Legendary WWE Hall Of Famer Blamed For Infamous WrestleMania Botch
Even at WrestleMania, not everything in WWE goes to plan.
At WrestleMania VIII, Hulk Hogan met Sid Justice in a highly anticipated main event. However, as the match reached its conclusion, it very famously went off the rails.
The original plan would have seen Papa Shango run in and break up a pin after Hogan hit Justice with a leg drop causing a disqualification. But Shango’s run-in came much too late and Justice kicked out of Hogan’s leg drop before Harvey Wippleman tried to rescue the situation by getting in the ring.
It was only after some back and forth that Shango finally arrived.
WWE Legend Behind Famous Botch
During a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Charles Wright, who played Papa Shango, revealed the truth behind the infamous mistake. The veteran explained that it was actually the legendary Gorilla Monsoon who gave him a late cue, which in turn meant he didn’t arrive in the ring in time.
“All right, I’m Papa Shango. I’m just happy to be there. They’re building me and I got thrown in that position. So they tell me, I think it was in Indy? Wherever it was, it was a long, long run. So they told me do not go. It was Gorilla Monsoon, God rest his soul, I’ll say his name now. It was Gorilla Monsoon. That’s why you always hear Gorilla Position.
He said, ‘Do not go until we tell you to go.’ So I’m sitting here like, okay, and all I knew was what I had to do when I got there, what I had to do. What happened before that and after that I wasn’t concerned with, I just knew what I had to do when I got there.
So I’m sitting there like a track star and then all sudden he goes, ‘Oh, go go!’ They gave me a late cue. They’re not used to giving people cues. They are used to us being professionals and taking off on your own. So he forgot for a minute. That was that.”
Wright added that he never heard anyone complain or bring up the late run-in until years later.
Following WrestleMania, Wright continued as Papa Shango before leaving the WWF in 1993. After a short spell in the wrestling wilderness, Wright returned to the company as Kama in early 1995, but just a year later he was a free agent once again.
The star returned to the WWF once again in 1997 as Kama Mustafa and formed part of the Nation of Domination before becoming his most famous character The Godfather. Wright left the company for the final time in December 2002, although he’s continued to make occasional appearances, including being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
H/t to ITR Wrestling