Jerry Lawler on meeting Kamala for the first time
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler has been sharing his memories of the late James 'Kamala' Harris. Kamala passed away earlier this week at 70 years of age after suffering a cardiac arrest due to COVID-19 complications.
During an interview with the Busted Open podcast, Jerry Lawler discussed the first time he ever met Kamala during the 1980s:
"It was a Monday night at the Mid-South Coliseum back in the early '80s, and as typical, how you know the guys do, you have curtain sellouts or whatever, we were kind of watching the earlier matches through the back curtain there, and I'm standing there watching the earlier matches. And I get a tap on my shoulder, and I turn around and immediately look up because here's this giant of a guy." (h/t to Wrestling Inc.)
"And a really young guy, and it's James Harris. His first words out of his mouth, he said, 'Mr. Lawler, my name is Sugerbear Harris, and I'd like to wrestle for you guys.' And I looked at him. I looked up and down and I don't know what came into my mind other than the fact that I mean this guy looks like what we loved to have there in Memphis. I mean he just looks like a huge monster that we can definitely do something with right?" (h/t to Wrestling Inc.)
Jerry Lawler on the Kamala gimmick
During the interview, Jerry Lawler also discussed his initial thoughts on creating the gimmick that would eventually become Kamala 'The Ugandan Giant'.
The King would explain how he and Jerry Jarrett would become renowned for creating a variety of gimmicks, including Kamala, in the Memphis territory during the 1980s:
"And so, I looked at him and said, 'James, has anybody else seen you here tonight?', he said, 'No sir', and I said 'Alright here, I want you to leave right now. We're going to call you, and tomorrow, we want you to meet with me and Jerry Jarrett at Nashville. And we're going to come up with something for you,' and so that's the first meeting I had with him, and the next day, he drove up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, Jerry Jarrett's house, and you know Bully about the way things were back in the day." (h/t to Wrestling Inc.)
"We were known down in Memphis for kind of creating different gimmicks. Jerry Jarrett would take responsibility. He took two guys that were just preliminary wrestlers so to speak just underneath guys in Stan Lane and Steve Keirn, and he dressed them up. He put Jackie Fargo, who would become the Fabulous Jackie Fargo, as like their manager and paraded them and them together and [called] them The Fabulous Ones. Those guys went on and did fantastic makes for money just with that. What we call a gimmick of course." (h/t to Wrestling Inc.)
What is your favourite memory or match of Kamala in professional wrestling?