The Natural Disasters Join WWE Hall Of Fame Class Of 2025 (WWE News)

Earthquake and Typhoon are reportedly set for the WWE Hall Of Fame over WrestleMania 41 weekend

by Michael Hamflett
Natural Disasters
WWE.com

Legendary 1990s tag team The Natural Disasters are set to be inducted into the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame.

This is according to WrestleVotes. The duo, consisting of the late Earthquake (John Tenta) and the 68-year-old Typhoon (Fred Ottman, also known as Tugboat), left a lasting impact on WWE’s tag team division during their tenure. The Disasters captured WWE Tag Team gold in 1992, defeating Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS) before defending the titles against The Beverly Brothers in each pair's highest profile match at SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium. Known for their imposing size and dominant presence as both heels and babyfaces, they were one of the more memorable acts from the very end of the company's golden era boom.

Advertisement

Teaming from May 1991 through to January 1993, the duo eventually split, leading both men back to singles competition. Tenta had previously enjoyed success as a scary singles heel, famously feuding with Hulk Hogan and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts. After the team dissolved, he worked as Avalanche, Shark and under his real name in WCW, then went under a mask as Golga in The Oddities following a return to WWE in 1998. He departed the company for good in 2001 and tragically passed away in 2006.

Ottman was the babyface on Hogan's side against Earthquake under his Tugboat guise in 1990. Following The Natural Disasters' split, he wrestled as a singles competitor on and off with WWE until August 1994 but is undeniably best remembered for his clumsy stint as WCW's Shockmaster in 1993. His fall through a stage wall while debuting the gimmick was infamous at the time, but has since become a charming reference point for fans and the man himself, furthering his and Tenta's reputations as two of the industry's rare universally well-liked stars.

Advertisement

Once officially announced, The Natural Disasters will join Triple H and Michelle McCool as part of the 2025 Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony will take place during WrestleMania 41 weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, though the current location and date hasn't yet been confirmed.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett