Brian Damage
A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality. Whatever the case may be, some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not-so-favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.
Today we browse the gimmick of Kamala​
In the early Summer of 1981, while on a tour of London, England, wrestler James Harris had a conversation with fellow wrestler ‘The Great Mephisto.’ During that conversation, Harris mentioned that he was booked for a tour of Africa. Mephisto suggested that he should alter his wrestling gimmick to something involving African culture. Fast forward to 1982, and Harris visited friends at the Mid South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. While backstage, Jerry Lawler approached Harris and asked if he was a wrestler and if he was interested in a job. Lawler and Jerry Jarrett were looking for new, fresh talent to challenge Lawler.
At the time, Harris was nursing a broken ankle, but was interested in working for the territory. Lawler took Harris’ telephone number and promised to call him down the line. Just two days later, Lawler called Harris back. Lawler, Jarrett and Harris met to discuss gimmicks for Harris. With the seeds Great Mephisto planted in Harris’ mind a year earlier, all three developed a character where Harris was a former bodyguard to Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
From that idea came the evolution of the character Harris would make famous. Jerry Lawler was friends with famed artist Frank Frazetta. He was inspired by a certain Frazetta painting and with Franzetta came up the idea and look of a savage, cannibalistic character. The name chosen for this new gimmick was Kimala the Ugandan Headhunter. Lawler claimed the name derived from the name of the Ugandan capital of Kampala. Jerry Jarrett contended that he selected the name after reading a National Geographic magazine that had an article about a man named Dr. Kimala. Whatever the real truth is, the name Kimala eventually evolved into Kamala.
The face paint was originally done by Jerry Lawler, but after three or four times, Harris felt confident in doing the face paint himself. The vignettes for Kimala arrival were filmed at Jarrett’s farm in Tennessee. The gimmick proved to be very successful for all involved and stayed with James Harris the remainder of his career.
To browse other entries of the Gimmick Table series…click here.