Chyna, born Joanie Laurer, was a professional wrestler and performer, best known for fighting on nearly 200 episodes of WWF Raw. Prior to becoming a reality television star, Chyna graduated from the University of Tampa with a degree in Spanish literature and was a trainee with the Peace Corps.

She got her start in the sport after joining a wrestling school led by pro fighter Killer Kowalski. She was later hired by the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment), which occasionally pitted her against male competitors.

Chyna also appeared on the television shows Pacific Blue, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Mad TV, The Nick Cannon Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Additionally, she had a role in the movie On the Line, starring Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, and the straight-to-video release Illegal Aliens, starring Anna Nicole Smith.

She also often worked in reality television, including appearing as a contestant on Fear Factor, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Hollywood Squares and on 10 episodes each of the series The Surreal Life, which followed fading celebrities living together in a house in the Hollywood Hills, and Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, which featured the addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky. She also made multiple appearances on Howard Stern’s radio show and one appearance on his television show.

In 2001, she released an autobiography, If They Only Knew, which made it to The New York Times bestseller list.

Chyna died April 20, 2016, in Redondo Beach, California. She was 46.