Jim Herd, Former WCW Executive Vice President, Dies at 87
Summary: Conrad Thompson wrote on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that Jim Herd, WCW's first executive vice president, died in October at age 87. The cause and the date of death were not given in the reports we read.
The quick version
- Jim Herd, who ran WCW as executive vice president after Turner Broadcasting bought Jim Crockett Promotions, died in October at age 87, per Conrad Thompson's column for Yahoo Sports' Uncrowned.
- The exact date and cause of death were not given in the reports we read. We found no statement from Herd's family.
- Herd fired Ric Flair in July 1991. Thompson is Flair's son-in-law and says so in the column.
Jim Herd, the first executive vice president of World Championship Wrestling, died in October at the age of 87. First reported by Conrad Thompson, who wrote it at the top of his weekly "Conrad's Corner" column for Yahoo Sports' Uncrowned, published Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026. ProWrestling.net, Wrestling Inc and eWrestlingNews carried the news the same day.
What is known
Thompson's column says Herd ran the promotion from 1989 until January 1992, after Turner Broadcasting bought Jim Crockett Promotions, and that Ted Turner tasked him with making WCW profitable. Wrestling Inc dates his start to 1988, and eWrestlingNews gives Jan. 8, 1992 as the day he resigned. We could not reconcile the start year. Before wrestling, Herd was a station manager at KPLR-TV in St. Louis and then worked in Pizza Hut management, per Thompson's column and Wrestling Inc.
He is best remembered for firing Ric Flair in July 1991 after contract talks broke down. Flair then showed up on WWF television with the WCW and NWA world title belt. Thompson says Herd's run also brought in Big Van Vader, The Great Muta, Scott Steiner and Terry Funk, and a beer sponsorship. ProWrestling.net, in its own comment on the news, lists Herd's creative ideas as the reason he was unpopular with fans, and names a plan to rename Flair "Spartacus."
What Thompson wrote
Thompson, who says in the column that Flair is his father-in-law, defended Herd's tenure. He wrote: "I think history should be a little kinder to Herd's reign." He also released a sit-down interview with Herd, filmed in 2021, on YouTube, per Wrestling Inc.
What is not known
The date, place and cause of death. Wrestling Inc and ProWrestling.net do not give them either. We also did not find a family notice or an obituary from a newspaper.
Source: Conrad Thompson's column for Yahoo Sports' Uncrowned, which we read in full. Wrestling Inc, ProWrestling.net and eWrestlingNews each credit Thompson as the first to report it. Everything in this story about Herd's death comes from that one column. We did not contact Herd's family. Nothing in this story is a rumor.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports, Uncrowned (Conrad Thompson, "Conrad's Corner"), "Jim Herd, former WCW boss who famously fired Ric Flair, dies at 87", Nov. 10, 2026, 9:12 PM UTC (the death, his years at WCW, the Flair firing, the quote, his earlier work). https://sports.yahoo.com/wrestling/article/jim-herd-former-wcw-boss-who-famously-fired-ric-flair-dies-at-87-wrestlemania-43-dates-saudi-arabia-211206092.html
- Wrestling Inc (Daisy Ruth), "Jim Herd Dies, Former WCW EVP Dead At 87", Nov. 10, 2026, 5:18 PM EST (the 1988 start date, the 2021 interview). https://www.wrestlinginc.com/2312869/jim-herd-dies-former-wcw-evp-dead-87/
- ProWrestling.net (Jason Powell), "Former WCW executive Jim Herd died last month", Nov. 10, 2026 (cause not disclosed, how fans saw his creative ideas). https://prowrestling.net/site/2026/11/10/former-wcw-executive-jim-herd-died-last-month/
- eWrestlingNews (Ryan Clark), "Former WCW Executive Jim Herd Passes Away", Nov. 10, 2026 (the Jan. 8, 1992 resignation date). https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/news/wwe/former-wcw-executive-jim-herd-passes-away
- WrestlingNews.com staff reporting: read the Yahoo column and three outlets' reports. We did not contact Herd's family or Yahoo.
How we credit sources: Editorial standards.