Joanie Laurer, better known to wrestling fans and the general populace alike as Chyna, tragically passed away in April of this year. Fans have clamored for her to be acknowledged as a trailblazer and inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for years, and that argument has only picked up steam now that she is no longer with us.
In an interview with Newsweek, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked whether there’s been any talk of inducting Chyna as part of the class of 2017 in the wake of her passing. He “thinks” it’s been brought up, but he knows that’s a conversation WWE is going to have to have at some point.
I think it’s been brought up. But there’s a lot of people in a long line that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame that will be in the Hall of Fame over time. That’s a conversation that will happen. We’ll see where it goes. But there are a lot of people and you can only put so many people in per year.
I don’t think her passing signifies any change of her accomplishments. Her accomplishments are documented and were massive in our industry. Nothing has changed. She’s a part of the Hall of Fame conversation, but she would have been anyway.
The “Hall of Fame conversation” that Chyna is a part of was already coming to a head before she died, as the company’s crowing about the “Women’s Revolution” in wrestling combined with their refusal to acknowledge her unarguable contributions was already angering fans, and would have forced their hand at some point. If she isn’t inducted within the next couple of years, that unhappy contingent is going to become far too loud for WWE to shut out.
