Abnormally tough for a female. Abnormally muscular and strong. Abnormally willing to wrestle against men.
 

Along the way, she had some plastic surgery to shape her jaw, got some breast implants, and began to look more feminine. She still looked unique, but she was a little easier on the eyes than she was when she first appeared on WWE television. Chyna kept improving her skills, kept refining her look, and earned herself a spot in Playboy magazine. She even became the first woman to win the Intercontinental Title, and the first to compete in the Royal Rumble match. Year after year, Chyna further cemented her place in pro wrestling history.

And then - somewhere amid a flurry of missteps and odd personal decisions and circumstances - Chyna went insane. Completely, flamboyantly insane. She's not just "unique" anymore. She's a freak show. She's downright frightening to watch.

Today, Joanie Laurer calls herself "Chyna Doll." She appears incredibly intoxicated on high-profile TV and radio programs. Currently, as a cast member of VH1's The Surreal Life, she is either drunk, unintelligible, drunk AND unintelligible, or deliberately antagonizing people for sport, depending on what scene you're watching. She's lost a lot of her physique, but for some reason, she feels the need to brag loudly about how tough she is... almost as if she's trying to reassure herself that she's still "got it" when it's visibly obvious that Chyna is a shell of what she used to be.

Evidently, she didn't know when to stop with the cosmetic surgery. Her initial surgeries made her look a lot better, but she's clearly overdone it since we last saw her in WWE. She's got gigantic, unnatural lips to go with her cosmetically shrunken chin.

Always game to mock C and D-list celebrities, the Howard Stern show picked up on Joanie Laurer's life years ago. As she spiraled downward, Stern pounced on her even more, especially regarding her breakup with Triple H and her departure from WWE. At the time, she was reportedly asking for way more money than she was worth, and her current behavior does back up the theory that she thinks she's hot stuff. Her love affair with Sean "X-Pac" Waltman sparked almost immediate domestic problems, ranging from alleged substance abuse to accusations of domestic battery, the most recent of which landed Chyna in jail.

Chyna knows that appearing on Howard Stern is good publicity, which is why she recently did so. The problem is that she was unbelievably messed up on *something* and didn't seem to realize that she was hanging her dignity out to dry in exchange for name recognition. She's getting more publicity today than at any point since she left WWE. You know why?

Because she's on her way to rock bottom, and she's inviting the world to watch. Because she's found out that the media loves a basket case. Because half of these people STILL don't know who the hell she is or why she's famous, but they get one thing: a large, publicly intoxicated woman who strips naked on command and can't string two sentences together without sounding stupid is great television. Joanie Laurer was a part of  WWE during its "Crash TV" phase. Long after she departed from WWE, Joanie Laurer hasn't stopped crashing yet. We'd all be publicly embarrassed to be caught behaving like Chyna does. Hell, I felt embarrassed for her while watching the E! TV broadcast of her Stern appearance.

If we're lucky, it's all just an act because she's desperate for the publicity. But it sure doesn't look like that's the case. It looks like Joanie Laurer is on a rapid decline. I do not exaggerate when I say that I truly think we'll be reading her obituary within the next year if she does not seek help, and quickly.

Chyna wouldn't be the first pro wrestling star to burn out quickly after her career ended. She'd simply be next. But that would be a terrible thing. Every wrestler that has ever died young was a terrible thing. Except usually, their worst moments aren't caught on camera. This time, we're watching it happen.

It's a unique situation for a unique person. But just this once, it is time for Joanie Laurer to aspire to normalcy.

It's her only hope at this point.