The wrestling industry lost a legitimate pioneer in the industry when former Intercontinental Champion Joanie "Chyna" Laurer passed away at 45. While Laurer was found on Wednesday night in her apartment on Wednesday, news is coming out that she actually died earlier than that.
According to the Chyna's manager via People Magazine, Laurer likely passed away from an overdose on Monday, a full two days before her body was found. While Laurer had not talked to anyone since Sunday, she did send out a tweet on Monday suggesting that she was alive until at least then.
It is currently believed that the overdose was an accident and not an act of suicide.
The overdose is unfortunate, as the star had been trying to put her life back together. Laurer had been battling drug issues in-and-out of public for over the past decade and the former WWE star's condition had worsened recently. It was bad enough that the Wrestling Observer (subscription required) also reported that her close friends had even planned to do an intervention for her soon.
That intervention will never come. Laurer was eulogized by her former co-workers in recent days, including Stephanie McMahon, with whom Laurer had a very public rift with.
Beyond the tweets, it is unknown if WWE has plans to honor Laurer further.
