The following story was inspired by my friend Danae.
It is dedicated to women everywhere who suffer at the
hands of inhumanity and to my pro wrestler
friend- Jazzy.

Author's Note: The title of  this story is the title
of Chyna's New York Times best selling book.

IF THEY ONLY KNEW

By Peter Vuono
    On  April 20, 2016 the greatest female wrestling star of all time, Chyna, was found dead in her Redondo Beach California home. One of my friends told me that she had never hear of Chyna(whose real name was Joan Marie Laurer) and that is perfectly normal as most people do not follow wrestling. In fact, if I had told my friend that this was a top pro wrestler, college grad, Peace Corps volunteer, violin and cello player, candidate for the FBI rtaining school  and someone who was fluent in at least 4 languages, one would think that this was a renaissance woman and indeed she was. Her only problem was that her path was made next to impossible by the evil and inhumanity that often surrounded her.
   Joan was born on 12/27/70 in Rochester New York. Her biological father was  an alcoholic and her parents divorced when she was 4 years old. She would then suffer having 2 stepfathers and one stepmother.
In Penfield High School in New York she excelled in the violin and cello. She also joined the ROTC as a Cadet and worked out hard in the gym. Things started to look up until she suffered both physically and emotionally. Joan had an ovarian tumor removed and in the latter part of her high school career she was sexually abused by a much older teacher. Life would not get any easier.
  She earned a degree from the University of Tampa with a degree in Spanish Literature. She was fluent in Spanish, French, German and later in life she would teach English to Japanese citizens in Japan. While attending the U. of Tampa she was raped at a party by two men. They were never prosecuted and Joan moved on hoping to work for the FBI as a language specialist.She decided to serve in the Peace Corps and was sent to Guatemala.
  She continued to body build and went into many fitness contests. Unfortunately because of her size,(5'10"- 180lbs), she didn't do well. Undaunted, she moved to New Hampshire and commuted south to Malden Mas. to train under the auspices of Walter"Killer" Kowalski as a pro wrestler.
  After working the independents Joan was sought after by Ted turner's WCW. As a courtesy, and to further her career, Walter Kowalski called Shane McMahon and recommended that Shane NOT let this prospect go unnoticed. Shane hired her and Chyna was born. She would be a top male category number one contender and defeated some of the most immortal names in pro wrestling. She was easily the most dominant female figure to ever appear in the ring.
  Many think that a love triangle caused the release of Chyna from the WWE. Only those involved know for sure. However one thing that is certain is that Joan's life started to head in a downward spiral. After writing a very successful book(If They Only Knew), Joan started to suffer from depression and drug addiction.
  On her birthday in 2008 she was hospitalized after cutting her wrists. Also in Sept of 2010  she was hospitalized again for an accidental overdose of of sleeping pills. She would enlist in reality rehab shows and tried to keep her life and health together. Out of necessity she made a total of approx six adult movies and after a very brief comeback in TNA wrestling she lived a quiet private life battling her depression.
  In August of 1977, Groucho Marx, one of the greatest comedians of all time passed on. His life and struggles went completely unnoticed due to the fact that Elvis passed the same week. With Joan Laurer, history repeats itself with the untimely passing of music legend Prince passing one day after. This serves only to compound  her tragedy as Chyna's life mirrors all the evil and exploitation that is perpetrated on woman by men and go practically unnoticed.
  In honor of her and all the other women who have suffered similar fates at the hands of others, we must not forget Joan's plight and become more proactive in pointing out these tragedies. Joan's life was a pastiche of all that can happen to a woman due to man's inhumanity. In her words,"If they only knew".

  

Dedicated to my friends, Bev, Mike and Marie

STEROIDS, ALCOHOL AND GOD

By Peter Vuono

     Steroids ,Alcohol and God is the subtitle of an amazing book written by NFL great Tony Mandarich entitled-"My dirty Little Secrets- Steroids Alcohol and God". In 1957, after living under an oppressive communist regime, Tony's parents fled Yugoslavia after their infant daughter perished from malnutrition. They settled in Ontario and had two sons- John and Tony. Both boys would excel in football. The boys moved to Ohio so that Tony could play for an American high school. His talent grew along with enormous size. Tony was given a scholarship to Michigan State and grew to a height of 6'6' st 315lbs. He became an all American and was put on the front cover of Sports Illustrated in April of 1989 with the caption-"The Incredible Bulk"
   He was the second round draft pick behind Troy Aikman and in front of Barry Sanders. Tony was brash , outspoken and fearless. He intended to destroy all opponents who would dare challenge his pass or running block. He was easily the strongest man on the team with a 535 bench press. However, this strength was partially fueled by the use of anabloic steroids. Tony had ingenious ways to beat drug testing. Unfortunately, testing in the NFL was random and he knew that when he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, he would have to get off permanently. He would have to work harder and this would lead to a far worse addiction.
   Somewhere along the line, Tony took up drinking. He pretty much had it under control until he started to experience pain in his furious, off-season workouts. At the recommendation of a trainer, in order to kill pain, Tony started injecting the pain killer Stadol. It got to a point where he injected it 5 times per day! It didn't stop there, however as Tony exacerbated his condition with a concoction in pill form known as Fiorinal #3. This is a combination of codeine, barbiturates and caffeine. For the entire 4 years he played for Green Bay, Tony was high each and every day at a salary of 4.4 million.
  To make matters worse, he met and married an addict. Even on his wedding day, he injected Stadol moments before he took his vows. Soon after, his daughter Holly was born and she would spend the first 4 years of her life living with addicted parents. Tony, as one would imagine played terribly for Green Bay and was released.
   He would now live his life pursuing every connection he had to get drugs. He would sometimes drive 7 hours one way to get a prescription from a contact. Even when his brother was hospitalized and dying, Tony would look at the Morphine drip and was authentically tempted to pull the drip out, inject himself and return the drip before the nurse came in!! After his bother's death, tony was confronted by his friend and neighbor John. John, in a mini-intervention convinced Tony and his wife Amber to go to rehab.
  While in rehab counseling, Tony told the members of the group, that he couldn't wait to go home and have pizza and beer with his pals. They laughed him to scorn! He was told that he had to stay off everything and for good. He was ordered, upon his release to go to AA 90 times in 90 days. It was the beginning of a new life.
  After some soul searching, Tony decided that he would once again pursue his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL. He would do it, this time, however. clean. He trained with a vengeance with weights and drills. He went from 266lbs to a clean and solid 325! He  was ready.
  His old offensive line coach, Lindy Infante was now the head coach of the Colts. Tony was tested and given a chance to make the team which he did! This was a milestone for Tony. He did it clean and sober. He became the strongest man on the Indianapolis Colts clean with a 435 bench press and a 680 squat. He went from a year's contract to a 3 year contract at one million dollars a year. Today, he lives with his wife and 4 children in Arizona and happily runs a website business. In a 13 year period, he spoke 100 times at AA meetings and continues to go.
  Tony's story is not just for the addicted or for addicts and drinkers. It's for all of us. To me the most important  line in Tony's book is on P. 139 where he says "God does allow do-overs!" This is a message for us all. Some of us will fail a test, or a class, or a marriage or a relationship or at a job or even a dream. However, if I can paraphrase Bruce Lee, Tony is telling us that if we fall down 9 times, we must get up ten times. Tony got up and achieved the goal he dreamed of. His football career will be forgotten by most but I'm hoping that if you read his book or this blog, that his message will live on. God does allow do-overs!


AUTHOR'S NOTE: This book can easily be found on line. It's VERY inexpensive and should be read by everyone.