Funny / Fred Ottman

• It can easily be said, that the Shockmaster's entrance is one of wrestling's most famous botches ever. Here's how it went down. At WCW Clash of the Champions XXIV, Sting and Davey Boy Smith were guests on Ric Flair's talk show, ''A Flair For the Gold''. Then Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat swung by and the heels, who were feuding with the two to wrestle at an eight-man War Games match at Fall Brawl 1993, ^Note  Dustin Rhodes was on Sting's and Davey Boy's side while Vader was on Sid's and Harlem Heat's side. came on and demanded who was the fourth man on the face's side. After some arguing, Sting would proceed to introduce him: "All I have to say is, our partner is going to shock the world, because he is none other than the Shockmaster!!" Then the camera cut to the wall, with pyro exploding and with everyone expecting him to make a grand entrance. Instead, he fell right on the floor as he ripped through the wall, making his helmet slide off, revealing him to be Ottman. He scrambled to get his helmet on and go through the entrance as normal, but there was no salvaging the segment. While Ottman himself wouldn't be happy with the damage it did to his career and kept a low profile afterwards, he would nevertheless embrace the role years later at wrestling conventions.
• Almost every person involved in the Shockmaster segment broke down in some way or another. Sting and Flair did so to start the entrance on missed timing. As Flair and Fifi exited, Flair's exit was supposed to cue Sting to say the line to trigger Ottman's entrance. However Sting's back was turned and he couldn't see Flair. This meant the entrance happened slightly late, potentially throwing off Ottman's timing. To try to make sure Sting didn't miss the cue, Flair froze in place while smiling... doing so so well that some later viewers thought he had somehow been replaced with a cardboard cutout of himself.
  • Right as the Shockmaster fell, you can hear the reactions from the others. Sid says "I told ya," breaking kayfabe completely.^note He saw Dusty Rhodes nail a 2x4 shin high inside the breakable wall, recognized the tripping hazard, and warned him, meaning this was doomed from the start.. And Kole of Harlem Heat (Booker T) asking "Who is this motherfucker?" And immediately following that, there's this gem from an amused Davey Boy:
  Davey Boy: (audibly chuckling to himself) He fell flat on his arse. He fell flat on his fuckin' arse!
  • Ole Anderson, the voice of the Shockmaster, even cracked up in laughter before he issued his threat to the heels. And Ole's voice, in which he used a voice modulator but makes him sound like he's speaking through a cardboard tube, only adds to the Narm.
  • And give credit to Sid, who right before the threat was delivered by the Shockmaster, did what he could to sell the threat by reacting in anger like a heel should. However, when Sid begins yelling at the Shockmaster, Ottman (hearing the voice and thinking that it was his voice actor delivering his lines) starts gesturing in an attempt to emphasize the words, unaware that he hasn't actually begun speaking to his opponents. So he's pantomiming Sid's threat against himself.
  • And if you get down to it, how did WCW decide a man wearing a purple glittery stormtrooper helmet, a puffy black vest, jeans and that narmy voice would be any kind of threat? The glitter from the helmet even ended up on his chest, making him look even less threatening.
  • The Mood Whiplash alone is enough to send anyone into hysterics, as Ottman smashed through the wall with the audience cheering him on uproariously, only to practically fall dead silent as he scrambled to recover from his fall. Even the audience contributed to the unplanned fiasco.
• Also later on at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2016, Becky Lynch would find the Shockmaster's helmet, looking at it with amazement and trying it on herself and walking around before she bumps into Ottman herself, with him glaring at her. She apologized profusely and put it on his head, apologizing sheepishly and helping him out to the stage, as he struggles to see out of it himself and the bit ends with her cracking up.