"The Ninth Wonder of the World" Chyna was well-ahead of her time in the then-WWF as an in-ring competitor in the Attitude Era when women's wrestling was viewed as less-than. In a time of bra and panties matches, Playboy-branded pillow fights, and singles matches that barely lasted five minutes if they got on television at all, Chyna oftentimes had to mix it up with the men to be able to show off what she could do between the ropes.Chyna held a singles title only held by men at the time the Intercontinental Championship three times, and even almost had a shot at the WWF Championship, before she ever got her hands on the WWF Women's title. The star was a force of nature who did things women of her time period just weren't getting involved in, like qualifying for the King of the Ring tournament. She was the "first" in a lot of things for women, like being the first-ever woman to enter the Royal Rumble, paving the way for many female stars of today.She only competed in the WWF for around four years, but during that time period, Chyna wrestled plenty of memorable matches against both women and male competitors. We've compiled a list of some of Chyna's best matches which featured some of the most memorable moments of her professional wrestling career, from title victories to WrestleMania moments.One honorable mention that didn't make this list, but should be noted due to her iconic partnership-turned feud with Eddie Guerrero, is her match alongside "Latino Heat" at SummerSlam 2000 against Val Venis and Trish Stratus. The bout was interesting, as the teams competed for the Intercontinental Championship, and it was Chyna to pin Stratus, winning the IC title for the third time.
Chyna's first and only win that earned her possession of the WWF Women's Championship was a victory over Ivory, in her Right to Censor era, at WrestleMania 17. The women were embroiled in a storyline feud for months, after they worked a story where Chyna kayfabe injured her neck off a handspring back elbow during their match for the gold at the 2001 Royal Rumble. Prior to that, the women were already at odds, as Chyna had posed for Playboy, something Right to Censor was not pleased about.Chyna made her triumphant return from injury to challenge Ivory at WrestleMania.She had to sign a storyline "hold harmless" agreement to compete following her injury, and in the contract she signed, Ivory's stablemates were also banned from ringside. The match lasted less than three minutes two minutes and 38 seconds, to be exact and Chyna made quick work of Ivory in a definitive squash match.Ivory shoved the referee away to start off the match and immediately took it to the "Ninth Wonder of the World," trying to keep her opponent grounded. Chyna was able to catch Ivory by the leg and rag-dolled her around the ring, taking complete control of the match from there on out.In the end, Chyna got Ivory up for a powerbomb and had her pinned, but raised Ivory's shoulder herself to continue inflicting more pain. She military pressed Ivory over her head and dropped her to the canvas, lazily rolling Ivory's shoulders to the mat to cover her for the win.The match may have been short, but it was one of Chyna's definitive moments. After competing with the men for her entire career, she was finally awarded the WWF Women's Championship in a big WrestleMania moment.
Chyna's last match in WWE took place at Judgment Day 2001 when she defended her Women's Championship against Lita. "The Ninth Wonder of the World" didn't drop her title, however, as she didn't know it would be her last match before leaving the company. In hindsight, it could be seen as a passing-of-the-torch moment, as the women hugged it out before kicking off the match and again after.Lita was still an up-and-comer, but she was another woman whose talents had yet to be fully realized in a WWE ring. Compared to the blondes of the time like Trish Stratus, Torrie Wilson, and more, Lita was different, and a perfect opponent for Chyna.The challenger proved to be a formidable one and countered Chyna's military press slam into a pin attempt early on. After that, Chyna dominated, hitting Lita with hard strikes and multiple clotheslines to knock her off her feet. Lita didn't stay down, however, and hit a DDT followed by big right hands of her own to briefly gain control of the match.Lita went to the middle rope and took out Chyna with a dive, and the pair battled back and forth. Chyna almost had Lita pinned with a running powerslam, but Lita continued to hold on, until Chyna hit her military press slam. The champion picked up her challenger however, and Lita locked in an arm bar.In the end, as Guerrero looked on at his former love interest from the stage, Lita reversed a powerbomb and almost had Chyna pinned. Chyna reversed a Twist of Fate and hit the powerbomb on her second attempt to retain the title.The Judgment Day 2001 match was Chyna's strongest against another female competitor. It was quite a long women's match for the time, at six-and-a-half minutes, and Chyna helped her opponent look good.
Chyna competed in two WrestleMania matches during her career, and while her victory at WrestleMania 17 was a major highlight as she won her only WWF Women's Championship, her WrestleMania 2000 match the year prior was her first in-ring 'Mania moment, and was slightly better than the squash with Ivory in terms of the in-ring action.She competed in a six-person intergender tag team match and teamed alongside Too Cool's Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty against The Radicalz's Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero. Guerrero had been trying to woo Chyna away from Chris Jericho, who she was accompanying to the ring at the time.The teams wrestled in a fun match that lasted just over nine minutes and 30 seconds, and the story of the match was Guerrero's inability to take his eyes off "The Ninth Wonder of the World." Guerrero and Scotty 2 Hotty started off the match, and Chyna was tagged in shortly after, but Guerrero wanted no part in facing her. Chyna and Sexay hit a big double suplex to Malenko, complete with a short dance break after.Guerrero drove Chyna into the ring post as she stood on the apron and Too Cool fought hard against The Radicalz. In the end, it was Chyna to tag in and take out Saturn and Malenko in an impressive fashion, including two handspring back elbows. She hit a powerbomb and a sleeper slam to keep Guerrero down for the three count.The match may not be hugely important in the grand scheme of WrestleMania history, but it was Chyna's first-ever WrestleMania moment in the ring. The next night would also be rather historic, as Chyna aligned herself with Guerrero after turning on Jericho, kicking off their romance angle.
One of Chyna's most controversial but best WWF matches was her Good Housekeeping bout against Jeff Jarrett at No Mercy 1999. Though the match type bordered on misogynistic and wouldn't fly today, it actually all made sense. Jarrett was putting down Chyna for being a woman, telling her she needed to learn her place in the home, leading to the match type: a hardcore match where all items that could be found in a house were legal weapons. In the end, the strange match would lead to Chyna's first-ever Intercontinental Championship victory.After weeks of bludgeoning each other with various household items, the pair went face-to-face in what ended up being a solid 10-minute match. The in-ring work by both stars was good, and the addition of the ridiculous weapons made things even better. From a sausage off the kitchen table, to a mop, garbage cans, frying pans, a toilet seat, and the actual kitchen sink, the competitors threw quite literally everything they could at each other. Jarrett almost had Chyna with the figure four, getting her in the hold as she was distracted by taking out Miss Kitty with a bowl of cake ingredients.What proved to be the fatal mistake by Jarrett came when he hit Chyna with the championship belt. Referee Teddy Long overruled his victory, having deemed the belt not to be a household item. While Jarrett had Long in a submission as punishment, Chyna smashed Jarrett's guitar over his head and pinned him for the victory.Jarrett told Chyna in the end, she was "going to understand the role of being a woman," but it was the "Ninth Wonder of the World" to get the last laugh when she finally wrestled the gold from Jarrett's hands. It was a historic victory for Chyna and women's wrestling as a whole.
Chris Jericho has publicly said he did not like working with Chyna during their storyline in WWF, but it was Jericho who led "The Ninth Wonder of the World" to what may have been her best pay-per-view match. The pair fought for the Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series 1999, where Chyna proved herself to be a worthy champion.Following the Good Housekeeping match, Chyna issued an open challenge on "Raw" that was answered by Jericho, who started slinging insults at her, calling her "just a girl." The pair would go on to have an almost 14-minute match at Survivor Series, which ended with a top rope pedigree by the champion.Jericho immediately took it to Chyna to start off the match, and Chyna was aided by her valet at the time, Miss Kitty, throughout the bout. Jericho spared nothing against the champion, at one point attempting to choke her out with some camera cables at ringside and at another, driving her back-first into an exposed ring barricade.He couldn't keep Chyna down despite how much of a beating she took both in and outside of the ring. Chyna dodged a lionsault and rallied with her back elbow and a DDT. Jericho nailed her with the IC belt, however, while the referee was down, and almost had the match won.In the end, Chyna was able to escape a Walls of Jericho and when the challenger got her to the top rope, Miss Kitty distracted the ref. Chyna hit a low blow, followed by the pedigree from the top for the victory."Y2J" may not have liked working with Chyna, but that sentiment certainly doesn't show during this bout. The pair worked well together and even bumped well for one another and had a solid bout for the title.
