James Arthur Harris (May 28, 1950August 9, 2020), In April 2025, Harris was inducted into the Legacy wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.

Early life

Harris was born on May 28, 1950, in Senatobia, Mississippi, to Jessie Harris and Betsy Mosely.

Harris left high school in the ninth grade and became a habitual burglar. In 1967, local police suggested he leave town. As Harris put it, "Back then if you didn't leave like they said, you would be found dead somewhere." In June 1981, he competed in a tournament for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing to Wayne Bridges in the final in Wembley Arena in London.

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 the Mid-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 and Jerry Jarrett developed a new character for Harris, "Kimala" (later adjusted to "Kamala"), drawing upon ideas for a character originally developed for Harris by The Great Mephisto. 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 by J. 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. To establish Kamala as a monstrous character, Jarrett instructed him to wrestle in a brawling style with chops and biting. To preserve kayfabe, Harris wore robes and refused to speak English while in public in Memphis. In April 1983, he wrestled André the Giant in a highly promoted bout at the Louisiana Superdome.

World Class Championship Wrestling (1983–1985)

In March 1983, Kamala debuted in the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling promotion. In October of that year, he challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing by disqualification. In the same month, he began a lengthy feud with the Von Erich family, repeatedly facing brothers David, Kerry, and Kevin. In May 1984, he faced The Great Kabuki at the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, a tribute to David, who had died suddenly in February. Kamala continued to appear regularly with WCCW until late-1985.

World Wrestling Federation (1984)

At the insistence of André the Giant, Kamala debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in July 1984. He was managed by Freddie Blassie and a masked "handler" 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). After defeating a series of opponents including B. Brian Blair, Salvatore Bellomo, and Chief Jay Strongbow, in August 1984 Kamala challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight 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 sat on his chest. Kamala's final appearance was in a battle royal in November 1984. 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. The run of matches included two bouts in Madison Square Garden that aired on WWF on MSG Network. Harris was scheduled to once again face off against World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan at Saturday Night's Main Event XII, but he abruptly left the WWF once more in September 1987 over frustrations about his pay.

World Wrestling Federation (1992–1993)

Kamala returned to the WWF on May 9, 1992, with Lombardi reprising the Kim Chee character and Harvey Wippleman (whom he met in the USWA under the name "Downtown Bruno") acting as his managers. In June 1992, he unsuccessfully challenged Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Throughout mid-1992, he wrestled primarily in house shows, with his regular opponents including The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Texas Tornado, and Ultimate Warrior. In November 1992, Kamala lost to The Undertaker at Survivor Series in the first ever televised casket match. In January 1993, Kim Chee and Wippleman began mistreating Kamala, leading him to break away from them and align himself with Reverend Slick, turning face for the first time in his WWF career.

Slick set out to humanize Kamala, leading to a series of skits in which he introduced him to activities such as ten-pin bowling. Kamala feuded with Kim Chee throughout early 1993. In March 1993, he began a series of matches with Bam Bam Bigelow. The two were scheduled to face one another at WrestleMania IX, but the match was canceled.

Semi-retirement (1993–1995)

After leaving the WWF once more, Harris stepped back from professional wrestling. He began working as a truck driver using two semi-trailer trucks he had purchased following his series of matches with Hulk Hogan.

World Championship Wrestling (1995)

At Hulk Hogan's suggestion, Kamala joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1995. He was introduced as part of Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom stable, whose goal was to end Hogan's career. In his first WCW pay-per-view appearance, he defeated "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan at Bash at the Beach. He lost a singles match to Hogan at Clash of the Champions XXXI. He was part of the "Dungeon of Doom" team at Fall Brawl, which lost to Hogan's team, "The Hulkamaniacs".

Late career (2001–2010)

thumb|Kamala performing a [[shoulder claw on Sgt. Slaughter in 2009]]

Kamala participated in the "Gimmick Battle Royal" at WrestleMania X-Seven and was eliminated by Sgt. Slaughter.

Kamala lost to his nemesis Jerry Lawler at International Wrestling Cartel On July 20, 2002. From 2003 to 2004 he made appearances for Memphis Wrestling.

On July 26, 2004, Kamala made a surprise return to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), participating in a Raw Diva Search segment on RAW, in which the female contestants were instructed to try to seduce him.

Kamala lost to Jim Duggan at WrestleReunion 1 on January 29, 2005.

Kamala faced Randy Orton on the August 11, 2005, edition of SmackDown! (accompanied by Kim Chee) but the match was interrupted by a message from The Undertaker to Orton, and ended in a no contest. Kamala appeared at the 2005 Taboo Tuesday event, as one of the choices for Eugene's tag team partner. He lost the fan vote to Jimmy Snuka, but came to the ring after the match to deliver a big splash to Tyson Tomko. On June 25, 2006, at Vengeance, he accompanied Eugene to the ring (along with Doink the Clown and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan) to take on Umaga. Umaga quickly won, then attacked all three. But before Kamala and Umaga could fight, Umaga's manager, Armando Estrada, intervened. Umaga defeated Kamala in a match the following night on Raw in his last appearance for the promotion.

In 2007, Kamala defeated Lanny Poffo at Great North Wrestling event Wrestling Supershow at the Ottawa SuperEX in Ottawa, Canada. Kamala appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Slammiversary pay-per-view in June 2008, as a guest at Jay Lethal and SoCal Val's storyline wedding. His last match was on August 15, 2010, at Juggalo Championship Wrestling with the Weedman defeating The Haters (Pauly and Vito Thomaselli).

Personal life

Harris was married twice; his first marriage, to Clara Freeman in 1974, ended in divorce in 2005, while his second, to Emmer Jean Bradley in 2006, lasted until his death. Harris lived with his niece Ashley in Senatobia, Mississippi, until moving to Oxford, Mississippi.

Health issues

On November 7, 2011, Harris had his left leg amputated below the knee due to complications of high blood pressure and diabetes, a condition he had since 1992, which forced him to retire because he did not accept dialysis treatment. In April 2012, his right leg was also amputated below the knee and a campaign was launched seeking donations to cover his financial needs. Harris told Bleacher Report in 2014 that he relied on a disability check, sold handmade wooden chairs, and had written a book about his life.

In July 2016, Harris was named as part of a class action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. The lawsuit was dismissed by District of Connecticut judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018. Mike Johnson of PW Insider wrote that his involvement in the lawsuit likely prevented WWE from inducting him into their Hall of Fame during his lifetime.

On November 19, 2017, Harris underwent life-saving emergency surgery to clear fluid from around his heart and lungs at a hospital in Oxford, Mississippi. He was then on life support due to complications.

Death

On August 5, 2020, Harris tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 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.

Shortly after his death, a GoFundMe page was started to help Harris's family pay for his funeral expenses. The fundraiser ended up surpassing its original goal of $25,000, raising a total of $32,664. Impact Wrestling executive Scott D'Amore donated $2,500 to the cause and fellow wrestler Chris Jericho made a $5,000 donation.

Bibliography

  • Kamala Speaks: The Official Autobiography of WWE Wrestler James "Kamala" Harris (January 17, 2015) – with Kenny Casanova

Championships and accomplishments

  • Continental Wrestling Association
  • AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • International Wrestling Association
  • IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Buddy Wolfe
  • Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2022
  • NWA Mississippi
  • NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
  • Southeastern Xtreme Wrestling
  • SXW Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • Texas Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2012
  • United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • World Xtreme Wrestling
  • Hall of Fame (2013)
  • WWE
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2025 - Legacy wing)

References