If They Only Knew

by Michael Angeli and Chyna

Book Overview

Part feminist, part superhero, Chyna has blazed a trail where no woman had gone before. She has gained the respect of the men inside the World Wrestling Federation, and the world at large. She was the first woman to wear the Intercontinental Championship belt, yet these were not her most significant battles. She has battled her entire life: against a controlling mother; against a scheming father; and against a world with a predetermined view of what...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060393297
• ISBN13: 9780060393298
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: HarperEntertainment
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

learned so much about her

This book opened my eyes into a whole new way at looking at Chyna and the life she had

The ninth wonder of the world indeed

I can say that Chyna is my favorite wrestler of all time,and I can also say that her autobiography was amazing,Most say it is poorly written,But I would say other wise...I found the book to be quite interesting and brought you closer to the WWE diva.It showed you how hard she had it growing up with her mother and father...and How she made her way into the WWF now WWE.She brings you in closer on her careers before wreslting and what it took to become the most celebrated diva in WWE history of her time.She proved she was just as good as the men if not better then most of them.She made you see who the real chyna is...The side we dont see,the side that is Joanie Laurer!!

I loved this book

chyna- joanie Laurer is my new hero and an inspiration to women everywhere. I never thought she was an ugly man looking woman, people gave her alot of crap in the beginning about being a woman with muscles, but she cares about her body and her physical condition is perfect. Joanie was open and honest in this book even about her private life with Hunter. I look up to this woman in the highest respect possible. She worked so hard to get to where she is now and I am very impressed with her. I also have to say that the pictures of her in this book are absolutley beautiful, she was even a beautiful child. I am now devouring all the information on her that I can get. She makes me proud to be a woman in this world of ... men!!!

Chyna: straight scoop on a class act

I have been a WWF fan for 20 years and the "new" WWF has great performers headed by The Rock, Triple H, Steve Austin and of course, Chyna. I just read her book cover to cover last night and greatly enjoyed it. Like Mick Foley's book, Chyna tells her story without pulling punches and as the real person behind the character. Mick Foley's book was great because he told the truth about his life and what being a wrestler was like in the beginning for him and right through his star status. Chyna's book has the same quality. It makes you want to congratulate her on all of her well deserved success, commend her for her honesty and hug her for all she's been through to get where she is today. The Rock's book had him going in and out of character and the book was not very good...there is no 'Rock' but there is a Mick and a Joanie. They are real people and reading about them makes you care about them. Congrats Joanie on a great book and on all of your accomplishments. From the ring to the talk show circuit, Joanie is a class act that can handle herself with honesty and dignity, even the nonsense of a Howard Stern interview. Read the book and find the heart under the muscle and the brains behind the makeup. You won't be disappointed...and that's the bottom line and have a nice day....

If They Only Knew

I tell ya, you will never read a more straight forward success story than this one. Joanie Laurer has been to hell and back and can still smile and be happy. (Hopefully Extememly happy if she and Paul can make it work. I couldn't help not saying that I love fairytales that could come true! And they walked into the sunset happily ever after)Hopefully this will be in the follow up book! Anyway, the story is compelling and the flowing of words just wants you to keep on going. In fact, I read it in about 2hrs not because I am fast reader but I just couldn't put it down. It will make you laugh, at times angry and sad, but just like Joanie did, you just keep on going. Anyone who reads this can find someting in their past that they can relate to. Buy the book it is awesome, she is awesome. When I grow up (I am 32) I want to be just like her. My hero.

Behind Every Chyna There is a Joan Laurer

The third in a string of WWF star biographies (Mick Foley, the Rock), and easily the best of the bunch. Chyna comes across with a mixture of honesty, bravado and vulnerability that keeps the reader glued to the page. She was born into a family that can best be described as putting the "fun" in dysfunctional. Her father was an alcoholic con man and her mother was cold fish whose idea of punishment verged on the sadistic. At the age of 15, after suffering her mother and a series of stepfathers, she would leave to move in with her stepfather, now a recovered alcoholic, but no less of a con man. (He would later get student loans in her name without her knowledge and leave her to pay the bills upon graduation.) A graduate of the University of Tampa, fluent in Spanish, Joan Laurer bounced around from job to job before hitting upon the idea of entering Killer Kowalski's wrestling school. Her memories of both Kowalski and his training institute are both hilarious and, as one who knows Kowalski, right on the point. After finishing her training she works the independent circuit until a chance meeting with Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Paul Levesque, who later became her boyfriend)and Shawn Michaels. (One of the best parts of the book comes upon meeting Hunter and discovering they were both trained by Kowalski.) Helmsley and Michaels envisioned a role for her and convinced Vince McMahon to take her on. Needless to say, it was one of the best moves he made.I haven't really spilled anything because the strong point of this book is not the chronology of her life, but the way she handled adversity and being different. Attempting to come across completely as the swaggering, tough Chyna, she glosses over her academic achievements and her stint in the Peace Corps. But the chinks in her armor reveal her sensitivity, and oversensitivity, and make this one of the more compelling sports biographies published in the last couple of years. I thought it most interesting point that Joan Laurer can only consider herself feminine in the guise of Chyna. "I was meant to be someone else," she says. Perhaps it is true, then, that our capacity for happiness lies in a delicate balance between what chilhood has allowed us and what it had denied us.