Over the course of the history of professional wrestling, there have been many things that have come and gone; the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Many fans agree that one such idea that was considered bad for the most part, was the debut of The Shockmaster on that fateful 1993 day. It is generally regarded as one of the most "WrestleCrap" worthy moments in all of wrestling. However, what's shocking to me is the way some people perceive it.
Obviously, I could go on and on about how bad it was, and I will, trust me! It's just that I feel the need to clear something up, at least from my perspective. From the way people describe it, it seems like many believe that it only failed because of what happened. I'm here to tell you that it was a failure way before it was even on television. Most know the story. The titular Shockmaster was played by Fred Ottman, formerly Tugboat and Typhoon. First of all, they had him wear jeans, a vest, and an idiotic looking silver glittered Star Wars "Storm Trooper" helmet. So, we're already off to a bad start. Then the fun ensues!
He was supposed to crash through the wall of the set of "A Flair For the Gold," in which Ric Flair interviewed the teams that would be colliding at Fall Brawl in War Games, along with Sting introducing his special partner. However, someone decided to place a piece of wood haphazardly on the lower portion of the wall at the last minute, after successful practice runs. Ottman, through no fault of his own, couldn't see at all and tripped over the piece of wood as he crashed through the wall, falling down, as his helmet rolled off. As quick as he could, he put the helmet back on. You audibly hear some of the wrestlers laughing, as well as the British Bulldog shouting out; "he fell on flat on his arse!" But it didn't end there! Sid Vicious and Harlem Heat did their best to stay in character as The Shockmaster began to "talk." It was famously the voice of Ole Anderson tweaked a little bit to sound menacing. What proceeded from there was some of the lamest smack talking I've ever heard. This was beyond embarrassing, even for 1993 WCW standards.
So, what you're telling me is that this thing only failed because he tripped and fell and scrambled to put back on his fallen helmet? Think about that for a second! For argument sake, let's just propose the notion of "what if he didn't trip?" You're going to tell me with a straight face that this wouldn't have been dead in the water if that was the case? Let's say, he busts through the wall like planned, didn't trip or lose his helmet. What then? Would that have been a success? No matter the circumstances, the plan was still for Ole Anderson to distortedly voice the gimmick, even audibly laughing while doing it. Hell, look at the damn outfit he wore! You're telling me that his attire wasn't as much of a failure compared to falling down? This gimmick was going to suck regardless.
I recall Dusty Rhodes speaking about the incident and stated that when his young son at the time, Cody, saw what happened watching TV with friends, the little guy shouted; "that's Unlce Fred!" If that didn't register for you, Dusty and Ottman were brothers-in-law. They even acknowledged what young Cody said when Ottman later portrayed the character of Super Shockmaster, claiming to be his nephew and calling him "Uncle Fred." To this day, Cody still talks about it, remembering this wrestling blunder from his childhood, and many of ours. The very idea of this gimmick was a failure!
If I recall, the late Dusty Rhodes himself was the one who came up with this. Dusty was a booker for a lot of his time in the wrestling business. Sorry, Dusty, I love you, but this was not one of your best! That's putting it nicely, out of respect for him. Even if Ottman didn't trip, what about this gimmick at all would have gotten over with the crowd? In what world would this be looked at as a good idea? I'm genuinely shocked that so many people seem to think that his tripping and losing his helmet was the only reason it failed! This failed before it was even conceived! Clearly, not every idea is a winner. Although, in my opinion, it's not as bad as David Arquette as WCW Champion! Sorry, Mr. Russo! Haha!
Not only that, but let's discuss the name! What kind of name is Shockmaster? What is exactly is a Shockmaster? What was his gimmick supposed to be had the accident not occurred? As if a Storm Trooper helmet was bad enough, why was it covered in silver glitter, especially so much so that the man couldn't see in front of himself? Thank God Ted Turner didn't decide to start competing with Vince McMahon at that point! There would have been no Monday Night War! The idea as a whole was a failure. I hope people can see that! That's my point! I'd love someone to argue how this would have been successful if he didn't trip and lose his helmet. Thankfully, Ottman found the humor in it after his retirement, as it is still talked about to this day. He had the sense of humor to make fun of himself, and the gimmick. He even brings out the helmet for conventions from time to time. The bottom line is, I feel like people need to agree that this was DOA no matter what!
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