BEAUMONT, Texas — Under Tama Kū’s mask and makeup, behind all the theatrics is Scott Ali.
“Like most kids I grew up watching wrestling,” said Ali. “It was something I got to do with my big brother. I remember just loving it.”
Ali feels that he has accomplished two out of three of his childhood goals.
“When I was a kid it was what are you going to grow up to be,” said Ali. “It was either a wrestler, or Optimus Prime, or a T-Rex, and I felt like I accomplished the other two, so at 33 years old, there was like dude if you want to do this, you’ve got to do it now.”
On a typical day Ali can be found at Hardin-Jefferson as the school resource officer but when the ring goes up Tama Kū comes to life.
“I liken myself to a Cookie Monster mixed with a beach and a tornado and a hurricane because I love kids,” said Ali. “There’s something about, I come out here, and I’m big, and I’m mean and I’m flexing, and I see these kids.”
Ali hopes what he does teaches the children looking up to him a life lesson.
“It’s also teaching these kids because I’ve had so many kids come up to me go, ‘I love you Tama Kū,’ but I’m this big mean thing,” said Ali. “I also feel it serves a life lesson to these kids, that you don’t judge everybody by the way they look. After doing Tama Ku for the first couple times, I’m like, 'Wow man, you’re on to something here.' It’s really connected with my audience. It’s really connected with these kids.”
Not only has Tama Kū brought Ali closer to the community, but he credits the character for his success in different aspects of his life.
“I feel that wrestling has made me a better husband, a better friend, a better coworker because not only is wrestling you go out there and I’m going to give 100 percent out here in the ring it’s giving 200 percent of yourself because you’ve got to be so big,” said Ali. “You’ve got to be so animated. You’ve got to give everybody this energy. They believe in you.”
Not only is it about giving your all, it's also about letting to.
“When do you have the opportunity to really just let go of everything in your life,” said Ali. “To scream? To throw yourself at someone? Have someone throw themselves at you? In that moment it makes me a better person because I’m not holding on to anything in my life.”
From the moment the music starts and even beyond the three count Ali says Tama Kū vows to make local wrestling memorable.
“Everybody loves wrestling as a kid,” said Ali. “To bring your kid to a big show is going to cost ‘x’ amount of dollars but then you do a local show like this, or in Houston, or all the other places I perform and it’s 15, 20 dollars, and you bring your kids in for 2-3 hours of entertainment, and I just created a memory, I hope for that family.”
Ali loves that he is getting to make memories.
“You give everything to the audience,” said Ali. “The audience gives everything to you and you just feel like, 'Man I just did something,' as silly as it sounds. I’m getting the chance to create memories for families and if anything, one night of entertainment."