. As IC Champion, her biggest victory was over future Hall Of Famer Chris Jericho. However, it does look strange when you read the history books as you see Chyna's name next to great champions like Jericho, Savage, Bret, HBK and others. Her tragic fall from grace has become what she is most known for these days as her image is more associated with porn than with wrestling. Chyna did not have the best backstage reputation as she rubbed many people the wrong way. Chris Jericho himself did not have the best things to say about Chyna in his book "Undisputed". Jericho talks about how Chyna nearly ruined him when he first joined WWE. Meanwhile, Stephanie saved him during their feud. People talk about Ultimate Warrior separating himself from others. Chyna was even worse. Chyna developed a large ego, as she thought that she was better than what she really was. Now, the spotlight that she once enjoyed has disintegrated. As a result, she feels the pain of not having the platform that led to her success, which was wrestling. She has truly become a shell of who she once was.

Suddenly, things started to change about my stance regarding Chyna. The week after Austin's interview with Triple H, Chyna appeared on different radio shows and other outlets claiming that Triple H assaulted her when she confronted him about possibly doing something behind her back. This is where things went from bad to worse, because those allegations hit too close to home. This woman slandered a man that went from being her boyfriend to becoming one of the Top Executives of the WWE. Chyna continued to burn her bridge with WWE with those statements. She threw his name into the mud. Chyna was later a guest on the "Opie & Jim Norton" Radio Show when she accused Sean Waltman (X-Pac) of abusing her and drugging her. Waltman called into the show and denied every allegation that Chyna threw at him, as he came across as very genuine. I gained more respect for X-Pac after this, as he was open and honest about his mistakes. Even he gave Chyna respect when he said that before Ronda Rousey, there was Chyna. Hard to argue with that. Yet, Chyna still came across as unbelievable. The comments about her were not good. Don't expect her to be a guest on the "Steve Austin Show" or "Talk Is Jericho" anytime in the future, because of the dark cloud that she brings.

A photo was also leaked with Chyna standing outside of the WWE Office. It led many people to talk. Chyna even recorded a video making a plea to Vince McMahon and Triple H to have a sit down talk to settle their differences so that she could join the WWE Hall Of Fame. Vince & Trips probably saw the video and simply said "No thanks". That simple statement is enough to shut down all communication with her. This woman defamed WWE and the McMahon family. She accused Triple H of beating her. Vince is giving Hunter his Keys to the Kingdom, and the last thing that Triple H needs is for his name to be connected to an assault charge. X-Pac even denied that. I believe in forgiving, but I also believe in separating yourself from people that want to destroy you. WWE has a brand to protect, and Triple H is a very valuable investment to that brand. The last thing that their image needs is an abuse scandal. During the video, Chyna never apologized for the deplorable things that she said about WWE in various interviews. She never admitted to the pain that she caused others, and how she has been on a mission to damage the WWE Empire in a futile attempt to gain sympathy. It came across like a false sense of humility, because she was not being sincere about what mattered the most. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. At this point, a large section of the wrestling community wants nothing to do with her. I have to take the side of the WWE. When DX does reunions, it is not like a giant void is missing when Chyna is not there. Shawn Michaels and Triple H have been able to handle things well when they bring X-Pac and The New Age Outlaws.

Chyna has to be honest with herself and find the help that she needs. She also has to let go of the past in order to move forward. I am sure Triple H regrets how he handled the situation, but he has moved on with this life. He has moved on in a big way. Chyna lost big time in that deal. The best thing that WWE can do is  ignore Chyna. It is for her own good. If WWE decides to induct her into the HOF at this stage in her life, she might use the title of "Hall of Famer" to raise her status in the porn industry. This will only diminish the HOF even more. I think they have learned their lesson after Sunny tricked them into thinking that she was fine. After Sunny was inducted, things only got worse. How can WWE trust Chyna to do anything different from Sunny? With that said, giving her any more attention will not help but potentially hurt even more.

Sometimes in life, the best medicine that we can give people is that we ignore them so that they seek the help that they need to improve their health and well being. As fans, that is also the best thing we can do for her. That is simply "Best For Business".

Stone Cold/Triple H Podcast Review

I just wanted to take time to review the recent Podcast interview that Stone Cold had featuring Triple H. I had to take some time to listen and really gather ideas. I must say that it was certainly less controversial than the first interview with Vince McMahon. Overall, Austin and Trips had a mutual understanding of each other, because they were peers and have more of an understanding of what goes on from an in-ring standpoint. At first, they started off by reminisicing about their time together coming through the ranks and battling one another. Then, they talk about the development of NXT, and how Triple H is building it to become its own machine. For all of his flaws, I will give Triple H credit for the success of NXT, as it is breaking even more ground. Although it is naturally a developmental territory, it is establishing its own identity as a brand of itself. Triple H has an incredible mind for the business. Austin and Hunter both agree that kayfabe is dead, because fans have become smarter about what is happening both in the ring and backstage thanks to the Internet. With that being said, the days of true faces and heels are gone.

Hunter also says that the core business model has not changed. He talks about how fans say things like "they would have done that if we hadn't done this". He brings up the example about how if Hulk Hogan was getting wildly cheered in Minnesota for the AWA, he would not have gone to New York for WWE to become wildly popular as the champion of the promotion. WWE calls audibles whenever they need to.

Stone Cold asks him about the Reality Era, and how it is harder to be a genuine babyface, because fans will cheer and boo who they want. As Triple H mentions sites such as "Grantland" that cover the insides of the business, he basically says that "the reality is the business". As a result, everyone has a voice and fans are even more critical and analytical of the product. The IWC unleases their venom every week on Social Media. He also mentions the backlash about the Royal Rumble, where fans booed Roman out of the building as they insisted that Daniel Bryan win. (I covered that in detail already)

Triple H even admitted that he doesn't believe that anyone is truly ready for the top spot, no matter how ready the fans think they are, or how ready they think they are in their own mind. I can understand that, because the WWE System causes you to polish yourself and understand structure. (At least he didn't use the lame "Brass Ring" line)

Trips also addresses the idea that he only got to the top, because of his marriage into the McMahon family. He says that Undertaker helped him get past that dictating opinion, which I am sure really frustrated him. Triple H admits that he would still be in the top spot even without marrying Stephanie. I absolutely agree, because Triple H paid his dues. He was already rising to the top BEFORE Steph arrived on the scene. He may have more leverage backstage, but he would still make it to the top of the roster on his own.


Now, this is where the Interview REALLY heats up. Stone Cold brings up the name that is a Smoking Gun to the McMahon Family: Chyna. Up to this point, Triple H pretty much deviated from being the Kayfabe Corporate Authority Figure. This time, he did a song and dance because this was clearly the lightning rod of Stone Cold's podcast. When Austin addressed Vince about Macho Man going into the HOF, Vince responded by saying "Yes, he will go in.". Within the blink of an eye, Savage is announced. However, once Chyna is mentioned, Triple H hesitates and gives a PR answer. First, he gives Chyna credit for being a trailblazer, and a pioneer for Women in Wrestling. However, he gives doubts about her being inducted, because he gives the watered down excuse of not wanting his 8 year-old daughter looking for Chyna on Google to discover her porn career. I understand that WWE is doing their best to clean up the product, but that is not the real reason why Chyna is not in. Everyone knows that the REAL reason why she is not in, is because he does not want his children to know that their Dad was involved in a Love Triangle Affair, where he had a relationship with their Mom, while living with Chyna. They must not be ready for that conversation, I guess. He also did not want to mention the fact that Stephanie and Chyna want no part of each other, especially with the distasteful things that Chyna has said about her on YouTube. Chyna is the thorn for Triple H that Warrior, Bret and Savage were to Vince. Trips wants to hide the fact that Once Upon A Time, WWE was notorious for negative stereotypes and the degradation of women (Sable, Sunny, Godfather's Ho Train, even Katie Vick. That's enough for now). You also want to conceal Chyna's obvious porno past with your Kliq golden boy X-Pac, who is in high favor with WWE because of his numerous appearances at Live Events. Your kids don't know, but people like myself and older fans know what is behind closed doors. I am not justifying Chyna's decisions, but she was an integral part of one of the most successfully mainstream Eras in company history, The Attitude Era. Chyna broke barriers for females, as she was one of the founding members of D-Generation-X, a group that is widely considered to be the greatest of all-time (especially by WWE). Chyna was with the first incarnation when it was a trio, with HBK and HHH himself. She was also part of the expansion, when Shawn retired and X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws were added. As an individual, she is the ONLY Woman to win the Intercontinental Title. This is not a Chris Benoit situation, where she murdered someone else along with herself. Now, I understand that parents do not want their daughters influenced by her. I have a niece and I would not want her to stumble across this on the web, and in the future I wouldn't want my child to see that. From that standpoint I get it, but the Hall of Fame is not filled with people with Wings on their back and Halos on their head. Do I need to bring up Sunny? Look at where she is even AFTER her Induction. I won't even get into the recent Twitter scandal with Seth Rollins. As long as Chyna cleans herself up and shows how serious she is, they would have no other choice. Both sides will have to mature and humble themselves before this happens.

When discussing Roman Reigns, Austin felt that it was being made obvious that Roman was given the keys without having to really work for it. HHH responds by saying "everyone works hard", including Roman. The obvious flaws are his mic skills and his ring work. John Cena has faced criticism about his ring work, but nobody can deny his work ethic.

A Twitter question shows up where someone asks: Do you see anyone on the roster becoming the next Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin or John Cena? Triple H responds by saying that everyone has potential, but it is what they do with it that counts. He says that the business is different, where you have to be much more well rounded. You can't just be good in the ring, but lack mic skills. You can't just have good mic skills. You just can't be a big guy or a high flyer with nothing else to offer. He is absolutely right, and I feel that is what is seriously lacking in the landscape of wrestling especially today.

Trips also brings up the Undertaker, and how he was Vince McMahon's greatest creation. Mark Calloway was perfect to play that role, and anyone else would have died with that persona. Mark took that gimmick, and made it Iconic and Transcendant. Truly Phenomenal (no pun intended).


Stone Cold starts to dive even deeper into the discussion as he brings up how Triple H managed to mend the fences with Legends like Bruno Sammartino and The Ultimate Warrior so that they could finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I give the Game the utmost respect for how he was able to engineer those inductions, because if it was up to Vince, they would still be on the outside looking in. Levesque basically said that Bruno was unwilling to do business with McMahon, because he was unsatisfied with the direction that the promotion had gone into during the Attitude Era. For years, Sammartino was unwilling to do business, and had bad blood with Vince because of his ideas. Bruno is the definition of the term "Old School". Vince himself was not jumping to his phone to call Bruno to make amends. However, it wasn't until WWE decided to clean up the product and Triple H stretched out his arm to Bruno to make peace. Trips was able to sympathize with him from a pure wrestler's mindset, because they were able to come to a common ground. Triple H is a man that respects the history of the business, and he made it crystal clear during this interview more than once. As a result, he was able to get Bruno to change his mind and accept the induction. The rest is history. Same with Warrior, but it was a bit harder considering that they worked together. However, as time is known to heal wounds, The Game was able to reach Warrior because there wasn't as much bad blood as with Warrior's main peers (Hogan, etc.)


Stone Cold would also ask The Ultimate Question: DX or NWO? Triple H gives NWO their respect, by saying that they were massively impactful and influential when they started when they opened the curtain to show the reality aspect. However, their impact was diluted when they overloaded the group with too many people. On the other hand, DX had more staying power for a longer period of time. I would say the same thing, not just because WWE promotes it, but because collectively DX has had a greater stream of success in the long run. They did not water themselves down by adding everybody on the roster and their family.

Triple H also says that his Ultimate Fantasy Match would be with Buddy Rogers, because of his style and showmanship.

When CM Punk is mentioned, Trips simply says "I never had a beef with him". He pretty much says there was a miscommunication, even though Punk threw fireballs at him and Vince in his interview with Cabana.

Now, time for one of my favorite games. Word Association Time:

Shawn Michaels: Greatest in ring performer ever.
Ric Flair: Greatest all around performer ever.
Kevin Nash: Great mind for the business but a personality that hides it.
Scott Hall: The guy he learned more from than anyone and really underrated in ring.
Eddie Guerrero: Awesome. Miss him and he was really fun.
Goldberg: Intense and explosive, enough so that it changed the business.
Brock Lesnar: FREAK. (That's a positive.)
Paul Heyman: He toes the line between genius and crazy.
Owen Hart: One of the nicest, funniest guys.
Bret Hart: Unbelievable technician who maybe sometimes takes himself too seriously.
Undertaker: Respect.
Kane: Underrated. "If I had to say one word, he's the constant."
Pat Patterson: A genius for the business.
Michael Hayes: Underrated for his contributions to the business.

They conclude by talking about the differences between a pro wrestler and a sports entertainer. They also address Brock Lesnar's future with the company. Triple H also talks about The Streak, and says it is a two-sided situation. On one side, you want the streak to live forever, like a home run record. However, Taker is a guy that likes to give back to the business, especially to benefit someone else. Lesnar has benefited in a huge way.

When asked if he could change anything about Monday Night Raw, Triple H says that he would change it from three hours back to two. He says that the three hour show was a Vince call and a financial issue.

Overall, the Interview was entertaining in many ways, and controversial in others. I did not expect any less. 4/5 Stars.

In wrestling terminology, I would give it 4 WWE Undisputed Championships out of 5.