Arrested development

No laughing matter: Brian Lawler was arrested Friday for the second time this year by Jackson Police.
Following up on my April 15 post, Brian Lawler was arrested in the early morning hours of Friday, June 26, for public intoxication at a Circle K in Jackson, Tenn. (In my experiences, convenience stores at 3 a.m. only mean trouble.) The Jackson Sun printed the following excerpts from the police report:
Officers were dispatched about 2:45 a.m. Friday to a Circle K store at 1831 U.S. 45 Bypass in reference to an intoxicated person. When officers arrived, they found Brian Lawler, who “was very unsteady on his feet” and had “slurred speech.” Once he was taken into custody, Brian Lawler “became very belligerent,” cursed at an officer and told the officer that once the handcuffs were taken off him, he was going to rip the officer’s head off. The report said Brian Lawler “was taken into custody for his own safety due to his high level of intoxication.”
I was informed that this was Brian’s second incident in the area in as many weeks, as he supposedly was recently hitting on a girl at a Jackson bar, which ticked off her boyfriend, who happened to be an MMA fighter. (Apparently, there’s a regionally based MMA league in the Jackson area—which sounds like the perfect backdrop for a Will Ferrell movie.) The two brawled outside the bar, knocking over motorcycles parked outside the establishment. When the bikers came out, the MMA guys at the bar stooged Brian off, and they beat up him up. Brian was previously arrested by Jackson Police in February for disorderly conduct.
One mutual friend who knows Brian and me says, “It is beyond sad how things are turning out for him and you saw what happened when they tried getting him help.” Another mutual friend says: “My main question for Brian is ‘Where is the bottom for you?’ After losing countless thousands of dollars, your wife, your son, your career, etc., at what point do you realize that maybe you’re not behaving normally? Unfortunately, for some people, the bottom is when the undertaker puts the shovel down. I hope that’s not the path BC takes.”
I was told that Brian was confident that he would be rehired by WWE when meeting with John Laurinaitis at the recent SMACKDOWN! taping in Memphis. Laurinaitis instead reportedly politely brushed him off, claiming he had to speak with Vince McMahon before hiring anyone. I hear Brian didn’t do himself any favors showing up at the tapings in a T-shirt with the neck cut out and jeans with GMS (Grand Master Sexxay) printed on them.
A lot of the boys have trouble adjusting to life after stardom, and, like many of them, Brian’s problems are compounded by his apparent addictions. Emotionally, it’s clear that he hasn’t come to grips that his career on the big stage is likely over at age 37. WWE is not interested in wrestlers in their late 30s, especially one with his problems.
With his reputation for absorbing tremendous amounts of punishment in these brawls and his pattern of erratic behavior, it almost seems like Brian thinks he’s developing a “Loose Cannon”-type persona much like Brian Pillman did. But we all saw how well that turned out in the end for Pillman.
One friend close to the situation claims Brian is “beyond help.” I hope not for his sake.
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