Meet the caretaker who wipes out wrestling opponents
If there’s one clean finish primary school caretaker Ryan Manser craves, it’s the one he’s devoted any spare time to in the wrestling ring. Reporter Luke May finds out more about a family legacy which has dominated the 23-year-old’s life and his ambition
When Ryan Manser isn’t taking care of a primary school, he’s mopping the floor with his opponents.
At 23, he’s a wrestling champion, entertaining crowds all over the country, with dreams of one day turning professional.
This weekend, like countless others, the Ditton caretaker will be stepping into the ring as Syd Manelli, the third generation in a wrestling dynasty.
He said: “This all started with my grandad, he was a wrestler and even started running his own shows in 1966. “My dad became a wrestler so I was brought up around it, we’d go to shows all over the place.
“In the summer we’d go to holiday camps all over, I’d be helping put the ring up and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a wrestler too.” By the time he was 14, Ryan started refereeing and his first match came three years later. In December 2018 he won Rumble Promotions’ championship belt.
But it didn’t all happen overnight.
Ryan explained: “You have to work your way up. You don’t just come in and become champion, you have to prove yourself.
“Growing up around wrestling means I didn’t have to go to a training school to learn all of the moves. I’ve just picked them up as I go.
“When I was a referee I was watching moves over and over again so I saw how to do them properly. But there are training schools out there where you can put in the work and learn.”
Wrestling is growing in popularity, the likes of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena have helped build the sport’s profile. Norwich-born Paige and
Wade Barrett, from Lancashire, have helped inspire British wrestlers in recent years. Fighting With My Family, a film telling the story of Paige’s dream to join World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), was a big cinema hit last year, having premiered at Sundance Film Festival.
It’s all a far cry from the corridors of Halling Primary School, where Ryan spends his working hours, but he has hopes to go pro himself.
Ryan said: “It would cer