Nikki and Brie Bella are mourning the loss of their friend, former WWE star Shad Gaspard who died after getting caught in a riptide at Venice Beach, California, on Sunday. The Bella Twins were on Better Together with Maria Menounos and talked about what type of person Gaspard was when they were all working in WWE. Brie mentioned how nice he was to them were they were on SmackDown.
“Oh my gosh. Shad was one of the sweetest human beings,” Brie said. “You know, at the time that we knew him, we were all on SmackDown... But, I’ll say, Shad was one of those guys who was always so sweet and respectful to women, always made the Divas feel good. He always brought this light into a room.” Nikki said, adding that that it was very rare to see Gaspard angry because he was always very energetic. She also said he would stop by the WWE offices despite being released by the company in 2010.
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“You never saw him not smile,” Nikki said. “You never saw him angry. He literally always lit up the room. Shad was just one of those guys, til the very end, when people were still around him, like he would still stop by the WWE offices!” Nikki also went to Instagram to express how sad she was to hear about Gaspard’s death. What Nikki wrote in her Instagram post echoed what she said to Menounos.
“The time I was around him at WWE I never saw him have a bad day,” she said. “And something I’ll never forget was how he was always for the WWE women, lifting their spirits up, involving them in his matches and storylines and always just being so encouraging to us even when we would come back from our two minute matches. He was always an unforgettable person. And now he will always live on as a legend and a true hero.”
Gaspard started his WWE career in 2003 when he was a member of its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling. He made his WWE debut in 2006 with JTG and they formed the tag team Cryme Tyme. Gaspard and JTG completed for the WWE Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam in 2009 and they had the opportunity to work with John Cena in a storyline. When Gaspard was released from WWE, he appeared on various TV and films before his death.
