Saturday, May 23, 2020

Wrestling loses two stars

Six days ago, former WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard had disappeared after rescuing his young son on the beach in California. Three days later, Gaspard's body washed ashore, having died from drowning.

Gaspard had been on the main roster with WWE, first as 1/2 of Cryme Tyme, then as a solo act, from 2006-approximately 2011. More recently, he appeared in the movie, "Birds of Prey", as a henchman for the villain. Gaspard was credited only as a stuntman. A GoFundMe account has been set up for Gaspard's family to pay for the funeral.

WWE released this video compilation earlier this week.



Meanwhile, Japan is mourning the passing of Stardom wrestler Hana Kimura at the age of 22.

Ms. Kimura had been appearing on the reality show, Terrace House, which would be the Japanese equivalent of CBS' Big Brother or MTV's Real World here in the US.

There was an incident depicted on Terrace House where Kimura attacked one of the other housemates because he forgot to check to see if the washer was empty, and he accidentally ruined Hana's ring gear. Fans of the show were not happy, and roasted Kimura on social media, leading to depression, and, as it happened, suicide.

The Stardom promotion had been counting on Hana to be one of its cornerstones for years to come. It is said that this was the highest profile case of cyber-bullying in Japan. There've been numerous cases here in the US of young people committing suicide because of cyber-bullying, but in Hana's case, it didn't need to wind up this way.

Rest in peace.

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