Shad Gaspard was a beacon of light in a dark wrestling world

Shad Gaspard is gone, but rather than mourn his death, let’s celebrate the kind energy that he tried to offer to everyone who he encountered in his life.

If this week has taught us anything, it’s that beyond the lavish eccentricties in the ring that made us all fans, the wrestling world can be dark sometimes; particularly behind the scenes. The Owen Hart episode of Dark Side of the Ring and CZW dramas are stark reminders of that.

Even outside of wrestling, the world in general is darker than its been in a very long time because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As cheesy and overly cliche as this might sound, the easiest thing to do to make someone’s world a little brighter, especially in dark times, is to be kind.

Being kind can go a long way and Shad Gaspard was that bright light for a lot of people.

In the time since his passing, several stories have emerged showcasing his kindness. Kenny King’s first sight upon registering for Tough Enough 2 was a warm smile from Shad. Gaspard helped Darius Carter get into WaleMania. Even outside of personal recollections, let’s not forget that he stopped an actual armed robbery from happening inside of a Florida gas station back in 2016.

The examples run a plenty for Shad’s acts of kindness and every word said about him seems to attest to the idea that he was one of the kindest, most genuine people from the wrestling industry that anyone could possibly run into. Everyone who met him seems to recall Shad to always have had an infectious smile on his face and was a man who welcomed you into his arms with either a hug or sound advice.

Mark Kriegel for ESPN may have put it best when he gave the following words on Shad, “Shad had no mean in him, at least nothing apparent, and none of the fake ego that plagues men who fancy themselves fighters … He seemed to live in a happiness bubble, and to bump up against it was to be happy too. Really.”

Shad Gaspard was much kinder than his size, stature, or profession may suggest. It is no secret that the wrestling industry has breeded several – for lack of a better word – jerks, in front and behind the camera. But Shad was just the opposite.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone who could say a bad word about him and he seemed to make it his mission statement to be a positive beacon of light for everyone he met without a selfish bone in his body.

Even in his last moments, he remained a beacon of light. This time, to save his son’s life.

While swimming with his 10-year old son, Aryeh, at Marina Del Rey Beach in California, a riptide emerged. A rescue team arrived, but Shad guided them to save his child first. The team could not save Shad in time, but Shad spent one of his final breaths to tell the rescue team to “Save my son.”

He lived his life as a beacon of light. The sacrifice in his death was an example of what that light could offer. He will be remembered as that same light and will never be forgotten.