James Arthur Harris (May 28, 1950 – August 9, 2020), better known by his /Ring name Kamala, was an American Professional wrestling. Nicknamed "The Ugandan Giant", Kamala portrayed a fearsome and simpleminded Ugandan. He wrestled barefoot, clad only in a Loincloth, his face painted with Body painting and two stars and a moon painted on his torso. During his ring entrance, he sported an Traditional African_masks and wielded a spear and shield. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation) over the course of numerous runs in the company between 1984 and 1993.
Harris debuted in 1978 under the Ring name "Sugar Bear" Harris. He spent most of his early career in the Southern United States, also using the ring names "Ugly Bear" Harris and "Big" Jim Harris. His first Manager (professional_wrestling) was Paul Bearer. In 1981, Harris travelled to Europe for seasoning. Following a stint in Germany, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he wrestled for Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom Joint Promotions as "The Mississippi Mauler", a character with some similarities to his future Kamala character.
Continental Wrestling Association (1982) Harris returned to Senatobia in the United States in 1982 after sustaining a broken ankle. While visiting his friend The Dream Machine at theMid-South Coliseum in nearby Memphis, Tennessee, to borrow ring attire, Harris met Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), promoter Jerry Lawler, who offered him a job. Harris, Lawler andJerry Jarrett developed a new character for Harris, "Kimala" (later adjusted to "Kamala"), drawing upon ideas for a character originally developed for Harris by J.C. Dykes and The_Infernos, Inferno #1( Frankie_Cain). The character was a vicious Ugandan headhunter with face and body paint copied from a Frank_Frazetta painting. His backstory was that he was a former bodyguard of deposed President of Uganda Idi Amin who had been discovered byJ.J. Dillon during an excursion to Africa. A promotional vignette aired on WMC-TV featuring a spear-wielding Kamala seemingly emerging from a steamy African jungle; the vignette was actually filmed on Jarrett's farm in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with the steam effect created using Dry_ice.
World Wrestling Federation (1984) At the insistence of André the Giant, Kamala debuted in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wrestling_Entertainment (WWF) in July 1984. He was managed by Freddie_Blassie and a masked Animal training" in safari clothing known as "Friday" (played first by Frank Dalton then by Steve Lombardi). In a memorable segment on the television program Tuesday Night Titans, Kamala seemingly devoured a live chicken (with a cutaway shot of feathers flying out of his mouth shown to create the illusion). August 1984 Kamala challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship, wrestling him to a double count-out. In October 1984, he began a series of matches against André the Giant, among them a Steel cage match which he lost after André twice. During his first match with Andre the Giant in 1983, the referee told him the wrong spot and when Kamala went to cover Andre he kicked out so hard that Kamala stood up (and he was 410 lbs) and then the latter called him a “dumb son of a b**ch.”The next night, he and Andre were supposed to work another match in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Backstage, Kamala went up to him with his .357 Magnum concealed in his pocket and struck his finger on Andre’s nose, and said, “Andre let me tell you one thing, the longest day you live don’t you ever f**k with me like that no more.” Kamala then told him he’d “kill him.” Andre replied “I’m sorry, boss. I don’t think.” He later started carrying a gun when wrestling Andre to protect himself. Kamala didn't like that and punched Andre a few times in the ring. Kamala's final appearance was in a Battle royal (professional_wrestling) in November 1984. managed by King Curtis_Iaukea and the masked "handler" Kim Chee (usually portrayed by Steve Lombardi). From November 1986 to February 1987, Kamala faced Hulk Hogan in a series of matches for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, marking the pinnacle of his career. Kamala lost to The Undertaker by disqualification at SummerSlam (1992) in August 1992. Kamala later claimed that he was paid $13,000 for the bout while The Undertaker was paid $500,000. Professional wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer questioned this claim, saying: "I'm not saying he's lying, but that's hard to believe for there to be that big of a disparity wouldn't make any sense." On July 26, 2004, Kamala made a surprise return to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), participating in a Diva Search segment on RAW, in which the female contestants were instructed to try to seduce him.
He had a small run in the WCW for about a year at the request of the Immortal Hulk Hogan being put in Kevin Sullivans now infamous cartoonist style stable with the like of John Tenta (known as earthquake) Big Van Vader, Meng (Haku) and the Giant Paul White (The Big Show) just so Hogan could get comfortable after Ric Flair with a lot of squash monster heel matches he was accustomed to. Kamala had much hatred for WCW executive producer ( best used car salesman in the country) because Kevin Sullivan told me that they will see how they like me and then they would give me a contract. And I went down and I stayed there for 3 months. Eric Bischoff, Kamala got him to this day to speak to me. And the way he treated me when I was down there…I don’t like that man. I don’t know nothing about him, but I know he never would speak to me. And I remember once I told Hogan, I said, “Hogan, I ain’t even making no money”. Bischoff called me up and he said, “Look, don’t be calling Hogan. Always call me and talk to me (if you have a problem with your money).” I did, but he never did answer after that. So anyway the last time that I worked with Hogan was in 1995 at the Bash at the Beach and that was a pay-per-view and I was paid $800 for that pay-per-view. That’s what they paid me. I went to Hogan and I said I’m going back and I’ll never see the wrestling world again. He said, “Wait a minute brother, you want me to talk to him again?” Kamala said that if I can't talk to him the forget it , I'm done and I don't need to buy a used Dodge Dart.
On August 5, 2020, Harris tested positive for during the pandemic in Mississippi, and was hospitalized. He likely contracted it from one of his numerous weekly visits to the dialysis center, his wife said. Due to COVID-19, he started to experience complications from his diabetes. He went into cardiac arrest on August 9, 2020, dying later that afternoon at the age of 70.