JTG Talks Vince McMahon Loving "Chappelle's Show", John Cena's Influence On Cryme Tyme
On this week's episode of WWE's The Bump, the panel began their show by celebrating the life of Shad Gaspard, who passed away three weeks ago. In honor of his memory, they brought JTG on to discuss his best friend's legacy in the business. But before they got into that, JTG took a moment to describe his friend, and who he was as a person.
"Positive," JTG began. "He radiated positive energy around people. He liked to make you laugh and smile, whether it would be with a joke, or if you had a problem, he would try to give a solution towards it."
JTG was astounded by all the love and support friends, family and fans contributed after Gaspard's passing, including all the money that was raised on Gaspard's GoFundMe page.
"The love and support have been amazing," JTG exclaimed. "It has helped me with my grieving and mourning process because I have never had a situation like this hit so close to home. Me and Shad spoke every day. The outpour of love and support, you know, the videos that the fans were sending, and how much Shad meant to them, and how much they enjoyed us growing up, has helped me."
Looking back on their successful tag team career, JTG admits that it wasn't about winning the tag-team championships, instead, it was about the meaning behind Cryme Tyme and what they stood for. JTG credits Vince McMahon for his touch on their partnership.
"As Cryme Tyme like in the song, we tried to bring the hood to you," JTG chuckled. "We wanted to represent the hip hop [movement]. We wanted to express our culture during that era.
"When we first came out, the reasons that we were brought out was because Vince McMahon loved Dave Chappelle – Chappelle's Show. We were doing a lot of those types of skits [like Chappelle did]. We did those skits, and we had great chemistry on screen because we were friends. We knew each other without speaking. That was the relationship that Shad and I had. Sometimes, we could look at each other and we'd be in a situation. We'd look at each other and knew what each other was thinking. We'd make eye contact and bust out laughing sometimes because I knew what he was thinking."
JTG took a moment to talk about John Cena's influence on their tag team success. He says that if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have known about the unwritten rules in professional wrestling.
"That was the most fun I had in my career," JTG noted. "John Cena taught us a lot. He taught us about the hints and tips about the unwritten rules in the business. He helped us get to that level of main eventing on live events."
Concluding his interview, Evan T. Mack asked him if there was one match he fondly remembers that him and Gaspard could agree was their favorite match to partake in. Though JTG couldn't speak for Gaspard, he knows his favorite match was when they faced Chris Jericho and Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Championships at SummerSlam in 2009.
"I'm going to say for me – Shad too, was our match with Big Show and Chris Jericho," JTG stated. "We had a lot of fun at the live events, and then we eventually worked for the tag team titles at SummerSlam. I have to say, that was the most fun and most intense match that I've ever had in my career.
"We were at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. My family and friends were there. Chris Jericho and Big Show made us step up to the plate. We were playing with the big boys. We definitely came, and stepped up to the occasion."
You can watch JTG's full interview above. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE's The Bump with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.