Brian Christopher Lawler, former WWE star, dead at 46
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Authorities say former World Wrestling Entertainment star Brian Christopher Lawler has died after attempting suicide in his jail cell. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the 46-year-old son of WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler was found hanging in his cell on Saturday. The agency says officers performed CPR and Lawler was taken to a hospital in Memphis, where he died Sunday.
Authorities are investigating.
Lawler was placed in the Hardeman County Jail on July 7. The agency says he was booked on charges of driving under the influence, driving on a revoked license and evading arrest.
In a statement, WWE said Lawler, "who is best known in WWE as Too Cool's Grandmaster Sexay," competed during the height of the "Attitude Era."
Also Sunday, Josip Peruzovic, the former pro wrestler known for playing beloved villain Nikolai Volkoff, died. He was 70.
His wife Lynn Peruzovic confirmed his death Sunday. She says he has had heart problems, and that when she went to give him medicine he was not responsive.
WWE said Peruzovic was "one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen." He was known for singing the onetime Soviet Union's national anthem before matches and for his tag team alliance with another wrestler known as The Iron Sheik.
The wrestling community took to social media to react to the news of the wrestlers' death.
