Fred Ottman

On February 22, 2016, Ottman returned as The Shockmaster for an episode of the WWE Network show, The Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness. On the show, The Shockmaster was given the opportunity to redeem the famous debut incident by walking through the show's banner.

In 1992, he appeared as Typhoon (along with Earthquake) in the SNES version of the video game WWF Super Wrestlemania. The Disasters were absent from the Sega version. On February 23, 2016, he appeared as downloadable content for WWE 2K16. He appears along with Earthquake in WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18 as well. In 2K18, the Shockmaster helmet (slightly modified as to avoid any copyright disputes with the Star Wars license) and the Typhoon singlet are available in the game's attire creation suite, and can be worn by any character in the game.

Dusty Rhodes later claimed, on an episode of WWE 24/7's "Legends of Wrestling" show, 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. WWE, on its official website, wrote, "There is a case to be made that The Shockmaster's debut at WCW Clash of the Champions XXIV is the greatest of all time – albeit for all the wrong reasons." The organization has also described the incident 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 initially displeased with the turn of events, he now finds humor in the incident.

In 2009, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Dusty Rhodes appeared on a segment of WWE Raw to discuss the DVD release of The Rise and Fall of WCW when Triple H brought up the subject of the Shockmaster's debut. During that segment, the WWE recreated the Shockmaster's stumbling through the wall, with Santino Marella portraying the character and Arn Anderson providing the voice.

On September 5, 2009 Ottman returned to the ring as Tugboat losing to Martin Nolte at DWA 10 years event in Uelzen, Germany. He return to North America on November 21 as Tugboat defeating Jason Static at ECPW in New York City. He once again retired.

Ottman retired from wrestling after WXO folded in 2001. 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 the brother-in-law of late pro wrestler Dusty Rhodes. He is one of the two uncles of Cody Rhodes and Goldust, the other being Jerry Sags.

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. He lost to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn on November 7, 1997 in Gainesville, Florida. On May 27, 2000 as Typhoon he defeated One Man Gang and Ron Harris in a 3 way match for Wrestling In Ashwaubenon independent show in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. In 2001 Ottman retired from wrestling.

WCW attempted to salvage the incident by introducing a new character called The Super Shockmaster. Also portrayed by Ottman, he was presented as The Shockmaster's nephew, and referred to the Shockmaster as "Uncle Fred." Ottman left the company in January 1994.

Ottman returned to the WWF as Typhoon in May 1994, taking the place of his former partner Earthquake in house show matches against Yokozuna after Earthquake left the WWF. Typhoon made his return to television on the June 25 episode of Superstars (taped May 25), defeating Quebecer Pierre. He then primarily lost matches to Yokozuna on television and at house shows before departing in August.

After leaving the WWF in August 1994, Ottman, still using the Typhoon name, began wrestling on the independent circuit in the East Coast. In December 1995, he went 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 feuding with King Kong Bundy.

In 1993, he debuted as The Shockmaster in World Championship Wrestling and immediately fell over, losing his mask on live television while his teammates broke character and laughed. This botch hurt his career in the short term, but is now generally regarded as the worst debut in wrestling history, a notoriety he capitalized upon after his in-ring retirement.

The Natural Disasters dumped Hart and turned into fan favorites in early 1992, feuding with Hart's new top team, Money Inc. ("Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). On April 17 they won the SWS Tag Team Championship defeating George Takano and Shunji Takano in Yokohama, Japan when WWF had a partnership with Super World of Sports. In July the Natural Disasters defeated Money Inc. to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Money Inc. three months later. After Earthquake took a leave of absence from the WWF early in 1993, Ottman wrestled in singles matches before leaving the company in early summer. He worked house shows against Terry Taylor in the spring. His final match saw him defeat The Predator (Horace Hogan) in a house show match in Tampa, FL on July 18.

In May 1991, Ottman teased a heel turn by attacking Hulk Hogan in a battle royal on NBC's Saturday Night's Main Event XXIX. Ottman completed the turn on the June 15 episode of WWF Superstars. Tugboat and The Bushwhackers were facing The Nasty Boys and Earthquake in a six-man tag team match when Tugboat attacked his teammates, allowing Earthquake to hit the Earthquake Splash on Bushwhacker Luke and pin him. On the June 17 episode of Prime Time Wrestling, Earthquake's manager, Jimmy Hart, reintroduced Ottman as Typhoon, and he and Earthquake became known as The Natural Disasters. As part of the character change, Ottman began wearing a red, white and black singlet with a tidal wave on the front and "Typhoon" in black letters under it (to match the design on Earthquake's wrestling gear, seismograph lines and "Earthquake" in red letters across the middle).

Ottman made his first appearance in the WWF in June 1989 in a dark match under the ring name Big Steel Man with Slick as his manager. He wrestled three more dark matches that summer, defeating Paul Roma and Boris Zukhov, and losing to Mr Perfect. That September, his name was changed to Tugboat Tyler, then Tugboat Thomas, as he portrayed a fan favorite on house shows, defeating the likes of Barry Horowitz, The Brooklyn Brawler and Boris Zhukov. He debuted on WWF television on the January 27, 1990 episode of Superstars under the Tugboat Thomas moniker and defeated Iron Mike Sharpe. His ring name was soon after shortened to Tugboat. His costume consisted of a red striped shirt, white pants, and a sailor's hat. Part of his gimmick included miming pulling the cord of an airhorn and making a "Toot-toot" noise, like a horn of a ship. On the May 20 episode of Wrestling Challenge, Hulk Hogan made a promo explaining that he personally trained Tugboat and brought him to the WWF. Following Tugboat's win on that very same show Hogan came out into the ring and raised his arm, showing his full support. Tugboat railed for fans to send encouraging letters to Hogan after Hogan was brutally attacked by Earthquake. 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. He made his pay-per-view debut at that November's Survivor Series, where he teamed with Hogan, The Big Boss Man and Hacksaw Jim Duggan to face the team of Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku and The Barbarian. Tugboat was eliminated when he and Earthquake fought to a double count-out, and Hogan went on to be the sole survivor. Tugboat was the first true test of The Undertaker, who defeated him in numerous matches between December 1990 and March 1991. Tugboat received a shot at Mr. Perfect's Intercontinental Championship on the May 5, 1991 episode of Wrestling Challenge, but was unsuccessful.

In September 1988, Ottman wrestled on the Gordon Solie-hosted TV shows of Florida Championship Wrestling as a heel called Big Steel Man, managed by Diamond Dallas Page. He feuded with Dusty Rhodes, among others. He defeated Rhodes for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship on May 13, 1989.

Ottman was trained by Boris Malenko and got his start as Sigfried the Giant in February 1985, for Championship Wrestling from Georgia. He later wrestled for Texas All-Star Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Association as Big Bubba.

Fred Alex Ottman (born August 10, 1956) is an American retired professional wrestler. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation from 1989 to 1994 under the ring names Tugboat and Typhoon. As the former, he played a key babyface ally of Hulk Hogan. As the latter, he turned heel to form The Natural Disasters with Earthquake and held the WWF Tag Team Championship.