Disabled wrestlers in Derry draw real strength from ring alter egos

St Columb's Hall in Derry hosted its third and biggest Foyle Rumble on Saturday, a scripted wrestling show where many of the performers have learning or physical disabilities — and where the characters they play in the ring follow them into ordinary life.

The formula blends athletic performance with predetermined storytelling, familiar to any WrestleMania fan. Smoke machines, dramatic entrances and elaborate stunts framed a plot that pitted heroic characters against a black-clad villain called The Fault. Hundreds of spectators watched dozens of performers, some of them disabled, some not.

What does the ring change for the wrestlers?

The answer, according to the performers themselves, is confidence that lasts beyond the final bell. The initiative teaches participants to wrestle and to build stage personae (invented characters with their own names, look and fighting style) — and those personae become models to live by.

"I've been slagged and made fun of because I was overweight and went to a special school but I've proved that I'm somebody," said Keelan O'Hagan, 24, whose alter ego is named Kellio.

"He doesn't step away from any challenge, he always accepts the mission. No matter what, he doesn't quit," said O'Hagan, who reworked his diet and fitness to play the character. "To anybody who has tried to bring me down, I've been able to get back on my feet and come back stronger."

Brian Walsh, 44, who is blind, plays Brian Brogue, a character who defeats opponents with wrist locks, head locks and floor pins. "Before, I wouldn't have had the strength," he said. "The training was scary at the start, then I got the hang of it. To be a blind person who does wrestling is the best thing ever."

Who runs the Foyle Rumble?

The show is a joint initiative of two organisations:

• the Tuned In Project, a Derry-based NGO creating opportunities for disabled adults;
• Complete Anarchy Wrestling (CAW), an event promoter based across the border in County Donegal.

The goal is independence and agency, said Phil Conn, the Tuned In Project's programme manager. "We challenge them to be the best they can be. It gives them purpose and a support community. It's a reason to get out of bed in the morning," he said.

Conn is candid about the physical cost. "It's a choreographed performance — if this was an actual fight, we couldn't do it — but we've had students bruised and battered. The throws and hits have an impact," he said. Participants train for months before stepping into the ring.

How did it start?

The origin story is a wedding. Sean Curran of the Tuned In Project, acting as best man at a friend's celebration, hired Stephen Campbell — a gymnastics teacher and wrestling coach with CAW — to choreograph a stunt at the reception. Campbell then began coaching Tuned In Project students in wrestling moves and found they had both the ability and the appetite to create characters and perform. "They got more talented and one thing led to another," he said.

The inaugural rumble took place in 2024; Saturday's show was the third and most ambitious yet. "It's mad how far it has come," said Curran. "Wrestling is great. It's basically your personality pushed up to 11. We've seen them grow in confidence and sort of become the characters."

Before the performers entered the hall on Saturday, Campbell fired them up with a speech: "Tonight is your night. Fuck WrestleMania. They never had a blind wrestler."

The characters on the night

Kiernan McLaughlin, 27, played a benign monarch called King Kiernan. "I'm spearing somebody tonight," he said with a shy smile.

SJ Murray, 25, who has a learning disability, admitted to pre-show nerves. "I'm petrified," she said. Her character, Siren, is fearless. "She's a badass that is brave and protects the one that she loves."

Murray has trained in combat moves and studied wrestling theory and strategy. "You need stamina and to know what you're doing," she said. "My family think I'm mad but support me no matter what." On stage, Siren grappled opponents who eventually fled the ring — only for her to fly over the ropes and topple them to the ground.

With attendance growing show by show since 2024, the Foyle Rumble looks set to keep turning Derry's disabled performers into the heroes of their own storylines.