WWE

Officials are desperately searching for ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard -- after he went missing during a swim at Venice Beach on Sunday with his 10-year-old son.

Gaspard and his son were among a group of swimmers caught in a strong rip current around 4 PM -- with lifeguards racing into the water to pull everyone out.

Gaspard's son was rescued -- but the 39-year-old pro wrestler has not been located.

One official working with the L.A. Fire Dept. told media they believe the 39-year-old "did submerge."

Divers were sent to scour the area. Helicopters were searching from above.

One witness at the scene tells us ... when lifeguards raced into the ocean, Gaspard directed rescuers to help his son first, which they did.

During the rescue, we're told another big wave crashed down on Gaspard -- and that's the last time he was seen.

We're told the photo of Shad officials are using in the search (included in this post) was taken earlier Sunday, before the incident.

Shad was at the beach that day with his wife and their 10-year-old son.

Gaspard was a big star with WWE back in the day -- making up one half of the tag team Cryme Time with his partner, JTG.

Outside of pro wrestling, Gaspard made headlines in 2016 when he stopped an armed robbery in Florida.

In fact, Shad came on the "TMZ Sports" TV show to talk about it and couldn't have been a nicer guy.

This is heartbreaking -- Shad Gaspard was hanging at the beach with his son and shared how blessed he felt about life ... just days before the former WWE star went missing during a swim with his kid.

Gaspard posted a few photos of his 10-year-old boy -- along with a clip of them walking together by the ocean -- on May 6, and wrote ... "Love the life I built for my self and my family."

It's pretty clear ... Shad and his son enjoy spending some quality time together at the beach.

Sadly, as TMZ Sports first reported ... Gaspard went missing Sunday afternoon after he and his boy were among a group of swimmers who got caught in a strong rip current at Venice Beach in L.A.

Lifeguards were able to rescue the boy after Shad directed them to his son first, but the 39-year-old ex-pro wrestler reportedly submerged after a wave crashed on him ... and hasn't been seen since.

Officials are still scouring the area looking for Gaspard, and shared a photo of him taken earlier in the day in hopes he will be found.

Mark Henry has a warning for ex-WWE wrestler Lio Rush ... stop defaming me, or my (Harvard educated) lawyers are going to file a lawsuit against your ass!!

Let's explain ... earlier this week, Rush -- who was recently released by WWE -- fired off a barrage of Tweets attacking the Hall of Famer.

Rush accused Henry of torpedoing black wrestlers' careers, writing ... "This is why African American talent on the biggest platform will continue to not have equal opportunity because people like you constantly tear your own people down. A damn shame honestly.”

TMZ Sports talked to an extremely upset Mark Henry ... who says Rush's comments are straight-up nonsense.

"If you go down to the performance center at NXT, probably 25 I think, people of color in the facility, probably about 80 plus percent of them I helped get them there. I mean, it's completely opposite."

So, if it ain't true, why'd Rush write what he did?

Mark tells us Lio's clout chasing ... using his name and fame to promote his music career.

"He knew that I get a lot of attention. I have a lot of followers and he released the album, or song, or something, and he wanted to use that to get some attention. Get some buzz," Henry says.

Mark's adamant if Rush would've just asked for help, he would've plugged his music -- no problem -- but what he did instead was wayyy out of bounds.

"If he would've called me, I would've done it anyway. We would've just worked it. I would of really talked it up, we would of made world news, but now he said something slanderous."

"And, you can't question my blackness. Like nobody can question my blackness, pull my black card. No, not allowed. Nobody."

Mark's so mad ... he tells us he's seriously considering filing a lawsuit.

"My lawyer went to Harvard. I don't know what kinda lawyers he's dealing with, but I got those Ivy League people around me, and they're pissed!"

But, there is one thing Lio Rush can do before he finds his ass in a courtroom ... say sorry, and really mean it.

Vince McMahon claims ex-XFL commissioner Oliver Luck "abandoned" his duties when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March ... and that's one of the main reasons Vince fired him, according to court documents.

Remember, Oliver Luck sued Vince McMahon back in April, claiming he was wrongfully terminated from his role as the commish and CEO of the XFL on April 9.

In his initial court docs, Luck redacted many of the details behind his allegations.

But now, Vince's attorney has filed his own court docs spelling out the reasons McMahon axed Luck. The details have now been made public.

First, McMahon claims Luck "effectively abandoned his responsibilities" on March 13 by shutting down the XFL offices in Connecticut ... and instead, working from home in Indiana.

McMahon claims Luck failed to "devote substantially all of his business time to his XFL duties as required by the contract."

Second, McMahon claims Luck approved signing ex-NFL receiver Antonio Callaway without first getting approval from Vince.

By the way, Callaway had previously been suspended by the NFL for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. McMahon claims he ordered Luck to cut Callaway immediately -- but Luck refused.

Luck's argument, according to court docs, is that Callaway didn't violate the XFL's personal conduct policy.

Third, McMahon claims Luck misused an XFL-issued iPhone -- using the phone for personal reasons when it was supposed to be exclusively used for work.

For his part, Luck claims McMahon's allegations are bogus and he's digging in his heels on the argument he was wrongfully terminated.

As for the COVID-19 allegation, Luck claims he simply couldn't return to Connecticut because the state had implemented a stay-at-home order on March 20, and he adhered by the mandate.

Luck claims he did everything he could to continue doing his job while sheltering-in-place.

Luck is demanding $23.8 million in salary and damages. He had signed a 5-year contract in 2018 with a $5 million annual salary and a $2 million bonus.

Congratulations are in order for Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins -- the WWE Superstars are expecting their first child together!!!

"The Man" made the huge announcement on Monday Night Raw just minutes ago ... saying she's relinquishing her women's championship belt to prepare for the little one's arrival.

"Tonight is no ordinary night for me," Lynch said. "I'm torn between joy and sadness, 'cause I'm at a place in my life where things are about to change and I needed to do something about it."

"I have to go away for a while."

Asuka -- who just won Money In The Bank Sunday night -- will now hold the belt, which Lynch revealed was in the locked briefcase all along.

"The match last night was actually for the Raw Women's Championship."

"You go and be a warrior, 'cause I'm gonna go be a mother," a highly emotional Lynch said to Asuka.

Lynch and Rollins have been dating since early 2019 ... and got engaged in August during a romantic beachfront proposal.

As we previously reported, Lynch is also kick-starting an acting career -- she's had a role on "Billions" and has John Cena and The Rock in her corner as mentors ... so we take it she'll still be busy in the meantime.

But, don't get it twisted -- Lynch is hoping to get back to the squared circle ASAP so she can get her belt back ... 'cause she's truly a badass.

Two of the baddest tag teams in WWE -- the Street Profits and Viking Raiders -- can't stop arguing over who's the best ... so they took their trash talk to the ring BASKETBALL COURT!!!

Is this a scripted bit? Absolutely.

Is it still hilarious? Yup!!

If you don't know the (gimmick) backstory ... the Profits and the Raiders have a pretty intense rivalry both inside and outside the ring.

The Raiders believe they're just better at things like "Ax tossing, Feast Eating, Boat Rowing, Combat, Cartwheels, and People Tossing."

So, how did things go down when they squared up on the basketball court? Horrible for the Raiders!

Both Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins looked like the Harlem Globetrotters with the way they were clowning Erik and Ivar ... and hitting some really impressive shots in the process.

Ford even hot a half-court shot straight out of Dude Perfect!

Full game airs tonight on WWE's Monday Night Raw -- where we'll find out if the Raiders can mount a 4th quarter comeback after falling behind 55-0.

TMZ Sports has obtained the police report from the Alberto Del Rio arrest ... and it's very disturbing.

The accuser told police Del Rio exploded on her on May 3 in San Antonio, Texas -- accusing her of cheating on him with other men.

The accuser -- who cops say only speaks Spanish -- says Del Rio smashed her cell phone, her laptop and attempted to burn her passport in an attack that started at around 10 p.m. on May 3 and lasted until around 2:30 p.m. on May 4.

The woman also claims Del Rio attacked her, causing multiple injuries and left her, "feeling woozy and dizzy from the hits to her head."

There's more ... the accuser also claims Del Rio choked her and at one point "shoved a sock into her mouth, to keep [her] quiet."

The woman says, "When the sock was in her mouth, she could not breathe."

During the incident, the woman claims Del Rio also sexually assaulted her with his penis and other body parts. The woman is adamant she did NOT consent to sexual activity with Del Rio.

The woman told police that she is afraid of Del Rio and had planned on leaving the city as soon as possible.

The responding officer says he saw "multiple bruises" on the accuser's face, arms, legs and neck.

Del Rio -- real name Jose Rodriguez Chucuan -- was arrested for domestic violence and aggravated sexual assault. According to his booking sheet, the 42-year-old is listed at 6'4", 240 pounds. The accuser is 5'5", 132 pounds.

Del Rio was a WWE superstar from 2009 until 2016, winning the WWE championship, the 2011 Royal Rumble, and more. He's also an MMA fighter, who recently lost to Tito Ortiz in December 2019.

James Harrison might be the only man in America who wasn't surprised to see Rob Gronkowski return to the NFL -- he tells TMZ Sports he knew a Gronk comeback was in the works since at least November!!!

The former Steelers star says he and the future Hall of Fame tight end filmed a TV ad together more than six months ago ... and he could tell then Rob was gearing up to play again.

"I knew then that he was going to come back," Harrison says. "He was talking about it. He was itching then. He was feeling a lot better."

Harrison says taking 2019 off allowed Rob's body to heal up ... so Harrison could see the writing for a return on the wall.

But, James admits he NEVER saw Tampa Bay coming ... "because of course Tom [Brady] wasn’t there at the time, but once he got there it was like, 'Yeah, it makes sense.'"

As for Tom's departure from New England ... James says he WAS surprised to see his former teammate leave the Pats!!!

By the way, James is finding success in life after football ... he's set to have a role on Starz's new wrestling drama "Heels" -- and he says it's got him thinking about a possible WWE future!

He's been sliced and diced more times than a bad guy in a 'Wolverine' movie ... and now, Hulk Hogan is showing the world his battle scars from his 10 surgeries!!

"10 surgeries you can hang a MAC truck from my back and I’ll still take the whole WWE roster on brother," the 66-year-old said.

He's also showing off the "Immortal" tattoo he got around 2011.

Hulk's back issues have been well documented -- he started going under the knife back in 2009 after suffering extreme pain from all those years in the ring.

In fact, Hogan described in great detail all of the damage his body has endured from wrestling when he appeared on "OBJECTified" with Harvey Levin."

"I've had 17 surgeries over the last 10 years," Hogan said ... "My knees are fake, hips are fake, back is full of metal and part of my face is full of metal."

"I didn't get the memo about the fake wrestling,:" Hogan joked ... noting the physical punishment is VERY real.

Hogan even showed off teethmarks in his finger -- the result of a wrestling match from decades ago.

Hogan's most recent procedure took place at the end of 2019 ... and despite being told he would likely be out of the gym for 4 to 6 months, Hogan was able to lift again after 7 weeks!

Hogan hasn't wrestled since 2013 -- when he appeared in a match for "TNA Wrestling." He's talked about wanting his final match to take place in a WWE ring ... but so far, no word on if that will actually happen.

Rob Gronkowski better WATCH OUT ... 'cause Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians says he's got his eyes on the WWE 24/7 belt ... so he better keep his head on a swivel!!!

Of course, Gronk feared this exact scenario last week ... saying he had to defend his shiny, new belt from everyone at all times -- even at the Bucs facility.

"Imagine coming out of the meeting room, I'm like looking to my left down the hallway ... looking to my right to make sure no one is out of the meetings yet, and then all of a sudden ... Coach Arians just comes out of nowhere with a flying elbow and takes me out and pins me and becomes the 24/7 champ," Gronk said on the "Gronk'd UP" podcast.

It's for good reason ... because Bruce joined ESPN on Thursday and said he's already plotting his plan of attack.

"[Gronk] better keep his head on a swivel ... I may take it from him," Coach said on "NFL Live."

Of course, Arians was kidding ... or was he!?

We can't really be sure at this point. Maybe we're all just pawns in his strategy to get the belt from Gronk??

Nikki Bella says she was PISSED WWE decided to introduce Ronda Rousey on the night of a historic all-women's event ... calling the move "a bit of a slap in the face" to the female wrestlers that came before her.

Of course, WWE hosted it's inaugural ladies-only Royal Rumble in Jan. 2018 ... with 30 wrestlers (including Nikki) duking it out for an hour straight. After the Rumble, "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey came out of the tunnel for the first time ever and pointed to a Wrestlemania sign hanging in the rafters.

The moment was supposed to tease Ronda's wrestling debut -- which went down at Mania in April '18 -- but Nikki felt the move essentially stole the thunder from the history-making Rumble.

While Bella says she has no beef with Ronda, she explains her frustrations in the Bella Twins' new book, "Incomparable," which came out this week.

"It was nothing against Ronda -- it is thrilling that she is at WWE -- but it was a bit of a slap in the face to all the historic women wrestlers who had come out for the match, the main event, only to have the moment upstaged by the Ronda announcement."

Nikki says she had planned to retire after the historic event due to a neck injury ... and it sucked to have her grand finale overshadowed by the UFC superstar.

"It just didn't need to happen like that," Nikki says in her book (by way of E!).

Nikki canned her plans and took a match after the Rumble -- and ultimately went on to retire later that year after losing to Rousey in a championship match for the Raw Women's belt at Evolution.

Just 'cause Rob Gronkowski is an NFL player again doesn't mean he's giving up his WWE 24/7 championship belt without a fight -- and he's already eyeing his own coach as a potential threat!!!

Remember, Gronk became the new 24/7 champ after beating up on Mojo Rawley at WrestleMania 36 last month ... pinning his friend to take over the shiny, new belt.

While it seemed like it was the beginning of a full-on career with Vince McMahon's org, the 30-year-old would end up BACK in the NFL weeks later to join his bestie, Tom Brady, on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So ... what's Gronk gonna do with his belt??

HE'S DEFENDING THE DAMN THING, BABY!!!!

Rob joined his brother, Chris, on his "Gronk'd UP" podcast to discuss the status of his championship ... and he makes it clear he's got his eyes peeled for anyone looking to steal his belt -- even Bucs head coach Bruce Arians.

"Imagine coming out of the meeting room, I'm like looking to my left down the hallway ... looking to my right to make sure no one is out of the meetings yet, and then all of a sudden ... Coach Arians just comes out of nowhere with a flying elbow and takes me out and pins me and becomes the 24/7 champ," Gronk says.

"That would be legendary. That would be an honor to lose to him."

Of course, the point of the 24/7 belt is ANYONE can come out of nowhere to try to take it from Gronk ... and he says he's gonna have a huge target on his back once the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Gronk even speculates someone could try taking it from him DURING AN NFL GAME ... but he's up to the challenge.

"So many different people coming at me from all angles."

A 7-year-old battling cancer got the surprise of a lifetime Sunday ... John Cena visited the boy for an epic early birthday present -- coronavirus pandemic be damned.

The WWE superstar flew out to Odessa, FL to see the child ... with Cena wearing a mask and gloves to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while there.

The trip turned out to be an awesome pick-me-up for David Castle, who's battling Wilms tumor, a type of cancer that attacks the kidneys -- because his mom tells WFLA Cena's presence brought the child to tears.

FYI -- Castle's family says the boy's been through A TON since his diagnosis in Oct. 2019, saying, David's "undergone very painful tests, surgery, and long days and nights at the hospital."

But, Cena did his best to take the boy's mind away from his fight ... gifting David with his own personal WWE belt and a bunch of other swag, including autographed T-shirts and armbands.

By the way, Castle's birthday is next week ... which makes Cena's trip an even sweeter one!!

Of course, John's been doing cool visits like this for YEARS ... the guy holds the record for most wishes granted to Make-A-Wish -- with more than 600 total!!!

WWE superstar Becky Lynch is blowing up outside the ring -- even scoring a role on "Billions" ... and tells TMZ Sports she's getting help in Hollywood from some wrestling pals who have been in her shoes!

Lynch's popularity has exploded over the years -- in fact, she's gotten so big, "Billions" creator Brian Koppelman rocked a Lynch t-shirt during a huge media event in 2019.

At the time, Koppelman said he was such a fan, he offered her a standing role on the show if she was interested.

In fact, Lynch says she's always been interested in an acting career -- she earned a degree in theater back in Ireland -- and believes WWE is the PERFECT launching pad!

Guess what?! She was right ... and when she followed up, he kept his word!

"You never know if people are gonna come through with these things, but he did and they did. I'm on the season premiere," Lynch tells TMZ Sports.

"When you're in WWE, everything is one take. You're live in front of the entire world and you don't really have the time to mess up and if you do mess up, you have to make the best of it."

"It's like this crazy amazing improv where you're also kinda the director, producer, actor, writer of your own character. So, I think it really just sets you up with a skill set that's unprecedented in any other field."

She's not wrong ... wrestlers like The Rock, John Cena, Dave Bautista and others have credited WWE with helping them blow up on the big screen and Lynch says they've gone out of their way to help her make the jump too!

"[The Rock has] actually he's been very helpful in guiding me," Lynch says.

"He's just being very giving and I think they all are because they've all been there and they're all ready to look after the next generation."

"Cena's also been so great to me and so generous with his time and his advice, checks up on me on what I'm doing now. I think everybody wants to see the next generation move to where they've been, ya know?!"

Lynch says she's got some huge projects in the pipeline -- some super-secret stuff -- but don't worry about her bolting from WWE any time soon.

WWE Superstar Jeff Hardy says he personally called WWE and asked for help the day before his recent DWI arrest ... admitting he knew something was wrong and wanted to change.

Remember, 42-year-old Hardy was busted for drunk driving on Oct. 3 ... adding to his history of several alcohol and drug-related arrests throughout his career.

The Charismatic Enigma opened up about his struggles with the "After The Bell" podcast with Corey Graves this week ... revealing how going to inpatient rehab for the first time helped him face his issues head-on.

"I’ve learned so much in recovery ... just little things like one day at a time, just focus on today, not drinking or not drugging and just calling my sponsor every day and talking to another alcoholic man."

Hardy got candid about his conversation with Vince McMahon's org before his DWI, saying, "I called WWE and said, ‘I need help. I need treatment. There’s something wrong with me, with this alcohol thing.'"

Now, Hardy is focused on staying clean and sober ... and hopes that keeps him out of handcuffs.

"There’s something powerful about it when you admit what you are and you can like, own that ... and there’s a huge piece in my heart and my mind knowing that if I never drink again, I’m never going to get into any other trouble."