WWE wrestler Jerry Lawler arrested on domestic violence charges

LOS ANGELES — Wrestler Jerry Lawler, known in the ring as “The King,” has been indefinitely suspended by WWE after being arrested on domestic violence charges on Thursday night in Tennessee.

“WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, and per our policy, Jerry Lawler has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest,” the organization said in a statement on its site.

Lawler, 66, and his girlfriend, Lauryn McBride, 27, were both taken into custody for domestic assault, with each alleging that the other had assaulted them.

According to various outlets, an arrest affidavit says the couple told officers they got into a heated argument that turned physical. McBride said Lawler held her against the kitchen counter, hit her on the head and pushed her against the stove. She said Lawler then placed an unloaded pistol on the counter and told her “kill yourself.”

Lawler, meanwhile, claims that McBride scratched his face, threw a candle at him and kicked him in the groin. He insists that McBride was the one who retrieved the gun.

Both are scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Lawler, who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, has been with the wrestling company since 1992, both as a wrestler and a commentator.

The wrestler was also arrested in 1999 after a parking enforcement officer claimed he ran over her foot as he drove away following an argument over a parking ticket.