Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson paid touching tribute on Sunday to his friend and wrestling colleague Brian Christopher Lawler, a week after Lawler — the son of wrestling legend Jerry Lawler — died in an apparent suicide at age 46.
In a touching Instagram post, Johnson wrote, “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 also detailed their friendship stemming from The Rock’s early days in wrestling, writing, “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.”
The “Skyscraper” star continued, “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 s—;) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE.”
Once the pair graduated to the WWE, Johnson wrote, “nothing changed… we still did everything together. Including having nightly Madden tournaments after our wrestling matches in our motel room and then we’d extend our competitive spirit to a rowdy game of Wiffle Ball. Imagine us acting like crazy Wiffle Ball idiots at 2am in the parking lot of the Motel 6.”
“Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy,” Johnson concluded. “My love, light, support and strength to Brian’s father, Jerry Lawler and Brian’s mother, Kay as well as Brian’s family and friends.”
Citing the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, People reported that Lawler was found hanging in his cell at the Hardeman County Jail on July 28.
“Corrections officers administered CPR until paramedics arrived,” the TBI said in a statement. “Lawler was transported to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis where he died Sunday afternoon.”
The bureau said that Lawler had been in jail since July 7, due to charges of DUI, driving on a revoked license and resisting arrest.
Read Johnson’s full tribute to Lawler below.