It's a sad day for WWE fans, especially those who remember and love former Superstar James "Kamala" Harris. The Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC) tweeted Sunday that Harris, a former WWE wrestler, passed away today at the age of 70, with his cause of death currently unreleased.
The WWE published a statement shortly after CAC broke the sad news, honoring Harris and his face-painted monster heel persona Kamala. The article mentions how Harris battled some of the "greatest Superstars in sports-entertainment history" including the recently retired Undertaker and wrestler-turned-actor Andre the Giant. At six feet seven inches tall and 380 pounds, Harris had a literally huge presence in the ring, and that presence will be missed.
Harris was born in Mississippi and struggled to provide for his family, until he decided to train under wrestler Bobo Brazil as a young adult. He won the NWA heavyweight title in the South, then joined the Continental Wrestling Association in Tennessee, run by the famous promoters Lawler and Jarrett. The duo helped Harris develop the Kamala persona as an African headhunter brought to America to take on Lawler's persona, "The King." Together, Lawler and Harris sold out audiences in Memphis as they fought for the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship.
As Kamala, Harris performed over the next decade with other famed wrestlers, including a WWF steel cage match with Andre the Giant and a world title match against Randy Savage. His feud in the nineties with The Undertaker resulted in the spooky, awe-inspiring match where the headhunter and undead man fought to toss each other into Taker's casket. After these periods of fame, Harris wrestled off-and-on independently and in the WWE until his diabetes forced him to amputate part of his left leg, ending his career.
The WWE Twitter also posted some memorable photos of Kamala through the years, including several in-action shots of the headhunter leaping on opponents in the ring. Harris had a lot of presence, helped in part by his imposing stature and size, and knew how to make and keep an audience excited.
Although many aspects of professional wrestling have stayed more or less the same, many pros' looks and wrestling personas have a more modern influence now, with Kamala's Ugandan tribal persona more of a thing of the past. However, the influence of great wrestlers like Harris and the moments they awed viewers with are something that audiences can always remember, no matter what direction pro wrestling head toward.