How a wrestler with autism from Bucks County helped Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson get ready for WrestleMania

Apr. 8—Luke DiSangro stopped watching professional wrestling before he reached middle school as he figured cutting out Monday Night Raw would give the kids in school one less thing to make fun of him for.

But the bullying didn't stop.

DiSangro has autism, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Other kids in school called DiSangro "Twitch" for the way Tourette's affected him. He gave up on wrestling and remained a target.

But in the summer of 2011, DiSangro was flipping through the TV channels and stumbled upon wrestling.

The show ended with CM Punk — a wrestler who once cut his teeth in South Philly — sitting on the stage with a microphone. Punk was airing his grievances about the WWE and the way the company was utilizing his character.

The promo, known as "The Pipe Bomb," changed the industry. For DiSangro, it changed his life.

"It was a guy who was fed up with how he was being treated. He was fed up with being misunderstood," DiSangro said. "Instead of just quitting like I was going to, he took a microphone and he said what was on his mind. Things didn't get better immediately for me but it gave me another reason to keep going. Pro wrestling is what saved my life."

Training the Birds

DiSangro learned last week that Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson would be stopping by the Monster Factory, the South Jersey wrestling school where DiSangro started to train as a teenager.

He's now a professional wrestler, committing himself to the spectacle he credits for saving his life. The kid who was once bullied was instructed to help get Kelce and Johnson ready for a surprise appearance at WrestleMania.

"It was really, really cool," DiSangro said.

Kelce and Johnson learned how to run the ropes, perform a body slam, throw a clothesline, and drop an elbow during their afternoon in the ring at the school in Paulsboro. WrestleMania was days away and the Eagles icons didn't know yet what WWE would ask them to do. So they figured to learn as much as possible before they entered Lincoln Financial Field.

"They were a little hesitant, but it's the same thing for all of us on our first day," DiSangro said. "It would be no different than me putting on pads and going to the Invincible tryout like Vince Papale. But they picked it up like that. As soon as we showed them the proper form, it was natural."

DiSangro grew up in a sports-crazed household — his father, Steve, is a longtime football official and his brother, Rocco, is a sportscaster — but he's not a diehard. If it's not wrestling, DiSangro said, then it's hard to keep his attention. He is a fan, though, of Kelce, as the former Eagle's "Hungry Dogs" parade speech resonated with the kid who got bullied.

"I've always felt like I was an underdog," said DiSangro, who went to Pennsbury High. "In one way or another, I've always felt like I had to fight from underneath just to stay at the same level as the other kids."

DiSangro got to meet Kelce, show him a few moves, and wrestle in the ring while Kelce and Johnson watched from the apron. Kelce and his wife, Kylie, have been longtime supporters of the Eagles Autism Foundation, inspired by the bond they share with Kylie Kelce's family friend who has autism.

"Lucas understands he has it, but he doesn't think about that," DiSangro's mother, Linda said. "He wants to connect with people on a human level and it doesn't matter if they're on the spectrum or they're offering support. It's just about Jason Kelce and having a conversation."

The football players left ready for WrestleMania, where they appeared on Saturday night near the finish of a tag-team match. They looked the part as they jumped over the guardrail and helped Rey Mysterio — who wore Eagles-themed ring wear — secure a win.

The Monster Factory, which opened in the 1980s and is now owned by Danny Cage, helped break in stars like King Kong Bundy, Seamus, Damian Priest, and the Big Show. Now its pipeline to WrestleMania can claim two more.

"Both of them were very, very nice," DiSangro said. "But I want to reiterate that Jason Kelce is 'what you see is what you get.' He's such an authentic human being. It was great."

A badge of honor

Steve and Linda DiSangro drove their son 51 miles from their home in Thornridge, Bucks County, to the Monster Factory as he started his introduction to wrestling.

"He was just 15 or 16," Steve DiSangro said. "My wife used to drive him down, drop him off, and then I'd pick him up at 11 o'clock at night. It was what he wanted and we wanted to make sure he had that opportunity."

It didn't take long for everything to change, as the kid found a place where he belonged.

"He was that kid who sat at the lunch table by himself," Steve DiSangro said. "It was tough. What's unbelievable is the change he's made in his life. My wife and I used to worry about if we'd go into the bedroom and he'd be dead. We don't worry about that anymore. It's unbelievable."

DiSangro hated being called "Twitch" in school, but now that is his wrestling moniker.

"Now it's a badge of honor," DiSangro said. "I do own it. There isn't a wrestler out there, as far as I know, that is open about having Tourette's and autism. So I definitely lean into it."

He performs a few times a month as Lucas "Twitch" DiSangro while balancing a full-time job with Waste Management. He turned 26 last month and hopes to one day be able to pay his bills by only wrestling. DiSangro studies wrestlers like Bret Hart, Bryan Danielson, and Dean Malenko.

"I love technical wrestling," DiSangro said. "I can't do a lot of flips, so different wrist locks are the way to go."

He struggled as a kid with social cues and could not find a way to fit in with his classmates.

"In wrestling, we were all that kid in school," DiSangro said. "It's given me acceptance. It's taken me as I am and accepted me for who I am. In spite of the autism, the Tourette's, and the anxiety, and all these other things I have, I'm able to go into that ring and perform the way that I perform. When I wrestle, I don't tick because I think I'm so focused. It's one of those things that I'm at home. This is where I feel comfortable."

DiSangro met CM Punk a few years ago at a mixed-martial arts event in South Philly. He told him how he changed his life. The wrestling star was blown away as they chatted for 20 minutes. And now DiSangro hopes to be for others what Punk was for him.

"The journey is not over," DiSangro said. "I'm a long way from where I was. I'm not yet where I want to be but I'm thankful for that journey. It's about the journey. Knock on wood, but if I had to stop wrestling tomorrow, I would say that I had a pretty fun run of things."

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