What is there to say about The Shockmaster that hasnt already been said? There have been some very memorable debuts in wrestling, but The Shockmasters is near the top of the list for all the wrong reasons. Fred Ottman had found some success in WWE as Tugboat (and later, Typhoon) and was all set to make his first appearance for WCW. He would be the mystery partner for the team of Sting, Davey Boy Smith and Dustin Rhodes as they squared off with Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat. The faces had been hyping their surprise ally and were ready to unveil him on Ric Flairs interview segment A Flair for the Gold. Sting exclaimed that their partner would shock the world because it wasThe Shockmaster! A small pyro explosion went off and Ottman was supposed to burst through the wall like the Kool-Aid man, in his menacing new costume that consisted of a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet painted with silver glitter glue, jeans and a black vest. When Shockmaster came through the wall he tripped on the frame and fell on his face, causing his helmet to fall off and slide across the floor. The best part was being able to hear Booker T ask Who is this mother****er? and Davey Boy, unable to control his laughter, said "He fell flat on his arse...he fell flat on his f**king arse!" To his credit, Ottman jumped up, threw the helmet back on and tried to shrug it off, but the damage was done. He began making gestures to the heels before Ole Andersons (the go-to guy when you need a voiceover for a terrible character) taped promo kicked in while the camera focused on Sid doing his best to sell the threat of Shockmaster. But the damage was done, and that was essentially the end of the relevant portion of Ottmans career.
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
