Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for Chyna

A former WWE intercontinental champion. One of the three original members of D-Generation X. The first woman to compete in both the Royal Rumble match and the King of the Ring tournament. An icon of The Attitude Era.

All labels fit the woman proclaimed to be "The Ninth Wonder of the World." But no one label better suits Chyna than that of "pioneer."

One of the biggest stars in the industry during its hottest period, Chyna forever changed perceptions of what women were capable of achieving in a typically male-dominated business.

Built as if she had been chiseled from stone, she proved that she could mix it up with the male Superstars, defeating many of the top stars in the process and establishing herself as a role model for young women everywhere.

She was a pop culture icon, someone who transcended the business and became a mainstream star, thanks in large part to her appearance in Playboy magazine.

While her relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment ultimately came to a disappointing and bitter end in 2001, her accomplishments, achievements and success are undeniable.

There will be many a debate regarding her Hall of Fame credentials, with some pointing to some of the activities she partook in during her post-wrestling career as reasons not to enshrine her, but failing to recognize her contributions would be a grave injustice.

Let's relive Chyna's career through her greatest matches and moments.

Guarding The Game

In the first two years of her WWE career, Chyna rose to prominence as the bodyguard of the villainous Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

There was something about seeing a rich, entitled pretty boy from Greenwich, Connecticut, turn to a woman to protect him from his fellow Superstars and occasionally fight in his matches, helping him pick up some of the biggest and most important victories of his career.

Her first major involvement in an angle came during Triple H's feud with Goldust. Marlena, the director of the face-painted Superstar, found herself tossed around like a rag doll, courtesy of The Ninth Wonder of the World.

During her time as the manager for Triple H, both as a singles competitor and as the leader of D-Generation X, Chyna was integral to the overall presentation of the character.

By 1999, the decision was made to separate her from her longtime associate. 

After a brief rivalry with Triple H as a member of the hated Corporation, during which they competed against each other at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view, they reunited for a few months.

Come the summer, Chyna was on her way to achieving some success of her own.

Intercontinental Champion

Late in his WWE career, Jeff Jarrett set out to prove that women had only one place in society: the kitchen—more accurately, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. His derogatory comments drew the ire of Chyna, who became involved with Jarrett in a rivalry over the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Representing the likes of Debra, the Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young and even the irritating Ivory, Chyna became the first woman to ever challenge for the IC title at Unforgiven in September 1999.

A controversial referee decision prevented Chyna from claiming the title that evening, but there would be no saving Jarrett a month later at No Mercy, when he lost the title to his rival in the first and only Good Housekeeping match.

The win was historic.

Chyna was the first woman to ever hold the prestigious IC title, but unlike WCW, where women holding championship gold was simply the product of a ludicrous storyline, she was treated like a credible and legitimate competitor. She was not a sideshow or a freak but a professional wrestler capable of beating anyone at any time, which is why the angle worked as well as it did.

1999 came to an end with Chyna feuding with egomaniac Chris Jericho, who was hellbent on capturing the championship and proving that he was superior to her in every way.

At Survivor Series, Chyna thwarted Jericho's first attempt at the title, ending the international star's night with a top-rope Pedigree. 

The champion would not be so lucky at Armageddon, losing the title to Y2J after tapping out to his Walls of Jericho finish.

Oddly enough, Chyna would go on to be the valet for Jericho for a few months in 2000 before splitting away to become the love interest of a former WCW star-turned-WWE Superstar.

Falling for Latino Heat

When Eddie Guerrero made his WWE debut, he immediately set his sights on Chyna. Despite seeing his advances turned down repeatedly, Guerrero was sure that she would fall for his Latino Heat.

The night after WrestleMania 2000, she did, helping Guerrero defeat Chris Jericho to become the new European champion.

From that night on, Guerrero and Chyna would engage in one of the most entertaining love stories in WWE history.

Chyna accompanied her boy toy to his prom, to which he was invited upon earning his G.E.D. More importantly, she guided him to many a successful title defense, including wins over Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Essa Rios, The Hardy Boyz and Jericho.

But by the time summer approached and Chyna collected her second intercontinental title at the expense of her main squeeze, the relationship turned rocky.

Guerrero claimed to still care for his love but in reality was only worried about capturing the title she held. And he did, capitalizing on Kurt Angle's Olympic Slam to win the title by "accidentally" pinning Chyna while feigning interest in her health.

Eventually, the return of Billy Gunn helped Chyna realize that Guerrero was using her, leading to a brief rivalry between them. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury suffered by Latino Heat put a halt to the program, leaving Chyna to turn her attention to Steven Richards, Ivory and The Right to Censor.

The Right to Censor, Ivory and the Women's Championship

Chyna's appearance in Playboy magazine naturally drew the unwanted attention of Steven Richards and The Right to Censor, a faction of wrestlers concerned with censoring anything they deemed inappropriate or immoral.

At Armageddon, Chyna lost a match to Val Venis. On Raw, she suffered a spiked piledriver at the hands of the former IC champion that left her neck injured (in storyline, of course).

But return she did, challenging the yapping Ivory for the WWE Women's Championship at the 2001 Royal Rumble. During a handspring elbow attempt, Chyna's head smacked off the top turnbuckle, resulting in another neck injury.

In the weeks following the event, Ivory mocked Chyna, who had cut an emotional promo about the status of her career. The women's champion continued to poke fun at the proud woman until Chyna made her return, setting up a match between the two at WrestleMania X-Seven in which The Right to Censor would be barred from ringside and the title would be at stake.

Chyna easily demolished Ivory en route to her first reign as champion.

And therein lied the problem: No Diva could conceivably beat Chyna, who had so much success against the male competitors in WWE. Thus, any story involving the champion and her top contender would be anticlimactic because at the end of the day, there was no way anyone but Chyna would emerge victorious.

The closest anyone came was at May 2001's Judgment Day pay-per-view, where Lita nearly dethroned her but ultimately fell just short.

Luckily for the rest of the Divas roster, a contract dispute led to the disappointing conclusion of Chyna's time in WWE.

She would remain active in the pro wrestling scene, appearing in both Japan and TNA Wrestling but never lasting long.