Kamala, One of WWF’s Best Gimmicks, Passed Away This Weekend

| Posted on |

James Harris, aka Kamala, passed away this weekend of coronavirus at 70 years of age. He was one of the most recognizable figures in the WWF in the late-80s and early-90s and wrestled on the indie scene until 2010. The following year, Harris had both of his legs amputated.

With the look he had — body and face paint — Kamala was one of the best gimmicks from WWF’s heyday. Along with his manager and handler Kim Chee, Kamala had memorable feuds with the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker and was part of the first PPV Casket Match at Survivor Series ’92. To me, that’s the match that sticks out the most when thinking of Kamala’s career.

In general, I’ll never forget the ‘Kamala learns bowling’ skit.

After his main WWF run was over, Kamala also popped up in WCW as a member of Kevin Sullivan’s Dungeon of Doom. Again he was in the mix with top guys and main-evented Fall Brawl ’95 in the War Games match.

In later years, Kamala popped up here and there on WWE programming, including a match on Raw in 2006 against Umaga.

Many from the wrestling community paid their respects via social media.

The Iron Sheik noted in his tweet that Kamala “worked the gimmick better than most” and boy, is he spot on with that statement. When he was a heel, every kid in the arena was spooked. As a face, he was loved. We lost a good one. RIP Kamala.

CATEGORY: WWE