10 Times Wrestlers Botched Their Biggest Moment

Papa Shango is a bizarre footnote of a gimmick that lingers in the minds of wrestling fans.

Immediately striking, but with little substance outside of the kind of dated stereotypes that counted as character development back then. Charles Wright would fortunately thrive when the WWE pitched itself to an adult audience. As The Godfather, Wright’s pimp gimmick was arguable equally as cliché but it at least got over. Wright was always shown to be in control and in on the jokes and foibles of the gimmick.

Nevertheless, in his biggest moment as Papa Shango, Wright had a major botch on ‘The Grandest Stage of Them All’. He was booked to interfere in WrestleMania VIII’s main event, which pitted Hulk Hogan against Sid Justice.

Shango was crucial to the match’s planned ending but missed his cue to break up Hogan’s post-leg drop pin, triggering the DQ finish. Sid’s manager Harvey Whippleman jumped into the ring to cover up the error. The mistake was surprisingly well masked, with the fans going wild as The Ultimate Warrior saved Hogan from a Shango and Sid beatdown.

Wright may have become a success, but he’d never again be involved in a ‘Mania main event.