Former WWE, WCW and TNA writer Vince Russo says he learned of Joan "Chyna" Laurer's passing in a phone call from Kevin Nash. Russo said he wasn't shocked by her death, but he did have a hard time believing it.
"I sat on my couch for two hours hoping Kevin was wrong," Russo said. "When I got on my Twitter feed, and I saw the level of love from her fans, one after the next, I'm thinking to myself 'If only she could see this.' Because I'm telling you bro, she had no idea. I'm reading tweet after tweet and crying because I'm thinking 'If only she could be sitting behind this computer reading what people thought of her,' because there was one thing Joanie wanted and it was to be loved, bro. She didn't know how these people felt about her."
Russo he had several Skype calls with Chyna while she was in Japan that "scared" him because of how "out of it" she appeared. He says Triple H's comments about Chyna not being in the WWE Hall of Fame were "asinine," and came at a time when Russo was scared that she could die "tomorrow." He says Triple H "buried" her on the WWE Network, and calls out The Game for taking cheap shots at Chyna while she was "struggling for her life" halfway around the world. Russo also rips into WWE for preventing her from using the name "Chyna" after she left the company.
Russo went on to say a lot of people don't understand how badly Chyna handled her break up with Triple H, and says she never recovered from it. He says Chyna had an "old-school respect" for others that stems from her training by Killer Kowalski, and never stopped laughing or smiling backstage during their WWF days. Russo says he managed to bring Chyna in to TNA which she thought would be a "second life" for her, but the company released her due to her adult film.
He also reveals that Chyna sent her part of a book she had written where she shares her perspective on her situation with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, and her "turbulent" relationship with Sean Waltman.