Former WWE Superstar Brian Christopher Lawler Dead at 46

Brain Christopher Lawler, former WWE Superstar and WWF Tag Team Champion, died on Sunday at the age of 46.

Lawler's passing was confirmed by both Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer and Wrestling Inc.'s Chris Featherstone.

Just to confirm, Nikolai Volkoff, Brian Lawler and Brickhouse Brown have all passed away. Very sad day for pro wrestling.

— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) July 29, 2018

"According to a source close to the family, Brian Lawler has passed away at age 46," Featherstone wrote. "I was informed that he has indeed passed away, but the family is not ready to release a statement yet."

Lawler was hospitalized on Saturday night following a reported suicide attempt where he attempted to hang himself inside a jail cell.

As the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, Lawler originally wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation from 1997-2001, earning popularity as a member of the dancing faction Too Cool where he was known as "Grandmaster Sexay." He and his tag team partner Scotty 2 Hotty won the WWF World Tag Team Championships on an episode of Raw Is War in May 2000, defeating Edge and Christian.

Lawler was arrested back on July 7 for DUI and evading arrest in Tennessee. His previous run-ins with the law included getting arrested in June for attempting to leaving a Memphis Hampton Inn hotel without paying his bill. Back in 2009 he was arrested on three separate occasions — once for disorderly conduct, once for public intoxication and once for not attending an in-patient treatment center as agreed upon in a plea deal.

Lawler's last appearances in the WWE came in early 2014. He, Scotty (real name Scott Garland) and Rikishi appeared on the "Old School" themed episode of Monday Night Raw in January and defeated 3MB in a six-man tag match. A month later, Lawler and Garland competed for the NXT Tag Team Championships at the inaugural NXT WWE Network live event, NXT Arrival. The two wound up losing to then-champions The Ascension.

Rikishi was named to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015, while Garland joined to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida in September 2016 to work as a trainer.

As for his father, Jerry has made sporadic appearances on WWE television in recent years, usually working as a color commentator. He appeared alongside Jim Ross during the Raw 25 special in January at the Manhattan Center in New York City and was a special guest commentator for the 2018 men's Royal Rumble match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.