There was not a dry eye in the house on Friday as an autistic Toryglen teen won his first-ever wrestling match in what was ‘the greatest moment of his life’.
Paul McDermott was a shy boy with little friends, but since attending TikTok star Ravie Davie’s Glasgow School of Wrestling that has all changed.
The school held their first Student Smackdown show on Friday night in which five youngsters made their professional debuts, including Paul.
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The 19-year-old won the main event Royal Rumble match, and Davie has spoken about how proud he was of the giant grappler.
He said: “There was not a dry eye in the house when he won. Although he has autism, he doesn’t let anything hold him back. He’s a real inspiration.
“Ten weeks ago, Paul broke his kneecap, so we were all panicking that we would have to change the whole plan for the show and the moment wouldn’t be as good. Two weeks ago, he came back to training, and he was the exact same and hadn’t missed a beat. For a guy with learning difficulties, he absolutely smashed it, and he surprised us all how well he had recovered.
“I am mega proud of him. It was one of the best moments of my life, as well as his.
“We had a couple of other debuts, including Kaden (Fraser), who used to be bullied in school, and to see the progress he has made, has been incredible. He’s inspired two other boys in the class because of it. So to have both of these massive moments on the one show was unreal.
“After the show, I spoke with their families and through the tears, they thanked me for giving them one of the greatest moments of their lives.”
Roughly 24 people came to support Rowdy Roddy Piper Paul from his friends, family and respite group Workmates, all wearing a t-shirt with the young wrestler on it.
His sister Emma McDermott spoke on how wrestling has changed his life.
The nursery worker said: “Paul used to be very shy and had no real social network of friends.
“When Davie started Community Pro Wrestling, we went along, and Paul fell in love with it. Once he created the Glasgow School of Wrestling and Paul started going, his confidence has grown and he has so many pals now.
“The patience they have with him is incredible and he has excelled. Davie has been a role model to Paul because he’s not had a male sort of figure in the house. We all feel part of an even bigger family now.
“The show was so brilliant, and because Paul was the very last entrant in the final match, the anticipation had built so much in the crowd from all of his friends and family that when he won, no one could contain their emotions.
“We didn’t know he was going to win either, and once he did, we were all in tears, and so was Paul. He fell to the ground afterwards.
“It has given Paul his moment and it has all he has talked about. We were so proud of him.”
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