Former WWE performer and Celebrity Rehab reality show star Joanie “Chyna” Laurer, who was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital last weekend after friends found her passed out on a bathroom floor following a 36th birthday drinking binge, later said she blacked out after making the mistake of mixing alcohol with new medication.
“I was on some new medication and drank with it … blacked out, hit some glass, and I’m fine. I’m good,” she told the TMZ site. “A few cuts and scratches and that’s it.”
Questions remain, however, concerning the incident.
Laurer, who once was regarded as a fitness fanatic, was so intoxicated she was barely able to speak, and a psychiatric evaluation could not be performed because of the high alcohol level in her blood. Doctors said too many alcohol shots did not mix well with her prescription pills. Laurer was released from the hospital the following day.
Laurer, who left pro wrestling in 2001 to focus on a film career, has had a number of small parts in straight-to-video flicks and has appeared in several reality shows. Laurer had a relationship with WWE star Triple H (Paul Levesque) from 1996-2000 and was engaged briefly to Sean “X-Pac” Waltman in 2003 before their tumultuous relationship ended.
WWE announcer Jim Ross, who helped bring Laurer into WWE during the mid-’90s, commented on her downfall since leaving wrestling in a recent blog.
“I am thankful she is alive after apparently overdosing on her birthday. I truly hope Joanie gets more professional help, the WWE is an option for her, with whatever issues she has and find true happiness in her life. I’m not sure that her kind of happiness is going to be found in Tinseltown.
“Joanie was always so health conscious when she was on the WWE roster and the reports about her issues the past several years have been personally troubling to me. She had many challenges in her life long before she arrived in the WWE which I honestly feel are at the root of her problems today. Nonetheless, I am no Dr. Phil, but I do hope that Joanie gets better and finds a vocation that is personally rewarding to her.”