Shad Gaspard: Brother, Friend, Hero

My wife, Lorie, and I were eating breakfast when we heard the news. The radio was on in the background, and the following words rang in monotone over the airwaves: “Former WWE Superstar found missing and suspected dead in Venice Beach … We’ll be back in 60 seconds.” That was a hell of a lead-in to a commercial break. I have a history with the business; aside from being friends with some of the boys I used to write for George Napolitano’s newsstand wrestling magazines back in the 80’s and 90’s. From there I became a columnist for “Wrestling’s Main Event” and others. Though my participation was brief, I never stopped watching. I had always respected this business, and the immense sacrifices made by the workers in the name of entertainment. My honest first thought was, Not another one. Lorie asked, “Who could it be?” I was thinking which workers lived near the area when the commercial finally ended and the news report returned. “Former WWE Superstar Shad Gaspard …” I didn’t hear the rest. I stood up in tears, grabbed my chair and threw it to the ground. “No!” I yelled at the top of my voice. I immediately called his tag team partner, Jayson Paul (JTG). Thankfully, he picked up. “Jayson,” I was crying and could barely get out the words, “what the hell happened?” Shortly after Kobe Bryant was pronounced dead, on JanuPhoto courtesy of WWE ary 26, 2020, I was one of several friends and family mem

bers who received the following text from Shad: The text meant the world to me and I told him so. I will always cherish it.

Shad and I hit if off when he and Jaye attended an entertainment industry networking group I used to run in Los Angeles. We were all introduced by Rick Bassman. Shad became close with my family, and I came to love him like a brother. He called me his “He-bro” due to my Jewish heritage, and we lived minutes away from each other in Brooklyn, New York for a time. Only we didn’t know back then.

When I hung up with Jaye, Lorie asked me what happened. “They can’t find the body,” I managed, but it looks like he drowned … saving his son.”

Shad Chad Javier Jesus Roman Chittick Gaspard was born January 13, 1981, the son of Ingrid Chittick and Ben Gaspard. The third of six children, Shad was of Haitian and Curaçaoan descent. He used to tell me his father was an enforcer of street gangs, who taught him boxing at an early age. He initially received recognition as a contestant on WWE’s “Tough Enough,” and was given a shot in Ohio Valley Wrestling’s (OVW’s) developmental system in 2003 where he became a two-time Southern Tag Team Champ with JTG. Both men made their main roster debuts in 2006. Da Beast, as he called himself, stood 6’7” and was billed as 285 pounds for most of his career.

Shad was primarily trained by Al Snow, Rocky Johnson, and DeWayne Bruce.

Our friendship aside, I had long believed Shad and Jaye should have had a run with WWE tag team gold, and when they split Shad was beginning to find himself as a potentially dominant singles heel. His run was too quickly terminated, in my opinion, when he was assigned to return to developmental.

He left WWE shortly thereafter, and networked himself into various acting roles and independent spots. He started a business ... but none of this mattered more than his family.