15. She Nearly Joined WCW To Become A Member Of The NWO
Having met Shawn Michaels and HHH at a WWF show in 1996, the DX duo were impressed by the stature of Joanie Laurer. After checking out some tapes of her in action, Michaels and Hunter went straight to the top, straight to Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and put the case forward for bringing Joanie is as a bodyguard for D-Generation X. The thing was, Vinny Mac wasnt particularly keen on bringing in the imposing Laurer as, despite her impressive physique, McMahon didnt think that his audience would buy a female beating up some of his male roster. Whilst Vince hesitated on the matter, Joanie was approached by World Championship Wrestling. The WCWs plan was to bring her in as a female enforcer for the New World Order. It apparently got to the stage where Laurer actually accepted the offer to join Ted Turners rasslin company. The WCW deal would fall through when Joanie ultimately turned the Atlanta-based promotion down after getting word from Shane McMahon that the then-WWF were about to make her an offer. And so they did, with her signing on and becoming the muscle for the villainous Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Another variation of this story is that Killer Kowalski, Joanies former trainer, introduced her to Shane and tipped the younger McMahon off on WCWs interest in Laurer.
Andrew Pollard
Senior Writer
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
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