MARKETING CHYNA

Chyna is one of wrestling's most popular and loved superstars of any gender. She broke down more barriers than any other wrestler and changed history not only in sports but in television forever. She was someone who very few thought would be a success, but she quickly showed everyone just how extraordinary she really was. She made the WWE, New Japan, VH1 and Playboy companies millions of dollars each and became the most marketable female in wrestling.

In 1997 Chyna was just making her way to the big time. After a year of making her way to the top of women's wrestling and nearly six months of trying to convince the WWE's Chairman Vince McMahon that Chyna could make him a lot of money, Vince allowed Chyna to appear in the WWE as Triple H's bodyguard. Still Vince McMahon and the WWE officials were not sure how to market a woman with a muscular build as Chyna had. Chyna was not expected to be a success. She was brought in as a monster, an enforcer and after her first live television appearance, everyone was talking about the woman known simply by one name, CHYNA!

Over the course of the next few months Chyna's role in the WWE increased and Chyna's physicality was greatly show cased on every WWE show from Raw is War to the WWE's monthly pay per view. All of a sudden, Chyna became one of the most marketable women in wrestling.

As her popularity increased so to did her role with the WWE. Chyna soon went from being the silent body guard who helped Shawn Micheals and Triple H win their matches with a body slam or massive right hook to a woman who was an equal athlete to the men she fought.

Her debut WWE match was in 1998 when Chyna and D-Generation X took on the Legion of Doom and Sunny in a six person inter-gender match. Chyna's skill and power was put on display in this match, but it wasn't until 1999 that Chyna would go from being a bodyguard to a full fledge wrestler.

Chyna's debut as a singles competitor occurred in January 1999 when Chyna took on Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco in a two on one match. Although Chyna was already an extremely popular character and was extremely well marketed for her role with DX, this match was more than a history making moment in wrestling, it was Chyna's time to prove to the WWE writers and officials that she could indeed put on a convincing show against some of the top performers by herself. Chyna won the match, but more importantly she showed the WWE fans and powers that be, that she could indeed wrestle. It was this match that led Chyna to receive a bigger push than any other female athlete in the WWE had ever received.

In 1999 Chyna qualified for the WWE Royal Rumble and became the only female to compete in the Royal Rumble tournament. But backstage bigger changes were happening. Chyna was about to be become a force on her own and wrestling history was about to change.

Storyline called for Chyna to break from D-Generation X and play a villain. In February she became the first female in sports history to compete against a man on Pay Per View. Chyna's win at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre Pay Per View was more than a win, it was once again proof that she could put on a convincing match against a man and could be taken seriously being billed as an equal fighter.

By June Chyna was one of the most wanted stars in wrestling, everyone from WCW and ECW to the indy federations wanted a piece of Chyna, but Chyna stayed with the biggest organization, the World Wrestling Entertainment and was about to break through the glass ceiling once and for all. She qualified for the 1999 King of the Ring and became the first female to compete in the King of the Ring tournament. In October Chyna became the only female Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion in history and went from being one of wrestling's top villains to one of wrestling's greatest heroes.

By the time the new millennium rolled around, Hollywood came knocking on Chyna's door in addition to her weekly WWE appearances Chyna was appearing on countless magazine covers and television shows. This forced the WWE to change her marketing image slightly from an emotionless butt kicker to a more emotional female, who always had a smile on her face but was still a force to be reckoned with against all the men.

By the summer of 2000 Chyna had already been on the cover of "TV Guide", "Newsweek" and "Raw Magazine" along with appearances on various shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Pacific Blue", "Third Rock From the Sun" and "Entertainment Tonight". She also starred in her first made for TV movie, "Alien Fury" and won the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship for the third time in her career.

By the end of the summer Chyna's merchandise sales were through the roof, everything from T-shirts, posters, trading cards, pool cues, bowling balls and magazines were selling out everywhere. It was the announcement of Chyna's appearance in Playboy that thrusted her further into the mainstream.

Chyna continued to compete the men on WWE television, appearing in the 2000 King of the Ring tournament and appearing on every WWE television and pay per view show. By the time Chyna's "Playboy" came out, she had already been on dozens of television talk shows and sitcoms. Chyna made history yet again by being the most muscular woman in Playboy and her issue became the number one best selling issue in the magazines history at the time. (Today Chyna's first Playboy ranks in the top 10 of the best sellers).

The WWE wasn't about to stop profiting off of their biggest money maker of the year, Chyna's next project was a home fitness video, "More Than Meets the Eye", the 45 minute VHS was released around the world and quickly sold out at video stores around the nation and fans showed up by the thousands at autograph signings for the chance to meet Chyna in person.

The year 2000 made Chyna one of the best selling professional wrestlers in history and the most successful female star. In 2001 Chyna was given time off by the WWE to promote her new autobiography, "If They Only Knew" which reached number 2 on the New York Time's Best Seller List in under two weeks. She began appearing all over television including, "The View", "Entertainment Tonight", "E! News", "Howard Stern" and dozens of other shows.

In April Chyna won the WWE Women's championship and in June Chyna and the WWE parted ways after being released upon finding out her real life boyfriend, Triple H had been secretly dating Vince McMahon's daughter. Chyna left with as the WWE women's champion and fans around the world were shocked and devastated by the release of the most loved female sports athlete and Hollywood star in the world.

Chyna decided to take on the world of Hollywood and take her previous fame as far as she could go outside of the world of wrestling. Her first appearance after parting ways with the WWE was on UPN News, followed by a major appearance on "Larry King Live" and "MTV Cribs". Chyna became the host of TNN's "Robot Wars" and American Movie Classic's "Tough Guys" series. She also made multiple appearances on "Entertainment Tonight", "The Combat Zone" and "Tracker". Chyna's first post-WWE movie role was as a supporting star in "Frank McKlusky CI" followed by two cameos in "On The Line" and "Brown Sugar". Chyna continued to make personal appearances at various award shows, autograph signings, collector shows and
multiple television appearances.

It was her 2002 appearance in "Playboy" that showed Chyna still had a great deal of marketability selling over a million copies making it the number 5 best selling issue in the magazine's history at the time (Today her second issue ranks in the top 20 of the best sellers).

In early 2002 Chyna was approached by hall of famer and world wrestling icon, Antoni Inoki to appear in his wrestling organization, New Japan Pro Wrestling, which is the largest wrestling company in Japan. Chyna agreed and began training in judo and mixed martial arts under the guidance of Antoni Inoki and Justin McCully day in and day out. Chyna made her first New Japan appearance as a referee, mixing it up with the guys and above all else making history by becoming the first female to appear at the Tokyo Dome in Japan history.

By the summer of 2002 Chyna's training was complete and Chyna prepared for her first real mixed martial arts fight against the Female Japanese Golden Glove holder, Chika Nikarmarna, who held every major female boxing championship in history. That particular night Chyna was on notice not only by the fans but by every wrestling promoter who wondered if the woman who was billed as the toughest female fighter in the United States would be able to pull off a win in a real fight against a woman who had trained in the sport for years.

Right as the bell sounded, the MMA match started and Chika scored a quick single leg take down on Chyna, but before she could mount and sustain offense, she was met with a devastating right hook courtesy of Chyna. Chyna then landed a few well placed kicks on the shoulder of Chika and began to "ground and pound" Chika. Chika tried to fight back but Chyna's strength and power was overwhelming and Chyna began humiliating the female gold glover with take down after take down. A solid right punch to the jaw of Chika was enough to knock her out and score a victory for Chyna in the first round. From that point on Chyna became the most talked about female star in Japan.

By August Chyna was ready to start taking on the guys in professional wrestling style matches. Chyna secured win after win against some of the top wrestling icons in the sport today including, Tenzon, Tanashi, Jushin Liger and Chono. She became the only female to fight men in New Japan history and the only female to qualify and compete for the tag team championship. Word of Chyna's success made it back to the United States and she became a frequent guest on the Fox Sports Network

New Japan began marketing Chyna as the WWE did in the early years, as an emotionless amazon who would knock down anyone who stood in her way. The marketing gimmick was even more successful than any other marketing gimmick by New Japan since most Japanese people had never seen any woman as muscular as Chyna.

Chyna went main stream in Japan as she had done in the United States and was featured on the cover of nearly every magazine in Japan. She competed against Chono in one of the greatest matches of her career at the October 14,2002 Tokyo Dome Show, making history and showing fans just what a great entertainer she was.

Back in the United States Chyna was being marketed by her press team in a much different way, while over in Japan she was being marketed as a villainous fighter, back home she was being billed as who she really was, a funny, soft spoken, caring woman with a lot of talent.

She was featured in two Layne Bryant Fashion Shows, a Playboy Documentary and as a supporting star in a brand new TV-Movie, "Hunter Back in Force" as well as two episodes of the highly popular E! shows, "Rank" and "High Price of Fame".

Chyna went back to Japan in Nov. 2002 for her final in ring wrestling performances. She competed in two tag team championship matches, before joining forces with former on-screen enemy Chono in a tag team match where she forced her opponent to submit to her STF submission hold.

Chyna returned home to the United States and continued her Hollywood career, but real life relationship problems would force Chyna to take several months off and would 1change her life forever.

Chyna's focus soon went from marketing herself and her career to saving her own life after reportedly being nearly beaten to death by her then live in boyfriend. News agencies around the nation started talking about Chyna's relationship. She soon began developing deep depression and rumors began to circulate that Chyna had developed a drinking problem, statements that Chyna would later deny.

Having had enough pain and drama in her life, Chyna decided to re-gain control. Chyna began seeking professional help from various therapists and councilors and was able to walk away from her abusive relationship.

By summer of 2005 Chyna and her new team of agents and managers began re-marketing Chyna as a serious Hollywood contender. Chyna appeared at several A-list charity events and landed the biggest movie role of her career as the star of a SCI-FI comedy, "Illegal Aliens" along with Anna Nicole.

The film wrapped production in late 2005 just in time for Chyna's big 2006 television return to VH's "Fame Games". Although Chyna did not win she made it to the top five. After her appearance on "Fame Games" she landed yet another movie role with Faye Dunaway and Jolie Fisher in "The Cougar Club", the story of two men who go searching for older women to romance.

Shortly after finishing production of the film Chyna's past began creeping up on her and she fell back into an emotion tail spin, feeling overly depressed.

Chyna tried to put the emotions a side and kept making personal appearances on radio shows such as "Howard Stern" and "Opie and Anthony" but depression problems put a major halt to her career.

Relief came for Chyna in mid 2007 when VH1 approached Chyna and her management team with a new show called "Celebrity Rehab". Although Chyna publicly denies being an addict, she did agree to do the show and got relief from her major depression once and for all. For the first time Chyna decided not to focus on marketing or her public image and bravely agreed to have her depression recovery documented along with seven other celebrities.

After appearing on the show Chyna continued to see a therapist for depression and reportedly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was brought on from a childhood rape and abuse.

Chyna soon developed a healthy mental state and was able to focus on her career once again, appearing on "Entertainment Tonight", "The Insider" and "Chelsea Lately". She also began taking her fitness to a whole new level for one of her biggest projects in recent years. Chyna re-shaped her body yet again and looks better now than she has in nearly nine years. Chyna and her management team began a whole new marketing campaign. Turning Chyna's image from menacing female fighter to high fashion model. Chyna enlisted the help of her friend and top fashion stylist Emilio O for the project. In April 2009 Chyna released a new high fashion book, "Paper Doll" featuring hundreds of gorgeous photos of Chyna.

Chyna's future plans include continuing to work in the film and television world along with a new cosmetic line, fashion shows and many upcoming music video appearances along with possible guest appearances with the Inoki Genome Federation in a non physical role. The future for Chyna and her fans look bright and with a whole team of A-list managers, agents and a brand new official website, 9thwonderoftheworld.com Chyna looks to be unstoppable at achieving all of her goals.