Gunnar Lawless

Name	Gunnar Lawless
Actor	Aleks Paunovic
Dates	???? – 2016 (killed by hellhounds)
Location
Occupation	Professional wrestler
Episode(s)	11.15 Beyond the Mat

History

Gunnar was a professional wrestler for Top Notch Wrestling. He'd been married and divorced multiple times.

In 2006, Gunnar Lawless was desperate to win a wrestling championship title, so he summoned the crossroads demon, Duke, and made a deal for his soul in ten years in exchange for his championship title. As per their deal, Gunnar won the title, but ended up losing it to another wrestler a week later. In 2016, with both the Darkness and Lucifer returned, Duke felt that it was "every demon for themselves" so he decided to collect souls for his own "nest egg." Instead of collecting Gunnar's soul, he offered to call the hellhounds off of him if he helped him. Desperate to avoid Hell, Gunnar accepted Duke's offer. Gunnar began murdering people in each town his wrestling tour landed in, carving an ancient Sumerian symbol into their chests so that Duke could collect their souls.

Episodes

11.15 Beyond the Mat

After Larry "The Hangman" Lee goes too far in a match with newbie Shawn Harley at Top Notch Wrestling's show in Brimson, Missouri, Gunnar breaks up an argument between the two men in the locker room. Harley is offended that the old-timers are sticking together, and leaves after warning Gunnar to keep Larry on a leash.

When Larry supposedly commits suicide that night, Gunnar attends his funeral along with a bunch of other wrestlers. Whilst there, he meets Dean Winchester posing as an FBI agent. Dean tells him that he's a fan and that he got his first breaking & entering charge when he was 10 years old by breaking into a house and using the owner's pay-per-view to watch Gunnar's cage match against The Tower of Power—adding that Gunnar was robbed of the title, to which Gunnar agrees.

As a memorial match for Larry, Gunnar goes up against Hellrazor. Right before the match, Duke shows up and hands Gunnar a small piece of paper. Duke reads it, nods, then heads out for his match to a cheering crowd. Gunnar wins the match after an entertaining show and manages to make it outside afterwards to kill a spectator who had brought his son to the match.

Later that night, Gunnar sits alone at the local bar as the rest of the wrestlers party around him. Dean joins him at the bar and Gunnar hands him a shot as they get to talking about old scars—Gunnar opens up about a scar on his upper arm caused by a drunken fan weilding a beer bottle in 1992, and his stiff fingers which were broken when a fellow 400lb wrestler dropped on top of him. He goes on to say that, despite everything he's been through for the job, he always made a point to keep getting up and fighting.

When Dean gets a phonecall and steps away, Gunnar notices a drunken Shawn Harley stumble towards the bar and demand more alcohol. Gunnar steps in and suggests Shawn slow down, which provokes Shawn into confronting Gunnar about an incident in Fort Worth where Gunnar had gotten Shawn taken off the card. Gunnar explains that it was because of Shawn's refusal to purposefully lose a match to another wrestler called Crazy D. Shawn accuses Gunnar of just not wanting Shawn to outshine him, but Gunnar smugly retorts that he has no worries about that. This makes Shawn snap and punch Gunnar, knocking him to the floor. Their promoter, Rio, rushes over to break up the fight and Shawn goes on to accuse Gunnar of buying drugs—having witnessed Duke slipping Gunnar a piece of paper before the match and assuming he was a drug dealer.

After Shawn leaves, Gunnar gets to his feet and Dean asks him why he didn't fight back. Gunnar tells him that he has "nothing to prove". He and Dean toast and down their shots, Gunnar unaware that Dean had laced his with holy water in order to test whether he was possessed.

Later that night, Gunnar leaves the bar and heads to Shawn's motel room where he kidnaps him and takes him to the empty Trenton Hall. After beating him and tying him to a chair, he ignores Shawn's pleas and apologies as Duke enters the room. Duke tries to convince Shawn to make a deal where he gets his soul and has him work for him in exchange for "Money, women, glory, a big shiny belt". Shawn refuses, deciding that he doesn't want to risk not getting into Heaven. This angers Duke, who kicks over Harley's chair and severs his Achilles tendon before handing Gunnar his knife and ordering him to kill Shawn. Gunnar obeys reluctantly.

When Sam and Dean arrive at the hall, Dean tries to get Gunnar to drop the knife, but Duke appears and throws them against a wall. Duke then orders Gunnar to kill them, and Gunnar goes straight for Dean who he throws about before beating him and tying him to a chair. Dean tries to convince Gunnar not to kill them, but Gunnar insists he has no choice. Gunnar begins explaining to Dean that Duke is a demon, but Dean stops him and tells him that he already knows.

Just as Duke is about to kill Sam, Gunnar stabs Duke in the back with the demon-killing knife, having been convinced by Dean to do the right thing. Sam thanks Gunnar just before Gunnar hears hellhounds howling, signalling that his deal has come due. Dean offers Gunnar his gun to hold them off, but Gunnar refuses, telling Dean that this is what he deserves. Gunnar hands the demon-killing knife back to Sam, and Sam and Dean leave just before the hellhounds break into the hall, presumably dragging Gunnar to Hell.

Trivia

• Aleks Paunovic previously played Boyden's Friend in 2.08 Crossroad Blues & Skinwalker #2 in 6.08 All Dogs Go to Heaven.