The Godfather — the pimp gimmick as portrayed by Charles Wright — has been inducted to the 2016 Hall of Fame. There’s an important distinction to make here because only the character of The Godfather is getting inducted. That means that the other gimmicks Wright portrayed — Papa Shango and Kama to be exact — aren’t included in the Hall of Fame induction. I’ve written extensively about Wright and his many unfortunate gimmicks before, but I’m happy for him as a person that all he’s been through hasn’t stopped him from being recognized for his work.
Wright’s Godfather character was a perfect time capsule for WWE’s most popular era. With that distinction comes the fact he was a shining beacon of misogyny and racism. For those who don’t know, The Godfather was a pimp and he’d bring his “hoes” to the ring every Monday. Usually he’d offer them to other wrestlers for wins. He also had his famous “light up a phatty for this pimp daddy” and “pimpin’ hoes nationwide.” His gimmick was just everything that made the Attitude era what it was, for better or worse.
At the same time, marking The Godfather gimmick as something to be honored in 2016 is pretty telling. I’ve always thought that Charles Wright was talented and a charismatic talker, so I’m glad he turned his gimmick into something that was popular. Just making a career work out of “voodoo guy” and “pimp” is something that shouldn’t be understated.
Wright also revealed to Bleacher Report that JBL and Ron Simmons will be inducting him and congratulating him for pulling himself up by his bootstraps and not pulling the race card.
Congratulations to Charles Wright for the acknowledgement.
