10 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About Kamala, The Ugandan Giant

The history of pro wrestling is full of gimmicks with questionable racial politics, and one of the most questionable is that of Kamala, the Ugandan Giant, whose in-ring career lasted from 1978 to 2010, including several runs with WWE.

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Despite the insensitivity of the gimmick — he was an African “savage” stereotype with facepaint who didn’t speak English — Kamala made it work, proving to be a huge draw in the 1980s and one of the many icons of his era. Let’s take a look at the career of Kamala, from his early days before developing his famous gimmick all the way to his final appearances for WWE.

10 Started Out As Sugar Bear Harris

Born in Mississippi in 1950, James Harris made his in-ring debut in 1978, but had yet to work anything resembling his famous “Ugandan Giant” gimmick. Instead, he wrestled under the name Sugar Bear Harris and was managed by Percy Pringle, who’d become better known as WWE’s Paul Bearer. In the early 1980s, Harris ventured to Europe, wrestling in Germany and England and developing a persona called the Mississippi Mauler, which would serve as a prototype for Kamala.

9 Developed The Kamala Character In Memphis

Upon returning to the states, a chance meeting with Memphis promoter/wrestler Jerry Lawler led to Harris getting a gig wrestling for Lawler and Jerry Jarrett’s Continental Wrestling Association. There, Harris, Lawler, and Jarrett collaborated to develop the character of Kamala, who despite his “savage” look was touted as a former bodyguard for Idi Amin, the notorious dictator of Uganda. As part of his gimmick, Kamala shot a hype video with CWA that not only conveyed the persona to viewers, but also effectively sold out the Mid-South Coliseum for his big debut match against Lawler himself.

8 Kept Kayfabe Outside Of The Ring

In the old days, it was not uncommon for wrestlers to “live their gimmick,” keeping kayfabe outside of the ring when interacting with the general public. Despite being a violent monster heel who spoke no English, James Harris never broke character when he was out and about in a territory he was working.

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Those who knew him described the well-liked Harris as a laid-back “country boy,” but fans never saw that side of him. Instead, Kamala would appear in public in traditional African garb, often joined by whoever his manager was at the time, and never spoke English.

7 Feuded With Andre The Giant

Moving on from CWA, Kamala began to appear for Bill Watts’ territory, Mid-South Wrestling, where he proved to be a major attraction. Managed by the legendary Skandor Ackbar and handled by a masked man named Friday — later renamed Kim Chee — Kamala worked through many of the big names in Mid-South before Andre the Giant was brought in. The battle of the two giants was a huge attraction, and the two rivals sold out numerous buildings during their rivalry, during which Kamala was able to bodyslam Andre.

6 Arrived In WWE In 1984

Kamala’s feud with Andre the Giant led to Andre encouraging his rivalry to come to WWE, which he did in the summer of 1984 following a run in Dallas with World Class Championship Wrestling. In WWE, Kamala immediately gained notoriety for a segment on the talk show Tuesday Night Titans where he (kayfabe) ate a live chicken. After huge clashes with Andre the Giant and even a World Title match with Hulk Hogan, Kamala would end up departing WWE later that year.

5 Feuded With Hulk Hogan

After resuming business with Mid-South Wrestling and other territory promotions, Kamala would make the first of several returns to WWE in the summer of 1986, where he’d enter a main event program with Hulk Hogan. Over the course of seven months, Kamala would challenge Hogan for the WWE Championship numerous times at house shows and televised regional shows for MSG Network and PRISM. Once the feud with Hogan was over, Kamala would hang out on the midcard, forming a tag team with Sika of the Wild Samoans as feuding with Jake “The Snake” Roberts.

4 Had Multiple Managers In WWE

Over the course of his time with WWE, Kamala enjoyed a number of managers including Freddie Blassie, The Wizard (not to be confused with the Grand Wizard), and Mr. Fuji. But one of the consistent elements of the act was the masked handler, first known as Friday before adopting the more well-known name of Kim Chee, who was often played by legendary jobber Steve Lombardi, a.k.a. the Brooklyn Brawler.

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In the early 1990s, Harvey Whippleman was Kamala’s manager alongside Kim Chee, and their abuse of Kamala led to him turning on them and joining up with the newly babyface Reverend Slick, who made attempts to civilize the giant in comedic segments.

3 Wrestled In WWE’s First Casket Match

Following a feud with the Ultimate Warrior, Kamala moved on to an even more powerful foe in the Undertaker. One of their biggest bouts would be at SummerSlam 1992, which would end in a DQ and lead to a rematch at Survivor Series. To up the ante, the bout had a unique stipulate, going down in history as WWE’s first-ever Casket Match, which ‘Taker would of course win. However, not only were their matches not incredibly well received, but Kamala also took exception to the pay disparity, claiming that for their SummerSlam outing, the Undertaker received $500,000 while Kamala only received $13,000.

2 Part Of WCW’s Dungeon Of Doom

During their rivalry, Hulk Hogan took a liking to Kamala, and encouraged him to join up with WCW following Hogan’s own debut with the company. In 1995, Kamala became part of WCW, joining the Dungeon of Doom, a goofy stable of former Hogan rivals out to put away the Hulkster for good. While most of Kamala’s work during this short run had him squashing jobbers on WCW Pro and WCW Saturday Night, he did have a couple of big matches, taking on Jim Duggan at Bash at the Beach ‘95 and taking part in the WarGames match against Hogan and friends later that year.

1 Appeared For WWE In The 2000s

While some might write off Kamala as an extremely 1980s pro wrestler with an absurd gimmick, the Ugandan Giant actually made appearances for WWE in the 21st century. At WrestleMania 17, he was one of 19 entrants in the nostalgic Gimmick Battle Royal that included old school personalities like Tugboat and Nikolai Volkoff. In addition to showing up as a gag during the 2004 Diva Search competition, Kamala also wrestled a couple of matches in the 2000s, taking on Randy Orton and Umaga, though he was unsuccessful in both efforts.

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