Remembering Kamala
Last Sunday, word broke that pro wrestling legend James “Kamala” Harris passed away at the age of 70 after health complications.
I first got to know James in the early 2000s as several promoters scheduled matches between us over the course of a few years.
But to fully understand what an honor it was for me to face “The Ugandan Giant” and to get to know James, we have to go back to my childhood.
As a little kid, I remember being scared that Kamala, with his face paint and wooden head dress, would defeat Hulk Hogan for the WWF championship.
As I got older and realized Kamala was a character and not an actual savage, I had more of an appreciation for him and enjoyed watching him.
Heck, I remember when I found out that Kamala would be featured on a video game for the first time!
The game was titled Rage in the Cage and I had to have it!
The problem was, I had a Sega Genesis and a Super Nintendo but the game was only released on Sega CD.
Yep, I bought a whole new gaming system to buy one game to play with one specific character, Kamala.
Fast forward to my career and when I was contacted about working with Kamala, I was stoked.
When we met the first time, I was amazed at how nice James was.
He was absolutely nothing like the Kamala character and was a gentle person.
During the match, he pinned me on my stomach instead of my back and when I asked him why, he reminded me that fans still believe in the magic of storytelling and that they would see me wrestle again but they may never see him in person again.
By having me not “officially” pinned, he said my character had a gripe that Kamala never actually “beat” me.
My favorite experience with James wasn’t in a match.
After we squared off in a six-man match in Monessen on a Saturday night in the mid-2000s, I drove him to the Harrisburg area to meet with a promoter from New Jersey for whom James was wrestling for the next day.
Listening to him tell stories over the course of the three-hour ride was educational, to say the least.
He shared stories about Andre the Giant, The Undertaker, Hogan and many more.
James shared that he appreciated the personal context of our conversations, how I treated him like an equal and how I did not fawn over him just because he was a legend.
They were conversations between Bill and James, not Powerhouse and Kamala.
We kept in touch via email and communicated until relatively recently.
As he battled health issues this past decade, he appreciated that I still checked in on him even though his being a double amputee no longer allowed him to perform.
Wrestling fans will remember James as Kamala, a savage in the ring who literally left adults scared and kids crying.
But for me, I will remember a true gentle giant behind the face paint and head dress.
James was the epitome of what a pro wrestling character used to be.
Kamala was his façade, and few did it better.
But for the very few of us who got to know James, the person was an even bigger star than his character ever was.
NXT TakeOver XXX Saturday
As has been the case for years, NXT TakeOver shows have delivered on high expectations and we will see if it happens again Saturday.
The biggest match on paper features Adam Cole taking on former NFL punter and media member, Pat McAfee.
Keith Lee defends the NXT championship against Karrion Kross, Io Shirai defends her title against Dakota Kai, Santos Escobar defends the NXT Cruiserweight title against Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and a ladder match will take place to crown the new North American champion.
The show starts at 7 p.m. with the preview show beginning an hour earlier.
SummerSlam special Saturday
Just prior to TakeOver on Saturday, Fox will air SummerSlam’s Hottest Moments from 4-6 p.m.
AEW supporter out at TNT
Late last week, it was announced that Kevin Reilly, the man responsible for bringing AEW to TNT, would be leaving WarnerMedia.
Reilly and AEW President Tony Khan became friends a while ago and their friendship sparked the TV deal.
Within a few months of AEW’s debut of Dynamite on TNT, Reilly extended the new promotion’s show into 2024.
WWE applies for trademarks
In the last week, WWE has applied for several trademarks and some may give away names of Retribution members.
Most are former NXT wrestlers while others are of NXT wrestlers hardly used.
Indy content now on WWE Network
As of Saturday, four independent promotions now have footage airing on the WWE Network.
EVOLVE, PROGRES, wXw and ICW all have shows available.
Most of the footage will be of current WWE stars from when they were in those respective promotions.
WWE wrestler returning?
Tyson Kidd, the husband of Natalya Neidhart, has reportedly been working out in hope of a return to WWE.
He suffered a severe neck injury in 2015, and there was a legit fear as he was heading into surgery that he may be paralyzed because of the surgery.
Natalya posted a video online last weekend showing Kidd running the ropes.
On This Day…
In 1960, Verne Gagne was awarded the first of his 10 AWA world championships. Pat O’Connor, who was the reigning NWA world champion at the time, was recognized as the first AWA world champion in May 1960 but was given 90 days to defend the title against Gagne or be stripped of the belt.
The match never took place and Gagne was awarded the title.
During the territorial days, the AWA primarily ran the majority of its shows in the midwest.
This week’s question:
Any idea when Roman Reigns will return? Donnie, Connellsville.
As far as in the ring, he has stated that the health and safety of his family, especially his newborn twins, is more important than wrestling right now.
If I had to guess, I would say we don’t see him in the ring until the pandemic calms down and maybe until WWE starts touring again.
However, if you want to see Reigns, he appeared last week on the R-Truth game show on the WWE Network.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.