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The most famous wrestler/actor in the world

Several wrestlers turned towards acting and made a successful career there as well. What is the reason for that? In wrestling, there is enough posing and crafting too when compared to acting. In both cases, you have to face the camera and in acting, you are facing both the camera and thousands of people too, it’s like a stage show where there are no retakes, you have to make your first shot the best one because it’s your last shot too. There have been some most renowned wrestlers that turned into wrestlers, like:

Dwayne Johnson

Hulk Hogan

Jesse “The Body” Ventura

“Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Andre the Giant

Dave Bautista

John Cena

Steve Austin

Kevin Nash

Bill Goldberg

We will today be discussing the most successful man in the above list that made a successful career in wrestling with a huge fan base due to his attractive name and style. This became a ladder for him to climb up and get into the world of acting as well. Today he is known as one of the most successful and respected Hollywood stars. Yes, you are right I am talking about “Mr. Jumanji” Dwayne Johnson “The Rock.” This former $320 million-dollar wrestler is today one of the most successful movie stars and fitness models too.

EARLY LIFE: 

Every successful personality alive today has a struggling story from the past. No one can become great without getting lessons taught by life. Johnson also talked about his early life struggles while talking to The EXPRESS that his family had to evict from their Hawaii home when he was 14. A year later his mother tried to commit suicide by walking into the traffic, this was an incident that made him battle all the depressions. The father to two beautiful girls tied knots with his longtime girlfriend Lauren Hashian who is a singer and music producer.

WRESTLING CAREER: 

42 years old Rock was born in a professional wrestling family in 1972. Numerous times WWF/WWE heavyweight title winners never thought of becoming a wrestler. Yes, despite belonging to a wrestler family where his grandfather Peter “High Chief” and father Rocky Johnson were professional wrestlers Dwayne had the craze of becoming a football player. Having a good physique and strong body Johnson was a great college football player for the University of Miami until an injury ended his career.

His debut was against Brooklyn Brawler in Texas. He entered WWF with the name of Flex Kavana. But a year after when he took the leadership of the nation of Domination, he called himself “THE ROCK.” In his successful career, Johnson won 17 WWE/WWF titles.

A lot of other wrestlers have tried their luck in Hollywood, but no one has ever managed to match the success of Johnson. Some of them have even failed badly like Kurt Angle who did embarrassingly bad low budget movies and Ted DiBiase who performed hilariously in The Martin 2. But all of them didn’t fail that badly. There are also some successful ones like Stacy Keibler, Steven Austin, Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura, and the Big Show.

ACTING CAREER:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson with no doubt turned out to be the most successful wrestler turned actor of the 21st century. Some of the most famous money-making movies of The Rock on box office include The Game Plan, Get Smart, Fast & Furious, The Mysterious Island, Jumanji, The Rundown, Walking Tall, The Scorpion King and many more.

His first big splash was with The Scorpion King and in 2001 The Mummy Returns. And with these supernatural roles, the big guy also did a comedy role in Be Cool and The Game Plan in 2007. After that, he came up with the action series Fast & Furious 6 in 2013 and Driver in 2010. After that as a mighty strong man in Hercules in 2014. Pursuing his acting career Johnson didn’t leave the ring and came back from time to time with Hulk Hogan and Stone-Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 30.

2015 was a dominating year for The Rock when he appeared in Furious 7 and San Andreas. He also debuted his first dramatic comedy series Ballers playing Spencer Strasmore, a retired pro footballer who turned into a financial planner. Then in 2016 an action-comedy Central Intelligence with Kevin Hart. 2017 was also a busy year for the star wrestler with starring roles in Fate of the Furious, Baywatch, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. He also voiced the demigod Maui for the Disney animated hit Moana.

2018 was also a great year with Jumanji racking up the ticket sales becoming his highest-grossing film to date. The same year he also did a trailer for the famous movie Skyscraper in which he did death-defying stunts with a prosthetic leg. This versatile actor also hosted a 10-episode unscripted competition show The Titan Games that gave normal people a platform to change their lives and do something extraordinary.

He then returned in 2019 to his wrestling roots by playing a role as himself in a true story based upon a female wrestling champion Saraya Paige Bevis and the same year returned to his action mode with Fast and Furious Spinoff Hobbs & Shaw with Jason Statham.

The story of this fella is a No Brainer. No wrestler has ever achieved this height as an actor as The People’s Champion. This former college football player proved to be the most charismatic wrestler ever who parlayed his popularity and charm into a raise on the silver screen as the most successful wrestler turned actor. His first appearance on the big screen as the Scorpion King in which his acting was not that good is the reason for his story is surprising that how he managed to climb up so much in his career as an actor. The reason was his will to take risks and have fun which made him bigger day by day. He did everything from silly kids’ movies like The Tooth Fairy to dramatic roles like in Snitch. Only his courage and hard work took him to some successful big action films like Fast & Furious, San Andreas, and Skyscraper. He has proven himself to be “The Rock” in the wrestling arena and on the silver screen as well.

Matt Jackson, Fenix, and Britt Baker injured during Dynamite

Three individuals were injured during Dynamite, news that is certainly worrying with just a day to go for the Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer noted that Matt Jackson was banged up after he dove from the stands along with his brother Nick. Meltzer said that Jackson has a rib injury on his left side and either a broken or torn cartilage. Fenix also got injured with another dive during a different segment after he landed on his back and hip on the outside while Britt Baker suffered a knee injury during the women’s tag team match.

The status of all three remains unclear although it’s expected that all of them will be able to wrestle somehow on Saturday at Double or Nothing.

Bret Hart responds to Martha Hart’s “inaccurate” statements about him

Bret Hart has remained fairly silent during the past two weeks when Martha Hart began making the media rounds in anticipation for the Dark Side Of The Ring episode on her husband.

But after some comments Martha made about Bret, the WWE Hall of Famer felt compelled to issue a small reply.

Martha admitted that Bret was very supportive throughout her lawsuit against WWE as he was also battling with Vince at the time. “He wanted us to include his footage in our settlement agreement. So he didn’t have access to his wrestling footage because Vince, you know, so he had this agenda that that’s what he wanted included in our settlement agreement,” Martha said.

Martha told Bret that this wasn’t about his wrestling footage and when they were not able to secure that for him, he got angry. “That’s when he then went back and confronted Vince McMahon and then got his footage and stuff like that. So that was disappointing for me and that sort created a rift between us but then he seemed to really flip flop and he really embraced Vince all of a sudden,” Martha added.

Bret, she said, went from hating Vince McMahon to hating her instead and started doing the media rounds saying she’s disrespecting Owen’s memory.

Responding to her comments via The Wrap, the two-time Hall of Famer said that what Martha is implying was pretty much inaccurate and an oversimplification of what went down.

“While I am not interested in engaging in any more media mudslinging between Martha and myself, especially in light of a global pandemic, I will say that our fallout is multifaceted,” Bret said. “To say that it only involved being able to access and use my WWE footage and photos for future projects would merely be an oversimplification and inaccurate. I will not comment any further on the matter.”

Triple H recounts last time he met Shad Gaspard

Speaking to TMZ via video, Triple H had nothing but great things to say about Shad Gaspard, echoing the sentiment of all his peers. Triple H said that they are preparing something that will air on Smackdown and Raw that will honor Shad although he did not say what it is.

“He was such a great guy. Shad’s one of those guys who everybody loved. Steph and I saw him maybe six months ago…we were at FOX for a meeting and he was coming out of the lobby and we were coming in the lobby and we stood there for 20 minutes talking,” Triple H said.

HHH praised Gaspard for finding success in all other things he was doing away from professional wrestling. “You know when the circumstances around all of this and his son, which thank God is okay, but you know…knowing that he said ‘Save my son’ and it was the last thing he did is all you need to know about the guy,” he added.

Triple H said that he was still holding out hope while the whole thing was going on “as illogical as it is” and then said his thoughts and prayers are with his wife, son, and family.

You can see Triple H’s short interview with TMZ below.

Woooo! Ric Flair signs new WWE deal

Wooooo! It looks like the Nature Boy Ric Flair is sticking around with WWE for the foreseeable future as the 16-time World champ has signed a new contract with the company.

“Limousine Riding, Jet Flying, Styling And Profiling… Then, Now, Forever With @WWE! WOOOOO,” wrote Flair in a post on Twitter yesterday. He also included a photo of the final part of his contract where his signature part is.

Since WCW closed up shop, Flair has pretty much spent his entire time with WWE apart from a few years between 2009 and 2012 where he went to TNA Wrestling. But in 2012 he returned to the company and remained there, appearing in several different roles and doing cameo appearances.

His last appearance on WWE television came during the segment of Triple H celebrating his 25th anniversary on Smackdown a few weeks ago when Flair called in via FaceTime…and cried!

Meanwhile, WWE Network will air a WWE 24 episode on Ric Flair on Sunday, June 7 titled Ric Flair: The Final Farewell.

NXT rating for 05/20/2020

NXT didn’t have the best of Wednesdays as the show on USA Network only got 592,000 viewers this week, down 8,000 viewers from last week and the least-watched NXT since April 1. The show only had a 0.13 in the 18-49 demographic and placed #53 in the chart. The difference between the two shows this week was of 109,000 viewers, an increase of 59,000 viewers from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Dynamite rating for 05/20/2020

Dynamite enjoyed a big win in the ratings on Wednesday against NXT, getting a total of 701,000 viewers, up 47,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show did a 0.26 in the 18-49 demographic, placing it #7 in the top 50 chart. Dynamite featured picture-in-picture action during commercials and it was the go-home episode for Double or Nothing. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

AEW likely to continue taping at Daily’s Place says Cody

During a conference call with the wrestling media to promote this Saturday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, Cody said that he sees the company doing shows at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida for the foreseeable future although there is a contingency plan for when other places open up.

Cody remarked that staying put in Jacksonville will put less risk on their talent and crew and not to mention that it’s easier to do the COVID-19 testing there.

Regarding testing, the AEW EVP said that the testing is not done at Daily’s Place just in case there’s a positive result. Testing is being held at another locations away from their talent so if a positive result pops up, they don’t have to shut down the whole production.

He sees fans as being able to be allowed back in Daily’s Place eventually and that there are not much positives of putting up a wrestling show without fans, adding that this business needs fans at shows to thrive.

Seth Rollins responds to Jim Cornette’s comments about Becky Lynch

Seth Rollins addressed the Jim Cornette controversy on his After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves this week. Earlier this week, Cornette went on a long, profanity-filled tirade against Becky for getting pregnant while she’s at the top of her game.

“I don’t want to spend too much time because I don’t wanna focus on it, but it hurts my feelings on a personal level because Jim Cornette is someone who is a legend in our industry and he’s someone who I’ve personally worked with in Ring of Honor,” Rollins explained.

Rollins said that the comments – not only about Becky but women in general – caught him off guard and he lost respect for Cornette because of that. He said that a lot of people had already lost respect for Cornette but he kept holding on because of that personal connection between the two and he thought Jim would think twice before making some comments like that about his soon-to-be wife.

Cornette even suggested that WWE should put pregnancy clauses in the women’s contracts to avoid things like this happening in the future.

“On a grander scale, that mindset has to be eradicated because it’s so disgusting,” Rollins said of Cornette’s thoughts on women.

Rollins then continued saying that he can’t even forgive Cornette for what he said and wanted to make it very clear that this is something that he’s very proud of Becky and the courage it took to put her career on hold to embark on this journey.

Shad Gaspard’s wife Siliana releases statement on behalf of the family

The Gaspard family has released a statement a day after Shad’s body washed ashore in Venice Beach, three days after he went missing while swimming with his son on Sunday.

The full statement, written by Siliana Gaspard, reads as follows: “Aryeh, myself and the Gaspard and Chittick families would like to take this time to thank everyone for their prayers and support, as we mourn the terrible loss of our beloved Shad. Shad was our whole world and we were his. There are not enough words to describe what he means to all of us. He was our heart, our soul, our protector, our warrior. He was a bright force of nature, who brought joy to many through his joyous and gracious nature. The outpouring of love from Shad’s friends, colleagues and fans has meant ore to us than you can ever imagine. We’d like to once again thank the lifeguards, coast guard, divers, fire and police departments for their efforts. Shad was and will always be our real life super hero.”

Meanwhile, the Collar And Elbow brand has released a “BEAST” shirt for Shad Gaspard with 100% of the proceeds from these shirts going directly to Shad’s family. The shirt is exactly like the one that Shad was pictured in a photo with his son which had “Brooklyn’s Own Iron Mike Tyson Heavyweight Champion” on it. The wording has been replaced to read “Brooklyn’s Own Beast Shad Gaspard Heavyweight Hero.”

The price is $24.99 and can be purchased from collarandelbowbrand.com.

TNT to air Double or Nothing special tomorrow at 10PM ET

TNT will be promoting AEW’s Double or Nothing with a special tomorrow, Friday, May 22 at 10PM ET after Smackdown goes off the air on FOX.

Double or Nothing will be airing on pay-per-view on TNT’s streaming service B/R Live the following day in the United States and also on traditional pay-per-view. For those international fans, Double or Nothing will be on FITE TV for around half the price that US fans are charged.

The show was originally scheduled to take place from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas but the coronavirus altered all the plans and will now instead take place from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dark Side Of The Ring ends second season with its biggest audience yet

The highly-acclaimed Dark Side Of The Ring series ended its second season on Tuesday after 9 episodes which started in March.

This season, the popular series tackled subjects of Chris Benoit, New Jack, The Brawl For All, Jimmy Snuka and his girlfriend Nancy Argentino, Dino Bravo, David Schultz, Herb Abrams, The Road Warriors, and Owen Hart.

Season two averaged a total of 258,000 viewers, up from the 201,000 average of season one. The most-watched episode was the season finale on Tuesday which tackled Owen Hart’s death.

Looking at the episode-by-episode viewership, Benoit parts one and two did 320,000 viewers, The Life and Crimes of New Jack did 229,000 viewers, The Brawl For All had 226,000 viewers, Jimmy Snuka and The Death of Nancy Argentino did 209,000 viewers, The Assassination of Dino Bravo had 221,000 viewers, David Schultz & The Slap Heard Round the World had 255,000 viewers, Cocaine & Cowboy Boots: The Herb Abrams Story did 246,000 viewers, The Last Ride of The Road Warriors had 264,000 viewers, and The Final Days of Owen Hart closed the season with 349,000 viewers.

This season was narrated by former AEW champion Chris Jericho. Mick Foley did the narration for the first season.

The most underrated skills in wrestling

In most sports, there are a few signature moves that are well known and sometimes overused. There are also subtle wrestling skills and drills that are effective but overlooked due to their simplicity and ease of application.

Our expert, Daniel Bennet, is a firm believer in developing and improving skills, whether you are gambling at Playamo casino or giving your all on the wrestling mat. This article gives some tips and advice on how you can hone your skills to be the best wrestler possible.

Basic But Effective Wrestling Skills That Are Overlooked

When starting out, you initially learn a few basic wrestling moves for beginners. These basic moves form the foundation of your sporting skillset. As you progress within the sport, you learn more advanced moves and incorporate these into your wrestling style.

The problem comes in when advanced wrestling techniques become your norm, and you no longer use the basic moves. One of these often overlooked skills in wrestling is defence. Most professional wrestling focuses on developing a strong and stylish offensive.

In order to be the best wrestler possible, you need to find a balance of both offence and defence. Here are the 9 most underrated moves and skills every wrestler should master:

1. Single Leg Defense

This move concentrates on hip rotation rather than leg usage as the name suggests. It is a beneficial move that transfers the superior position of the opponent’s offence by restricting their movement.

2. Outside Stand Up

This basic move requires a bit of practice. The important thing to remember when using this form of defence is to pivot off the ankle and not move it. This is an easy strategy to apply in order to regain a superior position.

3. Go-Behind

This maneuver is exceptional because it is versatile enough to be used both offensively and defensively. You can use the go-behind straight after a headlock or as an opportunity to pin your opponent. It is a basic move that can be slightly tweaked to gain an advantage.

4. Hip Heists

This move can be drilled and mastered. It is a basic skill that can assist you in getting out of a tight spot defensively. The technique needs to be precise in order for it to be successful.

5. Leg Attacks

Keeping things basic, the most important thing to remember with leg attacks is that the head should be up and the knees under. This heightens the level of power that you have over your opponent. Should your head drop, you lose your power stance, and your opponent has the potential to score multiple points. They are able to do this just by keeping your head down.

6. Mat Returns

Mat returns force your opponent back down to retain the superior position. It can interfere with your opponent’s defensive stand-up maneuver and allow you to maintain your advantage over them. There are various drills and techniques that can assist with mastering multiple mat return methods.

7. Ankle Pick

This move is great to remember when in a tied position with your opponent. It is easy to apply and can bring your opponent down quickly.

8. Slide-By

A slide-by is a defensive maneuver that momentarily allows your opponent to think they have the upper hand. By being fluid in your own movements, this defensive move can quickly turn offensive and bring your opponent down.

9. A Gut Wrench And Leg Lace

These are pretty rudimentary skills that can assist with winning. Going from a leg lace to a gut wrench allows you to lock up your opponent and do a side roll. These moves can be used both offensively or defensively.

Successful Wrestling

Players need to keep the 7 basic skills of wrestling in mind and keep it as the foundation of their strategy. Stance, motion, level change, penetration, lifting, back step, and arch must all be applied in a wrestling match to fully utilize your power. All seven basic skills are dominant in the basic moves mentioned above.

It is easier to win when you conserve the energy that would have been spent on complex moves and stick to the fundamentals for most of the game. Throwing in a fancy tilt here and there will keep the opponent guessing, but using them exclusively will only exhaust you.

It’s Time to Hit the Mat with These Skills

Keep things simple, incorporate all your basic wrestling skills, and try not to overlook the little things that could assist in easier wins.

 

Video of Gaspard and MVP celebrating Kofi’s title win goes viral again

A video of Shad Gaspard and MVP celebrating together when Kofi Kingston won the WWE title last year at WrestleMania 35 went viral again after Gaspard went missing on Sunday.

The emotional video shows both men crying and then hugging each other while they celebrated an African American winning the WWE title on the biggest stage of them all.

“We shared this incredible moment together. I was angry at him for sharing it,” MVP wrote when he re-posted the video on his Instagram this week. “When this video went viral and people expressed their reactions to OUR reaction I realized Shad made the right call.”

MVP said that he called Shad to apologize for cussing him out and the two laughed together afterwards.

Kross vs Ciampa announced for NXT Takeover: In Your House

The first match for the upcoming NXT Takeover: In Your House was announced last night on NXT on USA Network and will pit newcomer Karrion Kross against former NXT champion Tommaso Ciampa.

Ciampa returned to NXT last night and confronted Kross following the backstage attack from a few weeks ago. He reminded Kross that NXT is his home and while Kross is a special talent, he’s just as special and then challenged him at Takeover.

Kross and his girlfriend Scarlett kicked off NXT in a squash match against an enhancement talent by the name of Liam Gray.

Takeover: In Your House takes place from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on Sunday, June 7 and will be live exclusively on the WWE Network. This is the first Takeover event since the Portland one in February.

Ripley vs Shirai headlines tonight’s NXT on USA Network

The NXT Cruiserweight title tournament continues tonight on NXT on USA Network with two more matches including El Hijo Del Fantasma taking on Akira Tozawa and Kushida facing Drake Maverick.

Two other matches have been announced with Rhea Ripley in his first match since WrestleMania 36 against Io Shirai and Dexter Lumis versus The Undisputed Era’s Roderick Strong.

NXT newest power couple – Karrion Kross and Scarlett – will also be in action and the duo will be kicking off the show with Kross taking on an unnamed opponent. Tick Tock!

New Impact original series titled Impact in 60 to start in June on AXS TV

AXS TV will expand its Impact Wrestling coverage with a new original series titled Impact in 60 beginning June 2 at 10PM ET immediately following the weekly flagship series.

The hour-long series chronicles the promotion’s celebrated 18-year history under the Impact and TNA: Total Nonstop Action banners. Headlined by some of the greatest champions to enter the ring, each episode features a collection of full matches showcasing a different wrestler, championships, factions or match types.

Impact in 60 kicks off with the Best of the Asylum Years, highlighting rarely seen footage from the infancy of TNA with matches featuring former NWA Heavyweight Champions AJ Styles and Raven, among others.

The June schedule also includes a look at the revolutionary high-flying X-Division Championship featuring Jay Lethal and Christopher Daniels, the greatest Impact World Heavyweight title matches with Kurt Angle and Austin Aries, the legendary stable Aces & Eights including the show-stopping Bully Ray vs Jeff Hardy match, and wrestling legend Mick Foley’s most epic battles against Sting, Samoa Joe and more.

“Thanks to the tremendous feedback from fans of IMPACT on AXS TV and the success of our first TNA television special, we are taking a great step forward to bolster the IMPACT Wrestling Tuesday night block,” said IMPACT Executive VP Scott D’Amore. “From the thousands of hours of thrilling action in our library, we created IMPACT in 60 to celebrate the legacy of the incredible performers who have competed for us and provide a fun trip down memory lane for the TNA faithful.”

Wrestling world in mourning over the death of Shad Gaspard

The wrestling world is in mourning after today it was confirmed that the body washed ashore in Venice Beach was that of Shad Gaspard, the former WWE Superstar who wrestled with JTG as Cryme Tyme.

WWE quickly posted an entry on the WWE.COM website, noting that everyone at WWE was saddened that Shad passed away and extended its condolences to Gaspard’s family, friends and fans. All Elite Wrestling also posted on Twitter writing, “AEW joins the wrestling world in mourning the death of Shad Gaspard, our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Those who knew him all described Gaspard as a family man and an amazing husband and father. Gaspard died a hero, making the ultimate sacrifice by instructing the lifeguards to save his 10-year-old son rather than himself.

His peers quickly took their condolences to Twitter to post about their friend and former colleague. His name, along with the hash tag #RIPShadGaspard, were top trending worldwide after news came out that the body found was identified as him.

Vince McMahon: “The thoughts of everyone at WWE are with Shad Gaspard’s family during this difficult time.”

Triple H: “I join fans around the world as we remember Shad Gaspard as a beloved performer and a caring father. In absolutely tragic circumstances, please keep his loved ones in your thoughts.”

The Rock: “My prayers and hope for Shad Gaspard’s wife, son and family during this unthinkable time. Man, this is a tough one. A really tough one. Great guy.”

Shane McMahon: “Saddened to hear the news of the passing of the “The Beast” Shad Gaspard. A hero even to the end, my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. A great man in this world, you will be sorely missed. Rest In Peace, my friend.”

MVP: “Shad Gaspard had a HUGE heart. He was like an annoying little brother at times. We often gave each other a hard time, but always with love! He always had a big smile on his face and was ready to share a laugh! I have had a LOT of friends and colleagues die. This one hurts different. He had big goals. Big plans. His final act on this earth was to give his life to save his son’s. A son, a husband, a father, a friend.
A hero…”

Sasha Banks: “Sending my love and prayers to Shad loved ones during this time.”

Titus O’Neil: “My Love, Thoughts, Prayers and Support Go out to The Family of Shad Gaspard. Nothing will ever Fix the loss of a loved one. As a Universe We owe it to ourselves and to others to Be a Positive Light in this world as long as we can Because Nothing is Ever Guaranteed.”

Lilian Garcia: “I am sad to know that Shad is really gone but I am glad for the family that the body was found. Shad was such an amazing human with so much love for his family, friends and co-workers. I will miss you SO much Shad. Thk u for always making me feel special!

Mick Foley: “RIP Shad Gaspard. My heart goes out to Shad’s wife and child. My prayers that his memory will soothe their sadness over time.”

Natalya: “The world has lost a wonderful human being. Shad Gaspard was a true HERO in every sense of the word. I’m keeping his family and loved ones in my prayers right now. We love you, Shad.”

Tommy Dreamer: “I will miss your smile and your giant hug. You made everyone feel happy and safe. You are The Ultimate Father”

Taz: “Shad died a hero, saving his son’s life. As a parent, there are no words to even explain that. He was a really positive & funny guy every time we spoke, just a good dude. Prayers for his family during this horrible time.”

Naomi: “My heart is heavy praying for the entire Gaspard’s family.”

Big E: “Goodbye, my friend. My thoughts are with Shad’s family. I can’t fathom their loss.”

Christian: “He always greeted you with that big smile and a giant hug.. and always made sure others were accommodated.. The world lost a genuinely good man. My heartfelt condolences to his family.”

Trish Stratus: “So very sad about this. As a parent I cannot imagine this feeling… Love and the brightest light to you, Siliana. Sending you strength for you and your baby boy.”

Cody: “Never got the pleasure to know Shad too well personally, but I did have the opportunity to wrestle him countless times. He was beyond motivated and as a giant, took precautions to protect folks in the ring. I’m saddened by his passing, his last moments were as an undeniable hero.”

Frankie Kazarian: “I don’t know that this matters. But I feel compelled and very honored to do so. I’m dedicating my performance in this Saturdays Casino Ladder Match to Shad Gaspard and his family. A friend, gentleman and hero the likes we should all aspire to be.”

Lance Archer: “I will never forget your smile my brother! You were a Superman Father to your son in your final moment. Now your son has countless “fathers” in your brothers from this Biz. We will protect him for you as you watch down on us all.”

Ohio Valley Wrestling: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Shad Gaspard. Former OVW Tag Team Champion. Actor, husband, father, friend. We will miss you.”

Jerry Lawler: “Always enjoyed every minute being around and working with Shad Gaspard and Cryme Tyme. Always happy, always funny, always positive. You will be missed by many.”

Maryse: “This is so heartbreaking. Its really hard to believe it’s real and wrap our heads around this tragedy. The world lost an amazing soul and hero. We are sending all of our prayers to his wife and son!”

Mark Henry: “I’m going to miss my brother! Even when roasting me for my taste in shorts! Warrior award nominee a true Hero.”

Tonight’s Dynamite to feature picture-in-picture action during commercials

AEW Dynamite returns live tonight for the Double or Nothing go-home episode and it will feature picture-in-picture breaks. The news was announced by AEW President Tony Khan.

Khan thanked TNT for getting them the option despite a smaller crew at master control. The picture-in-picture will allow matches to continue to air while commercials are going on, giving fans a reason to stick around and not switch channels.

Three matches have been already announced for tonight including Orange Cassidy vs Rey Fenix, MJF vs Marko Stunt, and Jon Moxley vs The Dark Order’s 10. There’s also a one-on-one interview between Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Arn Anderson to promote the Archer vs Cody match this Saturday.

Former WWE Superstar Shad Gaspard dead at 39

39-year-old Shad Gaspard was found dead after he went missing on Sunday, May 17 at Marina Del Rey Beach while swimming with his family. His son was rescued by lifeguards just moments before Gaspard got hit by a wave, submerging him.

The horrible, yet expected, news about Shad Gaspard was confirmed today after his body washed ashore in Venice Beach, three days after he vanished. The Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed the identity of the body hours after the recovery.

Gaspard, born in Brooklyn, made his pro wrestling debut in 2003. A year before, he qualified to be a part of the second season of Tough Enough but was then replaced after he failed a physical test.

Following his Tough Enough journey, Gaspard headed to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he trained there until he was signed by WWE in 2005.

After a year in developmental at WWE, Gaspard joined JTG to form The Gang Stars, which was later renamed to Cryme Tyme. The duo made their debut on Raw in October 2006 and defeated The Sprit Squad in their first match.

Gaspard and JTG were released from their contract in 2007 and Gaspard hit the independents before another call came in from WWE. He and JTG were re-signed in 2008 and spent two years there before once again they got cut from their deals.

In 2016, Gaspard made headlines when he prevented an armed robbery at a gas station in Coral Springs, Florida. The former wrestler took the assailant’s gun and restrained him until cops arrived on the scene.

Gaspard was married to Siliana and leaves behind a 10-year-old son.