WWE Hall Of Famer The Godfather Explains Birth & Demise Of Papa Shango Character

Charles Wright occupied a number of different characters across his professional wrestling career. While Wright is best remembered as The Godfather in WWE, he was also the man behind Papa Shango. Appearing on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Wright explained the origin of the character and Vince McMahon's role in shaping it.

"Vince hires me and says, 'You got the body of a monster but you got a baby face,'" Wright said. "He called me one day and said, 'Charles, I want you to go rent the movie 'Live and Let Die.'"

Wright stated that he had already been familiar with the James Bond film, which simplified McMahon's request for him to study the voodoo-themed character Mr. Big, played by Yaphet Kotto. Specifically, McMahon wanted Wright to be able to replicate Kotto's laugh from the film, which became a key part of the Papa Shango character. As for Wright's "baby face," the wrestler said that was the reason for Shango's makeup.

Papa Shango didn't last too long on WWE TV, with Wright debuting the character in 1992 before taking time off the next year. According to Wright, the character's demise was a result of his own real-life divorce, which upended his personal life.

"I was getting into a lot of fights — real fights — and 'Taker was pulling me off of people, and it was getting ugly," Wright continued, referring to his friend Mark "The Undertaker" Calaway. "I went in there with Vince and Mark and we decided it would be best if I went home and got my mind right before somebody got hurt. I know that's wild, but I was a different person back then."

Wright has previously revealed that Papa Shango almost returned in 1996, but McMahon changed his mind. Instead, he debuted as Kama Mustafa in the Nation of Domination.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.