Godfather interview: How he saved the Rock's Career, almost joining the nWo

[The Great One]

I Met A Wrestler website Interview: Charles Wright (a/k/a The Godfather)
Host: Daniel Donnelly
Audio available at Imetawrestler.com

On the Papa Shango character: "I used to read books on voodoo, in fact I built an entire voodoo library. Everything I said in my promos was real and legit. All the props were from voodoo stores. It was totally authentic. The effects guys worked with the staffs and sticks so that they all did something different. I had a bunch of them - some would shoot sparks, others had smoke and lights that came out of them."

How Sid messed up the character: "Papa Shango was supposed to last much longer in the main event but Sid f---ed it up. It was supposed to be Sid and Warrior headlining SummerSlam [1992], but Sid didn't want to do it and he quit. He had his own issues, he said Vince had brought him in under the promise of replacing Hogan as the top babyface and it wasn't going the way it was supposed to. So Papa Shango was fed to Warrior instead. The problem was, with a character like Papa Shango, once the losses piled up, the character lost a lot of that mystique and invincibility, and it was all downhill fast from there."

On almost joining WCW and the NWO: "I almost went to WCW to be Hogan’s enforcer in the NWO. I named my price, the contract was being drawn up, and then at the last minute, I got a call saying the contract was being retracted and there was no longer an offer for me. I was stunned, man, just stunned. I asked why, and it turned out that Virgil offered to do it for a third of the price because he wanted to be back on TV so bad. That dumb motherf---er cost us both."

Papa Shango returning in 1997 but replaced by Kane: "A lot of people don't know this, but Papa Shango was going to return in 1997. It was going to be a more gritty, realistic version with a mask instead of paint.They created the costume and the new entrance. But what happened was, the decision was then made to do Kane. I guess they felt there wasn’t enough room for two dark, supernatural characters, and so I became Kama Mustafa and they put me in The Nation. I've still got some 8x10 promos of me in the new mask and gear."

Why Vince put The Rock in The Nation: "The Rock was put into The Nation to protect him. Vince had big plans for The Rock from day one and was worried that he had been getting bad advice from the wrong people. Some jealous dudes had been getting into his ear. So Vince put Rock in the Nation so he could benefit from the guidance of Ron [Simmons] and myself. It was the same thing with Mark Henry. Mark was a big long term investment that was getting some bad advice, learning some bad habits, and so Vince put him under myself and Ron for guidance. Both those guys were struggling."

Vince's opinion of The Godfather: "Vince loved the gimmick. Loved it. He used to go to bat for me so many times – fighting the networks, fighting the executives. He did everything he could to keep the character as a central part of the show. Vince used to come to me and say, "Charles – he always called me Charles – you’re having too much fun out there. You should be paying me!" And that didn’t surprise me – Vince is the biggest pimp of them all!"

On the Attitude Era: "I got away with talking about weed so openly on TV because the network executives had no idea what I was saying. They didn’t understand the slang. They had no idea what a "fatty" or a "blunt" was, so I was able to say all this stuff and they had no clue. My friend in Cypress Hill said he was amazed at the shyt I got away with."

Damn had no idea about he nWo thing or how much the Rock was really struggling behind the scenes.

lol @ Virgil, man that guy is a joke

 

[Black White Sox Hat]

virgil wrestling superstar

 

[WOAHMYGOODNESS]

On almost joining WCW and the NWO: "I almost went to WCW to be Hogan’s enforcer in the NWO. I named my price, the contract was being drawn up, and then at the last minute, I got a call saying the contract was being retracted and there was no longer an offer for me. I was stunned, man, just stunned. I asked why, and it turned out that Virgil offered to do it for a third of the price because he wanted to be back on TV so bad. That dumb motherf---er cost us both."

virgil always fukkin up the money

Why Vince put The Rock in The Nation: "The Rock was put into The Nation to protect him. Vince had big plans for The Rock from day one and was worried that he had been getting bad advice from the wrong people. Some jealous dudes had been getting into his ear. So Vince put Rock in the Nation so he could benefit from the guidance of Ron [Simmons] and myself. It was the same thing with Mark Henry. Mark was a big long term investment that was getting some bad advice, learning some bad habits, and so Vince put him under myself and Ron for guidance. Both those guys were struggling."

 

[captaincharisma]

good read. man papa shango was an underrated character, watching him as a kid, he had me shook all the time

 

[jadillac]

And that didn’t surprise me – Vince is the biggest pimp of them all!"

"Cokeboy baby!"

 

[King Crimson]

good read. man papa shango was an underrated character, watching him as a kid, he had me shook all the time

Word. I remember being legit scared of Shango and that he was going to make black blood come out of my head.


@ Virgil. This guy was so fukking thirsty. That's why he was at comic-con by himself looking lonely as fukk.

 

[StatUS]

These wrestlers sure know how to put everything they do over well.

I haven't really heard anything bad about GF so I can't comment though.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

can't wait for the capes to be put on and this thread to go 6-7 pages

 

[SuikodenII]

Black Excellence

Vigil

 

[I-Hate-You]

These wrestlers sure know how to put everything they do over well.

I haven't really heard anything bad about GF so I can't comment though.

Always funny.

Not that I believe dude has a reason to lie, but Shango was due for a long main event push, was offered a ton of money to be "Vincent," was set to return in '97 as an Attitude Era monster and was asked to babysit the Rock.

This muhfukka about say he bodyslammed the 800 pound Andre the Giant in front of 130,000 people just hours before he died

 

[R=G]

Years after the fact, it seems C listers always turn out to be more important than how they seemed, doesn't it? He mattered once so it's all good.

 

[Hoss]

I got respect for the dude, he played a lot of wildly different characters over the course of his career, a lot of which were pretty memorable.

The Rock stuff is pretty suspect though. Wishful thinking by Charles Wright, I'd say.

"The Rock was put into The Nation to protect him. Vince had big plans for The Rock from day one and was worried that he had been getting bad advice from the wrong people. Some jealous dudes had been getting into his ear. So Vince put Rock in the Nation so he could benefit from the guidance of Ron [Simmons] and myself. It was the same thing with Mark Henry. Mark was a big long term investment that was getting some bad advice, learning some bad habits, and so Vince put him under myself and Ron for guidance. Both those guys were struggling."

I'm pretty sure the main reason Rock was put into The Nation was because he wasn't over as the babyface Rocky Maivia and he badly needed a heel turn, and The Nation was the best heel vehicle for that at the time.

And it worked. The Rock shot to the top. That heel turn was what it was all about. Not some need for "protection" or "guidance".

Young wrestlers needing guidance from veterans don't have to be in the same storyline stable to learn from them. What kinda kayfabe bullshyt is that?

 

[Prince Akeem]

These wrestlers sure know how to put everything they do over well.

I haven't really heard anything bad about GF so I can't comment though.

Always funny.

Not that I believe dude has a reason to lie, but Shango was due for a long main event push, was offered a ton of money to be "Vincent," was set to return in '97 as an Attitude Era monster and was asked to babysit the Rock.

This muhfukka about say he bodyslammed the 800 pound Andre the Giant in front of 130,000 people just hours before he died

Years after the fact, it seems C listers always turn out to be more important than how they seemed, doesn't it? He mattered once so it's all good.

 

[NYChase718]

I always wondered why papa shango wasnt one of the guys who defected to wcw. he was cool with hogan i think

 

[Rarely-Wrong Liggins]

Are you guys really that dense? :belip:

Rookies are paired with veterans all the time to help them learn the ropes. And given how toxic the lockeroom was at that point it'd make sense to protect a huge investment by keeping bad influences out of their ears. You all believe tons of other trash but reject an actually normal interview.

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