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".