Former WWE Wrestler Chyna Died of Accidental Overdose, Coroner Says

REDONDO BEACH, CA -- Former professional wrestler Chyna died of an accidental overdose, according to the coroner's report released Thursday.

The wrestler, whose real name was Joan Marie Laurer, was found dead April 20 at her home in Redondo Beach. She was 46.

Friends became concerned when she didn't answer her phone for several days. She was found unresponsive in her apartment by her manager, Anthony Anzaldo. She had apparently been dead for several days.

The report list cause of death as the combined effect of alcohol and drugs and classified her death as accidental. An autopsy was conducted, but the results were deferred pending the results of toxicology tests, said coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter.

The toxicology tests indicated that she had taken a combination of alcohol and diazepam, marketed as Valium; nordiazepam; oxycodone and oxymorphone, according to the coroner's report.

The report confirmed what her manager told the Los Angeles Times in April. Anzaldo said Chyna died of an accidental overdose of Ambien and a form of Xanax, which the wrestler was legally prescribed and was taking over the course of a few weeks.

The Redondo Police Department initially reported the death as a possible overdose or from natural cause.

Chyna rose to fame in the World Wrestling Federation, later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was billed as the "Ninth Wonder of the World" -- Andre the Giant was the Eighth.

The Times reported in April that Chyna's brain will be examined by Dr. Bennet Omalu, an expert in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. It's believed that repeated exposure to head injuries from professional athletes led to the brain disease.

It was not believed that CTE was the underlying cause of her death.

According to Chyna's website, she got into fitness and wrestling to escape a difficult childhood. She rose to fame in the then-World Wrestling Federation in 1997 by wrestling men and was credited with putting women's wrestling on the map.

She also posed for Playboy, made a few adult films and appeared on the reality show, "The Surreal Life," in 2005.

The Rochester, New York native had also reportedly struggled with drug addiction for years and appeared on the reality show, "Celebrity Rehab," in 2008.

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