WWE & the Lost Wrestling Gimmicks: Papa Shango/Godfather
By Sean Farrell
The WWE…Many things happen under the billion dollar umbrella from backstage politics to creative log jams in the board room. But, there is one thing that seemed to be a constant that seems to have disappeared…The Gimmick Wrestler.
WARNING: I will be seldom breaking Kayfabe with this series so please don’t get freaked out because a wrestler is the living dead or a psychotic clown.
The gimmick wrestler has an actual personality and/or other distinguishing traits while performing. It can also be an implement used to cheat or simply change the outcome of the match. There was MANY gimmick characters back in “The glory days of pro wrestling” but those times have since changed. We now have the likes of boring one dimensional persona which just don’t grasp the imagination like days of old as I will explain. I will be bringing you this series on gimmicks in pro wrestling and how the art of them has died, starting with the current “Main Eventers” in the WWE.
John Cena- This gimmick is by far the most disgusting, vile, and annoying in my opinion, but its also the TOP draw in the WWE and ALL of wrestling…A man who can pose as a rapper and then as a U.S. Marine who then turns into Superman and overcomes every odd just irritates me to the highest degree and makes the product very boring and predictable. (If Cena wasn’t superhuman via kayfabe like the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan were maybe just maybe it would work for me.)
Randy Orton- Randal Keith Orton is a 3rd generation superstar who is NOTHING like his family who wrestled before him. Orton has this “IT” factor about him, but there seems to be too much emphasis put on his move the RKO as the new Stone Cold Stunner…Orton has this snake like demeanor about him along with a cerebral intellect and comes off as a crossbreed between Jake “the Snake” Roberts and Diamond Dallas Page but other than the overkill of his finisher… Orton is the ONLY one on the roster the WWE has going right since the year 2000, but back then Orton was not where he is today.
John Morrison- Morrison is supposed to be the Shaman of Sexy/ The Monday Night Delight/ The Prince of Parkour…Well that is all fine and dandy but to me, Morrison is the new version of Rob Van Dam…Allow me to explain, a self proclaimed star of Monday nights wants to be champion, but can’t cut a promo with his weak mic skills…But, his dazzling moveset makes up for it. Wait, was I talking about RVD or Morrison? Point proven.
Alberto Del Rio- Del Rio has some REAL in-ring ability and promise if creative uses him right. His gimmick however is a FAIL to me as it’s the EXACT same character to a T as John Bradshaw Layfield’s “JBL” gimmick.
Sheamus- The Celtic Warrior…Probably the most underrated guy on the WWE roster but then Ryder, Punk, and Mcintyre come to mind. Sheamus has it all, well it seems like anyways… the power moves, the accent, the pale skin, and the barbarism he has, he is the perfect heel. But something is missing, there is something missing from his character to make him really pop to the crowd. That thing which is missing is very very minor, yet very important in whether or not a gimmick works and that is his theme song. A Celtic Warrior should be entering to war drums and cries and striking fear into his opponents, not wondering if the singer just said “Too Many Limes.”
Of all these men, Orton is the only one who really grasps your attention and holds it in the WWE nowadays. This brings me to the gimmicks of old and how creative wrestling truly was and can still be. I have compiled a list of what I personally thought were the greatest gimmicks in wrestling history. Although this list is in no particular order, my reasons for this will show a MASSIVE discrepancy between the WWE of today and how creative they used to be before they “Got the F’ Out.”
I will start with a personal favorite of mine from parts unknown, Papa Shango and his transition to a pusher of harlots as The Godfather.
Papa Shango
In 1992, Papa Shango hit the scene… Portraying a voodoo practitioner with an appearance reminiscent of the Loa Baron Samedi. He carried a skull to the ring billowing smoke and could control the arena lights ala the Undertaker. Later on, he could even “cast voodoo spells” to cause opponents apparent pain and also to vomit from afar. Papa Shango was placed into the spotlight immediately, running in on Hulk Hogan’s main event at WrestleMania VIII to jump start a feud between himself and the Ultimate Warrior. Shango was then involved in a feud with the Ultimate Warrior in the fall of 1992, where he would cast voodoo spells on his opponent. This led to a brief feud with the Undertaker which was quite memorable as they both “have powers from the dark side.” His final PPV appearance as the Papa Shango character was at the 1993 Royal Rumble where he was eliminated in less than 30 seconds.
Shango was seen infrequently on WWF TV afterwards, and following a loss to Jim Duggan in a 1993 King of the Ring qualifying match he made two final televised appearances against jobbers. Shango was special for his ability to grasp the audience’s attention and never lose it once he had it, making them await his every move. At 6’6 and 330 pounds the character ran his course and was simply repackaged a few times as another gimmick named Kama and Kama Mustafa until finally creating The Godfather.
The Godfather was something of an entertainment guru. After Papa Shango and the Kama gimmicks, Charles Wright became the Godfather. Making appearances dressed as a pimp and accompanied by a stable of “Hos” (usually girls herded from a local strip club), The Godfather would offer his opponents the right to use these “Hos” for “any purpose” if they would forfeit the match to him. If not, he would simply dominate them and use a new signature Ho Train move (A corner bodysplash with Choo Choo theatrics) before unloading the Pimp Drop (A Death Valley Driver).
The gimmick was so perfect for the “Attitude Era” that he got insanely over with fans and gained a run with the WWF Intercontinental Championship in April 1999(A title which had meaning and purpose at that time). The Godfather was supposed to drop the title to Owen Hart at Over the Edge 1999, but Hart died before the match started while entering the ring from the ceiling as the Blue Blazer before falling to his tragic death.
As the glory days of wrestling died down so did The Godfather, the WWE repackaged him as the Goodfather but he never got the glory he once had again and retired to run a gentleman’s club called Cheetah’s in Las Vegas. The creativity needed for these two gimmicks is more than any amount put into characters currently and the tapes don’t lie, just take a trip down memory lane. Stay tuned for my next great gimmick wrestler who just happens to be a masked schizophrenic with an appetite for pain and arson. Oh yea, did I mention he is the half-brother of a dead man?