Pro Wrestling can be strange. Here is your weekly look at the strangest.
Kamala, The Ugandan Giant
Sometimes Pro wrestling is so strange us fans completely ignore just how crazy something is. I’ll admit until recently I have never looked twice at Kamala as a strange gimmick. He had a pretty decent career. I watched this guy wrestle all the time in the early 90s. I really have no idea how I didn’t think a 6’7”, 375lb Ugandan cannibal that painted his face, chest and belly, and wrestled in a loincloth was strange.
Kamala started wrestling in the territories. Mainly Mid-South and World Class Championship Wrestling. In WCCW he was part of Skandor Akbar’s Devistation Inc., a stable of heel wrestlers. In 1984 The Ugandan Giant began his first run with WWE. His antics included eating a “live” chicken for the story line and legitimately pulling a loaded gun on Andre the Giant in the locker room after they had a disagreement. After a short return to the territories Kamala returned to the WWE in 1986. He as joined by his “Handler” Kim Chee, who wore a mask and safari gear. So now we have a giant man with stars painted on his chest, a moon painted on his belly and wore a loincloth, running around with a masked dude in safari gear. Kamala saw a good amount of success. He wrestled Hulk Hogan for the WWF title on a hand full of TV shows and wrestled for the title on a lot of house shows. In 1987 he would leave the WWE again.
The next stage of his career saw him wrestling in various places including All Japan Pro Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association. In the USWA he was a four time World Champion, winning the title from future Hall of Famers Jerry Lawler and Koko B. Ware. In 1992 he was brought back into the WWE to work with The Undertaker. The fued saw Kamala wrestler in two pay per view matches. At Survivor’s Series 1992 Kamala and the Undertaker battled in the first WWE Casket Match. He would leave the WWE again in 1993. After wrestling sparsely he was brought into World Championship Wrestling as part of Kevin Sullivan’s Dungeon of Doom, which was full of really strange wrestlers. His WCW run ended in the 1995 War Games match. His career was essentially over. He made an appearance at Wrestlmania 17’s gimmick battle royal and various independent shows in the 2000’s, but would never return to the main stage.
I can’t imagine how many children he scared to death though out his career. A true savage in the ring and intimidating as heck he really carved a nice place for himself in wrestling. Sadly for Kamala, the once feared Ugandan Cannibal has fallen on hard times. Health complications steaming from diabetes has forced him to have both legs amputated below the knee, but I will always remember him as that terrifying Ugandan Giant that probably wanted to eat me.
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Be sure to check out other strange wrestlers here.
