Cody Rhodes has revealed some unknown details about the Shockmaster debut.
Real name Fred Ottman, the wrestling veteran made his WCW debut as The Shockmaster in 1993. Coming off of his WWE run as Tugboat and Typhoon, the 69-year-old had some momentum jumping ship to the rival company.
The whole thing turned into a disaster however, after Ottman fell while making his entrance through a board and dropped the stormtrooper mask he had been wearing. The accident made everyone involved in the segment break character and it's widely regarded as the worst wrestling debut of all time.
Cody Rhodes Reveals Why Shockmaster Debut Failed
Cody Rhodes, whose dad Dusty Rhodes was part of the WCW booking committee at the time, revealed some unknown details about the whole thing, during his appearance on Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast. Rhodes mentioned that Fred was married to his aunt at the time and Dusty was trying to help his brother-in-law, as he remembers it.
The American Nightmare then revealed the reason Shockmaster had given behind his comedic fall during the segment:
The thing that Fred told everybody is there was a board, a guy named Jackie Crockett who was a cameraman. He put that board there to just make sure the flare for the goal, 'cause it's just a three-wall set, doesn't fall. That board apparently was not there earlier in the day, and that board is what did it.
The WWE Champion later recalled the car ride home after the segment. He mentioned that they usually talked about wrestling on the way home, but everyone was silent that day. Dusty feared that he might get fired over the segment, though thankfully, the American Dream was not let go and remained part of the WCW creative.
You can check out the full Cody Rhodes interview below:
