10 Wrestlers Who Got Smaller To Get Bigger
1. Chyna
When Joanie Laurer made her WWE bow as the Amazonian Chyna in 1997, viciously choking Marlena out at February '97's In Your House 13, the visual spectacle of the incursion was cut from the same mould as those of Giant Gonzales and The Great Khali. Chyna - her name as much a reference to her vast imperiousness as it was a bad pun - excited not because of her acumen, but aesthetic.
The irony was that Laurer, who like her on-and-off screen partner Triple H was trained by Killer Kowalski, had a legitimate wrestling ability outwith the entirety of her new colleagues. Whilst her cohorts were contesting Evening Gown and Bikini contests, Chyna was forced to stand stoically like an Easter Island statue as D-Generation X's enforcer. WWE saw the Ninth Wonder of the World as too big for the women's division - literally. Sadly, given its utterly parlous state in 1998, they were probably right. Chyna was too talented for the likes of Sable, and soon found herself competing in inter-gender matches with the men.
As Chyna's star largened, her frame shrinked. By 1999, she was no longer promoted as a musclebound oddity, but a bona-fide wrestler. But WWE could not bypass their inherent superficiality; the cosmetic changes in Chyna's features ultimately forced her into a division they'd kept her out of in the first place. Unfortunately, it had never been about talent.