Charles Wright (wrestler)

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Charles Wright United StatesUnited States
Paul Wright AKA (The Godfather) .jpg
Data
Ring name The Soultaker
Papa Shango
Kama
Kama Mustafa
The Godfather
Goodfather
height 196 cm
Fighting weight 145.5 kg
birth May 16, 1961
Las Vegas , Nevada
Announced from Red-Light District
Trained by Larry Sharpe
debut September 16, 1989
retirement 2003

Charles Wright (born May 16, 1961 in Las Vegas , Nevada ) is a retired American wrestler , best known for his appearances at the World Wrestling Federation under his then ring names Papa Shango , Kama - The Supreme Fighting Machine and The Godfather .

youth

Charles Wright played basketball in high school . Known as a sports student, he received a scholarship as a football player at the University of Nevada, Reno, despite a lack of gaming experience . There he played as an offensive tackle for a year until he injured his knee and had to end his football career. He lost his scholarship and dropped out of college. To make ends meet, he worked as a bartender in seedy bars and clubs.

Career

Beginnings (1989–1991)

Wright began his wrestling career after being discovered while filming the film Over the Top . He worked at a club that was near the filming location that some wrestlers visited. Due to his muscular appearance and his tattoos, they suggested a wrestling career for him. Charles Wright then trained in " Larry Sharpe 's Monster Factory".

He began his wrestling career on September 16, 1989 in the United States Wrestling Association , which was then headed by Jerry Lawler . Here he won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship belt on October 23 . His first gimmick was called Soultaker, under which he also competed at New Japan Pro Wrestling . In the beginning he had a tag team with Mark Calaway, who would later become the Undertaker . In addition to the USWA, he also competed for Otto Wanz ' Catch Wrestling Association .

WWF: Papa Shango (1991-1992)

After some time in Japan and in independent leagues, Wright went to what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1991 . First he appeared in dark matches as Sir Charles, a kind of wrestling version of the basketball player Charles Barkley . He was then re-cast as Papa Shango in 1992. The gimmick was that of a voodoo priest who wanted to defeat his opponents with black magic . His skills included controlling hall lights, smoke and lighting effects. He could also cause pain in his opponents, which could even induce nausea. He became known for his surprise appearance at Wrestlemania VIII, in which he intervened in the main fight between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice . However, he missed his mission, so that Sid Justice had to free himself from the pin after the "Lethal Legdrop" by Hulk Hogan so that the original plan could unfold. An absolute novelty at the time. Then, surprisingly, the Ultimate Warrior came to the ring, who saved Hulk Hogan. Subsequently, a feud between the warrior and Sid Justice was planned. This failed, however, because both Hogan and Sid Justice left the WWF. Instead, a feud between Papa Shango and the warrior ensued. In this first phase of Wright's career, an interview between Ultimate Warrior and Mean Gene Okerlund was most memorable, in which green slime ran down Warrior's face. Charles Wright was unlucky here too, a match against the Warrior failed because of his argument with Vince McMahon , which eventually led to his dismissal. Then Papa Shango got a title match against Bret Hart . His last pay-per-view appearance was at the Royal Rumble in 1993. At Wrestlemania IX, he had a dark match against Tito Santana . Why the gimmick was so unsuccessful was based on two components. At the time, wrestling was particularly popular with younger viewers, who were put off by the horror character of the gimmick. So the gimmick was hardly accepted and in the election of the Wrestling Observer Papa Shango was voted “Worst Gimmick” and “Most Embarrassing Wrestler”. Second, WWF employee Pat Patterson , who had a large say, didn't like the gimmick. Wright himself wasn't convinced of the dark character either, although he did everything he could to make the gimmick work. Due to a collaboration between the WWF and the USWA, Wright was allowed to win the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship a second time in 1993, this time as Papa Shango. He only held the title for a short time and then lost it to Owen Hart .

WWF: Kama (1995–1996)

Kama (1998)

After a year and a half hiatus, he returned with a new character. Originally Papa Shango was supposed to start a feud with Bob Backlund , but these plans were canceled and Wright became Kama "The Supreme Fighting Machine", a kind of shoot fighter inspired by the ultimate fighter Kimo Leopoldo . He joined the Million Dollar Corporation, run by Ted DiBiase , and had a feud with the Undertaker, whose urn he converted into a gold chain.

After this phase of Wright's career was not exactly satisfactory either, he left the WWF a second time. He was actually supposed to switch to competitor WCW during the Monday Night Wars and join the New World Order stable there. There he should act as a kind of bodyguard. Despite verbal acceptance, the written contract was not made. Instead of him, Virgil (Michael Jones) was cast.

WWF: Kama, Godfather and Right to Censor (1998–2002)

Godfather and His Hoes (2015)

In 1997 there were rumors of a revival of the Papa Shango character. Instead, however, Wright returned as Kama Mustafa, a stripped-down version of the old Kama gimmick, and became part of the Stables Nation of Domination, from which, among other things, Rocky Maiva had his first appearances and whose leader he became.

In 1998 he started creating the Godfather gimmick. When the Nation of Domination broke up in 1998, Wright's most successful period began with the WWF. He played a kind of pimp who often came to the ring with a female companion, the so-called "Hoes" or the "Ho Train". These made their first appearance during a tag team match with Mark Henry against the Legion of Doom . The "hoes" were an integral part of his gimmick, presented as striptease dancers from Las Vegas. The association should actually be prostitute. In fact, many aspiring female wrestlers were represented among the hoes, including Lita and Victoria . The godfather presented himself as a cliché pimp with a brightly colored outfit, an expensive walking stick and hung with gold chains. The politically incorrect gimmick was one of the best known during the Attitude era and also made Charles Wright one of the most popular wrestlers of the time. In 1999 he also won the WWF Intercontinental Championship . He should lose the title at the Over the Edge PPV on May 23, 1999 against Owen Hart. The match never took place because Owen Hart lost his life in a failed stunt that night. Instead, he lost the title to Jeff Jarrett two weeks later . He played the Godfather gimmick for 18 months. When the Attitude era was repeatedly attacked by the Parents Television Council (PTC), a conservative watchdog group of concerned parents, and the tension was discharged, especially on Wright's character, Vince McMahon designed a parody of the PTC, the heel- stable right to Censor (RTC) who acted against objectionable characters. The Godfather became the "Goodfather", who acted in the style of a traveling preacher. Wright himself hated the gimmick that hadn't really been brought to life by the officials, so Wright had to improvise a lot. In 2000 he won the WWF World Tag Team Championship from the Hardy Boyz with Bull Buchanon as a tag team, Right to Censor . A month later they lost the title again to Edge and Christian . Shortly thereafter, he returned to his Godfather gimmick, but it wasn't as successful as the first run. Charles Wright resigned from WWE and initially ended his active wrestling career and focused on his family life.

Guest appearances (since 2005)

Charles Wright on induction into the Hall of Fame

Since 2005, Charles Wright has mostly appeared in the Godfather gimmick as a guest star, starting with the PPV Vengeance 2005. In the mostly funny segments, he revives his character. He only came into the ring as a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble 2013. He was immediately eliminated by Dolph Ziggler . In 2016 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as The Godfather . He also appeared on the WWE program as Papa Shango. He appeared on WWE Swerved, a prank show , with The Boogeyman and on Raws 25th Anniversary on January 22, 2018. He was last seen at the WWE Raw Reunion on July 22, 2019.

In addition to his guest appearances, he also appeared for various independent leagues, including for Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin Tour 2009 as Pimp Fatha. He was also seen in Insane Championship Wrestling , Big Time Wrestling and Preston City Wrestling , among others.

Private life

Wright directs in Las Vegas the strip club Cheetah's who in the 1995 film Showgirls of Paul Verhoeven was seen.

Charles Wright is married with four children.

successes

  • Pro wrestling illustrator
    • 61st place of the 500 best individual wrestlers in the PWI 500 (1999)
    • Place 353 of the 500 best individual wrestlers of the PWI Years (2003)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
    • Worst Gimmick (1992) (Papa Shango)
    • Worst Feud of the Year (1992) (versus The Ultimate Warrior )
    • Most embarrassing wrestler

Web links

Commons : Charles Wright  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Bob Kapur: Chillin 'in The Godfather's office. In: Slam. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Jonathan Snowden: Exclusive: The Godfather Struts All the Way into the WWE Hall of Fame. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  3. ↑ a b Christine Simonotti: The Complete WWF Video Guide Volume II . Lulu.com, 2013, ISBN 978-1-291-25292-7 , pp. 296 ( google.de [accessed on May 16, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Greater Justice: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice (feuds). In: CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Flashback # 18: Review and Analysis of WWF WrestleMania VIII (1992) | Wrestling-Infos.de. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Papa Shango. In: WWE.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  7. ↑ What moments scared WWE Superstars and Divas when they were kids? In: WWE.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  8. ↑ Erik Beaston: 10 WTF WWE Moments. In: Whatculture.com. September 10, 2014, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  9. ↑ JP Zarka: Papa Shango | Why Charles Wright Hated Playing The Role. August 30, 2019, accessed May 16, 2020 (American English).
  10. ^ Axel Saalbach: USWA Unified World Heavyweight Title. In: Broken Neck.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (German).
  11. ^ Benjamin Richardson: 10 WWE Gimmicks Which Ripped Off Real People. September 13, 2018, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  12. ^ Members of The Million Dollar Corporation: Where Are They Now? November 8, 2016, Retrieved May 16, 2020 (American English).
  13. ↑ WWE Hall Of Famer Almost Left WWE To Join NWO. June 12, 2018, Retrieved May 16, 2020 (American English).
  14. ↑ Ross Tweddell: 11 Infamous 'Before They Were Famous' WWE Cameos. January 17, 2015, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  15. ^ The Godfather Says He Hated The "Goodfather", Talks Vince McMahon's Reasoning For The Character. November 9, 2018, accessed May 16, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Nicholas Sammond: Steel Chair to the Head: The Pleasure and Pain of Professional Wrestling . Duke University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-8223-8682-7 , pp. 148 ( google.de [accessed on May 16, 2020]).
  17. ↑ WWE World Tag team Championship. In: wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Graham GSM Matthews: WWE Royal Rumble 2013 Results: 15 Fun Facts from the Event. In: Bleacherreport.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  19. ↑ Godfather to join WWE Hall of Fame. In: WWE.com. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  20. ↑ Ameer Nadaf: 5 biggest returns on RAW January 25, 2018, accessed May 16, 2020 (American English).
  21. ↑ Godfather. In: Cagematch.net (Wrestler Database - CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database). Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  22. ^ Matches: Godfather. In: Wrestlers Database - CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 16, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Lewis Howse: 10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About The Godfather. January 27, 2016, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Cheetahs Las Vegas - TOP 10 BEST STRIP CLUBS - Book VIP Free Limo. In: BEST STRIP CLUB. Retrieved on May 16, 2020 (English).
  25. ↑ Renjith Ravindran: WWE Hall of Fame 2016: 5 Things you should know about The Godfather. In: Sportskeeda. March 11, 2016, accessed on May 16, 2020 .
  26. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1999 . Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  27. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years . Wrestling information archive. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Wright, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Godfather; Kama - The Supreme Fighting Machine; Papa Shango
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Las Vegas , Nevada