This WWE Attitude Era name was once slated to join the nWo.
The New World Order remains one of pro wrestling’s most iconic stables. Initially comprised of Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hulk Hogan, the group later expanded to include major names such as ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase.
The faction eventually grew stale, with various incarnations, including nWo 2000, contributing to its decline. Additionally, WCW’s creative issues behind the scenes, along with WWE’s rising popularity during the Monday Night Wars, left little hope for the once-dominant group.
During a recent appearance on The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val (via WrestlingNews.co), WWE Hall of Famer Charles Wright (aka The Godfather) revealed that he was originally supposed to join the nWo. However, financial disagreements prevented him from signing with Ted Turner’s promotion at the time.
“The only time that I was going to… we had the deal was, is the nWo… I was supposed to join the nWo,” Wright said. “I was re-signing as The Godfather. We’re working out deals. And so they gave me a call, and we worked out a three-year deal. Alright?
“So now I’m waiting for the contract to come. And I’m like calling the people that I need to talk to call. They’re not calling me back. Then I look up and I see Virgil. Well, I was supposed to be a bodyguard for the first year. In the last two years, I was going to wrestle on this contract, and so they decided to go with Virgil instead of me.
“My price was way higher than Virgil’s. I think they just didn’t want to pay me that much money to do what I was going to do. I don’t know, but Virgil took it. So that’s the only time that I even came close to going anywhere.”
Charles Wright on who came up with The Godfather character
“Believe it or not, the whole Godfather character was my wife’s idea,” Wright said. “All of it, not Vince. It was, you know, Vince had heard what we were doing on the road with it, and, you know, he’s like, ‘Hey, I want to see a little bit more about this character.’
“But it was all my wife’s idea, and she was basically, ‘if we could find a way for these people to see the real you. You’re not a voodoo man. You’re not that militant, just your old crazy, high ass self. We got something.’ So she came up with the character. She had all the outfits made. All the jewelry had. She had it made. She had a hat company sending us hats, all her ideas. I just went out there and did the silliness.”
