The WWE Hall of Fame has reactivated its legacy wing for the Class of 2025, and Kamala, Ivan Koloff, and Dory Funk Sr will be inducted.

This is the first time the Legacy Wing has been used since 2021, and it has been criticized in the past as many of the inductee's families were not aware of the induction until it was announced publicly.  It is not known now if this is the case for these three.

Born James Harris in Mississippi, Harris first began wrestling in 1978 but adopted the Kamala gimmick in 1982 under the advice of Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler.  It was a money maker, with Harris taking the gimmick across the country through multiple territories, including the WWE, where over three runs in 1984, 1986-87 & 1992-93, he had multiple main event runs and challenged for the WWF World Heavyweight Title.  He passed away in 2020.

From Quebec, Oreal Perras debuted in 1963 and first gained success as the Irishman Red McNulty, but it was not until he became “The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff that he achieved stardom.  Koloff joined the WWWF in 1969, and in 1971, he shocked the wrestling world when he pinned Bruno Sammartino to win the World Heavyweight Title.  It was a brief run, as Pedro Morales dethroned him three weeks later, but throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Koloff worked in the WWWF/WWF and was often at the top of the card.  He also succeeded in the NWA throughout the 1980s, leading the Russian faction while winning Tag Team gold.  He passed away in 2017.

Dory Funk Sr. is best known as the father of Terry and Dory Funk Jr., who both became NWA World Heavyweight Champions, but the family's patriarch ran a successful territory in North Texas for decades.  This is also a posthumous induction, as he passed away in 1973.

While we are happy for these selections, Kamala and Koloff could have easily been done when they were both alive.

We will be revising our Notinhalloffame WWE list after Wrestlemania.

It is a sad day for the wrestling world as James Harris, who wrestled professionally for years as Kamala “The Ugandan Headhunter” passed away.  He was 70 years old.

Born in Sentanobia, Mississippi in 1950, James Harris did not begin wrestling until 1978.  At 6’ 7” and well over 350 pounds, Harris was an imposing sight, but he was not a great performer.  After stints using his own name, “Sugar Bear” Harris, “Ugly Bear” Harris, and the Mississippi Mauler, he performed mostly in the American South and later the United Kingdom.  

It was not until 1982 where in Memphis, Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler developed the character of “Kamala” for him, where he was discovered by manager, James J. Dillon when he was in Africa.  Now barefoot, wearing a loincloth and with a painted face, stomach and chest, one of the greatest monster heel characters of all-time was born.  Kamala fought Jerry Lawler, winning the Southern Heavyweight Title and selling out arenas across the Memphis area.  After Lawler took back his title, Kamala would put over other faces (good guys), but this would be the template for years to come, where he would go into a territory and challenge a champion to sold out shows before putting someone over and going off to the next territory.

Kamala wrestled all across the United States, namely for Bill Watts in the Mid-South promotion where he competed against Andre the Giant in the Louisiana Superdome.  He also had a big run in Dallas for World Class Championship Wrestling, feuding with the Von Erich family.  He also wrestled at the Great American Bash for Jim Crockett Promotions, and the AWA in Minnesota.

Kamala wrestled for the WWF on three different runs, the first in 1984, where he main evented against World Champion, Hulk Hogan and also Andre.  He was back in 1987, where he once again sold out multiple arenas challenging Hogan for the title.  His last run in the WWF was in 1992, where he famously feuded with the Undertaker.  

Following a brief run in WCW in 1994, Kamala wrestled sparingly and his main source of income was driving trucks.  Kamala gave many interviews over the years, where he detailed his low payoffs, but everyone who ever knew him would talk of his kindness.

We were blessed to have had a conversation this past March on our audio show, where we talked about his career and musical interests (he was quite the amateur singer).  In our latest list of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame, Kamala was ranked #32.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our deepest condolences to the friends, fans and family of James “Kamala” Harris.

When James Harris adopted the gimmick of a “Ugandan Headhunter”, he stumbled upon one of most bizarre yet memorable personas in wrestling history.  With his painted face and stomach, Kamala was a large savage who looked like he could destroy anybody and then eat them for dinner.