Jim Herd, the former WCW executive vice president who fired Ric Flair in 1991, has died. He was 87.
Conrad Thompson shared the news on X on Tuesday. Thompson wrote in his column for Uncrowned that Herd died in October.
“I’m sad to report that Jim Herd has passed away. I know this won’t be popular, but I think his brief stint in wrestling should be reexamined a bit,” Thompson wrote.
I’m sad to report that Jim Herd has passed away.
I know this won’t be popular, but I think his brief stint in wrestling should be reexamined a bit.
I did just that in today for @arielhelwani’s @uncrownedcombat
🔗 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/r6ajkZDkEd
— Conrad the Mortgage Guy (@HeyHeyItsConrad) November 10, 2026
In the column, Thompson argued that Herd’s run deserves a second look.
“History, it is said, is written by the winners. It’s also decided by those with the loudest voices,” Thompson wrote. “Herd’s primary responsibility was to find the black ink.”
Herd was the station manager at KPLR-TV in St. Louis, home of Wrestling at the Chase, and later worked for a company that owned 68 Pizza Hut restaurants. After Turner Broadcasting bought Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988, Herd was hired to run the new WCW as its first executive vice president. Thompson wrote that Herd was brought in “as a business executive to turn Crockett’s red ink into black ink.”
Under Herd, WCW landed a Coors beer sponsorship, a deal with Roos shoes and a Hershey’s tie-in with Brad Armstrong as Candy Man, and released its first trading cards and action figures. His run also included the 1989 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat series, Sting’s first world title win at the 1990 Great American Bash, and the arrivals of Big Van Vader and The Great Muta.
Herd is best known for firing Flair in July 1991 after contract talks broke down. Flair went to the WWF and appeared on WWF TV with the WCW championship belt. Lex Luger won the vacated title from Barry Windham at the 1991 Great American Bash. You can read more about that story in our feature, The Pizza Man Vs. The Nature Boy.
Herd is also remembered for ideas like the Ding Dongs, Kevin Nash as Oz, a Spartacus gimmick for Flair, and a tag team of “hunchbacks” that could not be pinned. Thompson wrote that WCW lost money every year after the sale, “no matter who was in charge,” until Eric Bischoff took over.
“I think history should be a little kinder to Herd’s reign,” Thompson wrote.
Herd resigned from WCW on January 8, 1992, and later moved into the casino business. Thompson wrote that Herd told him he never looked back on wrestling “because it stopped being fun for him.”
WrestlingNews.co sends its condolences to Herd’s family and friends.
