Another tragedy in the world of professional wrestling, as Brian Christopher, son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, and formerly known as Grandmaster Sexay in the WWE, has died following a suicide attempt last night in jail. It was first reported this morning that Christopher was rushed to hospital after attempting to hang himself overnight in his jail cell. It appears that Brian Christopher has succumbed to his injuries and passed away, at the age of 46. It ends a turbulent year for the former WWE Superstar, who has battled substance abuse and the law on multiple times, with the latest episode occurring just days ago when he was arrested on charges of DUI and evading police in Tennessee on July 24.
We now have confirmation that Brian Lawler, known in #WWE as Brian Christopher, has died in intensive care after committing suicide in jail.
RIP Brian Lawler.#WWE #Newshttps://t.co/EIAsfZ4qUn
— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) July 29, 2018
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
Trained under his legendary father, Christopher debuted with his father’s Memphis promotion, United States Wrestling Alliance (USWA) in 1988. Initially wearing a mask as Nebula in the tag team The Twilight Zone, he eventually unmasked and became one of USWA’s most decorated wrestlers – upon his departure, he was a 24x USWA Heavyweight Champion and 5x USWA Tag Team Champion.
He made his official WWF debut in 1997 as part of the tournament to crown a new WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, making it to the finals where he was defeated by Taka Michinoku. He would feud with Michinoku over the new title for months, before being paired with another young prospect, Scott Taylor, in the tag team Too Much. Too Much had feuds with the likes of The Hardy Boyz, The Headbangers, Farooq & 2 Cold Scorpio, and Kaientai, even scoring upsets wins over the Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal) on an episode of Sunday Night Heat. But the two much remained the jobbers of the WWF tag team division.
In the fall of 1999, the two were repackaged as hip-hop enthusiasts Too Cool, with Christopher becoming Grandmaster Sexay and Taylor becoming Scotty 2 Hottie. They won their debut match under this gimmick, with a shocking upset of Edge & Christian on an episode of Smackdown. The addition of Rikishi to make the tandem a trio made them into fan favorites, and the two won the WWE World Tag Team titles in the spring of 2000. Sadly, Christopher was released from the WWE in 2001, following an arrest for bringing drugs across the Canada-US border.
Brian Christopher has continued to work on the indie circuit since then, even occasionally making returns to the WWE for appearances – in 2014, following a hotly received reunion with the Too Cool trio on an Old School episode of Raw, Christopher and Taylor reunited for the NXT special NXT ArRIVAL (the precursor to the first Takeover) in February, where they challenged NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension unsuccessfully.
Our thoughts and prayers with the entire Lawler family during this time.
Rest in Peace Brian Christopher…..Way too young…..
— Brian Heffron aka The Blue Meanie (@BlueMeanieBWO) July 29, 2018
Praying for the families of the departed now. Brian was special to me at a really special time in my life. Nikolai and my dad were good friends. Brickhouse and my late brother Brad were close. #RIPBROTHERS God bless the families!
— Brian G. James (@BrianRDJames) July 29, 2018
