Fred Ottman On Plans For Sheik Tugboat Feud With Hulk Hogan At WrestleMania VII, Forming Tag Team With Earthquake

In a recent interview on The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Fred Ottman aka Tugboat discussed nearly facing Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII, whether he would’ve been open to the Sheik Tugboat gimmick, working with Earthquake, and much more. Here are some of the highlights:

Fred Ottman on plans for him to turn heel and face Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII: “I know very little about it. It’s scuttlebutt. You never know. They always do stuff. They flipped Sgt. Slaughter. He became part of the Iran Connection there. ‘Forsaken America jabroni!’ That’s the way it is in the wrestling business. It’s all behind the scenes business until they come to you and say, ‘This is what you’re going to do tonight.'”

On whether he would’ve been open to playing the Sheik Tugboat character: “I’m open to everything. I get questions all the time about what gimmicks I like the best. I liked them all. Through my period of 30 years I’ve had several wrestling gimmicks that I started with and have gone through one after another.”

On forming a tag team with Earthquake and what it was like working with him: “Quake had finished his run [with Hogan]. As a matter of fact, I got to see the Hasbro Tugboat figure that was never released. I was excited about it. They had a Tugboat t-shirt that was never for sale. My first wife had it as a sleep shirt that she wore. I’m sure she got rid of it after our parting ways. I met backstage after I just had the photoshoot on tugboats. I came back to TV. Vince and Pat Patterson call me into the office with the powers that be right there…”We’ve got this idea. We want to team you up with Quake with Jimmy Hart as your manager.” I loved the Quake because he was a great wrestler and worker and a great guy.”