WWE to posthumously honor Shad Gaspard with the Warrior Award

UPDATE: WWE has announced Shad Gaspard as this year’s Warrior Award winner via FOX Sports.

WWE’s Warrior Award is a catch-all way for the company to honor someone at their WrestleMania weekend Hall of Fame Ceremony. Named for The Ultimate Warrior, it’s officially “presented to an individual who has exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance.”

During his own induction speech, Warrior proposed the Award as a way to honor typically unheralded members of the WWE team, and the fact it hasn’t explicitly been used that way — it’s been given to individuals whose real-life stories have inspired WWE philanthropy, and long-time employees of the company — has been a talking point since it was established in 2015.

If the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter is correct, few are likely to quibble with the 2022 honoree. Dave Meltzer writes he’s confirmed reports that Shad Gaspard is this year’s Warrior Award winner.

Known in the wrestling world for his late aughts run with JTG as Cryme Tyme, the rest of the world learned more about the good man behind the gimmick when he died saving his son from drowning in 2020.

Gaspard will join officially announced honorees The Undertaker, Vader, and Sharmell in the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame class. This year’s ceremony will be held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas after SmackDown on Fri., April 1, and stream live on Peacock/WWE Network.