Let's just state the obvious, the ride on the Ho Train went on for a bit too long. The former Papa Shango just couldn't seem to catch a break until he put away the voodoo, and picked up a pimp hat and cane. Despite the gimmick being horribly offensive, it got over big. It fit in perfectly with the Attitude Era, and fans would gladly chant along with his pre-match mic work about "lighting up a fatty." To be honest, though, it was an incredibly one-dimensional gimmick. The WWF wasn't really going to dive in on the finer intricacies and psychology of a pimp character, so he came out, did his thing and went on to the back. Try to think of a classic Godfather feud. There weren't any. To give him something relevant to do, he was turned heel, joined the Right to Censor and became The Goodfather. It was a fun change, and kept him relevant for some time, even though he was mainly relegated to henchman duty. When the group ran its course, Godfather went back to his old pimpin' ways. But now, he was doing it "legally." Somehow, he was running a legitimate escort service. What's the fun in that? He also didn't have a large following of "ho's" anymore. Maybe the pimping business hit some hard times. Anyway, fans were becoming bored with him. Besides that, Godfather wasn't that good of a worker. He was no Ricky Steamboat...which is probably why he was given the ridiculous gimmick in the first place. He should still be proud for lasting as long as he did before the fans lost interest. After all, not many people can admit they're a pimp on national TV and not go to prison.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
