Original subtitles

Howard Finkel: "The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna.

Michael Cole: Trailblazer, groundbreaker, pioneer.

Chyna: That's right.

The World's Most Dangerous Woman.

Cole: No single woman changed the world

of WWE quite like Chyna.

Vince McMahon: This is no ordinary woman,

I can tell you that.

Jerry Lawler: I think she's bionic.

Cole: Chyna broke down countless barriers

in Sports Entertainment.

The first woman ever to enter the Royal Rumble match.

And her storied career has become one for the record books.

Jim: The first woman to wear Intercontinental gold.

Chyna: I mean, there's not another woman like me.

Cole: Today, we look back at the very best

of The Ninth Wonder of the World.

The Rock: If you smell--

Cole: Oh, my God.

What the hell are you doing?

Jim: Absolutely unbelievable.

Gorilla Monsoon: Hulkamania is here.

Cole: Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments.

I'm Michael Cole, and on this edition, we're looking back at

the groundbreaking career of the revolutionary Chyna.

Vince: And there she is.

Jim: The awesome Chyna.

Vince: Look at the shoulders.

Look at the delts.

Jim: She is no doubt the first lady of Sports Entertainment.

Cole: We all know in professional wrestling lore,

Andre the Giant is fittingly

known as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

But in the late 1990s, a ninth wonder appeared

and quickly rose to superstardom in WWE.

Paul Heyman: There's a reason why Chyna's called

the Ninth Wonder of the World.

Jim: And she has done so many things first,

as far as her gender is concerned.

Cole: With a unique look and a wealth of Amazonian strength-

Chyna: I have incredible genetics,

and I have the availability to gain muscle mass very quickly.

Cole: Chyna's meteoric rise in WWE all started in 1997's

In Your House Final Four with one truly implausible debut.

Jim: The Intercontinental Championship

to be contested here.

Two of the great young athletes

are gonna strut their stuff here.

Peter Rosenberg: I got to say, when you look back at it,

the choice to bring in Chyna, the-the way

that she was brought in is fascinating and brilliant.

Jim: Wait a minute, there's Goldust.

Jerry: What?

Jim: We know that Goldust and Helmsley despise each other.

Jerry: No.

Jim: It looks to me like Goldust has cost Helmsley

the Intercontinental title.

Marlena: I remember the first night

when she came out of the crowd.

Jim: Wait a minute.

Jerry: Look at this.

Jim: Who in the hell is that?

Who is that?

Jerry: What in the world?

Marlena: When she interacted with my character, Marlena,

it was just ve-- two very, very different entities.

It was unbelievable.

Jim: Security taking that lady away.

Paul Levesque: Chyna, there was never anything like her.

Jim: That lady got a little overzealous,

to say the least.

Paul: Almost all of the women in the business prior

to were seen as like the just as eye candy.

She changed that mold for all of them.

Goldust: You're going to jail.

Marlena: From the first second you see her on camera,

she arrived.

Cole: Heading into SummerSlam 1999, WWE Champion,

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin, was left without an opponent.

Stone Cold: That's the biggest punch of BS

I ever heard in my life.

Cole: A triple threat match was set for Monday Night Raw

to determine the number one contender.

Shawn Michaels: It's gonna be Triple H, it's gonna be

The Undertaker, and the third and final opponent is Chyna.

Cole: For the first time ever, a woman would have the

opportunity to become next in line for the richest prize

in Sports Entertainment.

Chyna: You want a piece of me?

Come on and get you some.

Jim: The first person to earn a pinfall or submission,

they'll be the number one contender.

Shawn: She was beautiful and so secure, such a strength,

and she embodied all of that when she went out there.

Jim: The Undertaker with the right hand and down went Chyna.

Paul: If she could face the guys, it's a bit of a novelty.

She was not.

Jerry: Oh.

Jim: Chyna just nailed Triple H.

Shawn: She was such a game-changer.

She could get in the ring and make it spectacular.

Jim: She wants to be the number one contender.

The Undertaker doesn't care.

Oh, one-- with one hand.

And The Undertaker with a chokeslam.

Undertaker: She could go out there night in,

night out and bust her ass.

Jim: Chyna knocked down.

Helmsley knocked over the top rope by The Undertaker.

Paul: She did fight the guys.

She did beat some of the biggest names in this business

as she shows the world that that can be done.

Jerry: Wait a minute, Jesse.

Jesse Ventura: Chyna.

Jesse: Chyna wins it.

Jim: Chyna is the number one contender.

Jerry: What?

Road Dogg: I was in awe that she was in that match.

I damn sure didn't know she was gonna win that match.

And when I saw her win it and how she won it,

I was like, "Hell yeah."

That was-- It made perfect sense, and I loved it.

Jim: Chyna's the number one contender.

Cole: For years, Chyna had proven she could hold her own

against the male superstars of WWE.

But in 2001, in front of over 68,000 fans, on the grand stage

of WrestleMania 17, Chyna would look to dominate the female

division and capture her first WWE Women's Championship.

Jim: A tremendous ovation here in the Reliant Astrodome

for "The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna.

Keith Elliot Greenberg: The fans enjoyed seeing

her battling men, and now she was in the women's division.

Paul: Look at Chyna.

She has nothing but title aspirations in her eyes.

Road Dogg: I loved how they started that match.

It was like so perfect that she'd hit her with the title

right away to get heat on her.

Paul: And Ivory going to work on the back of the neck.

Mickie James: Never seen anyone like Chyna before.

She just seemed so intimidating and is kind of like

a Wonder Woman at that point.

Jim: Chyna catching that leg.

One-legged women don't win too many butt-kicking contests.

Ivory: There is something really fun about telling a story with

your physicality, but she can really kick your ass.

Jim: Good grief.

Look at this strength.

Ivory up up-upstairs with nowhere to go but down.

Chyna enjoying this, and it is over.

Jim: And Chyna, it is-- was it academic?

Jade Cargill: There are so many women that look up to Chyna.

I mean, she was one of one, and I think it just helped

the women's division as a whole.

Jim: Chyna is the WWF Women's Champion.

Chyna: I fought for who I am and what I am now,

the World Wrestling--'s Women's Champion.

Pretty damn proud of it.

Cole: The tournament to win the King of the Ring crown

had been an illustrious title held by men.

Gene: Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

The King of the Ring.

Cole: A right reserved for men.

Announcer: The 1997 King of the Ring, Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Cole: That was until The Ninth Wonder of the World looked

to shatter another ceiling.

For the first time ever, a woman was set to enter

the King of the Ring Tournament.

Kevin Kelly: Chyna, how does it feel to be

the first woman to enter the King of the Ring Tournament?

Chyna: Well, you know, when I was a little girl,

I only wanted to be a princess.

But now I'm all grown up, and tonight, I'm gonna be a queen.

Road Dogg, you got big brass balls to step

in the ring with me.

Road Dogg: I faced her in the first round

of the King of the Ring Tournament.

I knew that she had the goods to do what we needed to do,

and we had a great match.

Jim: Oh.

Jerry: Oh-ho, man.

Jim: Forearm shot.

Paul: She didn't take a back seat to anybody,

and she was just as big in that timeframe as all of us.

Jerry: Look at this.

Jim: DDT.

Jerry: Whoo-hoo-hoo.

Paul: If she got the ring, she might whoop Road Dogg's ass

for me, and people didn't question it.

Jim: Chyna mocking the Road Dogg.

Road Dogg: She had hit me with several low blows before.

Jim: Oh, you can see what's coming here.

Oh, the shot and she hurt her arm.

Jerry: Huh?

Jim: What the hell's that about?

Road Dogg: That was the infamous, "I came prepared."

She hit me with a low blow from behind.

I pulled out the metal cup.

Jim: Oh, the Road Dogg.

Jerry: What?

Jim: He's got a protective metal cup.

Road Dogg: We had a competitive match.

Jim: That'll be all.

Jerry: You can't do that to a lady.

Jim: The leg is hooked.

Jerry: Stop.

Road Dogg: She could have beat me.

People wouldn't have batted an eye

because that's how believable she was.

Jim: You've got a hand it to Chyna for the effort,

for her guts.

Cole: There's no question that Chyna was an icon both

in and out of the ring.

Her appearance on late-night talk shows.

Conan O'Brien: Chyna Fitness-

Chyna: Yeah.

Conan: -is available, uh, right now.

Chyna: Are you gonna try this?

Conan: Yes.

Cole: And various entertainment outlets solidified her

as a pop culture phenomenon.

The presence of Chyna was something to behold,

and it was only a matter of time before she would grace the

cover of a renowned men's magazine in a moment

that would inspire women everywhere.

Jim: King, look here.

Jerry: Yeah.

Jim: Here's Chyna.

Nothin' could be fina' on the cover of Playboy.

Lita: Chyna had just been in Playboy and was really in a good

stride of just being super proud of who she was and enveloping

all of her power and femininity.

Chyna: You know, I'd worked so many years on my body

and thought that I'd been given a gift that I ran with.

And for so many years, people ridiculed me.

Beth Phoenix: I think she was finding herself

and trying to find her identity.

Chyna: I have fought the odds, and for that,

I believe that I'm a pioneer,

that that's why my guys named me

The Ninth Wonder of the World.

One of the reasons why this was so huge is because

it shows a very strong, sexy, powerful, plenty of woman,

and-and I believe that's me.

Jim: She's earned everything she's-- that's coming her way.

Chyna: When people told me that I was ugly and could never be

Playboy material, well, I guess that I had to prove them wrong.

Jerry: Oh, yeah.

Jim: And you did it, young lady, and we're damn proud of you.

Shawn: There's gazillions of editions of Playboys,

but she was one of a kind.

Chyna: I worked my ass off to get here,

and I am gonna show it in Playboy magazine.

Cole: Never before had a woman served as an enforcer for a male

superstar, but that's exactly what Chyna's role

was alongside Triple H.

But Chyna's constant interference would prove

to be too much for WWE Commissioner

Sgt. Slaughter.

Triple H: Who in the hell do you think you are?

Cole: And at Unforgiven In Your House, The Ninth Wonder of the

World would get a much more precarious vantage point as

Triple H defended his European Championship against Owen Hart.

Jerry: Thanks to Commissioner Slaughter,

she's gonna be locked away like an animal.

Kofi Kingston: With her being suspended above the ring

in a cage, you thought that, "Okay, maybe she's contained."

Jerry: I can't believe they're doing this to Chyna.

If she wants to, she could probably snap that chain.

Jim: Knocks down Owen with a clothesline.

And Owen with the elbow off the top.

Jade: She was presented as a powerhouse, a wonder of the

world, something you've never seen before.

Jim: She is right where she belongs.

Beth: We just hadn't built a woman

like that up to that point.

Jim: Chyna has bent one of those bars.

Kofi: Bend the steel bars just solidified her as the beast

that she was being built to be.

Jim: The cage is coming down.

Why is the cage coming down?

Who lowered that cage?

It was Road Dogg.

Road Dogg: Somebody lowered the cage.

I didn't get a good look at 'em.

It was from the back of their head.

I didn't know who it was.

Jerry: Look at this.

Jim: Chyna-Chyna's being restrained.

The Pedigree, his own hold.

Wait a minute.

No ref.

There's X-Pac.

X-Pac: I got in the middle of it.

Jim: Oh, come on.

No, no, no.

Jerry: Look at this.

Look at Chyna.

X-Pac: That moment, it was brilliant.

It was perfect.

I mean, it blew the roof off the place, right?

Jerry: I knew she could do it.

Cole: During DX's ongoing rivalry

with the Nation of Domination in 1998,

Chyna would quickly catch the eye of one, Mark Henry.

Mark Henry: All I want is for me and you

to go out on a nice dinner.

Cole: Well, what would happen when The World's Strongest Man

and the world's strongest woman had an actual date?

Chyna: Okay, Mark, I'll do it.

Jim: I don't-

Jerry: I can't believe it.

Jim: -I don't believe it either.

Look--

Jerry: Look at Mark.

Mark: Chyna, what's up, baby?

Baby girl?

Mick Foley: My favorite moment is when she begrudgingly went

out on a date with Mark Henry.

Mark: Here are your flowers.

Chyna: Just get this over with, Mark.

Mark: Look, we're gonna have a good time.

I mean, you'll be thanking me by the end of the night.

We get there, man, and, you know, the dancing starts,

and we're having a good time.

Mickie: Sweet dance moves.

That was also the first time you really saw

more personality out of Chyna.

Road Dogg: To see her crack a little, that tough girl's

facade, fans saw a different layer of her.

Mark: Things that I remember the most is me trying to make

her laugh, and she just never broke.

Well, I'm gonna go powder my nose.

I'll be right back.

And these guys decided to heckle her,

and we beat the hell out of those guys.

Jim: Chyna just leveled that guy.

Jerry: Whoa.

Jim: Mark Henry.

Mick: There was a cheer that went up backstage like,

"This is good."

This is everything we love about Sports Entertainment.

Mark: I miss Chyna.

She was really, really a talented woman, and to get to

know her and go on a date that ended up being a disaster.

But it's something that wrestling fans

will remember forever, and I-I'll never forget it either.

Chyna: $1.99, Mark.

Cole: Chyna was undoubtedly a cornerstone of the legendary

D-Generation X and their wild antics.

Triple H: Chyna, show us what you're bringing

to the barbecue, girl.

That is the big stick.

Cole: But as the saying goes, the grass

may be greener on the other side.

And in January 1999, Chyna would make a career-altering decision.

The corporate champion, The Rock,

in an I Quit match against Triple H.

The only way you win is when your opponent says, I quit.

The corporate team.

What the hell are they doing out here?

Jerry: Look at this.

Cole: Kane has Chyna.

Kane has Chyna.

Jerry: Look.

Look.

Triple H: You listen to me.

Chyna was this larger-than-life superhero that could fight

anybody and that could win.

Jerry: Don't do it, Triple H.

Speaker 1: Either you quit or she goes for a ride.

Triple: Okay, all right, all right.

You win.

All right.

I quit.

Jerry: What?

Cole: Triple H said I quit.

Triple H: Put her down.

Lita: Chyna just came into her own, and you could tell from the

crowd all they wanted was more.

Jerry: What--

Cole: No.

Jerry: What?

Cole: No.

What the hell?

Chyna-

Jerry: What?

Cole: -just delivered a low blow.

Beth: Truly, the first thought that came to my mind was,

"Is this- is this happening?"

Cole: What the hell?

Triple H can't believe it.

Chyna, Chyna, Chyna has turned her back on Triple H.

Kofi: Seeing Chyna turn on DX was shocking,

but at the same time was her kind of breaking free.

Cole: Chyna has joined The Corporation.

Peter: It's one of those holy moments,

and the crowd doesn't quite know what to do.

Cole: I can't believe it.

"The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna has left DX.

Jerry: What a night.

Cole: Heading into the 1999 event, the Royal Rumble

had been around for over a decade.

In all previous 300-plus entrances had been men,

yet Chyna did the unthinkable that would redefine

Sports Entertainment as we know it.

Cole: Number 30 on the way.

Making WWF history, The Ninth Wonder of the World,

the first woman ever to enter the Royal Rumble match.

Beth: She walked to the ring with a purpose.

I'm going to go for the biggest, strongest man in this ring,

and that is Mark Henry, who is a legitimate Olympian.

Jerry: Look at this.

Cole: And Mark Henry, now.

Chyna taking it to Mark Henry.

Mark: I'm trying to be a gentleman.

She took my kindness for a weakness.

Jerry: Oh.

Cole: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Mark: Chyna was different.

She sets the standard very high for women's wrestling.

Cole: And there goes Mark Henry sent over the top.

Vince: Oh, no.

Jerry: Sweet Jesus.

Cole: Has been eliminated by Chyna.

Vince: How did she do that?

Jade: It showed that women can go out there and take on

a man too, and create something new

for the women's world of wrestling.

Jerry: I can't believe it.

Jade: No one's gonna be the next Chyna.

She's a legend.

Jerry: Oh.

Cole: There goes Chyna.

Jerry: Man.

Cole: The Rattlesnake doesn't give a damn

if you're a man or a woman.

And now we've reached our number one moment.

By 1999, Chyna had dominated the squared circle

like no woman had done before.

This was much to the dismay of Intercontinental Champion,

Jeff Jarrett, who had been openly berating women.

Jeff Jarrett: You see, Chyna, I'm telling you for the last

time that the place for a woman is in the kitchen,

barefoot, pregnant.

Cole: His chauvinistic ways would ultimately lead

to a first in WWE, a good housekeeping match

for the Intercontinental Championship on the line.

Chyna: You couldn't stop me from getting

in the ring with Jeff Jarrett.

Jeff: Because I'm gonna beat you with every household

appliance known to woman.

Jim: The intercontinental title on the line

in a first-ever good housekeeping matchup.

Jerry: Whoa, man.

Jeff Hardy: When you looked at her and then looked

at Jeff Jarrett, it was ahead of its time.

Jerry: I can't believe it.

Jim: Very impressive move by Chyna.

Jeff: To say it was revolutionary doesn't really

put it into words accurately.

Jim: She says she's the most dangerous woman in the world.

Mick: They literally hit each other with everything,

including the kitchen sink.

Jerry: And the kitchen sink.

Ooh.

Jim: The kitchen sink.

Jerry: Oh, no.

Jim: Oh, the low blow.

Jerry: Oh, no.

Look out, Jeff.

Jim: Oh, man.

Mickie: She hit him with that guitar so hard it went flying.

Jim: It's going to be over right here.

Jim: Chyna, the first woman to become

the Intercontinental Champion.

Mickie: To go and then win a belt that was only held by men,

I think it was groundbreaking, and it was empowering.

Paul: It was a paradigm shift of the thinking of how people saw

women and women of power

and what women could do with that power.

Jeff Jarrett: That night in Cleveland,

history was truly made.

Jim: Chyna has made history.

The first woman to wear Intercontinental gold.

Cole: As evidenced by her numerous accolades,

it is abundantly clear that Chyna is nothing short

of a true trailblazer.

That'll do it for this edition of WWE's Greatest Moments.

We hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane,

recapping the incredible career

of "The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna.