Fred Ottman
| Fred Ottman | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Bubba the Belt Collector U.S. Steel Big Steel Man Tugboat Tugboat Tyler Tugboat Tanna Typhoon The Shockmaster |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 384 lb (174 kg; 27.4 st) |
| Born | August 10, 1956 Norfolk, Virginia, United States |
| Resides | Lakeland, Florida |
| Debut | 1984 |
| Retired | 2004 |
Fred Ottman (born August 10, 1956 in Norfolk, Virginia) is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his infamous "Shockmaster" gimmick in World Championship Wrestling, as well as teaming with John "Earthquake" Tenta as the Natural Disasters in the World Wrestling Federation.
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Ottman debuted in the WWF in 1990 coming to the aid of "The Incredible" Hulk Hogan, who was feuding with Tenta and "Canada's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo. Dubbed Tugboat Thomas (later just "Tugboat"), his costume consisted of a red striped shirt, white pants, and a sailor's hat. Part of his gimmick included raising his fist into the air and then pulling it down (similar to the way one would signal a trucker) and make a "Toot-toot" noise, like a foghorn on a ship. After Bravo retired, Ottman turned heel, changing his character's name to Typhoon and alligning himself with Earthquake as the "Natural Disasters." During this time, they held the WWF World Tag-Team Championships, defeating Money, Inc. ("Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) in July of 1992, before losing the titles back to DiBiase and I.R.S. three months later. Ottman would leave the company shortly after.
[edit] The Shockmaster incident
In 1993, Ottman would find himself the center of one of the most embarassing moments in wrestling history. World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had recently signed Ottman, and he was to make his debut in a match alongside Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Davey Boy Smith. He would be their mystery partner in the upcoming eight-man tag match against the heel team comprised of Sid Vicious, Big Van Vader, and the Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl.
On A Flair for the Gold, (an interview segment hosted by Ric Flair) in front of a live audience, Sting and Smith were confronted by Sid and the Harlem Heat, demanding to know the identity of their new partner. Sting exclaimed , "All I can say is, he is going to "shock" the world, because he is none other than... The Shockmaster!!" The camera zoomed in on a particular section of the set where two torches set off a small pyrotechnics explosion in front of a sheetrock wall. Ottman was supposed to make a dramatic entrance be crashing through the wall. His new costume consisted of a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet painted silver and covered in glitter, a pair of jeans, and a long black vest. Instead, Ottman tripped over a piece of lumber that was framing the set, causing his helmet to fall off and slide across the floor. He scrambled to put the helmet back on and get to his feet, in an attempt to salvage the disaster.
Ottman walked up to Sid and Harlem Heat, all of whom were visibly struggling to contain their laughter. The interview, which was actually pre-recorded by Ole Anderson only got worse, as Anderson mistakenly called Sid "Stid", a problem which the studio technicians didn't think to fix in post-production. Despite zero crowd reaction and leaving the announcers speechless, WCW decided to continue with the feud.
[edit] Post-Shockmaster
WCW attempted to salvage the incident by introducing a new character called the "Super Shockmaster." Also portrayed by Ottman, this was intended to be the Shockmaster's nephew, who would then refer to the Shockmaster as "Uncle Fred." Subsequently entering the ring to a distorted version of the Beatles song "Day Tripper," the Shockmaster was then portrayed as a klutz until the character was eventually abandoned.
Ottman now lives in Florida operating his own truck for Martin Transport Ltd. out of Mondovi Wisconsin, driving freight over the road and coaching the Little League team of his three sons, Berkley, Bailey, and Beau.[1]
- Finishing and signature moves
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- Tidal Wave (Running splash)
- Bear hug
- High impact cornered splash
- ^ "Catching up with Tugboat". WWE. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
