Back when the world was young and I was putting myself through university by working back shift security I worked with a bunch of guys who were big WWF fans. No really, the type of guys who worked back and night shift security were also the type of guys who believed the kayfabe and used to mark out over the rasslin'. I became a fellow traveller and spent many a happy hour watching steroid warriors preening and slamming one another into things. One of the big stars of the time was Joan Laurer, known professionally as Chyna, who was a large woman buoyed by steroids and painkillers who fought the men. It was a freakshow and she always struck me as troubled but no more so than many others. After retirement she battled various addictions with various degrees of success. It seems either her past injuries and addictions or her demons have caught up with her as she is dead at 45.
She joins the long, long list of pro wrestlers who died young, either of screwed up bodies, 'roid rage or suicide. This saddens me far more than I thought it would have.