The Godfather Talks Having Tough Words For The Rock, Wanting To Quit WWE

The Godfather, real name Charles Wright, is a WWE Hall of Famer and won two WWE championships. Prior to becoming The Godfather, Wright had numerous gimmicks including being Kama Mustafa in the Nation of Domination.

On screen, Kama and the other Nation members had issues with The Rock but the group also apparently had real-life issues as well. Those dealt with the attire being worn by the members as there was some pushback from The Rock. Wright talked about arguing with The Rock over his gear when he joined the Scheduled for Two Falls podcast.

"He refused to wear the hat, then he refused to wear the colors. So, we were like, 'Look, listen if you don't want to be part of this sh** then don't. Get the f**k out. We don't care. We're doing you a favor.' So, he ended up putting a black/green thing on his tights. After that, he was cool man," said Wright.

After The Godfather gimmick ran its course, Wright then transformed into The Goodfather as a member of Right to Censor. The RTC group was meant to poke fun at the PTC which was the Parents Television Council which protested the sexuality and innuendo of The Godfather's character, and WWE as a whole during The Attitude Era.

Wright recalled Vince McMahon telling him about the gimmick and why portraying The Goodfather killed his love for the business.

"Talk about me not smiling no more. He just killed my high bro," stated Wright. "Vince was taking a lot of heat man. Now he was going from cable to network. Now they've gone public and he's answering to big companies and they're taking a look at what we're doing," said Wright. "They're like, 'What's this... Puppies, DX, Suck it, Val Venis porn star?' And they said, 'And my God, who is this Godfather character!'

"So, Vince would tell me everyday, 'Charles, I'm fighting for you, I'm fighting for you' because they wanted me off the air. It got to where I couldn't be on Saturday mornings. I couldn't be on Sunday mornings. I couldn't be on before 11 pm. I couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't. It just became crazy. I couldn't say, 'Roll a fatty.' I couldn't call them hoes. I couldn't call myself a pimp. I couldn't say smoke weed. It got stupid. So, Vince said we're going to poke fun at these guys and we're going to put you in the RTC. So, I just remember talking to him saying, '........ What? So, I don't have any more hoes? Are the hoes going to be back next week?' 'No, no more hoes.'

"And at that point I hated it. I did the best job I could do but I hated it. I hated every minute of it. It took me from being, and I know it was a work, but the Godfather was a shoot. That was me saying exactly what I was doing and having fun saying, 'Pimpin' ain't easy.' I went from being a nice person back to that biker person and then it just came to the point where they were saying you need to leave. And then I remember telling Taker, 'I'm outta here. I can't do this sh** anymore.' Then somehow, it got to Vince so he dropped the straps on us and I'm a business man so I'm not going to leave and I was there even longer with them damn straps.

"But yeah, I hated it. It wasn't fun anymore and like I said if it's not fun then I'm out of here. That was the only time I hated wrestling. Well not wrestling, but I hated what I was doing."

Wright telling The Undertaker that he wanted to leave WWE led to Taker then telling Vince McMahon about Wright's plans. McMahon responded by putting the tag titles on Wright and fellow RTC member Bull Buchanan which was just Wright's second WWE championship.

Wright talked about his good friend The Undertaker stooging him out to Vince McMahon to try and get him to stay in WWE.

"I hated the Right to Censor. I hated it. I didn't want to go to work," revealed Wright. "I wanted to quit and Taker stooged me off to Vince so Vince dropped the straps on me and Bull because he knew it would keep me there longer."

The Nation of Domination fit right in during the Attitude Era as a militant group that adopted ideals of the Black Panther Party. But something like that wouldn't work in today's political climate as Wright explained.

"No (it wouldn't be possible). You'd have to do it like the Hurt Business, you'd have to do it in a different way. You couldn't do it. Politics in the US the way they are, they wouldn't put up with it," said Wright. "If what you did back then, if you did it today, DX would be the heels and the Nation would be the babyfaces. They hated us back then."

A forgotten member of The Nation was Ahmed Johnson who lasted just a couple of weeks with the group. His departure paved the way for The Rock to then join but Wright isn't too fond about working with Ahmed Johnson, nor did the other members of The Nation.

"We try not to include Ahmed in that group. The thing is, we all tried to help each other. We tried to help D'Lo. When Mark Henry arrived, he was really green and we tried to help him. We tried to do that with Ahmed Johnson and he wouldn't listen," revealed Wright. "He was only in the business a year and he knew more than us who were in the business a long time. That was his problem; he wouldn't listen. He knew everything and so we got him out of the Nation quick. When we jumped him out of the Nation, we really beat his ass for real. Ron Simmons was hitting him so hard with his belt that I actually said, 'Ron lighten up, Ron lighten up.' Ron was like, 'Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, no, I'm gonna get him some.'"

Wright was one of 16 WWE Superstars who took part in the ill-fated Brawl for All in 1998. Known as a legit tough guy in the locker room, Wright was one of the favorites to win the tournament but lost in the first round to UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn.

However, Severn then withdrew after his win which enabled Wright to continue in his spot. He eventually made it to the semifinals where he was knocked out by eventual winner Bart Gunn. Wright recalled participating in the tournament and why he didn't fare as well as people thought he should have.

"I'm sure you've seen the Dark Side of the Ring but it didn't matter. Bruce Prichard called and said we're doing this thing and if you win you get $5,000 and then you get $10,000 and I'm like, 'Ok I'm in.' And that's how it went. I didn't ask any more questions. My problem was we had plenty notice to get ready and I didn't take it seriously. I should have taken it a lot more seriously. I should have been in training. I should have been preparing and I did none of that. I thought just being a tough guy I had a chance," said Wright.pro

"It was never political for me. All that Steve Williams stuff, we never heard any of that. Me and Bradshaw were just like, 'Ok, how much?' My BIGGEST problem was that I didn't take Bart seriously and after Bart knocked out two or three people you would have thought my high ass would have taken that serious. I would be literally be smoking cannabis hours before fighting these guys. That's what happen when you don't take things serious – you get knocked the f**k out."

At around the same time as the Brawl for All, The Godfather debuted his "hoes" which would become a staple of his character. He revealed where he found the girls and how he'd help them relax before walking to the ring.

"At first, we got them from strip clubs. We used to go to strip clubs so we knew the girls. Then after the first week, the WWE took over and started getting the girls. And they'd also get them from strip clubs but then I'd get those girls acted up so much that they thought, 'Hmmm we need to get actresses,'" revealed Wright. "So, they'd get them from agencies but those agency girls would be just as bad because I'd have them partying, smoking, drinking because if you'd never been in front of 15 to 18,000 people, it can be a little, 'Oh my God!' So, I would want them to relax so I'd get them girls high, get them drunk so when you'd see those girls we'd be all out there having fun."

Wright is also an unfortunate piece of pro wrestling history as he was the scheduled opponent for Owen Hart when he fell to his death at Over the Edge in 1999. Hart was to be introduced first so Wright was in Gorilla Position when his Blue Blazer character suffered the fatal accident.

Wright recalled hearing the news that Owen Hart had fallen and also shared some memories of traveling with Hart.

"I was behind the curtain at Gorilla and Owen was to come out first. I had hung out with him and we talked about the match. I had actually watched him practice it earlier in the day," revealed Wright. "We talked about things and worked out the match and I didn't see him again. Then I was behind the curtain and they were announcing him and I was doing my normal prepping the girls and getting them hyped up to go out there and at that point whoever was there said, 'Owen fell.'

"And I'm like, 'Owen fell?' and they're like, 'YEA OWEN JUST FELL!' And I'm like, 'What do you mean Owen fell?... Owen fell?' Then there was just chaos after that and you know when they rolled him back he was... he was... he wasn't looking too good. It was just a sad day man. Good guy. Sad day. Just really sad. It was a rough day. That dude helped me so many times. I went to Japan once, when I first went to Japan I didn't know anything. I'm greener than a toad and Owen taught me how to take the subway, how to get to the dojo, how to order food, get the money. And then when I went to Germany for seven months, Owen was there and the same thing. Owen showed me everything. He was just a great dude, man. Show me how to get food, go to the gym. Good guy. Just a good guy."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Scheduled for Two Falls with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.