Eric Bischoff On The Shockmaster’s Debut In WCW, Bringing Fred Ottman In From WWE

In a recent edition of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff discussed The Shockmaster’s debut in WCW, bringing Fred Ottman in from WCW, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Eric Bischoff on The Shockmaster’s debut in WCW: “I think it’s funny now. It certainly wasn’t funny then. Yeah, it is hilarious now. It was horrible then, and even now we can say it’s funny, and it is in some respects. It’s one of those classic moments in professional wrestling that will live in infamy and people will be talking about it and laughing at it for decades to come. It happened almost 30 years ago and we’re still laughing about it. I also, as a former performer, I feel for Fred [Ottman]. I mean, to his credit, Fred is out there pre-COVID and he’s making appearances as The Shockmaster. He’s making money with it, so maybe I feel worse about it for him than he does. I don’t know. But yeah, what a shitshow of a moment that was.”

On what it was like watching it live: “I was the executive producer. I even remember where I was standing when he came through the wall……I just felt bad. I felt bad for Dusty. A lot went into that, by the way. The Flair for the Gold – we look at it now and it’s semi cheesy. But back in the day, it was a damn big deal. A lot of money, and it was an expensive deal in a way to help get Ric even more over than he already was…..the effort and time and expense that went into that, it took hours to set that thing up because it was a traveling set. It was a big damn deal, and then to have him come crashing through the wall…..I feel bad even now.”

On WCW bringing in Fred Ottman from WWE: “In 1993, WCW was a pimple on a hamster’s ass compared to WWE. No doubt about that. And Tugboat was a big damn deal in WWE…..there was a credible reason to bring him in, but as you pointed out, the gimmick was horrible.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.