Watch: Former WWE star stops armed robbery

Former wrestler Shad Gaspard made his name as one half of WWE duo "CrymeTyme". Photo / Getty Images

He made his name as part of the WWE duo "Cryme Time" but now former wrestler Shad Gaspard is busy preventing it.

Gaspard has made headlines after disarming a gun wielding robber at a Florida service station. Jason Felix, 35, was attempting to rob the Coral Springs station, but unfortunately for him he chose the wrong guy to mess with.

According to reports, Felix approached Gaspard and asked him to buy him some beer, a request the WWE star promptly refused. This infuriated the criminal, seeing him brandish the weapon and telling Gaspard he was going to "rob the place".

That was when the Brooklyn-born beast sprang into action, turning vigilante and dishing out his own form of justice, using a combination of moves learnt in the wrestling ring and in his former role as a bodyguard.

"I grabbed him by the back of the head and I ran him into the store door," Gaspard told a local news station. "When I ran him to the store door, I got him outside, I grabbed him in a rear choke and I threw him up and I got him on the ground."

It turned out the weapon the robber was holding was a fake, later revealed to be a BB gun. But it didn't prevent Gaspard from putting his own life in danger.

"I thought it was a real gun. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," Gaspard told Pro Wrestling Sheet. "I just did what came natural, I wasn't trying to be a hero."

Gaspard was part of World Wrestling Entertainment for more than six years, across two stints with the company. The 130kg monster wrestled in development territories as The Neighbourhoodie, and a tag-team known as The Gang Stars, before forming the team Cryme Tyme, alongside wrestler JTG.

The WWE has given us the highest-grossing action star of recent times in The Rock (actor Dwayne Johnson) and it seems another former grappler from the Vince McMahon institute could be making a similar-sized splash in Hollywood.

Since leaving the wrestling business, Gaspard has moved to the world of film, and ironically had what could have been his big break end up in the hands of The Rock.

Gaspard auditioned for a role in the recent Conan the Barbarian remake, only to see the part go to the former WWE icon.

The 204cm giant could still see his name up on the big screen. Gaspard revealed he is in the running for another role, where his robbery heroics could make a solid audition.

"I was supposed to be auditioning for a super hero movie this week," said Gaspard.

It seems life has a funny way of imitating art sometimes.