Former WWE Star Shad Gaspard Posted Touching Video With His Son Days Before Riptide Incident
Shad Gaspard loves spending time with his son. On Instagram, the former WWE star posted a video of [...]
Shad Gaspard loves spending time with his son. On Instagram, the former WWE star posted a video of him and his son walking along the beach. He also posted a series of photos of his son, who is 10 years old. In the caption, Gaspard wrote, "Love the life I built for my self and my family."
Gaspard posted the video and photos on May 6, which was days before he went missing. On Sunday, Gaspard and his son were swimming at Venice Beach when they got caught in a riptide with other swimmers. Lifeguards went after the group, and when they went after Gaspard, he reportedly told them to save his son first. Officials have been searching for Gaspard since Sunday evening, and it has led to a number of current and former WWE stars showing their support. Officials suspended the search on Tuesday morning.
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The fact Gaspard made sure his son was safe shows the type of person he is. However, it's not a big surprise considering he stopped an attempted robbery in 2016. That incident happened at a gas station in Florida. Gaspard was with his former Cryme Tyme tag team partner JTG, and they stopped a gas station after the show. Gaspard went inside to get something to drink while everyone else stayed in the car. A guy approached Gaspard telling him to buy him a beer while pulling out what appeared to be a gun. Gaspard told Pro Wrestling Sheet at the time he got in the guys face, which led to him backing down.
But Gaspard wasn't done. Afraid the man was going to rob the gas station, Gaspard forced the gun out of man's hands, slammed his head into a door and got him into a rear-naked chokehold. JTG saw what was going on, which led to them calling the police. At that point, it was discovered the weapon the robber had was an air-soft gun. "I thought it was a real gun the entire time and honestly, I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," Gaspard said to Pro Wrestling Sheet. "I just kept thinking about how I wanted to make sure I got home to my son."
Gaspard started with WWE in 2003 as he was part of its developmental promotion Ohio Valley Wrestling. He made his WWE debut in 2006 with JTG. They were released in 2007, but returned in 2008. Gaspard was with WWE for two years before being released again in 2010.