The creation of the spooky Papa Shango character came about in WWE for a very unexpected reason, according to The Godfather.
WWE Hall of Famer The Godfather was a recent guest on The Universal Wrestling Podcast to discuss his career. When asked about how he got his start with the Monster Factory, Godfather said he got scouted to be a professional wrestler in Las Vegas while they were filming the Sylvester Stallone movie Over the Top.
“I was in Las Vegas. They were filming a movie here called Over the Top; it was Sylvester Stallone…Scott Norton, bunch of other people are in it. I was working in the strip club. I was a bouncer, bartender, manager. I was everything,” The Godfather said. “I mean, right down the street from the gyms, all these guys would come there. At that time, I’m a beast man. I’m 330-340 pounds, tattooed, and they’re like, ‘Do you ever think about doing wrestling?’ I’m like, ‘Nah.’ When I grew up, roller derby in the Bay Area was bigger in the 70s than wrestling. We used to go watch roller derby. So I’m like, I knew Jesse The Body, you know? I remember watching Haystack Calhoun; that’s how far I go back. So they’re like, ‘Well, you should get into wrestling,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m fine. I’m making good money out here and stuff.’ They’re like, ‘Well, you ever hear of Bam Bam Bigelow?’ I was like, ‘The dude with the tattoos?’
“Because back then, I was already tatted up. That was a biker. I’m like, ‘yeah.’ They said, ‘Well, he made a million dollars last year.’ I’m like, ‘wrestling?!’ So he went to a place called The Monster Factory. I called; back then, there was no cell phones and all that crap, and you couldn’t just text the picture. He said that ‘If you fly yourself out here, I’ll put you up for the night. We’ll take a look at you.’ As soon as he looked at me, we were off from there. That was probably…from the time that I went to Larry sharp to the time, I was in the WWF, it was probably two and a half years.”
When asked about the creation of the Papa Shango character, The Godfather revealed it stemmed from Vince McMahon’s belief that he had the body of a monster but the face of a baby.
“I came back from Germany; Taker was in WWF,” The Godfather said. “So they’re like, ‘Hey,’ they gave me a tryout. They looked at me; Vince hired me, he says, ‘I got one problem.’ He says, ‘you got a body of a monster, but you got a baby face.’ He goes, ‘We’re gonna put you on contract. Keep training, and when we come up with something, we’re gonna give you a call.’ They came up with Papa Shango to cover my face. But yeah, I don’t look too bad. But yeah, that’s why they did the Papa Shango because they said I had a baby face. I can hardly grow a mustache.”
The Godfather recently stated that marijuana and his wife have made his life better. Check out his comments here.
READ MORE: The Godfather Says His Wife Came Up With His Attitude Era Character
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Universal Wrestling Podcast with a link back to this article for the transcription.
