Vince McMahon offered Chyna the opportunity to win the WWE Championship but she turned him down and chose Playboy instead.
Chyna is the most dominant female wrestler to have competed in the WWE. The late star paved the way for countless women in professional wrestling. Many of her accolades are in fact still unmatched today.
Aptly nicknamed “The Ninth Wonder of the World” (with André the Giant being the eighth wonder) she not only competed against male wrestlers but went on to beat several of them including the likes of Triple H, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett.
She is also the only woman to have ever won the WWF Intercontinental Championship and she did it twice!
Chyna also competed for the WWE Championship although she never won the title. Part of it however, may have been down to her own choice.
Speaking on the daily podcast, “Documenting Chyna”, Anthony Anzaldo, former friend and manager of Chyna, revealed that Vince McMahon had offered her a run at the title but on the condition that she turn down Playboy. Chyna however, went on to do the opposite instead.
“If you do Playboy, you don’t get the belt”
“They offered her the WWE Championship belt,” Anzaldo said. “But Vince said, ‘But you can’t do Playboy.’ Because she got offered to do Playboy. She chose Playboy over the belt. She went and got her b***s done one week and didn’t tell Vince. And, when she came back, he was f***ng pissed. That was her first b*** job.”
“Vince says, ‘If you do Playboy, you don’t get the belt.’ She said f**k the belt. I’m doing Playboy. Highest selling out of the box Playboy. First week Playboy, in the history of Playboy, more than Kim Kardashian. It’s the top three of all time behind Kardashian and Marilyn Monroe. So she does Playboy. Awesome. Now, she’s a big f**g star.”
Anthony Anzaldo helped Chyna to get her royalties
Anzaldo further revealed how he helped Chyna to get her royalties. He said:
“And I say to her, ‘Chyna, are you getting any royalty from WWE?’ She said, ‘No.’ So I called WWE, 2004, and I said, ‘Does Chyna have any royalties coming.’ They said, ‘Oh my God, yes. We’ve been looking for her.’ $88,000 they sent her a check for [in] 2004.”
Anzaldo also said that he had been to the WWE Headquarters with Chyna after her return from Japan back in 2015. Their prime goal while filming their documentary was to see whether there existed any dues in the form of royalty that was to be paid to Chyna. However, as soon as they arrived they were met by security and told to leave.
Chyna was found dead at her home in Redondo Beach, California on April 20, 2016. Her autopsy revealed that she died on April 17 of an overdose of alcohol, combined with the anxiety drugs diazepam and nordazepam, painkillers oxycodone and oxymorphone, and sleeping aid, temazepam.
Her memorial service was conducted on June 22, 2016 and was attended by wrestlers Melina Perez, Rob Van Dam, Sean Waltman and Johnny Mantell. Actors C. Thomas Howell and Barry Williams, along with Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch and singers Coolio and Baby Bash also attended the funeral.
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