Shad Gaspard

Shad Gaspard was an American professional wrestler. Known for his size and athletic ability, he was billed at 6' 7" and 285lbs.

His father, an enforcer for street gangs, who eventually moved into the business of personal security, started training Shad in boxing at the age of five. At the age of eight, he moved into other forms of martial arts, devoting his life to training. At 16, he began prizefighting, often fighting adults over twenty years older than himself, due to his massive size. He held winning records in both MMA and amature boxing. Upon graduating college, he became a bodyguard for notable celebrities such as Mike Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., and P. Diddy.

In the early 2000's, Shad tried out and reached the finals of a WWE reality program called Tough Enough, where the winner of the show would receive a wrestling contract. He was disqualified and replaced though, after failing a physical. However, WWE talent scout Tom Pritchard recognized Shad's potential, and brought him into the developmental leagues nonetheless. He had several successful years of training, and was eventually partnered with another wrestler, "The Neighborhoodie," and they formed a tag team called "The Gang Stars."

When it was decided that The Gang Stars would be moved up from the developmental league, and placed in front of a national audience, several changes were made. First, The Neighborhoodie's name was changed to JTG (supposedly short for 'just that good',) and the team was rebilled as Cryme Tyme.

Cryme Tyme had a lukewarm year, gathering little interest, mostly in part thanks to poor booking by the WWE, and were let go in September 2007.

However, in March 2008, Cryme Tyme returned, this time receiving much more focus and attention, thus making them more popular than the previous run. They began to perform bits with John Cena, whos career was just about to reach the height of it's WWE popularity, but who just a few years earlier, had played a version of himself nicknamed "The Doctor of Thuganomics." It was an instant fit, and the three called themselves Cryme Tyme Cenation (CTC). This is important to remember for later.


Shad Gaspard had all the makings of a top wrestling superstar. He was massive, athletic, charismatic, and black. Cryme Tyme, composed of two black males, was very simply put, "thugface." The characters portrayed were exactly what you would expect if someone were to ask you what an old white man thought about young black thugs. While they were certainly entertaining, and while Shad and JTG had incredible charisma together, the WWE believed the only way to propel Shad to the top was to cut his ties with this thuggish identity. Cryme Tyme was disbanded in April 2010, and Shad, after a brief rivalry with his former tag team partner debuted as a singles wrestler. His last television appearance for the WWE was only a month later, and he was released later that year. JTG wrestled for a few more years under the WWE, also being horribly misused and poorly booked. His final match was in 2103, and he never appeared on WWE television again, even though he was not released from the company until mid-2014.

While both Shad and JTG continued to wrestle for the independent promotions, Shad had bigger goals in mind. He auditioned for the role of Drax the Destroyer, the Marvel character, and was apparently considered quite highly, even though the role went to another former WWE superstar, Dave Bautista.

In 2016, Shad made headlines once again after stopping an armed robbery at a gas station in Florida. A highly intoxicated person (nearly a foot shorter and 100lbs. lighter) approached Shad, brandishing a handgun. Shad quickly disarmed the man, lead him outside, and slammed him into the parking lot, restraining him til police arrived.

In 2018, Shad provided the motion capture for Kratos, the God of War himself. In addition to being a remarkable game, the motion capture displays Shad's athleticism perfectly, but also shows how much he had to offer as an actor.



While he didn't land the role of Drax, he was chosen to play the stunt double for M'Baku for the 2018 Marvel film Black Panther. A clip of Shad and Kofi Yiadom (Chadwick Boseman's stunt double) rehearsing for their incredible fight scene is most certainly worth a watch. These men are truly masters. https://www.instagram.com/p/BfgTSpllsuu/

On May 17th, 2020, Shad and his son were swimming at Venice Beach, California, and were caught in a strong rip current, along with several other swimmers. Lifeguards sprang into action, but Shad instructed them to save his son first, disappearing underwater. The US Coast Guard searched 70 square nautical miles, joined by several other professional wrestlers, including JTG. On May 20th, Shad's body washed ashore.

In the wake of the tragedy, a GoFundMe was put together to help Shad's wife and son, smashing the goal of $100,000. The most notable donation was for $40,000, and was from "CTC RIP." It was later confirmed that it was actually John Cena who made the donation, honoring his friend from their short time spent together. 

Perhaps the saddest part of the whole story was a post made by JTG. In January 2020, Kobe Bryant passed away suddenly. As a prominent black athlete, both Shad and JTG were very affected by it, and had a short conversation. After Shad's death, JTG posted a picture of this conversation, and boy howdy does it sting.

#blm