Fred Ottman Recalls Shockmaster Debut – “It Was a Nightmare”

– Fred Ottman spoke with Sports Illustrated about his infamous stumble in his debut as the Shockmaster ahead of its twenty-third anniversary tomorrow. Some highlights are below:

On his Shockmaster debut: “It was really bad that night. It was live TV, and it was a nightmare. I’d driven to Daytona, Florida–where it took place–from my house in Tampa, and it was a hard drive back at night. All Dusty Rhodes [who produced the segment] could do was shake his head.”

On what went wrong: “I tripped over that two-by-four. And they couldn’t mic me, so Ole Anderson did the voice. There was pantyhose over the holes of my mask because the glitter from the mask was falling into my eyes. Mike Graham gave me the cue, but his last words were, ‘Fred, you’re going to have to hit this thing hard.’ The next thing I knew, I fell and exposed myself on live television.”

On the Shockmaster’s lasting impression with fans: “I still have the helmet in my house. It is the holy grail whenever I do the comic cons, and the new action figure. It was a humiliating night, but people are still talking about it.”