Chyna's brain to be donated for CTE research
Former WWE wrestler Joan "Chyna" Laurer passed away earlier this month from a believed drug overdose, but prior to her death, her rep said he had been trying to save the star.
Chyna's rep tells Entertainment Tonight that there had been a plan in place for a televised intervention and insists that he had the star's best interests at heart.
"The TV show 'Intervention' offered me the tools and the levity to pull something like that off in just a few days," he explained of his decision to seek out the show's help. "They have the facility, the professionals. They are a machine. That's what they do. We were going to document her intervention anyways because we are in the middle of filming a documentary on her life already titled 'The Reconstruction of Chyna' -- the plans are to release it in 2017.
Tragically the intervention was scheduled within a week of when the athlete and reality star passed.
"Anybody who says we were holding off on getting help to wait for the TV show, is wrong," the rep told ET. "The TV show was speeding things up because of the tools they have."
The plan was to ask Chyna's pals Billy Gunn, Mick Folley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin to participate, though they hadn't gotten the chance to reach out to the wrestlers in time.
Chyna's rep believed she was misusing prescription medicine, saying, "The intervention was for the pills to get her under watch. Two weeks ago I begged her to get under control, and she knew -- she knew she had a problem. We talked about it. I believed she was ready to get help and that's why we were planning an intervention."
The rep also believes that Chyna's relapse could have been brought on by her talks with a new therapist she was seeing, who was digging up past stories of her addiction and her troubling history.
"She was delving into these issues for the first time and it was hard on her," the rep said. "Chyna was getting back in with her family, and it was a lot. Stability just got away from her."
Chyna's brain has been donated to Dr. Omalu for research following her death. Her rep tells ET that the research is surrounding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated blows to the head.
For now, the friends and family of Chyna are focusing on the memorial for the late star.
"We are planning a big memorial celebration with fans, and artists and it'll be amazing," her rep said. "We want to wait for Dr. Omalu's research. We need to wait for answers before proceeding [with her documentary]. We have a lot to figure out."
Back in 1999, Chyna opened up to ET about her one-of-a-kind image and breaking down barriers in wrestling.
"I'm the only female in the federation that gets in and mixes it up with the guys and participates in their activities," she told ET at the time. "I feel that wrestling with the women, that's not -- I feel kind of a separate league from that. It's not what Chyna would do."