The Ninth Wonder Of The World: Chyna

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we look back on the trailblazing career of Chyna.

Should Chyna go into the WWE Hall of Fame as a solo act?

Chad Gelfand: Yes. Chyna was so unique and different from any women’s act that had come before her – she truly was a pioneer. She was mixing it up with male wrestlers at the peak of the Attitude Era and it was believable that she could hang with them.

Steven Jackson: Chyna should definitely be inducted as a singles act. She influenced many female wrestlers to get involved in the industry, and her character was fantastic!

Juan Bautista: Chyna should have gone into the Hall of Fame by herself, but she won’t. WWE doesn’t want to shed light on her past and now that the trend of two-time hall of famers has been worn down, it probably won’t happen.

John Corrigan: Absolutely. She’s a trail blazer for intergender wrestling.

Jack Goodwillie: Chyna belongs in any wrestling hall of fame as a solo act. We’ve long established by this point the WWE Hall of Fame means very little in the grand scheme, as anybody with even a cup of coffee on the main roster has a non-zero chance of being inducted. We are at a point now, however, where the omissions speak volumes, Chyna included.

If she didn’t leave WWE in 2001, how do you envision her career going for the next five years?

Gelfand: WWE would have had to put more focus on the women’s division and build up more women to her level. A Jazz/Chyna feud would have been amazing.

Jackson: She’d have been great during the brand split and it would have been cool to see her go up against Brock Lesnar when he was a young rookie! Could you imagine that!?

Bautista: It would have been very interesting. This would take her into 2006. Over the years there would’ve been Lita, Trish, Mickie James and Beth Phoenix may have been able to squeeze in there at the end. Also, a wild card would be Brock Lesnar. Someone would’ve thought of it.

Corrigan: She dominates the women’s division the entire time, holding the championship for a Moolah-esque reign. Maybe Trish Stratus and Lita still become breakout stars, but it’s not as Women’s Champion. She stays loyal to WWE rather than joining Stephanie McMahon in The Alliance, she acts as Eric Bischoff’s muscle on Raw and she most definitely destroys all Diva Search participants.

Goodwillie: Man, this is a good question. Had Chyna stuck around in WWE for five more years, that would have crossed over into the point that I started watching wrestling, which means I would have had an opinion of her as a kid. Of course, that opinion would be greatly influenced by what she does and what show she’d have been on. She probably would have been on Raw, working with the women, but then again, I’m not sure if she could have worked long term as a member of the women’s division.

She was always an attraction; an anomaly – not a very good wrestler – but someone who you’re going to gravitate towards, whether positively or negatively. I don’t even know how you’d book it, but getting her involved with Evolution somehow, whether as a member or an adversary, would have been dollar signs. I may just have to explore this for a future piece…

Would Chyna fit in with today’s current wrestling scene?

Gelfand: She’d fit in well. She would have lots of opponents to work with and something like Chyna vs. Jade Cargill, where it’s two powerhouses facing off, or Chyna vs. Sasha Banks, where it’s someone who could bump well for Chyna. There would be tons of great matchups for her.

Jackson: Chyna would fit in today’s wrestling scene. She brought a completely different style to female wrestling, and that would be even more exciting now. Plus, she would have been an awesome enforcer in WWE, much like her early years in D-Generation X.

Bautista: I don’t know if the training today may have increased her ability, but with wrestlers such as Rhea Ripley and Raquel Gonzalez, Chyna would’ve fit in.

Corrigan: Certainly. If she debuted in 2021, Vince McMahon would still be in awe of her physique and make her a bodyguard for a scrawny guy, maybe even AJ Styles.

Goodwillie: I’m not so sure. It depends what you’re asking. If Chyna came along today and made her debut in 2021, I don’t think it would have been near as special as it was back then. Nowadays, people are sort of preconditioned to, well, everything. We’ve seen it all! And if we were to assume she would continue wrestling in 2021, she would have likely needed an attitude adjustment of some kind, with apologies to John Cena.

The reviews of her final year in WWE were… not kind to say the least. She struggled mightily to have good matches with other women, though that’s to be expected after three years or so of wrestling exclusively men. Not to mention, because she had been beating men with some regularity, her ego would not have been conducive to today’s locker rooms.

What’s Chyna’s greatest moment/angle?

Gelfand: Her debt was excellent where she came from the crowd and immediately started rag dolling Marlena. It was impactful, memorable and it set the tone for her character going forward.

Jackson: The whole Eddie Guerrero story arc/angle was great television, and it was really refreshing to see Chyna in a different role to her previous work in the WWE. They made a great on-screen pairing and brought the best out of each other. Happy memories!

Bautista: Chyna winning the Intercontinental Championship and the love angle with Eddie.

Corrigan: Winning the Intercontinental Championship. It was historic, believable and even traditionalists were dying to see the Ninth Wonder of the World kick Jeff Jarrett’s ass.

Goodwillie: Of course, Chyna in DX was memorable, but the moment WWE decided to let Chyna go off and have her own storylines and interactions, that’s when she really came into her own. For that reason, her interactions with Eddie Guerrero were gold to me. Of course, it takes two to tango and Guerrero is one of the best ever, but those angles showed a different side to Chyna that a lot of people gravitated towards.

As I’ve said before, I hate intergender wrestling. It opens an unnecessary can of worms and does little for the talent, particularly in today’s social climate. That said, when I go back and watch Chyna’s matches, I don’t get the same sour taste in my mouth I get from watching Candice LeRae get bludgeoned by Cedric Alexander. It’s just…different, and maybe that speaks to the brilliance of her character. Maybe she’s stood the test of time after all?