5 Famous WWE Stars Whose First Gimmick Failed

#3 The Godfather (Papa Shango)

Papa Shango - Character was a bust

Charles Wright knows all about bad gimmicks. His first WWE run was a total embarrassment.

Saddled with the character of Papa Shango which was based upon the Voodoo Priest characters seen in 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die, Wright was forced to pretend to be in a trance as his opponents would writhe around in agony many yards away from him or even vomit.

It was asinine and literally two decades behind the times. The Shango character was a massive embarrassment to the industry.

The persona was deservedly pilloried from all around the wrestling world and was scrapped a year after its debut in early 1993.

From there, Wright was given the moniker of Kama, who was based upon Hawaiian MMA star, Kimo, who was famous in UFC at the time. This gimmick went nowhere either, though it had much greater sticking power than Shango, lasting several years before Wright gradually changed his persona into that of The Godfather.

The Godfather - Charles Wright's most successful gimmick

The Godfather was a pimp who brought his girls out to the ring with him for his matches. Massively over with the fanbase, Godfather achieved modest success in the mid-card and even reigned as Intercontinental Champion.

So fondly remembered is Wright's most famous creation, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016.