10 Things We Learned From VICE's Chyna Documentary
6. Who Came Up With Her Name
Many theories have been thrown out there since the 90s about why Chyna was called well...Chyna. Did someone on the WWF's writing staff struggle to spell? Was this supposed to drum up images of the vast size of the country? Was it totally random and plucked from creative services? Not quite.
Triple H and HBK were responsible.
They loved the oxymoronic feel of the moniker. To them, it'd throw fans off - the name conjured up images of a porcelain 'China Doll'. Then, when people clapped eyes on Joanie, they'd see she was anything but fragile. This clever name apparently went some way to selling Vince on Laurer's new act.
He gave Hunter and Shawn the go-ahead to bring Chyna in and present her as the former's bodyguard. That, almost inevitably given their closeness as pals behind the curtain, snowballed into a three-person dynamic (four at first with Rick Rude) as D-Generation X.
Joanie had a lot to thank Trips and Michaels for there.