Fact File:
Real Name:
Charles Wright
Date of Birth:
May 16th 1961
Finishing Manoeuvres:
The Voodoo Driver, Inverted Shoulderbreaker
Other WWE Aliases:
Sir Charles, Kama, Kama Mustafa (as part of The Nation of Domination),
The Godfather, The Goodfather (as part of Right to Censor)
Other Wrestling
Aliases: The Soultaker, Rocky Las Vegas, Baron
Smedly
Charles
Wright may not be a name known to wrestling fans old or new, but he is the face
behind some of wrestling’s most unforgettable and best loved wrestling
gimmicks, such as Kama ‘The Supreme Fighting Machine’ and of course the much
loved The Godfather who entered the arena with his possy of ho’s and supposed
prostitutes. Those gimmicks however are not the one in focus right now. Because
Charles Wright portrayed another character in the then World Wrestling
Federation, a character who wasn’t as loved as his later incarnation of a Cuban
pimp, but one who made the early nineteen nineties special for many children,
one of those being your Wrestling God. That wrestler was of course the Voodoo
King, Papa Shango.
It
didn’t matter what guise Wright wrestled under, he was a very limited performer
regardless of what ring attire he donned or what name he was given. Wright
himself admitted that he could hardly string two moves together let alone carry
a match which made sense. Those facts though didn’t matter to Vince McMahon or
other wrestling promoters, because Charles Wright possessed the one thing which
was truly significant in the wrestling business twenty plus years ago. He was
tall, he was muscular and he was overtly imposing. Regardless of who had the
talent, those who possessed the muscle and the image got the endorsement over
those who could go toe to toe with the best.
Charles
Wright wasn’t interested in becoming a wrestler when he attended and left the
University of Nevada. His pique was American Football, a sport which he
excelled at partly because of his height and build. I don’t know if
professional wrestling ever entered into the mind of Wright when he was running
down the football field, but if there was ever a profession to prepare one for
wrestling then it was American Football. Having overgrown men plough into you
left right and centre couldn’t have been better to prepare Wright for being
slammed and suplexed. Many wrestlers including Jim Neidhart, Dwayne ‘The Rock’
Johnson and Ron Simmons, to name a few, have made the transition from American
Football to Professional Wrestling and made a name for themselves. Charles
Wright was no different.
You’re
probably asking yourself right now, how Wright made the conversion from the
football field to the wrestling ring, and to answer your question, we have to
go all the back to 1986 and the filming of what would turn out to be an
appalling film called ‘Over the Top’, starring Sylvester Stallone (the movie
was released in 1987). During filming which featured a number of wrestlers
including Terry Funk and Scott Norton, Charles Wright was spotted by said
wrestlers tending a bar. Getting to know the grapplers well, they gave Wright
the idea that he would fit in well in a wrestling ring thanks to his massive
build and his overtly tattooed body, many of which could be seen when he
portrayed Papa Shango. The wrestlers were right. Wright wasn’t much of a
wrestler but he did have the menacing look to play an effective heel in the
industry.
Taking
the advice, Charles Wright left bartending behind him and sought out a
wrestling school to teach him the bare minimum. His in ring style was evident
that he didn’t absorb everything he was taught but at least he took in the bare
minimum, just enough to get him through each match. The Wrestling School,
Wright rocked up at was Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory, a notorious wrestling
school at the time – also recommended by the wrestlers who talked Wright into
getting into the industry. The Monster Factory had previously trained Bam Bam
Bigelow and Larry Sharpe had trained Kevin Von Erich, both would go on to
become stunningly good wrestlers. The Monster Factory, which had opened its
doors in Gloucester City, New Jersey in 1983 had done so in partnership with
‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Rodgers and in later years would become famous for training
such wrestlers as Balls Mahoney, Chris Harris, Paul ‘Big Show’ White, Chris
Candido, D’Lo Brown, The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher), The Pitbulls, Raven,
Rocco Rock, Tatanka, Mike ‘Virgin’ Jones and current WWE superstar Sheamus, to
name but a few.
It
would take Wright two years to graduate from the school and get his first
professional job, but unlike many wrestlers who would have to travel the
independent circuit in order to attract attention themselves, Charles Wright
walked straight into a job when he was offered a contract by Jerry Lawler to
compete for the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). Jerry Lawler knew
he could use Wright’s physical presence to make an impact in a company which
was slowly slipping away into the shadows. Even though the USWA would form a
working relationship with the then World Wrestling Federation to have their
stars compete on USWA shows, the company was still being horrendously
overshadowed by its brother business. Wright stormed into the USWA with the
same gimmick the wrestlers at the bar two years previously had given him and
made people sit up and take notice as The Soultaker.
With
all the wrestling gimmicks which had passed through the doors of the USWA,
including Jeff Jarrett who was performing an early version of his Double J
character and Jerry Lawler who was even then ‘The King’, Wright’s Soultaker
gimmick came straight from the man’s own body. Taking an interest in Wright’s
body art that night in the bar, the wrestlers spotted a tattoo which inspired
the name The Soultaker. Believing this would be the perfect gimmick for him to
use between the ropes, Wright listened to his counterparts and adopted the name
for his USWA stint. Whilst his limitations were painfully obvious to all who
observed, Wright’s first stint in the company wasn’t all bad as on October 23rd
1989, The Soultaker pinned Jerry Lawler to capture the USWA Unified World
Heavyweight Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. Its fair to say that with his
partial move set and heel status, the fans weren’t thrilled when the
Championship changed hands. However, the Texas and World Class branches of the
USWA refused to acknowledge the change and The Soultaker dropped the
Championship back to Lawler on November 6th 1989, once again in Memphis,
Tennessee.
There
was no reason given as to why the Texas and World Class branches of the company
refused to acknowledge the change. This though wasn’t an uncommon happening in
the USWA. Jerry Lawler dropped the same Championship to King Cobra on December 30th
1989, Jimmy Valiant on February 26th 1990 and April 28th 1990. All three
Championship changes were again not recognised by the Texas and World Class
segments of the business. Maybe they had a problem with old and black men
winning their Championship. Maybe they didn’t think Wright, Cobra and Valiant
would sell well in their territories or maybe they just wanted Jerry Lawler to carry
the gold full time. In 2013, I guess we’ll never know now. I for one would love
to find out.
Whilst
in USWA, Wright as The Soultaker managed to pick up victories over Steve Austin
on January 1st 1990 in Memphis, Tennessee and in six man tag team action along
with partners Jerry Lawler and Tony Anthony defeating Chris Champion, Dutch
Mantel and King Cobra on January 15th 1990 also from the Mid-South Coliseum in
Memphis. On the same show as the six man, The Soultaker also lost a singles
battle to Chris Champion which opened the show.
Wright’s
tenure in USWA was short and whilst he was with the company he endeavoured to
tour for New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990 where, as The Soultaker, he defeated Black
Cat on June 14th 1990 in Oita, Japan; Kengo Kimura on June 26th 1990 in New
Sumo Hall, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo. On June 30th 1990, The
Soultaker bested Masahiro Chono in 8:04 in Ueda, Nagano, Japan and on July 7th
1990 teamed with Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) to defeat Shinya Hashimoto and
Shiro Koshinaka in Miyako, Iwate, Japan. Losing in a tag team bout teaming with
Bam Bam Bigelow against Masa Saito and Shinya Hashimoto on August 19th 1990 at
the New Sumo Hall in Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo was just one of many tag team
defeats for Wright in NJPW whilst he also fell to Tony Halme in a Wrestler vs
Boxer Match on October 25th 1990 at the Maebashi Green Dome in Maebashi, Gunma.
Whilst
he failed to make a name for himself in the land of the rising sun, Wright
began to catch the attention of other bookers and promoters back home in
America. One of these men was Vince McMahon. Brief stints in Japan and other
independent wrestling promotions across America saw McMahon pick Wright for a
spot in his ever growing World Wrestling Federation. McMahon’s decision wasn’t
made in haste or alone however, as Wright’s good friend, Mark ‘The Undertaker’
Calloway, recommended his comrade for a try out. McMahon had trouble at first
finding the correct place for Wright in his Federation. No gimmick seemed to
fit the tall and muscular former American Footballer as it was evident that he
certainly wasn’t main event or WWE Championship material.
On
World Wrestling Federation house shows, Wright was packaged as Sir Charles. The
gimmick was lifeless and thoroughly pointless. Wright never got into the role.
The gimmick was an infusion of his real name and that of National Basketball
Association player Charles Barkley. Sir Charles was hardly used on House Shows
or on World Wrestling Federation programming and for Wright it began to feel like
he had been brought in solely to job to bigger stars than himself, though Sir
Charles defeated Dale Wolfe in the dark match of WWF This Tuesday in Texas on
December 3rd 1991 in San Antonio, Texas. A change was needed if Wright was to
remain with the World Wrestling Federation and indeed in the wrestling business
itself. Without a drastic reimaging, Wright would have surely faded away from
the wrestling scene and once word got around about his dire Sir Charles
matches, no booker would touch him again.
The
image change came in 1992, when Vince McMahon conjured up a Voodoo Priest
gimmick which suited Wright to a ‘T’. As a character who was required to
intimidate fans and opponents with his unusual face paint, animalistic
movements and expressions, necklace of skulls and bones, Charles Wright,
possessing great height and strength was the only man who could have pulled
that gimmick off. And so what would become a forgotten legend was born.
Entering the arena to his chilling and menacing ‘Shango Tango’ entrance theme,
with his trademark skull which emitted smoke, Papa Shango defeated Dale Wolfe
on January 7th 1992 on from Daytona Beach Florida. The character had never been
tried by other wrestling promotions before and complete with casting spells
which supposedly made his opponents vomit and an ability to control the arena
lights which previously only The Undertaker had the power to do, younger
wrestling fans were caught in a crossfire of awe and trepidation.
In
order to get Papa Shango over with a worldwide audience, Vince booked the
former bartender to go over enhancement talent within the company following his
debut and in the weeks falling out from the appearance of the Voodoo Master,
Papa Shango defeated Brian Costello in 2:13 on January 8th 1992 on a WWF
Wrestling Challenge Taping from Forty Myers, Florida; Todd Overbow in 1:46 on
January 27th 1992 on a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping from Lubbock, Texas;
Larry Williams in 1:18 on January 28th 1992 on a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping
from Amarillo, Texas; Lee Thomas in 1:25 on February 17th 1992 from Tampa,
Florida plus Danny Kamo, Mike Casey, and Ian Weston twice, all in under two
minutes or less. This was done to emphasise to the audience that Papa Shango
was a threat to anyone on the roster. A course of action which would have a
reason put to it on April 5th 1992.
It
was time for Vince McMahon to let Papa Shango go against a bigger star and see
if he could fly. McMahon’s plan was to initiate a feud between Papa Shango and
the mega popular Ultimate Warrior. One which would last until summer 1992 when
Ultimate Warrior would break away from the warfare to challenge ‘Macho Man’
Randy Savage for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1992. There was only way to
begin this feud and it came on the aforementioned night at WrestleMania 8 from
the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The dire main event between Hulk
Hogan vs Sid Justice was the backdrop for the instigation of this feud, when
Papa Shango ran to the ring in front of the world and attacked Hogan. Making
the save of his presumed best friend, The Ultimate Warrior ran to ring like a
man on steroids (that’s another story for another day) to save Hogan from a
double beat down. It was a simple initiation but one which worked.
It
wasn’t as simple as a quick run in though. It never is in wrestling. On the
night, as the world was watching, Papa Shango missed his cue. The actual ending
was meant to be Papa Shango breaking up the pinfall after the Hogan leg drop
and the referee would call for the bell. Unfortunately, Wright ambled to the
ring late. Spotting there was no way that he was going to hit the ring in time,
Sid improvised and kicked out of the leg drop at which point Harvey Whippleman,
who was managing Sid, jumped onto the apron, notified the referee of the
mistake and the referee called for the bell and planned disqualification finish
just as Shango reached the ring. Could it have been handled better? Of course.
But it wasn’t going to stop Vince McMahon going ahead with his plans to pit The
Ultimate Warrior vs Papa Shango for the majority of 1992.
The
feud was a commercial disaster for the then World Wrestling Federation. The
problem at hand was that neither The Warrior nor Shango could carry a match and
in the past had relied on opponents to carry them and cover their flaws. There
was no such luxury when they were thrown into the deep end. Spotting the flaw
in their plan, the WWF put a storyline to the feud in the hope that it would
ignite something under the pair. It didn’t. Using Papa Shango’s supposed voodoo
spells; The Ultimate Warrior sold the effects of a curse on weekly television,
which included vomiting and bleeding inexplicably. The matches between the pair
outstayed their welcome. Though the duo would never have a match on WWF
Television; Papa Shango never won a match against The Ultimate Warrior on house
shows.
On
house shows, The Ultimate Warrior defeated Papa Shango on April 27th 1992 from
Rochester, New York; three days later on April 30th 1992 in New Haven,
Connecticut at a show held in the New Haven Coliseum. May began as ghastly as
April ended for Shango in his feud with The Ultimate Warrior, he fell in
matches on May 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in Pennsylvania and New York on
alternating dates ad again on May 8th, 9th and 10th in the Orlando Arena,
Sundome and West Palm Beach Auditorium respectively, all of which reside in
Florida. If Shango thought his losing streak to The Warrior was at an end he
was wrong. The Ultimate Warrior went over Papa Shango another six times on
house shows in May.
It
was a sensible strategy by WWE. Their main concern was getting The Ultimate
Warrior over again with the audience in order for him to challenge then WWF
Champion, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage at SummerSlam 1992 in August of that year.
Constantly putting him over a man they has built up as a real threat on
television was the only option they had. Shango’s burial continued in June when
he looked at the lights for The Ultimate Warrior on fifteen different
occasions, including a four minute disqualification loss on June 6th 1992 in
Chicago, Illinois plus further disqualification losses on June 11th and 13th
1992 from the San Diego Sports Arena and Oakland Coliseum respectively, in
California.
As
the feud between Papa Shango and The Ultimate Warrior began to draw to a close
and with SummerSlam 1992 fast approaching, the World Wrestling Federation were
keen to wrap up the feud, without giving Shango one victory over his new
nemesis. It was an oversight by a younger Vince McMahon who should have at
least put Papa Shango over the Warrior once on television to keep the feud
fresh. Alas, as he had done in June and May 1992, The Ultimate Warrior rolled
over Papa Shango an impressive twelve times on House Shows in July 1992
including in six man tag team matches in which The Ultimate Warrior and Legion
of Doom triumphed over Papa Shango and The Nasty Boys on July 1st in White
Plains, New York and with The Undertaker defeated Papa Shango and The Berzerker
in 9:56 in a dark match for WWF Superstars on July 20th from the Worcester
Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts. On the same show, Papa Shango would rack
up a victory on the main show over Scott Taylor in 42 seconds. Taylor would go
on to become Scotty Too Hotty, a part of the Too Cool threesome with
Grandmaster Sexay (Brian Lawler – son of Jerry Lawler) and Rikishi.
The
losses to The Ultimate Warrior would continue throughout August until the World
Wrestling Federation axed the feud as SummerSlam approached and The Ultimate
Warrior challenged Randy Savage for the then WWF Championship. It wasn’t a
shame or shock when the feud ended. Most of the matches between the pair had
been worse than dire, a fact reflected as the rivalry received the ‘Worst Feud
of the Year 1992’ award. It wasn’t without merit.
Beginning
his career again after the demoralising feud with The Ultimate Warrior, which I
cannot imagine Wright complained about one bit seeing as he was of such limited
expertise inside the ring, I image he was just pleased to have a job in the
industry. As the World Wrestling Federation hit London, England for the biggest
and most successful SummerSlam in wrestling history on August 29th 1992, the
Voodoo King was rewarded for his patience and sacrifice with a SummerSlam
victory over El Matador (Tito Santana) in 6:12, in one of the dark matches of
the event.
Vince
McMahon however, wasn’t done in trying to push Papa Shango as a heel who was a
major threat to a face and after SummerSlam 1992 had come and gone, the World
Wrestling Federation needed a foil for the uber over The Undertaker. In truth,
it was never going to end well for Wright. Like The Ultimate Warrior, The
Undertaker was much higher up the company’s pecking order and a loss to a
wrestler like Papa Shango would have done more damage than good. The Undertaker
had already been entered into lifeless feuds in 1992 with Kamala which resulted
in a pathetic outing in London, England and a so-so effort to end his rivalry
with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts at WrestleMania 8, that year.
There
was no way The Undertaker was going to lose to Papa Shango, a wrestler inferior
to him in almost every way, on television or house shows. In fits and starts,
the feud went ahead in September 1992 with The Undertaker predictably getting
the victories over Papa Shango on September 12th 1992 in Richfield, Ohio and
September 19th and 20th in Philadelphia and Duluth, Minnesota respectively. The
feud with The Undertaker was necessitated when Vince McMahon realised the
company had nothing to do with the popular Deadman to advance him for another
monotonous feud with the diabolical Giant Gonzales. Shango, who was being used
as nothing more than an enhancement talent got a reprieve from the losers list
when he defeated Big Boss Man via count out on September 22nd 1992 on WWF Prime
Time Wrestling.
The
Undertaker and Papa Shango took a break from each other for a few months, which
allowed Papa Shango to take a step up the card and challenge then WWF Champion
Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart for the company’s top Championship on house shows and
television. Sadly, as with his previous feuds, Papa Shango lost to Bret Hart on
October 23rd 1992 in Denver, Colorado and the following night in Chicago,
Illinois. Two days later Hart rolled Shango over again and then for a fourth
time on the Saturday Night’s Main Event taping via submission in a poor match
on October 27th (shown on November 14th)from the Hullman Centre in Terra Haute,
Indiana. Wright also came up short against Hart on October 29th, 30th and
several times in November on house shows.
The
real reason the company stalled Papa Shango vs The Undertaker was so they could
continue The Ultimate Warrior and Papa Shango feud. Why, you may ask? I don’t
have an answer. It was such a dud the first time around only a complete moron
would believe there was still life in it. Another run against The Warrior would
have surely ended Shango’s career with the World Wrestling Federation
completely, but Wright managed to sustain his stay with the company another
year, because of pure chance. For the devastating amount of times Papa Shango
had lost to The Ultimate Warrior on house shows, the pair had never done battle
on television. That would change in November 1992, when the company finally
decided the match would go ahead.
If
Papa Shango lost to The Ultimate Warrior on television then all of his aura and
mystery would have been stripped away from the character. It was one thing
Shango losing to other superstars, which he could recover from. Losing to one
of the company’s biggest stars would all but send Wright heading for the exit
door. As mentioned, Shango got the reprieve he sorely needed when The Ultimate
Warrior was fired from the World Wrestling Federation before the match took
place. It had been a turbulent time for Papa Shango, buried by The Ultimate
Warrior and The Undertaker and only salvaging his reputation in squash matches
against enhancement talent and against the odd main roster name. Wright
couldn’t put it off forever though and his battle with The Undertaker resumed
in December.
1992
wasn’t a happy Christmas for Papa Shango or Charles Wright in the ring. On
Boxing Day in New York City, New York he looked at the lights for The
Undertaker as he did twice on December 27th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and
London Ontario, Canada. Well and truly seen by Vince McMahon as mere main
roster enhancement talent, Shango once again fell to The Undertaker on December
28th in White Plains, New York as well as eight time in the first two months of
1993, a year which would spell better fortune for the character who had done
more clean jobs in the previous year than any main roster talent had in many
years.
They
year turned and 1992 became 1993. Whilst Vince McMahon and his company were
concentrated on the top of the card, most notably then WWF Champion Bret Hart,
main roster jobbers as Papa Shango had become were getting lost in the shuffle.
However, Charles Wright had come to a decision. His contract with the company
was up in the latter half of 1993 and whilst he wasn’t going to renew his
contract with the Federation, he was determined to make his final year with the
company as Papa Shango a big of a success as he could. Putting the feud with
The Undertaker aside, the year didn’t begin rosy for Shango but it would get
better.
At
the 1993 Royal Rumble on January 24th 1993, held live from the ARCO Arena in
Sacramento, California, Papa Shango was entered into the thirty man over the
top rope Royal Rumble Match. The 1993 outing was the first Royal Rumble in
history in which the winner received a WWF Championship shot at WrestleMania;
the previous years had been merely an attraction, with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan
winning the 1990 and 1991 Rumble matches whilst Big John Studd had prevailed in
1989, the first year the Royal Rumble went to pay-per view. Before 1989, the
Royal Rumble was a house show event like King of the Ring was before it went
big in 1993. As the 1993 Royal Rumble Match began, Papa Shango entered first
and was eliminated in 28 seconds by ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair. Papa Shango may
not have won the match – that distinction went to Yokozuna – but his major
losing days were almost over.
The
tide didn’t turn immediately for the Papa Shango character. March and April
took its toll as Shango lost to Bob Backlund on the March 15th 1993 Monday
Night Raw, held at the Mid-Hudson Civic Centre in Poughkeepsie, New York;
looked at the lights for El Matador in a rotten 8:00 match in a dark match at
WrestleMania 9 on April 4th 1993 and two nights later on a WWF Wrestling
Challenge taping went down to Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a King of the Ring 1993
Qualifying Match in Phoenix, Arizona amongst other losses.
Then
it stopped. Suddenly, Papa Shango couldn’t buy a loss even if he failed to turn
up. One week after dropping out of the King of the Ring 1993 brackets, Papa
Shango defeated Scott Taylor, future WWE Superstar Scotty 2 Hotty on the April
12th 1993 Monday Night Raw, once again from the Mid-Hudson Civic Centre in
Poughkeepsie, New York. It may not have been a landmark victory for Shango,
seeing as Taylor was an enhancement talent at the time but it would warrant a
change in fortune.
When
the World Wrestling Federation expanded in the late 1980’s, it put many of the
territorial promotions out of business. Long time promoters like Nick
Bockwinkle and the AWA were put out of business by Vince McMahon and the only
promoter who made a fight of it was Jim Crocket, running his Jim Crocket
Promotions company in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance. Even
Crocket had to succumb to the power of the World Wrestling Federation and he
eventually sold the company to Ted Turner who remade it into World Championship
Wrestling. Why am I telling you all this? Because it’s relevant as to what
happened next in the career of Charles Wright.
Wrestling
territories would do whatever they could to secure survival in this new dog eat
dog world of wrestling. This included striking deals with Vince McMahon and
working in unison with the WWF. Smoky Mountain Wrestling made this leap in
1993, but more importantly for Charles Wright, so did his old stomping ground
of the United States Wrestling Alliance. With the deal would come a talent swap.
WWF stars would travel down to Memphis to perform on the USWA shows and in turn
would pull a large number fans to the box office, upping the company’s revenue
for that week.
Shawn
Michaels, Owen Hart, Bret Hart and Razor Ramon were just a few names which went
back and forth between the WWF and USWA in the 90’s. Papa Shango was another.
Returning home as Shango nearly two years after he left the company for a job
with Vince McMahon, Wright experienced something he hadn’t had with the
Stamford based promotion. Namely, success. On a weekly basis, Papa Shango would
compete for both the WWF and USWA, usually on alternating nights. For example,
Papa Shango defeated Typhoon of The Natural Disaster on WWF House Shows on May
1st 1993 and May 2nd 1993 in Rochester and Binghamton, New York respectively
and the night after on May 3rd 1993 Papa Shango defeated Jerry Lawler in
Memphis, Tennessee to lift his second USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship. It
was a crazy schedule and predicament to be in. The USWA would have to recognize
Shango as a WWF Superstar because the audience had and would see Papa Shango on
WWF television in the coming days and weeks. Yet the WWF never recognised or
mentioned Papa Shango’s success down in the lowly USWA.
The
night after Papa Shango captured the USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship he
lost to then WWF Champion Bret Hart on a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping in
Worchester, Massachusetts. Technically it was a champion vs champion match, but
once again never recognised by Vince McMahon or his company. Later that same
week on May 6th and May 7th 1993, Papa Shango once again went over Typhoon on
house shows in Youngstown and Richfield, Ohio. From losing every week, suddenly
Papa Shango was winning the smaller matches and it was all thanks to his USWA
Unified Heavyweight Championship win. The USWA needed Shango to look good
against WWF’s smaller time talent so he would look like a threat to their stars
when defending the gold.
One
night after defeating Typhoon in Richfield, Ohio, on May 8th 1993 Papa Shango
successfully defended his USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship against Jerry
Lawler by disqualification in Nashville, Tennessee. May 10th in Memphis yielded
the exact same result and on May 11th 1993 Papa Shango defeated Jeff Gaylord to
again retain the Championship.
As
May turned to June, everything on the surface looked rosy for Charles Wright.
In the World Wrestling Federation he was prevailing over wrestlers he would usually
look at the lights for and down in Tennessee, Papa Shango was the Heavyweight
Champion. However, events were far from okay behind the scenes. Winning the
USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship had upset Wright as he believed at the
time; the company had put the gold on him in order to draw in a larger black
crowd. Not wanting to be used in order to get a select minority into the arena
Wright decided the time had come to leave the company which gave him his first
break and this time he wouldn’t return.
Papa
Shango would lose the USWA Unified Championship but not before completing his
duties for the World Wrestling Federation who were less than pleased that he
had chosen to shun a Championship reign with their business partners. WWF house
shows saw on June 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th saw Papa Shango rack up a spate of
victories over Jim Powers and over in the USWA to lay the groundwork for the
title change, Papa Shango retained the USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship
against Jerry Lawler on June 14th in Memphis. In rematches on June 18th and
19th Papa Shango would lose to ‘The King’ by disqualification before the time
came for Shango to depart the company and drop the belt to someone who wanted
it.
The
USWA Unified Heavyweight Championship would change hand on June 21st 1993 in
Memphis, Tennessee. Owen Hart, the successor to the throne would pin Papa
Shango to lift the Championship and take his place in the USWA whilst Shango
returned to the World Wrestling Federation prepared for his final run in the
company. With Papa Shango’s time running thin in the business he all but
disappeared from WWF television and apart from victories over The Tonga Kid on
shows which would take place on June 26th in Sacramento, California and again
on June 28th in Anaheim, California.
It
was almost over for Papa Shango as a character in wrestling. Charles Wright
could go on and would in years to come under different monikers. But for one of
the most memorable characters in wrestling history, curtain was beginning to
fall. In October 1993, on his way out of the company, Papa Shango would lose to
El Matador, Owen Hart and Jim Powers whilst his last ever recorded appearance
for Vince McMahon was on October 13th 1993 on a WWF card in Stuttgart,
Baden-Wurttemberg, Deutschland where he went out the right way and put over Bob
Backlund. Though Papa Shango would compete on the odd independent card until
1994, Charles Wright would mostly disappear from the wrestling industry until
1995 and return to bar tending.
Papa
Shango may have been gone from Vince McMahon’s empire, but he wasn’t forgotten.
During Bob Backlund’s erratic period in the autumn of 1994, there was talk that
Papa Shango would be brought back to the company in order to explain Backlund’s
mood swings and villainous behaviour. The story was to be that Shango’s voodoo
spells were to blame for Backlund’s behaviour. It would have been a way back in
for Wright, but in truth the Papa Shango character was done. In 1994, a
character like Papa Shango would never have fitted in and Charles Wright really
didn’t need to look at the lights for anyone else. It was 1995 before Charles
Wright returned to wrestling as Kama ‘The Supreme Fighting Machine’, but that
is another story for another day.
In
1992, Papa Shango may have been awarded ‘Worst Gimmick’ and ‘Most Embarrassing
Wrestling’ of that year but in 2003 Charles Wright was the voted 353rd (of 500)
best singles wrestler of the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Years. Add to that three
action figures, the original Hasbro Papa Shango figure, WWE’s Classic Superstar
line and their recent WWE Elite Series 12 addition; his own trading cards in
1992, appeared on the front of WWE’s short lived birthday card range and
inclusions in the video games WWF Super WrestleMania and WWF WrestleMania Steel
Cage Challenge, Papa Shango has well and truly left his mark on wrestling’s
history.
In
2013, Charles Wright lives with his wife and four children in Las Vegas,
Nevada, where he runs ‘Cheetahs Night Club and Strip Joint’. Was there a more
fitting job for man who portrayed The Godfather, a pimp who loved his ho’s? I
don’t think so.
Papa
Shango may sound like one of wrestling’s failures but you couldn’t be more
wrong. For a guy who never even wanted to lace up a pair of boots, Charles
Wright has done phenomenally well for himself, not just with Papa Shango but
also Kama and the ever popular The Godfather. Papa Shango may never be an
inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame but the memories we have of him as
impressionable children and even adults will never disappear. In twenty years
time people will still know the name Papa Shango, and for a wrestler and
character who were never that good in the ring, that’s a hell of an
achievement.
Onwards
and upwards...
