In May 2001, Chyna wrestled her final WWE match against Lita for the WWE Women’s Championship at that year’s Judgment Day pay-per-view. She left company at the end of November that same year. There had been various reports on how WWE could let such a huge star go, with rumors and various accounts detailing personal, professional, and financial reasons.

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Between 1996 and 2000, Laurer dated Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who was at the forefront of the company for much of her tenure. The pair initially kept their relationship a secret to prevent people from thinking that Laurer had slept her way to the top. However, the gloves came off after it was revealed that Levesque had entered into a relationship with Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of WWE’s former Chairman Vince McMahon. Laurer claimed that Levesque and McMahon began dating while they were still a couple, and believed this was the reason for why she was taken off of WWE TV until her eventual departure.

However, that turned out to not be true. Laurer’s sister, Kathy Hamilton, revealed that Levesque was very good to her, noting that her substance abuse issues and not wanting to have children ended their relationship. It’s also been reported that she left WWE to pursue an acting career and her breakup with Levesque had nothing to do with her exit. Former WWE commentator Jim Ross claimed that Chyna wanted the same money as Steve Austin to re-sign at the end of 2001, which WWE wasn’t willing to give her. All of these factors contributed to a long-standing rivalry between Laurer and WWE, which she eventually wanted to squash.

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