Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Dwayne Johnson has paid tribute to recently deceased, former WWE star Brain Christopher who he had a close friendship with during his in-ring career as The Rock.
Christopher, full name Brian Christopher Lawler, died at the age of 46 on July 29. He died by suicide while inside Hardeman County jail in Tennessee where he was being held on DUI and evading arrest charges.
Johnson posted on Instagram Sunday a photo of himself with Christopher taken during the early days of his professional wrestling career. Johnson said he became friends with Christopher after joining wrestling territory USWA.
"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 [expletive];) about what life would be like once we made it to the big leagues of the WWE," Johnson said.
"Once we both finally made it to the big leagues of the WWE, 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," he continued before discussing Christopher's suicide.
"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. I'll miss you man and the times we had. Thanks for being a great friend. Thanks for being my boy," Johnson said.
Johnson also posted a photo of a memorial set up for Christopher that was decorated with flowers.
Christopher is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry 'The King' Lawler, a famous in-ring performer and color commentator. He was best known as Too Cool member Grandmaster Sexay during WWE's lucrative Attitude Era.
Christopher was a WWE Tag Team Champion during his time with Too Cool alongside his partner Scotty 2 Hotty. The pair often teamed up with Hall of Famer Rikishi -- a relative of Johnson's -- and were known for performing a dance routine after winning a match.