Kamala Retires
Posted by David Damage on Friday, November 11, 2011
Under: News
James "Kamala" Harris, who headlined in Memphis and the WWF as well as having runs in just about every promotion you can think of over the last several decades, had his foot amputated earlier this week due to complications from diabetes and high blood pressure.
www.wrestlingnewscenter.com, which covers the Memphis wrestling scene, was the first to break the news, writing that Harris was in good spirits but the amputation would mean the end of his career as an in-ring wrestler. He had been working independents in recent years while also working as a truck driver.
Harris, 61, broke into pro wrestling in the late 70s as Sugar Bear Harris but didn't become a star until he was painted up and became the mighty Ugandan Giant, Kamala for Memphis Wrestling. Almost immediately after vignettes of him in "The Jungle" (really Jerry Lawler's backyard) began to air, he was a headliner, feuding with Lawler and other top stars in the territory as the bloodthirsty savage facing off against the area's top heroes.
That run soon led to runs in World Class and Mid-South, with the storyline being that he was a savage from Africa who could only be controlled by the mysterious masked handler Friday (later named Kim-Chee when Kamala came to WWF).
Although he had a short run in WWF in 1984, he finally broke through in the company in 1986, where Kamala was built up as a monster heel to challenge then-WWF champion Hulk Hogan. The two had a several month program on house shows, usually ending in a DQ to set up a return "Jungle Death Match" with no rules for the return date. Those matches would feature Hogan "putting on the war paint" to properly battle Kamala.
After his run with Hogan was over, Kamala was placed into a tag team with another savage, Sika, as both were being managed by Mr. Fuji.
Kamala would leave and return to Memphis and independents before having another WWF run in the early 1990s, built up as an opponent for The Undertaker at the first-ever (and only) Summerslam held outside the United States in 1992 at Wembley Stadium. The storyline was that Kamala was actually afraid of the Undertaker and his coffin but was forced to wrestle by Harvey Whippleman.
After being locked in it to end the Summerslam casket match, Kamala began to have a change of heart. Slick, who returned to the company as a babyface preacher after years of playing a pimp based heel, helped Kamala "see the light", leading to silly vignettes where he attempted to teach Kamala about things like bowling and other modern conveniences.
Kamala also had a short run in the WCW Dungeon of Doom, brought in to be part of a group of heels that would challenge and lose to Hulk Hogan during the Hogan era of WCW in 1994.
In recent years, Kamala had been working independents and making appearances at conventions but mostly worked as a truck driver. In shoot interviews, he noted that he felt he was never paid his just due while working on top, even against names like Hulk Hogan, feeling it was due to being an African-American man.
His last appearance on a national level would have been at the TNA Slammiversary 2008 PPV wedding of Jay Lethal and SoCalVal, where Kamala appeared as one of the guests. Lethal at the time was doing a gimmick where he, as Black Machismo, thought he was Randy Savage in the 80s.
www.wrestlingnewscenter.com, which covers the Memphis wrestling scene, was the first to break the news, writing that Harris was in good spirits but the amputation would mean the end of his career as an in-ring wrestler. He had been working independents in recent years while also working as a truck driver.
Harris, 61, broke into pro wrestling in the late 70s as Sugar Bear Harris but didn't become a star until he was painted up and became the mighty Ugandan Giant, Kamala for Memphis Wrestling. Almost immediately after vignettes of him in "The Jungle" (really Jerry Lawler's backyard) began to air, he was a headliner, feuding with Lawler and other top stars in the territory as the bloodthirsty savage facing off against the area's top heroes.
That run soon led to runs in World Class and Mid-South, with the storyline being that he was a savage from Africa who could only be controlled by the mysterious masked handler Friday (later named Kim-Chee when Kamala came to WWF).
Although he had a short run in WWF in 1984, he finally broke through in the company in 1986, where Kamala was built up as a monster heel to challenge then-WWF champion Hulk Hogan. The two had a several month program on house shows, usually ending in a DQ to set up a return "Jungle Death Match" with no rules for the return date. Those matches would feature Hogan "putting on the war paint" to properly battle Kamala.
After his run with Hogan was over, Kamala was placed into a tag team with another savage, Sika, as both were being managed by Mr. Fuji.
Kamala would leave and return to Memphis and independents before having another WWF run in the early 1990s, built up as an opponent for The Undertaker at the first-ever (and only) Summerslam held outside the United States in 1992 at Wembley Stadium. The storyline was that Kamala was actually afraid of the Undertaker and his coffin but was forced to wrestle by Harvey Whippleman.
After being locked in it to end the Summerslam casket match, Kamala began to have a change of heart. Slick, who returned to the company as a babyface preacher after years of playing a pimp based heel, helped Kamala "see the light", leading to silly vignettes where he attempted to teach Kamala about things like bowling and other modern conveniences.
Kamala also had a short run in the WCW Dungeon of Doom, brought in to be part of a group of heels that would challenge and lose to Hulk Hogan during the Hogan era of WCW in 1994.
In recent years, Kamala had been working independents and making appearances at conventions but mostly worked as a truck driver. In shoot interviews, he noted that he felt he was never paid his just due while working on top, even against names like Hulk Hogan, feeling it was due to being an African-American man.
His last appearance on a national level would have been at the TNA Slammiversary 2008 PPV wedding of Jay Lethal and SoCalVal, where Kamala appeared as one of the guests. Lethal at the time was doing a gimmick where he, as Black Machismo, thought he was Randy Savage in the 80s.
In : News