Shad Gaspard will be the recipient of this year’s Warrior Award at the WWE Hall of Fame.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported the news in its latest issue, which was officially announced by WWE several hours later.
Gaspard will be awarded posthumously after his tragic death in May 2020.
Gaspard was swimming at Venice Beach with his son when they were caught by a rip current. When lifeguards made their way to the two, Gaspard made sure they rescued his son before him and Gaspard was unable to be saved. His body was discovered several days later.
In 2003, Gaspard signed a developmental deal with WWE and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling and wrestled as Da Beast.
He was paired with JTG (wrestled as The Neighborhoodie) as The Gang Stars, which turned into Cryme Tyme when they were brought to Raw in September 2006.
The two were released in September 2007 but returned to the company several months later on the episode of Raw following WrestleMania 24.
During that stretch on Raw, they were briefly aligned with John Cena and identified as CTC.
After moving to SmackDown in 2009, they had a high-profile program with Chris Jericho & Big Show for the tag titles that led to a match at that year’s SummerSlam at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where Jericho & Big Show retained the titles.
In 2010, they broke up the team and had a brief feud including a match at Extreme Rules where JTG won the match. They feuded for several more weeks, but it didn’t go anywhere for either one with Gaspard released in November.
Gaspard found a new career in acting appearing in several movies including “Think Like a Man Too”, “Get Hard”, “Brothers” and “The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time” that aired in 2018.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently created the Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award to recognize those making contributions outside of the ring. The inaugural recipients of the award were Shad Gaspard, Big E., Sami Zayn, Tracy Smothers, Margaret Stalvey, and Megha Parekh.
Gaspard will be honored at the WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday, April 1st, and joins the class that includes The Undertaker, Vader, and Sharmell Huffman.
