Also known as The Zebra Kid
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When we think of rugby league players turned wrestler earthy Yorkshire miner types instantly spring to mind. Sean Regan was a big, powerful man but he was no earthy miner. Here we have a language-teaching Ulsterman from Derry who was born in 1936 and moved to London when he was ten years old shortly after the end of the Second World War. His name was Gerry Murphy, life was hard but the boy overcame all kinds of barriers to become a teacher in a challenging London school, and very successful author.
That was the day job, but in the evening Mr Murphy became the stylish heavyweight wrestler Sean Regan. He kept the two lives separate and no one at the school knew of his other life. That was until the end of 1964. In September he appeared on television and defeated Gorilla Don Mendoza. A few weeks later he faced the Russian Yuri Borienko on tv. Appearing on television and watched by millions including a few hundred school pupils was no way to keep a secret.
“Gerry’s big secret is out” was the headline of the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Sketch opted for “After reading ‘riting and ‘rithmetic Sir gives a lesson in rough ‘restling.” The national press revealed that Mr Murphy of St Wilfred’s School was leading a double life. It’s just as well the Head Teacher (maybe he was a Dr Death?) rejected his offer to give up wrestling or the nation’s television viewers would have been deprived of more than twenty-five appearances against top men that included Danny Lynch, Bruno Elrington, Ian Campbell and Tibor Szakacs.
Wrestling was most definitely a means to an end. The money he was earning through wrestling at the time was to be used to pay for further studies and a Masters Degree. A practical solution certainly, but one that didn’t prevent Sean Regan establishing himself as one of the country’s leading heavyweights. Sean’s Indian Death Lock was one of the great special holds in its day, and had Kendo Nagasaki submitting in the sixties at the Royal Albert Hall.
Sean defeated Dr Timmy Geoghegan for the Irish Championship in Belfast only to lose the belt to his tag partner Pat Barratt and then reclaim it for a run through the seventies. Sean was also one of the eleven recording stars that sang “Tiptoe Through The Tulips”.
He was a regular visitor to German and Austrian rings during his summer holidays to wrestle in their international tournaments. Wrestling historian Gernot Freiberger told Heritage, “Regan visited Vienna for the first time in 1967. It was a great success for him and he finished the tournament in second place. He came back to Vienna in 1968, 1971 and 1972. Then he wrestled a few years in LInz for Eugen Wiesberger as Irish Mask. In 1982 Wiesberger was part of the promotional team in Vienna and wanted to bring the gimmick to the Heumarkt. Unfortunately Regan didn’t have the time so it was Dave Taylor who played the character.”
He also worked in British Columbia, Canada, during the early months of 1973, temporarily leaving teaching. He was to return and become Head Teacher of a school in Lancashire.
His part-time wrestling career fizzled out at the end of the 1970s behind a mask as a latter day Zebra Kid. An accomplished wrestler who we enjoyed at the time, had considerable success at an international level but we can’t help having a feeling of unfulfilled potential.
As for those academic aspirations. Sean went on to be awarded several university degrees, a Doctorate of Philosophy and write a numerous books. His first book, in 2004, was an autobiography called “In The Name of the Father and Son,” which told of his life that began in the sectarian violence in the slums of Ulster. He went on to author three more books in the years that followed.
The boy didn’t do too badly.
Page added 30/10/2022
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