Professional wrestling is filled with brothers competing side by side. From current legends likeJeff HardyandMatt Hardyof the Hardy Boys,Cody RhodesandDustin Rhodes, andJimmy UsoandJey Uso, along with newer names likeJulius CreedandBrutus Creedof the Creed Brothers,family and the sports entertainment industry seem to go together. No group of wrestling brothers is more famous than the Von Erichs. This group of brothers once dominated Texas wrestling.
Professional wrestling is also filled with tragedy.If you’re a fan of the sport, you’ll never forget the heartbreaking losses of icons such asOwen HartandEddie Guerrero, or the shocking passing this year of WWE’sBray Wyatt. This, sadly, is also another area where the Von Erichs are remembered. This month, A24’sThe Iron Claw, starringZac EfronandJeremy Allen White, will tell wrestling’s saddest story, where not just one person died, butfive Von Erich brothers died, all before their mid-30s. Here are the facts behindwhat will certainly be Hollywood’s saddest movie of 2023.
The Iron Claw
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
The Von Erichs Are One of Wrestling’s Most Famous Families
The Von Erich wrestling legacystarts not with any of the brothers,but their father,Fritz Von Erich, whose real name was Jack Adkisson. He began his wrestling career in Texas in 1953, with his finishing move called the Iron Claw, before becoming a promoter. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon’sWWE(then known as WWF) went national, destroying almost everything in its path, but before this,wrestling was broken down into regional promotions. If you lived in Texas in the 70s and early 80s, World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), created by Fritz in 1966, was where the action was.
With Fritz being the founder and booker of WCCW,it was a no-brainer that he was going to build the company around his sons. While that might feel like nepotism,Fritz Von Erich’s boys had been raised in wrestling, and now had the talent to carry WCCW. Many weekends the Von Erichs would pack the Dallas Sportatorium for TV tapings of their matches. With their good looks and phenomenal skills, they were easy to root for. WWE might have had Hulk Hogan, and NWA had Ric Flair, butTexas was Von Erich country. They were so dominant that the familywon an astounding 144 championships during their careers. That’s even more impressive considering that, sadly, for the sons of Fritz, these careers were very short.
‘The Iron Claw’ Review: Zac Efron Delivers a Knockout Performance
Writer-director Sean Durkin has created a truly haunting film.
All but One Von Erich Brother Passed Away at a Very Young Age
Fritz Von Erich and his wife Doris had six children, all sons.Tragedy started early for this new family. The first son was Jack Jr., born in 1952. In 1959, with Fritz out on the road wrestling, he wasn’t there when now seven-year-old Jack Jr. was playing outside the trailer park where they lived in Niagra Falls, Ontario.The young boy touched an exposed electrical wire, and now unconscious, he collapsed into melting snow, drowning face down in the puddle.
Jack Jr. was gone, but every other Von Erich son would reach adulthood.They consisted of their now oldest brother Kevin, followed by David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris. Every single one of them became wrestlers with varying success, but only one of them would live long enough to reap the rewards of their legacies. Tragedy came for the Von Erichs again twenty-five years after the death of Jack Jr.,establishing a rapid succession of deaths that would put the label of “cursed” around the family. In 1984,David Von Erich, now 25, was wrestling not at home in Texas, but on a tour of Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling. For months, David was dealing with intense stomach pains, but he continued to wrestle anyway. Then,suddenly, on February 10, he collapsed and died. His cause of death was revealed to be an intestinal inflammation called acute enteritis. Two sons had now died unexpectedly, but it was only going to get much worse for the grieving family, asthree more brothers were about to meet the end of their lives at their own hands.
After the death of David, his brotherMike Von Erichattempted to carry on the family name. An unfortunate string of events, however, would lead to his downfall. It began in the late summer of 1985, when, during a match in Israel, Mike dislocated his shoulder. There was then a complication from surgery that led to him being hospitalized for toxic shock syndrome.He lived through this, but it had a heavy toll on his body, including brain damage. Struggling through the pain, Mike turned to alcohol. This led to a DUI arrest in April 1987. Having hit rock bottom, Mike Von Erich, at only 23 years old,took his own lifejust four days later after overdosing on sleeping pills. Four years later, in September 1991, the fourth of the Von Erich sons,Chris Von Erich, struggling to get over the loss of his brothers and a wrestling career that wasn’t working out,shot himself in the head. His mother and brother Kevin found his body.
Kerry Von Erich Found Fame In WWE
Fritz and Doris Von Erichstarted with six boys, but by 1992, only two sons remained alive. What wouldn’t remain alive was their marriage, as Fritz and Doris divorced that year. While not the best wrestler of the sons,the star of the family, thanks to his good looks, wasKerry Von Erich, who isplayed by Jeremy Allen White inThe Iron Claw. One look at him and you could tell he was a babyface star.Kerry was so popular that in 1984 he was booked to beat the legendary Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship. Then, in 1990, though his family was crumbling, his personal career reached the biggest spotlight of all, when he joined Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation. There was just one problem. McMahon, who liked to create his own stars, stripped Kerry of his Von Erich name and rechristened him as ageneric good guy called the Texas Tornado. Though he was a fan favorite and became an Intercontinental Champion, Kerry never reached his potential.
Even worse than Kerry’s frustrating wrestling career was the pain he was hiding. Four years before joining WWE, in June 1986,he was in a brutal motorcycle accident, one so bad that it resulted in internal injuries, a dislocated hip, and worst of all, a crushed right ankle. Even though Kerry healed enough to wrestle again, his weakened ankle broke again, requiring part of his foot to be amputated. During his WWE career as the Texas Tornado, Kerry wrestled without part of his foot, while also in immense pain.Fans never knew what he was going through. As was common with many wrestlers during the era, Kerrybecame addicted to painkillers. It eventually ended his WWE career, andin February 1993, an arrest warrant was issued for himdue to cocaine possession. At the time, he was already on a 10-year probation sentence for a September 1992 drug conviction. Days later, consumed by the pain, Kerry Von Erich shot himself. He was only 33 years old.
Kevin Von Erich Helps Keep His Family’s Legacy Alive
This now left Kevin Von Erich as the only son remaining. He has kept his family name alive, participating in documentaries likeDark Side of the Ring, and when the family wasinducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009,it was Kevin who was there to speak for his family. Fritz had died in 1997, leaving Kevin as the last remaining member of those generations. The story, while unimaginably tragic, does continue with some rays of hope. Kerry had a daughter named Lacey.She embarked on her own wrestling career, finding success in TNA Wrestling, before retiring. Surviving brother Kevin had two sons, Ross and Marshall,who became wrestlers as well, teaming together, most notably in the independent promotion Major League Wrestling.
The Iron Clawisa powerful movie based on a true storyabout tragedy and loss, but with Zac Efron as the lead,playing the brother who lived, Kevin Von Erich, look for it to also be a story about overcoming the worst pain imaginable. Jack Jr., David, Mike, Chris, and Kerry Von Erich may be known for how they died, but wrestling fans remember how they lived. For Kevin Von Erich, he is not just a memory, but a still beating heart who continues, three decades now after losing his last sibling.Through him, through his niece and his sons, and thousands of hours of footage, the Von Erichs will live forever.
