Laurer was born in Rochester, New York. Her childhood was erratic from the get-go: Her parents divorced when she was about four, and she eventually grew up with three different stepfathers and one stepmother, moving around frequently. Laurer claims in her autobiography that she was kissed by a teacher in seventh grade, around the same time she began purging after she ate. She ran away from home at 16 and eventually finished her last year of high school in Spain.
Laurer majored in Spanish Literature at the University of Tampa, graduating in 1992. She claimed she was raped by two men at a party during her time in school, which also including a stint in the ROTC. Laurer later served in the Peace Corps in Central America, from 1993-1995.
Returning to the States, she held a number of odd jobs: Cocktail waitress/bartender, rock singer, 900-number chat line worker, beeper saleswoman and belly dancer. Eventually, her passion for weightlifting (which started as a teen) took her to professional wrestling at a gym owned by 1950s wrestling star "Wladek "Killer" Kowalski in Massachusetts. By 1995, she'd had her first match, and by 1996, was involved in something of a bidding war between the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) and World Championship Wrestling after meeting WWF performers Paul "Triple H" Levesque and Shawn Michaels after a show.
Laurer made her WWF debut in 1997 as a "bodyguard," billed as "the Ninth Wonder of the World." She played a "heel" or villain, frequently interfering in matches on Triple H's behalf, usually by uppercutting his opponent in the groin at a crucial moment. While in the WWF, Laurer broke ground for female wrestlers: She was the first woman ever to enter the WWF's yearly Royal Rumble event and the first female Intercontinental Champion.
Laurer posed for Playboy in 2000, which was eventually worked into her storyline within the WWF. Eventually, Laurer told The Sun in 2005,
she discovered that Triple H, by now her fianc?, was having an affair with WWF owner Vince McMahon's daughter, Stephanie.
"I found out about it," she said, "confronted Vince and lost my job … I was told face-to-face by Vince McMahon that we would be renegotiating contracts and how grateful he was that I was part of his company and how professional I had been about the whole thing, after Paul and Stephanie had been lying to me. I was then faxed a letter saying I would not be needed for the rest of my contract."