THE BRONX — In a way, Bronxite Forrest Scott owes his entire wrestling career to an "X-Men" rerun.
Scott, 33, a professional wrestler in Japan, said that he was aware of wrestling growing up in Hunts Point, but his younger brother and him were always much more interested in action movies and comic books, namely the "X-Men" cartoon show that aired on Saturday mornings.
However, the series happened to be airing an episode that the boys had already seen one morning in 1993, so the two of them decided to flip through the channels until they found something else to watch.
They came across a WWE match and were almost immediately hooked.
"We became hardcore fans, watching any and every piece of pro wrestling we could find," Scott said. "Pro wrestling was everything we loved about action movies and comics all in one: the characters, the bodies, the fighting."
Scott said they also appreciated the uniqueness of the sport, given that it was unusual for two kids from the South Bronx to dream about becoming wrestlers when they grew up.
"Kids in school would talk about how they wanted to grow up to be basketball, baseball and football players. Some would even say they wanted to grow up to be drug dealers and pimps," he said. "We were the only kids in school proud to say, 'We're going to be pro wrestlers when we grow up.'"
Scott said he got his first taste of wrestling at a boxing gym in The Bronx and later started training at a wrestling club in Brooklyn, which is where he developed his character: an exaggerated version of himself based partly on aspects of 1980s hip-hop culture like break dancing, gold chains and Adidas that he says people have described as a cross between Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J.
Jonathan Marin, a friend of Scott's from The Bronx, agreed that his character was similar to an old school rapper but described his real personality as much different.
"If you meet him, he’s so quiet. He’s so sweet, such a nice guy," Marin said, "and then his character is hyper, and he’s really out there, exciting, fun."
Scott said he wrestled at places all across the country before heading to Japan for the first time in 2011, where he competes under the name Buffa.
Wrestling there has been a dream for him and his brother since they were kids, according to Scott's brother Robert Sanchez.
"One of our main goals was to go out there and go to Japan and wrestle for them," he said. "So that’s one of his goals that he’s accomplishing right now."
"I've always been fascinated with the Japanese culture," echoed Scott. "Japanese people are some of the most kind, punctual, hard-working and intelligent people I've ever seen."
Scott said he was particularly intrigued by the hard-hitting, technical style of wrestling in Japan and described his 2011 trip there as cleansing, maintaining that it helped convince him and his brother to change their wrestling names in the U.S. from K-Pu$ha and K-Murda to Da Hou$e Party Cooley-K and KMC.
"We wanted to be positive products of our environment," he said. "Having children who look up to you chanting Murda and Pusha didn't sit well with us after awhile."
Scott spent the next few years moving back and forth between the U.S. and Japan, most recently returning to Japan in June 2105. He currently lives in Tokyo and wrestles full-time for Pro Wrestling Zero1.
Although he plans to occasionally return to The Bronx to visit family and friends and says he would come back to the U.S. if a big wrestling company was interested in him, Scott says he is happy in Japan and likely to stay there for the long haul.
“It's always been my dream to wrestle and live in Japan full time,” he said.
