Fred Ottman, WWE's Tugboat & Typhoon, Opens Up About Nephew Cody Rhodes

Former WWE and WCW star Fred Ottman, the uncle of Cody Rhodes, has discussed his nephew's rise to the top in WWE.

Ottman hailed from a time in wrestling where pantomime-like characters reigned supreme, donning various monikers including Tugboat and Typhoon in the WWF during the '80s and The Shockmaster in WCW during the early '90s. The veteran is also the brother-in-law of the late, great Dusty Rhodes, and thus an uncle to current WWE and AEW stars Cody and Dustin Rhodes. Speaking in a Q&A with "Cultaholic" at Hooked on Wrestling's BOXPark Wembley Royal Rumble watch party, before his nephew's big win in the men's Royal Rumble match, Ottman had nothing but praise to share. 

"I think he's phenomenal," he said. He then discussed Rhodes' 2016 WWE departure. "I think the fact he left [WWE] when he did ... Because WWE has always been one of those places where they would take all the great talent they could find and they want to own it. The trouble with owning things, doing TV and pay-per-views is this: you got angles going on, storylines, but the bottom line is if you're not figured in [to] what's going on now, you've got to wait for the opportunity."

Ottman noted how Cody worked the independent circuit, traveling to Japan, Germany, and the UK, before co-founding AEW, which added to the already great wrestler he had been even at the amateur level. With Rhodes' Royal Rumble win, he has confirmed that he will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40. It will be the second year running that he will try to end Reigns' historic run and finally "finish the story."