WWE Hall of Famer Queen Sharmell has played multiple characters during her time in WWE and WCW. One of her iconic roles in WCW was Paisley Park.
While speaking to McKenzie Mitchell on her Threads series, Queen Sharmell reflected on how her infamous Paisley Park character was born. Sharmell mentioned that Vince Russo came up with the character but still was not sure why Russo decided to go with the color purple, but now it has become her signature color.
“There absolutely was one. It was a Friday afternoon, I got a call from Vince Russo and he said, ‘Hey, when you get to television on Monday, I want you to be Paisley Park, so go find something purple to wear…’ Just like that. So I ran to Five Points in Atlanta, found a whole bunch of purple stuff, and found some paisley prints. And there we go.
“I said, ‘Okay, well, I love prints. We can do this.’ I don’t know why [purple was the color of choice]. I didn’t even ask. That was part again going back to James Brown. ‘Be ready for whatever.’ It was [Purple was my signature color]. And listen, purple represents royalty. So, here we are with Queen Sharmell. It’s been a theme throughout my career,” Queen Sharmell said.
Paisley was associated with (The Artist Formerly Known As) Prince Iaukea and Kwee Wee in WCW, the latter of whom likely inspired the emphasis on purple. TAFKA Prince Iaukea was a rib on Prince, and his Paisley Park home/studio was the inspiration for Sharmell’s new name.
Were you a fan of the Paisley Park character?
