The Godfather Says He Hated The "Goodfather", Talks Vince McMahon's Reasoning For The Character
Charles Wright is best known as The Godfather for which he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. But Wright also portrayed many different gimmicks during his time in WWE including as The Godfather's polar opposite, The Goodfather.
The Goodfather wasn't really a planned character and was the result of pushback from various groups unhappy with content on WWE programming. Wright talked about playing the role of The Goodfather when he joined our WINCLY podcast.
"First of all, Vince was taking so much heat. When Vince went public and [WWE programming] got off of the cable networks, it got up to the [broadcast] networks and he went public things changed. Different people were looking at us," Wright stated.
One of those groups who opposed The Godfather character was the Parents Television Council (PTC). When SmackDown began airing on UPN, a broadcast network, the PTC said he was inappropriate for prime time television.
"Vince fought for me and Vince would tell me, 'Charles, I'm fighting for your brother. I'm fighting for you.' But one of the things the networks hated besides DX was The Godfather," said Wright.
"They had a major problem with me and things I was saying and the things I was doing. It got to the point where I could only be on Saturday after 10:00 at night. I couldn't say this, I couldn't say that. I couldn't call the girls this. I couldn't mention this. It became this Godfather-lite [character]."
It got to the point that Vince told Wright that they were going to poke fun at the PTC group that was boycotting WWE by creating RTC (Right to Censor). RTC was a heel faction that parodied PTC and Godfather renounced his former ways, joined the RTC, and became The Goodfather.
"That was the worst news I ever heard in my life," Wright said about the character change. "I was enjoying my job and having the time of my life [as The Godfather]. To take that away and make me The Goodfather, I took it personal. I tried to do the best job I could but it was not a happy time. I became the old, mean bear again, and I really disliked it."
Wright, as The Godfather, will be hosting a Survivor Series Viewing Party in Chicago. Wrestling Inc. will co-present the Nov. 18 event along with Duffy's Bar & Grille and tickets for it can be purchased here.