Sunday, August 16, 2015

WHO IS THE REAL CHYNA?

NOTICE: The following article is an opinion editorial by the admin of alivingwonder.com and not necessarily the opinions of anyone else.

I try to avoid internet rants, negativity and battles online for several reasons, number one I don't have the time. Number two, I don't have the energy and generally don't care about the opinions of negative people who try to bring others down simply out of spite but I am not remaining silent regarding the latest gossip about Chyna.

As many people are aware a rumor was started last week by someone on twitter that Chyna "crashed" Roddy Piper's funeral and was "out of control" at the funeral, nearly attacked Triple H and was almost taken down by WWE security. Of course EVERY part of this rumor was an utter lie. Chyna released a statement online saying it was a lie, Roddy Piper's family released a statement saying it was a lie and several other people at the funeral also confirmed it was a lie. In fact the ONLY person who said that rumor was true was the same person who started the rumor and was NOT actually at the funeral!

Now I'll admit I was not at the funeral either as I am not famous nor a friend of Roddy's but the reports from people ACTUALLY at the funeral, including an OFFICIAL STATEMENT from Roddy's family said that Chyna was invited, Chyna has been a friend of Roddy's for years and that Chyna was very much "under control", did not try attacking anyone. The reports from people there went on to say that Chyna did go up to Triple H but not to attack, yell or throw a fit but to talk to Triple H at the very end of the funeral to apologize for any hostilities that may exist and wish him the best.

Now I am not going to get into the blame game involving Triple H and Chyna. We all know they were at one time together and no longer are. I was not present when they broke up or in any part of their lives ever, so I feel commenting on their personal relationship would not appropriate for me to do. However the fact that Chyna went up to him attempting to make amends shows she is truly trying to make peace with her past.

We all know Chyna has had struggles, and lets be honest who among us has not, the difference is that most of our struggles get to stay private where as Chyna's struggles were played out and sometimes exaggerated by the tabloids. Today however Chyna is a much different person and she is attempting to change her public perception and show the world she isn't the out of control person she was once portrayed to be.

As a Chyna supporter, and someone who has been a supporter since she first became a mainstream celebrity in the early 90s I can say I somewhat know the real Chyna. I watched Chyna go from being an unknown, to an internationally loved celebrity from her days in the WWE and New Japan to her days in Hollywood and yes Chyna like all of us has fallen from time to time. However I have always seen the beautiful side to her (and I don't just mean her looks, although she is today and always has been a beautiful woman).

I have seen Chyna, even through her darkest times always try to give back to the world from charity events, to monetary donations Chyna has always gone out of her way to give. I remember just over a year ago someone from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Japan sent me a private message to this website telling me how much the church had benefited from Chyna being in the church. The person went on to say Chyna was "kind hearted" and very loved by everyone there. At the time I decided not to post the letter because it contained names of several church members who were friends of Chyna's and I did not want to post private information without speaking to the people first.

Many years prior to that I had also spoken with Chyna via e-mail right before the release of her book, "Paper Doll". Her e-mail was given to me by the project director of "Paper Doll". To my surprise Chyna responded to my e-mail, we exchanged e-mails many times over and Chyna was very nice to me, although I was aware of several personal issues she was going through around that time Chyna was still very pleasant to communicate with and never made it seem like an inconvenience to communicate with me. Every time I hear a fan's story about meeting with Chyna (no matter what she was going through at the time) they all say the same thing about her being nice, kind hearted and humble.

I started to wonder why the wrestling gossip websites never posted this. I mean the reports from people meeting her is actually verifiable news. Most wrestling gossip websites will always, without even checking sources post any gossip that comes their way, yet when it's actually good, REAL news it is never posted. I understand gossip, especially celebrity gossip is fascinating to some people but why would these so called wrestling news websites, many of them with zero credibility post defaming gossip before verifying that any of it was actually true? Now before I get tons of e-mails there are SOME very reliable wrestling NEWS websites out their (wrestling observer, diva-dirt, gerwick, etc, etc). There are editors like Bill Apter and the editors of Diva Dirt who do a VERY good job of covering stories, labeling gossip as gossip and checking sources, but there are many who will take a story and run with it no matter how crazy it may seem just to have a story.

I remember many years ago talking to one of Chyna's managers on the internet, it may have even been her current manager, although I truthfully can't remember which manager it was but he and I talked about the gossip websites and he told me that he and Chyna had a favorite saying at the time, "a lie can make it half way around the world before the truth ever got it's pants on" and I see that continuing to be true time and time again. It's one thing to not check your sources if someone tells you about an appearance (although you still should), it's another thing entirely to post defaming stories online from people who are not official sources without checking your sources. It wasn't just this latest funeral story that I have seen be posted on the internet without being true there have been many others that were so far from the truth but presented as fact. Imagine that happening to you and think to yourself, "would I want a false story about me posted?" Check your sources and hear all sides to the story before running any story that may be defaming.

Some people have judged her for working with Vivid, which I don't understand because Chyna did NOTHING wrong by working with Vivid. She did not commit any crime, did not hurt anyone and brought entertainment to millions of viewers. Maybe adult films are not your favorite form of entertainment, maybe you don't like adult films at all, that is ok. However to see some people portray adult film stars as bad people is not right either. Although Chyna has said she is no longer interested in adult films she has no regrets and has no reason to have any regrets about her work with Vivid. She brought in Vivid a lot of money, paid her bills, paid her taxes and entertained a lot of people.

When the WWE says they wont let her in the Hall of Fame because of her work in adult films I question why. I'll admit I understand wanting to keep the WWE "family friendly" but Chyna's wrestling career has nothing to do with her adult film work. Chyna isn't asking to come on stage and do adult film acting. She asking to be able to accept an award she earned for breaking down barriers in wrestling, giving millions of people a strong role model and revolutionizing the wrestling industry. Who should or shouldn't be in the WWE Hall of Fame should have to do with what they achieved in the WWE, not with what the WWE feels is "acceptable entertainment" and let's be honest the WWE has not been squeaky clean in their company image either.

I look at Chyna's most recent work as a school teacher in Japan, as a member of the LDS church, as a vegan, an animal right's activist, as a woman who overcame unspeakable trauma and I say she IS absolutely an acceptable role model for my children!

Chyna is a good person. Has Chyna made mistakes? Has she said things that she maybe didn't want to say, done things she may regret now? I can 100% answer yes! BUT so have I, so have we ALL. Let's not judge each other for mistakes and instead look at the good people do, look at the life they are living now. I look back at all of the good Chyna has done for the wrestling industry, for the fans, for animal rights, for women, for anyone who dares to be different, for her church, for the children she taught in Costa Rica and in Japan, for charity events and even in her younger years in the peace corps. This woman deserves respect for what she has done, for the trauma she has overcome and for the good things she is about to embark on. CHYNA IS A HERO AND TRULY THE NINTH WONDER OF THE WORLD

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