Lawler vs Kamala, 1st match
With Memorial day happening this week, I looked back in the cards to see if anything jumped out. In looking at Memorial Day 1982 (May 31), I noticed the first appearance of Kamala.
Growing up watching Memphis wrestling in the 1970’s, the first “monster” heel I remember is the Mongolian Stomper (Archie Gouldie). When you saw him in the ring, you knew there was no way he could ever lose. In Memphis , during the summer of 1982, Kamala became that monster heel.
I can remember the video package they started showing a few weeks before the Ugandan giant arrived. It showed the deep dark wilderness of Uganda , (ok… actually it was filmed in Jerry Jarrett ’s back yard.) Kamala was the brainchild of Jerry Jarrett, and was a big guy who wearing a wooden tribal mask, tribal painting on his stomach (courtesy of Jerry Lawler) and a loin cloth. Jarrett had JJ Dillon sending in weekly video spots to explain that he was the big man’s manager and he would be there shortly. Until his arrival, the masked “Kim Chee” would handle the ringside needs of Kamala.
I know, it's completely goofy, but when he got into the ring, it worked. This giant of a man stood over 6’5”and easily weighed over 350 lbs. He would take that mask off and go around the ring slapping his belly. As the match got going, Kamala would tie up with the opponent and start laying into them with vicious overhand tomahawk chops. The wrestlers would roll end over end from the power of the chops. The angle was played out beautifully. Lawler, Dundee, Steve Keirn, Stan Lane , etc, all sold Kamala as the toughest thing to come into Memphis in 20 years. The fans bought in to “Kamala”. For the entire summer of 1982, he reigned supreme in Memphis and was the Southern Heavyweight Champion until the King was eventually able to overcome him in late summer
In talking with Jerry Jarrett, the creation of Kamala is one of the characters that he is most proud of. Kamala was in reality wrestler, James “Sugarbear” Harris. According to Jarrett, Harris could not throw a convincing punch, was weak on the mic and had limited wrestling skills. What Harris did have was charisma and heart. With these building blocks, Jarrett built a gimmick that never had Harris on the mic, didn't require him to throw a punch and kept his wrestling to only the most basic of moves. Jerry was able to turn “Kamala” into a wrestling superstar.
After Memphis , Kamala had notable feuds with Magnum TA, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Jake the snake Roberts. He is one of the most recognizable names and faces in all of wrestling. It all started on Memorial Day, 26 years ago this week.
----Mark James is the author of “Memphis Wrestling History – Cards, Matches, Results, Newspaper Clippings” Vol 1 and "Vol 2: The Programs 1972 - 1976" James also is the webmaster to the BEST Memphis Wrestling site in the area – www.memphiswrestlinghistory.com - Click on his site and order his books!!
