Chyna's Mother Talks About Her Impact, Seeing Her On TV & More

In an interview with Wrestling Inc., Chyna's mother Janet LaQue spoke about Chyna's impact on professional wrestling fans.

“Well, to be honest with you, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it because I guess I really never realized, until after her death, actually quite a while after her death, what kind of an impact she had on people, and it just makes me very proud. And I just wish she were here so I could put my arms around her and tell her how proud I am of her. It’s unbelievable. It really is. It’s a lot to take in to tell you the truth.”

She also spoke about the first time she saw Chyna on WWE TV.

“Well, at first, I didn’t even know about it. She chose to leave home when she was 16 to go live with her dad, and then eventually, after she got through college and she tried a couple of jobs that didn’t work out, she went to live with her sister, older sister Kathy. And Kathy was into bodybuilding at the time, and she kind of got Joanie into the bodybuilding thing. And at that point in time, Joanie and I were estranged, so I didn’t know it the first time.

“I remember the first time I saw her on TV on–well, this was when she was in the WWF, and I don’t know what the name of the show was at the time. I don’t know if it was still called RAW back then, but anyway, she came out on stage in the silver costume with these, I don’t know what you’d call them, bazooka guns or something, and there was all this smoke and fire. I went, ‘oh my God, that’s Joanie.’ I mean, I was just flabbergasted. Like I said, I don’t think I really understood the true impact of exactly what she had achieved until after her death, and it was a while after her death. I just didn’t get it. Now I do. I mean, I’m in contact with a ton of her fans, and I hear stories all the time about the influence that she’s had on people for various reasons. To a lot of people, Joanie is larger than just being a wrestler. She had a major positive impact on a ton of people.”

She then spoke about the Chyna character.

“Well, at first, it was a little weird because she was portrayed as Triple H’s bodyguard. She had changed so much her body structure from the way that she was that I think she was portrayed okay. I mean, I know that a lot of it is fake. So I mean you got to do what you got to do, but then later, when she became much more feminine in her appearance, even though she could pick up and slam just about anybody, she looked good while she was doing it. I thought it was pretty cool to tell you the truth.”

She then spoke about how Joanie was like growing up.

“She was colorful. She was larger than life. She loved to entertain. From the time she came out, she was a very good baby. She was a delightful child. I can’t remember anything about her childhood that was negative. I know that sounds kind of ridiculous and maybe I’m kind of prejudice, but she just was a great kid, and she loved to entertain. She would go over to her grandmother and grandfather’s house and put on puppet shows and dance and make jokes. Even as she got older and even before her death, not too long before her death, she was making jokes. She had a great sense of humor, really warm personality. Joanie was the kind of kid that if she had something and you wanted it, she’d just say, ‘here take it,’ and that went right through to her adulthood. She’d just give you something. She’d give you the shirt off her back. She’s just a great kid. She was a great kid.”