Former WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd died at the age of 87 back in October, it was revealed by Conrad Thompson, writing for Yahoo! Sports' "Uncrowned" on Tuesday. Herd served as the inaugural executive for WCW from 1988 to his resignation in January 1992.Before his break into the wrestling world, Herd worked in both broadcasting, including as a TV station manager in St. Louis, as well in food service, where he worked as a regional manager for Pizza Hut. Herd took on the role of WCW EVP after Turner Broadcasting bought Jim Crockett Promotions. He would later reveal in interviews that he and Ted Turner had a relationship that dated back long before 1988, when Turner asked him to run the wrestling division of his company.Herd worked to modernize the product and appeal to the younger demographic, as well as to compete aggressively against the then-WWF. It was Herd's work that got WCW a tie-in with "RoboCop 2," leading to the character's appearance alongside Sting at Capital Combat 1990. Herd worked to incorporate various other figures in pop culture, including Elvira and "The Wonder Years'" Jason Hervey into the company's promotion material and shows. He also scored major sponsorship deals for the promotion, including with Budweiser.The executive is also known as the man who fired Ric Flair in 1991, a move that had major impacts across the wrestling world. The pair had previous disagreements, including Herd wanting to re-name Flair's character "Spartacus." Flair, who still had physical possession of the WCW/NWA Heavyweight Championship at the time of his firing, shockingly showed up with the belt on WWF television.In addition to the obituary written for "Uncrowned," Thompson released a sit-down interview with the former executive on YouTube. The interview, filmed in 2021, features Herd talking about his life and career.
