10 WWE Stars Who Were Unrecognizable From Their Early Days

5. Papa Shango - Kama - The Godfather - The Goodfather

Papa Shango was one of those cheesy gimmicks in the early 1990s that seemed to be a common thing in WWE. The character had very little chance of succeeding yet he was out there for a few years getting involved in major feuds with big names. He was a voodoo man that put curses on his adversaries. It was a gimmick that was truly out there and not something fans were really entertained by. The one positive thing about Shango was his face was painted so you couldn't see his facial features. That allowed him to return as Kama as a "supreme fighting machine" when he also adopted the name of Kama Mustafa to make it sound even tougher. That was his gimmick from 1994 to 1997 when he was a heel with Ted Dibiase and also when he was in the Nation of Domination. His most memorable role was The Godfather. It was a character that was a pimp. Since WWE was pushing the envelope in 1998-2000 the character fit well because fans wanted to see hot woman, so The Godfather brought these women out and the fans cheered him for it. It's not like WWE hid the fact that this character had prostitutes with him. They celebrated it. That's a character that could never work in today's wrestling. When The Godfather went as far as he could, he turned heel and became The Goodfather as part of the Right to Censor group. It wasn't a role he was particularly good at, but they could draw massive heat so it was effective in that sense. He'll always be most known as The Godfather, but it took him a while to find the right role.