Shad Gaspard was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with WWE, where he teamed with his partner JTG as a member of Cryme Tyme.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gaspard was of Haitian and Curaçaoan descent. His father, Ben Gaspard, is a former street enforcer for street gangs, and was a personal security guard in the early 1970s; he worked for gangster Frank Lucas and now owns McFay Contracting Inc. He is the third of six siblings. At age 5, his father began training him in boxing, and at age eight he began training in a mixture of different martial arts, such as Judo, Jeet Kune Do, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai. As a student, he quickly developed into an aggressive fighter, winning many fight tournaments as an amateur. His mother, Ingrid Chittick, gave him the nickname “Beast” as a result of his aggressiveness. At age sixteen, he began prize fighting for promoter Hardbody Harrison, a former WCW wrestler, in bar fighting tournaments such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and tough man competitions. Even though Gaspard was only sixteen years old, he competed against adults who were older than he was by five to twenty years, due to his large size. Gaspard holds won-loss records as a No Holds Barred fighter (35–7) and an amateur boxer (57–26). Gaspard was extensively involved in athletics during his high school years, specializing in wrestling, track, and basketball. After high school, he continued to play basketball at Georgia Perimeter College, and after leaving, he became a bodyguard for several rappers and actors, including pop star Britney Spears, Puff Daddy, and Mike Tyson. He then decided to become a professional wrestler, joining the WWE in early 2006. During his feud with CM Punk, he was joined by the Neighborhoodie and formed a new tag team known as "The Gang Stars". The new team were called up to the Raw roster as Cryme Tyme.
For Disney, he played an actor in Black Panther, for which he also provided stunts.