Vince McMahon thought one WWE Hall of Famer needed a substantial makeover.
Vince McMahon has made changes to wrestlers in the past, from name changes to even changing their personalities. It’s an aspect of WWE that many wrestlers have to deal with during their tenure in the company. One WWE Hall of Famer recently spoke about the changes he had to go through because of McMahon’s thought process.
Speaking on the TheA2theKWrestling Show, The Godfather explained that McMahon thought the former Intercontinental Champion had a baby face despite having a huge physique, so he had his face hidden. This led to the creation of the horror-themed gimmick, Papa Shango:
“You have a body of a monster, but you have a baby face’, and he goes, ‘We’ve got to do something with that face’ … That was Vince, hiding my baby face.”
Godfather debuted in 1991 and a year later introduced the Papa Shango gimmick. In 1995 he was brought back as Kama Mustafa and would later be part of the Nation of Domination. The Papa Shango gimmick lasted just over a year in WWE. He did an infamous run-in during the WrestleMania 8 main event featuring Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice.
The Godfather was inducted into the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame by John Bradshaw Layfield and long-time friend Farooq. He was released by WWE in 2002 and has since made sporadic appearances in the company.
H/t – Wrestling Inc.