DATE:
The face of professional wrestling has changed
considerably over the past few years. A little
over three years ago, the World Wrestling
Federation was suffering from dwindling ratings
and poor ticket sales. At the time, the
company's creative team focused most of its
attention strictly on wrestling matches. And the
women of the Federation held minimal roles as
far as story lines were concerned.
The product has since been given more of an
"attitudinal" characteristic. And, unlike a few
years ago, women have been placed in the
forefront, alongside the male superstars. All of
this has attributed to a more successful
product. The Federation now sits atop the
entertainment industry.
One of the true trailblazers for women in
professional wrestling has been Chyna. I
recently had an opportunity to sit down with
Chyna and ask her a few questions concerning
her career. Chyna entered the Federation
during a lull in popularity. Like many of the other
women in the Federation, she was pushed to
the background, leaving the spotlight open for
the male superstars only. Along with many other
women, Chyna has since been given the
opportunity to shine. The result - a more
entertaining product.
Chyna is very proud of what she has
accomplished up to this point. The female
superstar is very humble, however, she claims a
lot of the credit for the way people look at women
in today's professional wrestling. "I think that I
really changed a lot of people's minds here,"
claims Chyna. "When I was first here, nobody
wanted me here. The last thing the guys would
have done was work with me."
Now, three years later, Chyna has captured the
Intercontinental Championship. Looking back, it's
amazing to see how different the two products
really are. The male superstars today are much
more accepting of Chyna's success than they
would have been had she captured the
Intercontinental Championship three years ago.
"I think they are very supportive of me," admits
Chyna. "I think I'm extremely accepted, and the
guys are great with me. I think that they are happy
for me. They wouldn't want it any other way. I don't
think they look at it any different than if anybody
else would have it. Many of them act as if they
are proud of me."
Chyna knows that being a popular member of the
backstage community is very important to her
success. However, she also knows that getting
over with the fans is what's really important. With
out them, there is no Chyna.
"I think the fans are very accepting of me," says
Chyna. "Three years ago, if one of the guys
would have hit me on television, it would have
been a major media blitz. Now, I'm accepted as
another athlete. I'm so accepted, it's overrated
many times."
Now that the Ninth Wonder of the World has
achieved so much success, she realizes that
many of today's younger women might look up to
her as a role model - a position she never asked
for, but welcomes nonetheless.
"If they look at me that way and it gives them
some motivation and something good to look up
to, then that's great," claims Chyna. "But I never
claim to be a role model. I'm not very comfortable
with being a role model. I think a lot of times, it
gets you in more trouble than good. I'm very
selfishly motivated and I'm doing this because I
feel it, and this is what I want to do. I feel that I am
always more capable than the average woman,
and if people look up to me for that, then that's
great."
Clearly, a great deal has changed both for the
Federation and for Chyna since her arrival. No
longer is the company suffering from a lack of
popularity. And no longer are the women of the
Federation thought upon as secondary
performers. However, to think that both the
Federation and Chyna are content with where
they are presently would be absurd. Over the
past few weeks, both have made strides towards
becoming even more popular. The Federation
has recently gone public. And Chyna has
separated her character from Triple H's, claiming
"I just want a chance to have my own agenda. I
would like to give this a chance for a while.
COMPANY: WWF.com
AUTHOR: Kevin Sulivin