Otto Schwanz
William Murray Happer is an American professional wrestler and trainer, best known by his ring name Otto Schwanz. He competed primarily in the Carolinas since the mid-2000s, and has wrestled for many promotions including CWF Mid-Atlantic, Cueball Carmichael's Independent Pro Wrestling Alliance, OMEGA, and Southern Championship Wrestling.
From 1998 to 2003, Happer was also a member of The Dupps, along with kayfabe "cousins" Jack and Puck Dupp, wrestling as Bo Dupp in Extreme Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. While under a developmental contract with WWE, Happer also competed under his real name until being released in 2001.
Outside of pro wrestling, Happer is an educator and instructor in high school athletics. He was a co-captain of the Georgetown Hoyas football team while attending Georgetown University and, in 2003, became head coach of South Johnston High School's Trojans wrestling team in addition to teaching civics and history.
Early life
William Murray Happer was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on October 4, 1972. He was a four-year letterman and co-captain of the Georgetown Hoyas football team, along with Steve Colello and Jim Klessel, while attending Georgetown University and received the George L. Murtagh Award in 1994. He pursued an athletic career following his graduation the next year – specifically as a professional wrestler. He trained under Cueball Carmichael and Steve Corino at the IPWA training facility during the first half of 1997, with additional training with Matt and Jeff Hardy, and made his pro debut on July 18, 1997. Prior to this, Happer wrote a guest column for the Insight from the Squared Circle website entitled "Bull from the Baron". This served as an online journal, which was unique for the time, chronicling his training and early career.Professional wrestling career
Early career in the Southern independents
Though initially using the name "Baron von Happer" as a student, Happer wrestled as Otto Schwanz upon making his debut. While resembling a throwback to the archetypical foreign villains of the 1960s and 70s, his unique and bizarre in-ring behavior made him a stand out on the independent circuit. He was also introduced by sexual innuendos in the form of various fictitious locations in Germany such as "Blasmireinen" or "Grobe-Muschie". In IPWA, his ring introduction was spoken in the German language. Without notice, he would switch from speaking stereotypical German to his native North Carolina accent during in-ring interviews. Happer would often perform "struts, chicken walks, dances, prances, and pounces" during wrestling matches and was later described by one writer as the "clown prince of the ropes".Happer spent much of his early career wrestling for numerous regional promotions in the Southeastern United States. These included the Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance, Live Action Wrestling, NWA 2000, New Dimension Wrestling, and Southern Championship Wrestling. He also had a brief stint in Southern States Wrestling where, on September 1, 1997, he was pinned by Johnny Thunder in a tag team match for the vacant SSW Heavyweight Championship in Fall Branch, Tennessee.
Southern Championship Wrestling (1997–1999)
That same year Happer began wrestling for Count Grog's Southern Championship Wrestling based in his hometown of Raleigh. On May 2, 1998, he beat Boris Dragoff for the SCW North Carolina Championship, his first singles title, in Durham, North Carolina. On June 27, while champion, he lost to Boris Dragoff in a three-way match with Chris Stephenson for the vacant heavyweight championship. He held the North Carolina title for seven months before dropping the belt to C. W. Anderson in Raleigh on December 3, 1998.Throughout his time in SCW, Happer was associated with its top "heel" stable, The Brotherhood, led by Count Grog. Grog later listed Happer as his second favorite wrestler to manage, after Major DeBeers, commenting "this big German has the most potential of anyone I've ever managed. He's big, mean, and insane, all qualities I look for in a wrestler".
Happer feuded with Venom during this time which saw Count Grog betraying him and siding with Venom. With the help of his former House of Pain tag team partner Cham Pain, Happer defeated Venom to win the SCW Heavyweight Championship in Raleigh on February 25, 1999. Shortly after his title victory, Happer was voted by fans as "SCW Wrestler of the Year". Coincidentally Happer's former trainer, Cueball Carmichael, had been the previous SCW champion before being forced to vacate the title. Happer, having been trained at Carmichael's IPWA Training Center, continued wrestling for the promotion up until the spring of 1999 at which time he was interviewed by the Washington City Paper. He won the heavyweight title two more times before leaving SCW near the end of 1999.
OMEGA (1997–1999)
Happer was a mainstay in Matt and Jeff Hardy's OMEGA throughout the late-1990s. One of his earliest matches with the promotion was against Surge in Sanford, North Carolina, on November 8, 1997. He also did battle against regulars such as Bobby Burnette, Harold Bison, and Toad. It was in OMEGA that he formed an alliance with future tag team partner Cham Pain against Happer's archrival Venom. At OMEGA's "Livin' La Vida Lucha" on July 24, 1998, he and Cham Pain wrestled Venom in a handicap match.By the end of OMEGA's three-year run, Happer was among the promotion's stars that went on to join the "mainstream" wrestling organizations including Venom, C. W. Anderson, Steve Corino, Shane Helms, Kid Dynamo, Amy, and The Bad Street Boys. Happer was featured in the 2009 documentary "OMEGA: Uncommon Passion" and several former OMEGA alumni, including former co-owner Thomas Simpson, spoke highly of him. Corino, in particular, voiced his wish that "Vince McMahon would take another look at him because he's got that old school vibe and he's funny without even trying".
The Dupps (1999–2003)
In the summer of 1999, the then reigning SCW Tag Team Champions, The Serial Thrillaz, broke up when Shane Helms left SCW for World Championship Wrestling and saw Helms give his half of the title to Happer. He and Mike Maverick defended the titles together for a short time before changing their names to Bo and Jack Dupp respectively.It was during this period that Happer, along with Maverick and Cham Pain, sent a tape to Extreme Championship Wrestling which introduced themselves as "a family of rednecks from Lizard Lick, North Carolina, named 'The Dupps'". They received a call from Tommy Dreamer who invited them to the ECW Arena for a tryout match. Dreamer later told them that their video was "one of the funniest, most original tapes they had ever received". On October 29, 1999, The Dupps wrestled David "Kid" Cash and Super Nova at the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio. The trio eventually forfeited the SCW tag team belts, and Happer the heavyweight title, and left for ECW a month later.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1999–2000)
The Dupps made their official ECW debut on November 27, 1999, at the ECW Arena again wrestling Kid Cash and Super Nova. Bo and Jack Dupp were wrestling while Puck Dupp acted as manager. The following night, they appeared on the November 28 edition of Hardcore TV against Danny Doring and Roadkill. A month later, The Dupps wrestled both teams in a three-way dance which aired on ECW on TNN on January 7, 2000.World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)
Despite being promised contracts with ECW, Happer and Maverick instead decided to accept a contract offer with the World Wrestling Federation in March 2000. The Dupps mainly wrestled in dark matches on WWF television while the majority of their time was spent in the WWF's developmental territories, Memphis and Ohio Valley Wrestling.One of their first matches for the WWF was against Rob Conway and Danny Dominion, who they defeated, at the sold-out All-State Arena in Chicago on March 20, 2000. They returned to the All-State Arena six months later where they defeated the Texas Hangmen.
Memphis Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)
The Dupps were sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling in late 2000. On October 14, 2000, they teamed with Joey Abs in a 6-man tag team match against K-Krush and the Mean Street Posse. Two weeks later they won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship from the Mean Street Posse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. They defended the titles for three weeks before losing the belts to The Triad in a no-disqualification match. Happer was unable to appear for the show, held in Newbern, Tennessee, and was substituted by Joey Abs. That same year, The Dupps became the first tag team champions for Carolinas Wrestling Federation, however, the titles were vacated when they left the promotion in 2001.The Dupps also faced teams such as Spellbinder and Bulldog Raines, Alan Steel and Blade Boudreaux, and Joey Abs and Lance Cade. They briefly regained the tag titles from Spanky and Shooter Schultz, the latter taking the place of The American Dragon, in Corinth, Mississippi, on January 13, 2001. The following night, they appeared at a WWF house show in Madison, Wisconsin, against The Acolytes. Happer also made three appearances in singles competition wrestling Joey Abs at Chicago's All-State Arena, Eddie Guerrero in Evansville, Indiana, and The Drill Instructor in St. Louis, Missouri which he won. He made a fourth and final appearance in a dark match prior to a television taping for the February 20 edition of SmackDown! as the opponent for fellow ECW star Rhyno in what would be his second "unofficial" WWF debut. They dropped the belts to The Haas Brothers on February 21, 2001, in Jonesboro. Happer's final match for MCW was against Spellbinder on March 10, 2001. Jonathan Coachman was the guest commentator.