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In the 1970s the entrance to the ring of a long, blonde haired wrestler wearing multi-coloured trunks and carrying a surfboard certainly aroused a lot of interest and quite a few comments from ringsiders. Murphy the Surfy may have looked the part of a beach loving Aussie but to friends and family he was Brian.
Whether or not Ayrshire’s Brian McClung was aware that he had adopted the name of a mid 1960s Australian wrestler, Norman Lownes who later visited Britain as Maurice LaRue, we wouldn’t know.
Brian McClung was born in 1950. After leaving school he worked as a maintenance engineer at Grays Carpet Factory in Ayr. That was during the day. In the evenings he attended the Mossblown Gym in the village of that name, where he learned to wrestle and honed his new persona. But there’s more to Brian. He was also keenly interested in music and was a road manager for a number of bands including “The Dead End Kids,” a cover band whose remake of The Honeycomb’s “Have I The Right?” entered the Top Ten in Britain and Sweden in February, 1977.
Back to the wrestling. Under the tutelage of Dale Storm and Bruce Welch of Spartan Promotions he progressed quickly before joining the pro-ranks as a lightweight . With his new persona of Murphy the Surfy he travelled Scotland’s independent halls, telling us his hardest opponents were two very fast lightweights, Scott Morgan and Johnny Saint.
Making steady money in the day and extra income through wrestling Brian aspired for more and faced the conflict of many. He could concentrate on the day job or try try and make a name for himself wrestling and gain the move away from the Independents over to Joint Promotions and the prospect of television exposure. The latter was his dream, but as the 1970s decade neared its end television success had not materialised. So Brian created opportunities of a different kind.
In 1979 he emigrated to Canada. Scotland’s loss was the Dominion’s gain and he never looked back, working as a turner and workforce trainer for Brannon Steel in Brampton, near Toronto. The Canadian lifestyle was certainly to his liking as he married Joanne, and they parented two children, Shaun and Christina.
Like many of our wrestlers Brian suffered with knee trouble in later life, having numerous operations and having both joints replaced. His interest in wrestling persisted throughout his life, being an admirer of Bret and Own Hart and a fan of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, The Rock and The Undertaker.
In the summer of 2023 having contracted Covid Brian McClung died on 9th November, 2023, aged 73. Bill Bryden, who wrestled as Bruce Welch said, “Very sad news to hear that Brian lost his fight for life. This man will never be forgotten by me or the Mossblown gym members.”
Page added 10/11/2023
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