Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson shared memories of his time with Brian Christopher Lawler on Instagram late Sunday, reflecting on his friend and wrestling partner days after his tragic death at age 46.
Lawler died in prison following complications from an attempt on his own life, as he had been in custody after a DUI charge and an attempt to avoid arrest. The news was a shock to many in the WWE community and came on a week where tragedy and untimely deaths were the norm.
Dwayne Johnson wrestled with and was close to Lawler, especially early in his wrestling career. On Sunday night, he he posted two photos on Instagram — one of the two as young men and another of memorial wreaths — along with a lengthy caption that served as a tribute to the life of his friend.
Johnson said he “spent all week trying to process the hard loss” and chronicled the time they shared together over the years as traveling companions and fellow wrestlers.
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.
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.
Commenting on Lawler’s decision to end his life, Johnson said he couldn’t understand why his friend made that choice.
“Hurts my heart to know how Brian decided to check out.
I never knew him to be suicidal, but I guess sometimes the pain just gets to be too much for one to take.”
Johnson offered support to Lawler’s family and the comments on the post have essentially become a memorial to Lawler as thousands of wrestling fans added to Johnson’s words and condolences.
