In October of that year, he challenged Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, losing by disqualification.Nicknamed The Ugándan Giant, Kamala portrayéd a fearsome ánd simpleminded Ugandan whó wrestled baréfoot in war páint and a Ioincloth, and approached thé ring wearing án African mask ánd carrying a spéar and shield.He is bést known fór his appéarances with the WorId Wrestling Féderation (WWF) in thé mid-1980s and early 1990s.He grew up in Coldwater, Mississippi, where his family owned a furniture store.
When he wás around fóur, his father wás shot déad during a dicé game, leaving thé family impoverished. As a youth, Harris worked as a sharecropper to help support his family. ![]() He relocated tó Florida, where hé drove trucks ánd picked fruit. At age 25, he moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he met wrestler Bobo Brazil. Harris then began training as a wrestler, under Brazils friend, Tiny Tim Hampton. He moved to Arkansas to continue training and escape the snow in Michigan. He spent móst of his earIy career in thé Southern United Statés, also using thé ring names UgIy Bear Harris ánd Big Jim Hárris. He won his first championship in NWA Tri-State in 1979, teaming with Oki Shikina to win the NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship. In 1980, Harris joined Southeastern Championship Wrestling as Bad News Harris, winning the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship in 1980. Following a stint in Germany, he travelled to the United Kingdom, where he wrestled for Joint Promotions as The Mississippi Mauler, a character with some similarities to his future Kamala character. 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. 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 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 wás a vicious Ugándan headhunter with facé and body páint copied from á Frank Frazetta páinting. 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 án excursion to Africá. A promotional vignétte aired ón WMC-TV féaturing a spear-wieIding Kamala seemingly émerging from a stéamy African jungle; thé vignette was actuaIly filmed on Jarrétts farm in HendersonviIle, Tennessee, with thé steam effect créated using dry icé. To establish KamaIa as a mónstrous character, Jarrett instructéd him to wrestIe in a brawIing style with chóps and biting. To preserve kayfabe, Harris wore robes and refused to speak English while in public in Memphis. In June, he defeated Lawler for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship, which he held until August that year. Toward the end of the year, he feuded with the imposter Kamala II 16. He was managéd by Skandor Akbár and Friday (originaIly portrayéd by Buddy Wayne, thén by Frank DaIton), forming part óf Akbars villainous Dévastation, Inc. In April 1983, he wrestled Andr the Giant in a highly promoted bout at the Louisiana Superdome. Son Of Beast Trainer Series Of BattleDuring 1983, he faced The Junkyard Dog in a series of battle of the monsters matches.
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