The wrestling world will forever mourn the loss of Shad Gaspard, but Da Pope Elijah Burke has put something very special together to commemorate his late colleague.
The inaugural Shad Gaspard Memorial Cup will take place on April 20 in Jacksonville, FL with eight men competiting in the tournament which includes Gaspard’s Cryme Tyme tag partner JTG. Also competiting in the tournament are the following names:
- KC Navarro
- Kenny King
- Jay Rios
- T.I.M.
- Thom Latimer
- General Obazo
- 3Prince Agballah
AEW star and WWE Hall of Fame Mark Henry will be in attendance to honor Gaspard.
“We Loved Shad. I loved Shad. I’m there.”
“We Loved Shad. I loved Shad. I’m there.” -Mark Henry
On 4-20-24 we honor a Dad, Son, Brother, Friend, Mentor & Hero. This night 8 men will enter beast mode as we honor WWE Hall of Famer Shad “Beast” Gaspard.
1 Night
1 Cup
8 Men
Who will be The One?https://t.co/Zmg0wJayny pic.twitter.com/1POKIK8oso
— Love-Alive Charity (@lovealiveinc) March 20, 2024
All proceeds from the event will go towards Burke’s Love-Alive charity, whose mission is to “improve the quality of life to less-advantaged individuals, families and communities through humanitarian effort and charitable donations in Jacksonville, Florida and surrounding areas.” You can donate or purchase tickets at the Love-Alive Charity website.
Shad Gaspard Died A Hero
Gaspard will forever be known to put his son Areyah ahead of himself. On Sunday May 17, 2020, Gaspard and Areyah went to Venice Beach and both were caught in a rip current. When a rescue team came to pull them to safety, Gaspard made certain that Areyah went first telling, rescuers to “take my son.” However, Gaspard got pulled by the current and tragically drowned, with his body being found days later. Gaspard would still wrestle from time to time, but really took a focus on a career in Hollywood, even writing a wrestling television pilot “PinFall” that was getting a lot of eyes on it. He called it a series a tribute that all his fellow wrestlers had gone through.
#PINFALL
Series Synopsis
Professional wrestlers battle their personal demons while the new female CEO of their organization struggles to rebuild the business. It's high stakes in a world where nothing is real, everything hurts, and you can't trust anyone. #WWE #AEW #ROH #NJPW pic.twitter.com/c3ciQ8Kwum— Shad Gaspard (@Shadbeast) June 11, 2019
Shad Gaspard was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2022 being the recepient of the Warrior Award.
