Three years to the month after her passing in April 2016, former wrestling superstarJoan “Chyna” Laurerwill be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of one of the most influential groups in the company’s history — and her mother says the moment is well deserved.
“I honestly didn’t think it was gonna happen this year. It was just so totally awesome because she is so deserving of this,” Janet LaQue, 72, of Hendersonville, North Carolina, tells PEOPLE of her daughter. “I feel sad that it happened after her death, and she won’t be there to accept it herself, but hopefully she’ll be smiling down on me when I do for her.”
Laurer rose to fame as a member of D-Generation X, the six-member faction that helped to cement the WWE as the premier professional wrestling brand in the 1990s and early 2000s during the Attitude Era. Made up of Chyna, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and X-Pac, their unruly behavior was unlike anything else in the industry at the time.
Yet Laurer’s portrayal of Chyna — D-Generation X’s enforcer — was unique in wrestling in itself, and she became the first female wrestler to win the Intercontinental Championship, and the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble.
“She went after it,” LaQue says. “She did what she needed to do to get there.”
Joan Laurer.Janet LaQue
“I’m very, very proud of her, as my daughter, for having the intestinal fortitude to do that,” she continues. “Joanie was one of a kind, that she broke the barrier in not only the wrestling field but for women across the board.”
Joan “Chyna” Laurer playing cello as a child.Janet LaQue
In the years since Laurer’s passing, LaQue says she finally came to understand the impact her daughter had on the wrestling industry and beyond.
At home, her daughter had a “sweet” and humorous personality, far from the menacing character she portrayed in the wrestling ring, LaQue says.
RELATED VIDEO: Fans and Stars Remember Former Wrestler Chyna Who Passed Away at 45
LaQue will be on hand for the Hall of Fame ceremony at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 6 — the day before WrestleMania 35. While paying tribute to D-Generation X at the event, LaQue hopes fans and the wrestling community will recognize the lasting impact Laurer has left on WWE.
“I hope people remember the road she took, where no female had ever been before, and the guts that it took to do that, it’s phenomenal,” she tells PEOPLE through tears. “I love her. I will always love her, and I hope to God that the day that she’s inducted and I can accept for her… that she will look down on me and say, ‘Mom, I’m happy for you to accept this for me.’ That’s what I hope.”
source: people.com
