24 Wrestlers Who Died In 2020

Most wrestlers simply play a gimmick. Others become them. James 'Kamala' Harris was the latter; though not the greatest technician by any stretch, he was the best damn Kamala anyone could ever have been.

Born 28 May 1950 in Senatobia, MS, Harris endured a tough early life before being tempted by the lure of pro wrestling. At four years old, his father was shot dead during a game of dice, and his education ended in his early teens; after several run ins with the law, police advised he leave town soon after. In a state just awakening from racial segregation, the coded message was clear.

Harris swapped Mississippi for Florida, before alighting in Michigan, where an encounter with ẁrestling superstar Bobo Brazil changed his life. Harris found moderate success in the Southern states, but it wasn't until his turn in Memphis where he struck upon success.

The 'Ugandan Giant' Kamala - an African savage character devised by Jerry Lawler - might seem offensively retrograde by today's standards, but Harris leaned into the gimmick with such zeal that it became impossible to separate the man from the stereotype. In many ways a tragic figure, fans nevertheless jeered the primitive headhunter without question, as Kamala rose to become one of the most marketable heels in the '80s.

The apex of a run which comprised Memphis, WCCW and Mid-South saw Harris stare down Hulk Hogan for his WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Of course, he never had a chance of winning, but that hardly mattered; there was no better position to be in that opposite WWE's golden goose.

At least, in theory: despite drawing mammoth crowds, Kamala suddenly left the company over a pay dispute in 1987. He'd return five years later, this time as monstre du jour for the foreboding Undertaker. He was stalked out of Wembley Stadium by the Deadman before 92,000 at SummerSlam '92, and put away in the company's first ever casket match a few months later.

That closed the lid, as it were, on Kamala's run as a top line heel. A stint in Kevin Sullivan's Dungeon of Doom in WCW followed - another body for Hogan to beat, basically - after which his career wound down.

Harris' later life was dogged by health issues. In 2011, his left leg was amputated below the knee, as a result of high blood pressure and diabetes. A year later, surgeons took his other leg. Despite a career which reached the very heights of the industry, the ailing Harris was left reliant on a disability check. In early August, he contracted COVID-19 during one of his weekly dialysis treatments, and passed away a few days later following a cardiac arrest.

He was 70 years old.