Fred Ottman

Fred Ottman
Ring name(s)	Big Bubba Bubba the Belt Collector U.S. Steel Big Man Steel Tugboat Thomas Tugboat Typhoon The Shockmaster Super Shockmaster
Billed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight	384 lb (174 kg; 27.4 st)
Born	August 10, 1956 (1956-08-10) Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Resides	Lakeland, Florida
Debut	1984
Retired	1996

Fred Ottman (born August 10, 1956) is a retired American professional wrestler best known as Tugboat or Typhoon and teaming with John "Earthquake" Tenta as The Natural Disasters in the World Wrestling Federation. Ottman is also well-known for his infamous "Shockmaster" gimmick in World Championship Wrestling. In WWF, he is a one-time Tag Team Champion.

Career

World Wrestling Federation (1989–1993)

Tugboat (1990–1991)

Ottman made his first appearance in the WWF in June 1989 in a dark match under the name Big Man Steel with Slick as his manager. He debuted on WWF television on the January 27, 1990 episode of Superstars as a fan favorite under the ring name Tugboat Thomas, defeating Iron Mike Sharpe. His ring name was later changed to 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. Tugboat aided Hulk Hogan in his feud with Earthquake and "Canada's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo. This coincided with a substantial push that saw Tugboat emerging victorious on television against numerous opponents.

Natural Disasters (1991–1993)

Main article: The Natural Disasters

In May 1991 Ottman teased a villainous turn when he fought Hulk Hogan in a battle royal on the final NBC Saturday Night's Main Event. Shortly afterwards he completed his villainous turn, changing his character's name to Typhoon and aligning himself with Earthquake as The Natural Disasters, managed by Jimmy Hart. The Natural Disasters turned into fan favorites in early 1992, feuding with and eventually winning the WWF Tag Team Championship from Hart's Money Inc. ("Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) in July, before losing the titles back to Money Inc. three months later. When Earthquake took a leave of absence from the WWF early in 1993, Ottman wrestled in low-profile singles matches before leaving the company that spring.

World Championship Wrestling (1993–1994)

The Shockmaster incident (1993)

After departing from the WWF, Ottman would find himself the center of one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history. World Championship Wrestling (WCW) had recently signed Ottman, and he was to make his debut in a match alongside the fan favorite team of Sting, Dustin Rhodes and Davey Boy Smith. He would be their mystery partner in the upcoming eight-man tag match against the heel team composed of Sid Vicious, Big Van Vader and Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl and was to be a replacement for Road Warrior Hawk (who had been advertised).

"They put me in a Storm Trooper mask which they painted and covered in glitter, I couldn't see a thing. I got to the wall and put my hands up like a double axe handle and bust through. The top broke perfectly, but the bottom didn't give. The momentum took me through the wall and to the floor."

— Ottman on The Shockmaster's debut.

On "A Flair for the Gold", (an interview segment hosted by Ric Flair) in front of a live audience at Clash of the Champions XXIV, Sting and Smith were confronted by Sid and Harlem Heat, demanding to know the identity of their new partner. Sting exclaimed, "All I have to say is, our partner 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 by 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. As he scrambled to put the helmet back on and get to his feet, Flair audibly exclaimed "Oh, God!". Ottman slowly walked towards the wrestlers and stood menacingly in an attempt to salvage the disaster. Booker T of Harlem Heat asked "Who is this Motherfucker?" and Smith exclaimed "He fell flat on his ass...he fell flat on his fucking ass!". Both of these comments were audible to the audience and television viewers and would later be partially censored in future showings of the footage by the WWE. Dusty Rhodes later revealed on an episode of WWE 24/7's Legends of Wrestling that the piece of lumber previously wasn't there during a successful practice run and it was later put there by David Crockett without informing Ottman.

Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat were visibly struggling to contain their laughter as Ottman began his promo, which was actually voiced by Ole Anderson. The situation only got worse as Anderson started giggling at the beginning and mistakenly called Sid 'Stid' at one stage. Despite zero crowd reaction and leaving the announcers speechless, WCW decided to continue with the feud.

World Wrestling Entertainment, which now owns all rights to WCW and its video library, has described The Shockmaster's debut as "one of the most unintentionally funny moments in sports-entertainment history," and "a debacle many still consider one of the worst gaffes in the history of sports-entertainment." While Ottman was displeased with the turn of events, he now finds humor in the incident.

Post-Shockmaster (1993–1994)

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.

Return to WWF (1994)

Ottman returned to the WWF as Typhoon in May 1994, primarily being used to put over other talent, before departing in August.

Japan, Independent circuit, and retirement (1994–2001)

After leaving the WWF in August 1994, Ottman, still using the Typhoon name, began wrestling in the independent circuit in the East Coast. In December 1995, he returned to Japan to compete in a one-night tag team tournament, held by WAR. He teamed up with Shinja and advanced to the semi-finals, before losing to Genichiro Tenryu and Ultimo Dragon. In March 1996, he wrestled a tour of Malaysia for the National Wrestling Alliance.

By the late 1990s, he was wrestling primarily in Florida, where he competed for FOW and WXO. In WXO, he was given a gimmick, where he was too big to get out of his own car.

Personal life

Ottman retired from wrestling after WXO folded in 2001. Ottman was one of the participants of the 20 Man Gimmick Battle Royal match at WrestleMania X-Seven as Tugboat. He now lives in Lakeland, Florida and works as a safety manager for Gaffin Industrial Services, a building cleaning service. He also coaches the little league team of his two sons, Berkley and Beau and daughter, Bailey. He is one of the two uncles of Cody Rhodes, the other being Jerry Sags.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Tidal Wave (WWF) / Shockmaster Splash (WCW) (Running splash)

• Signature moves
  • Bearhug
  • High-impact corner body avalanche

• With Earthquake
  • Typhoon hits a high impact corner body splash and keeps the opponent/s cornered while Earthquake splashes his back, crushing the opponent with the impact of both of their weights

• Managers
  • Jimmy Hart
  • Slick

Championships and accomplishments

• Continental Wrestling Association

• AWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Jerry Lawler (1) and Goliath (1)

• International Wrestling Association
  • IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Super World of Sports

• SWS Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Earthquake

• Universal Superstars of America

• USA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Federation

• WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Earthquake

External links

• WWE Alumni profile
• WWE "Where Are They Now?" feature