Jerry Lawler Wanted To Help Brian Christopher Get A Job At WWE Performance Center
Brian Christopher's father, Jerry "The King" Lawler tried on several occasions to help his son and had plans of getting him into a drug rehab before the time of his death. He also encouraged his son to stay clean in hopes of assisting him to land a possible job with WWE.
Dave Meltzer spoke about Christopher during Wrestling Observer Radio where he said Lawler hinted at helping his son get a job at the WWE Performance Center if he could stay sober long enough.
"Jerry had told [Christoper] many times that if you can clean yourself up for a year I'll get you a job," Meltzer said. "You know whether it's a trainer at the Performance Center which is kind of like what he was hinting or something, but 'you've got to clean yourself up for a year.' There would be periods where he would get clean to a degree, but it never lasted a year. I know one of his friends told me a couple of months and another one said that you know, his version of clean — the 'wrestler version of clean' is that he was on methadone and things like that."
Jerry Lawler doesn't drink or use drugs which is a path his son Brian did not choose for himself. He battled addiction for years and it was a catalyst for his downfall. Meltzer revealed he was told by someone close to the situation that Christopher also had a previous suicide attempt years ago.
"I think there was a suicide attempt before that not too many people know of, I didn't even know of until today, three or four years ago," Meltzer said.
Brian Christopher was pulled over at 1:00 am on July 7th after police observed he was swerving and speeding. The former WWE Tag Team Champion was booked for DUI and evading arrest before being held on a $40,000 bond. Lawler was found in his jail cell on July 29th after he hung himself and following being rushed to the hospital, he was kept on life support until he was pronounced dead at 4:40 pm EST.
If you use any portion of the quotes in this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription