Kamala (wrestler)

James Harris
Data
Ring name	Sugar Bear Harris Ugly Bear Harris Big Jim Harris Bad News Harris The Mississippi Mauler Giant Kimala Kamala
Additions to names	The Ugandan Giant , The Ugandan Headhunter
height	193 cm
Fighting weight	127-182 kg
birth	May 28, 1950 Senatobia , Mississippi
death	August 9, 2020
Announced from	Uganda , Africa
Trained by	Tim Hampton
debut	1978
retirement	2010

James Harris (born May 28, 1950 in Senatobia , Mississippi , † August 9, 2020 in Brooklyn , New York City ) was an American wrestler who became known under the ring name Kamala . During his active time he worked for the largest wrestling organizations worldwide and there together with their biggest stars. His biggest title success was the four-time receipt of the United States Wrestling Association Unified World Heavyweight Champion title . Harris was also active as a singer.

Before wrestling

Harris was born in Senatobia, Mississippi, as one of six children. His parents farmed a piece of land there on a sharecropping basis. When his mother remarried, they moved to Coldwater . His stepfather now had his own piece of land, but the family had to make use of the welfare in order to survive.

At the age of 17, uneducated Harris left Mississippi for Florida . There he made his living picking the fruit. Later he worked as a plumber and finally as a self-employed roofer. He also came into contact with wrestling for the first time when he saw the events in Florida.

Harris moved to Michigan at the age of 25 to improve his career, but was out of luck. At that time he was discovered by wrestling legend Bobo Brazil and trained by him and Tiny Tim Hampton.

Wrestling career

In 1978 Harris made his wrestling debut in Greenwood, Mississippi as Sugar Bear Harris . He later appeared as Ugly Bear Harris and Big Jim Harris in the southern states of the United States and got Percy Pringle as a manager. Harris eventually decided to go to Europe to further develop his skills. After a year in Germany, he came to England in 1981. Here he developed the ring character The Mississippi Mauler , which was already quite similar to that of the Kamala.

Back in the USA in 1982, he was discovered by promoter Jerry Jarrett and wrestler Jerry Lawler for the Continental Wrestling Association . Lawler developed together with Harris the gimmick of the Kamala or initially Kimala. Harris now portrayed a wild cannibal from Uganda who was alleged to have been Idi Amin's former protector . The gimmick worked very well, sold out houses and also had the advantage that it masked Harris' lack of microphone skills because he didn't have to speak. Because of his stature, he was also nicknamed "The Ugandan Giant" (Eng. "The Ugandan Giant"). In the following years Harris performed for various NWA territories. He had meanwhile been given a "tamer" at his side, who was first portrayed by Buddy Wayne as Friday , and later by Steve Lombardi as Kim Chee .

About a feud program with André the Giant came through Harris's advocacy in 1984 for the first time in the WWF , where their feud was initially continued. In 1985, however, he left the league at short notice to return in 1986 and to contest a feud program with WWF Champion Hulk Hogan . After the Hogan feud, he was made tag team partner of Sika the Wild Samoan for a while before he left the WWF again in 1988.

Harris now worked for the United States Wrestling Association and received its highest title four times, where he feuded against Jerry Lawler and Koko B. Ware .

In 1992 he returned to WWF , managed by Harvey Wippleman , and played a program with Undertaker that produced the first televised coffin match . After the end of the feud Harris was made for the first time a crowd favorite and gave him Slick as new manager. His role was now more of a comedic nature. In 1993 he left wrestling for almost two years and drove a truck .

In 1995 he made his comeback at World Championship Wrestling as a member of the Dungeon of Doom , where he again worked with Hulk Hogan as a feud partner. Since he did not receive a long-term contract, he left in October of that year. He then took a seven-year hiatus from the wrestling business.

In 2001 he appeared again at Wrestlemania X-Seven as a participant in a Legends Battle Royal . Since then, he has made sporadic appearances, both with the WWE and in the independent field.

In 2010 Harris announced the final end of his wrestling career after he had his left foot amputated as a result of diabetes and high blood pressure. The leg had to be removed the following month. On April 5, 2012, the right leg was also amputated.

death

Harris, suffering from COVID-19, died on August 9, 2020 at the age of 70 as a result of a heart attack two days earlier.

successes

useful information

• Harris was married for the second time to Melissa Guzman and lived in Senatobia. He was previously married to Sheila Stover from 1974 to 2005.
• Since 1993 he sang, wrote and produced his own songs.
• He received $ 13,000 for his SummerSlam performance against Undertaker, and his opponent received half a million.
• In 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas.

Web links

Commons : James Harris  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• WWE Alumni Profile (English)
• WWE Alumni Profile (German)
• Biography of Kamala on SLAM! Sports
• Profile on Cagematch.de
• Profile on Neckbruch.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Hoffmann: Undertaker rival Kamala is dead. Report on sport1.de, August 10, 2020. Retrieved on August 10, 2020.
2. ↑ End of career ( memento of the original from June 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Amputation of the left leg
4. ↑ Amputation of the right leg