The Rock Pays Tribute to Brian Christopher, WWE Star Who Died of Suicide
A post shared by therock (@therock) on Aug 5, 2018 at 6:04pm PDT
On Sunday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson took to social media to share a heartfelt message of love and admiration for his former WWE buddy, Brian Christopher Lawler, 46, who died following a suicide attempt at the end of July.
"RIP brother. Spent all week trying to process the hard loss of my good bud, Brian Christopher Lawler," Johnson wrote alongside the post, which included an old photo of him and Lawler. "He became a great friend the day I stepped foot in the small wrestling territory in the south known as the USWA to start my pro wrestling career."
Johnson talked about all the good times he shared with Lawler, including tracking down gyms to get their workouts in.
"We rode together daily (1500 miles per week), trained together at any gym we could find, ate together at any Waffle House off the highway, wrestled together in flea markets to state fairs, shared motel rooms together, and would always dream (and talk shit;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," he wrote.
Even after the two of them made it big, Johnson noted that nothing changed about their friendship: The pair continued to do everything together - and always had a blast.
"Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6," he wrote. "Our jaws would hurt from laughing so hard. Then we’d finally take our butts to bed, hit the gym in the morning, drive 200 miles to the next town to wrestle and start the night all over again."
According to reports, Lawler was found hanging in his Hardeman County jail cell in Tennessee in July after being arrested for driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license, and evading arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he died the next day.
"I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take," Johnson - who has long been open about his own battles with depression - wrote in the post.
"I’ll miss you man and the times we had," he continued. "Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy."
If you are struggling with depression, please seek professional help or call the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). If you are having thoughts about harming yourself, call 911 immediately or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
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