The Godfather On Why Vince McMahon Nixed Papa Shango Return In 1996
Charles Wright had many gimmicks during his wrestling career from Papa Shango to Kama to his most famous as The Godfather. The latter really defined the Attitude Era but it almost never happened.
Wright talked about Papa Shango almost coming back instead of debuting The Godfather character when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast.
"Papa Shango was supposed to come back one night. The night that I joined the Nation, me and Ron Simmons beat The Undertaker in a handicap match," recalled Godfather. "That night I was supposed to be Papa Shango but when I get there, Vince goes, 'Change of plans. We're gonna put you in The Nation and we've got you an outfit. We're gonna call you Kama Mustafa and you and Ron Simmons are gonna go over on The Undertaker.'
"So, that's what happened with Papa Shango. That's the same night they brought Kane out and they didn't want two mysterious characters. Back then they didn't turn the lights out for nobody as I was the first person they did that for. Well, they didn't want two characters like that so they went with Kane and threw my ass to The Nation."
The Papa Shango was ahead of its time and one of the first characters to have a cinematic presentation to the gimmick. But it being so out there and unique didn't sit well with some of the other wrestlers.
"Believe me, a lot of the old-time wrestlers hated on that too. That was just too much of a gimmick for them," revealed Godfather before being asked his thoughts on old-timers hating on different styles of pro wrestling.
"Here's my reaction ? people and times change. Nothing stays the same. If you're gonna live life that way, you're never gonna make it because people change. The business is gonna change and is always gonna be moving ahead forward, but it's always gonna change. So, you go with it man. The old days are over and my days are over.
"You might see the Attitude Era come back [laughs]. Do you think you'll ever see a Godfather in my form ever again? Rolling fatties. Pimping hoes nationwide; I don't know if you'll ever see that. I was actually selling p***y on TV. I don't know if you'll ever see that again."
Even with AEW now on the scene and WWE still the top dog, Godfather doesn't see himself returning to wrestling when asked about a possible comeback.
"I don't even want to do that anymore; my life has completely changed. I've got 1 or 2 years before I completely retire," said Godfather. "I'm just enjoying life. I love and respect the business but I don't really follow it right now. But God bless them, I'm glad they're doing things."
He was then asked if he had a final opponent in mind for one last match but Godfather said he's done.
"No, my wrestling days are over. I've done a couple of benefit charity things as Papa Shango but I'm not looking to wrestle," Godfather said before plugging his IG account @TheGodfather.
"There's wrestling stuff on there but there's a lot of smoking stuff on there."
The Godfather is now on Instagram and you can follow him by clicking HERE. Godfather's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.