10 Things We Learned From VICE's Chyna Documentary
Chyna's story is one of childhood trauma, WWE success, heartbreak and exploitation.
VICE's filmmakers might've taken a break from their 'Dark Side Of The Ring' duties, but that doesn't mean they've left wrestling's most controversial topics alone. The production house just released a two-hour look at Joanie 'Chyna' Laurer's rise to WWE fame and sad slump into a world of drugs, porn and depression.
It was a documentary about another documentary.
Chyna's bid to rescue her reputation was going to be framed as 'The Reconstruction Of Chyna'. Together, Joanie, her manager Anthony Anzaldo, director Erik Angra and producer Ron Potylo (who was also a massive fan of her WWE career) planned to produce that story back in 2015. Production was halted when Laurer died in April 2016.
VICE went in-depth with talking heads like Anzaldo, Potylo, Vince Russo, Mick Foley, Sean Waltman and other pro wrestling stars about Chyna's life and career. As you'd expect, there were chinks of light in amongst all the misery - VICE do such a great job of peppering docs with hopeful messages before bringing everything back down with a crash.
Here's everything learned from Chyna's tale of WWE success, personal excess and more...
10. Chyna’s Traumatic Childhood
Joanie's traumatic childhood isn't properly examined until VICE reaches the second hour of her story, but it's nonetheless shocking. As the doc speeds towards her untimely demise, it takes a break to flesh out Chyna's backstory and reveal some of the horrors she experienced in her youth.
Clips of Chyna describing how dysfunctional her family life was are interspersed with revelations that she once saw her father stab her mother with a butcher's knife. That harrowing visual lived with her forever (no wonder), and eventually destroyed her relationship with mum.
Laurer went to live with her dad aged 16, and didn't see her mother for approx 30 years.
Jan, the lady in question, was totally taken aback when she spotted her daughter on WWF TV in the late-1990s. That didn't seem like something Joanie would do; it's upsetting to think that Chyna couldn't even excitedly boast about pro wrestling to her own family.