Lasting Impact: The Von Erich Family
In “Lasting Impact", we take a look at a tragic story in the world of sports that maybe doesn't exactly fall into the line of "true crime."
Welcome to the Lasting Impact, where I take a look at a story of an event or events or people in the sports world that maybe don’t exactly fall in the line of “true crime.”
In today’s report, we’re diving into the sad, tragic story of the Von Erich family. From their beginnings, to devastating endings, to events that happened in between that put the Von Erich name on the map, we’ll be looking at it all.
After watching A24’s “The Iron Claw” starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, and Maxwell Jacob Friedman, I had to dive deeper into the tragic story of the Von Erich Family.
I’ll admit — Any excuse to see Zac Efron shirtless is a guarantee watch for me. But, I also was interested in learning more about this family.
TW: This story does contain mentions of self-harm, drug abuse, and suicide. Please take care of yourselves; if any of these topics are triggering, don’t read this.
The Origin Story
Fritz Von Erich was a wrestling icon, and after the death of his firstborn, he was determined to make his five younger sons into wrestling superstars that no one would ever be able to compare to. With this came troubling circumstances that led to a series of deaths and family tragedies.
With this string comes the “Von Erich curse”, but members of the family are adamant this doesn’t exist.
Fritz, who actually isn’t named Fritz, is actually Jack Barton Adkisson. Adkisson was born in 1929 in Jewett, Texas. He took on the Von Erich name to start establishing himself in professional wrestling.
Fritz rose to fame in the 60’s and 70’s with his legendary finisher, the Iron Claw. After he retired from in-ring action, he was the WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling) President in the late 70’s and early 80’s in the Dallas, Texas area.
Marrying Doris in the 50’s, the two had six sons — Jack Jr., Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris.
Even outside of the ring, Fritz was promoting and creating great talent that would compete for WCCW. Once his kids were old enough, he would start to train and raise them to be ring-ready. He was able to get Kevin capable of taking on Ric Flair, and even was behind the start of Shawn Michaels.
While away wrestling in 1959, Fritz’s eldest son Jack Jr. was playing in the trailer park where the family lived, when he touched some exposed electrical wire, falling unconscious and face down into a puddle of melting snow and drowned. As a result of this death, the family started to notice that Fritz was a changed person. Kevin Von Erich said in his interview on “Dark Side of the Ring” that he could see his father was suffering a great deal.
“He came out of that different. He was still an honorable man on the outside, but I think inside he wanted to die. He was suffering…He was at war with the world. He wanted to make everyone suffer like him.”
Not long after the death of Jack Jr., Fritz bought 115 acres of land in Texas where he could be an involved dad in his kids’ lives. He taught his sons how to hunt, fish, ride a motorcycle, and how to combat their bullies. It didn’t take long for him to introduce his sons to wrestling, but they also were involved in other sports. Kevin, David, and Kerry were star high school athletes in football, basketball, and track and field.
The three did attend college but would drop out to pursue wrestling.
“To be honest, we didn’t even know if we’d like wrestling that much. I mean, wrestling was filled with these old, out-of-shape men, going from one small town to another, looking miserable,” Kevin said in 1988. “But we all knew what was going to happen in the end. It was inevitable. We were going to go into wrestling because we wanted to be just like our dad.”
A couple of years later, Mike and even Chris, who had severe asthma and extremely brittle bones, would follow in their brothers’ footsteps and get into wrestling.
Things were working in the Von Erich’s favor. Kevin, David, and Kerry were all the main attractions of Fritz’s promotion and helped the family develop a devoted fan base.
The Von Erich name started to become more and more popular, with the brothers gaining notoriety. The brothers were actually featured in some comic books and even made a couple of television commercials.
But this happy story wouldn’t last long.
The “Curse” of the Von Erichs
This legacy and reputation the Von Erich brothers had to uphold would eventually become too much. By the time 1993 rolled around, four of the brothers were dead under some mysterious yet devastating conditions.
David Von Erich
David Von Erich was often referred to as the best wrestler in the family and was well on his way to obtaining major success in professional wrestling. He was hoping to get the chance to beat then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair like his brother did before. But, that plan would never come to fruition for David.
David started to experience stomach sickness in 1983 but continued to perform. When on a tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1984 when he was 25, David would unexpectedly pass away. Medical professionals said that the cause of death was acute enteritis, or inflammation of the intestines. But rumors would fly that David actually passed away of a drug overdose.
Could have this been prevented if David came home? No one knows, nor will they ever know.
The news just continued to pile on for the family as they went through the years.
Mike Von Erich
Just three years after losing David, the family would lose Mike Von Erich in 1987. Mike suffered a shoulder injury in which he received surgery for. After his surgery and release, he developed a fever of 107 degrees, and it was later revealed to be a side effect of toxic shock syndrome. This nasty condition caused Mike to rapidly lose weight, but also cause damage to his brain.
It was clear that Mike was no longer fit to wrestle given his condition, and things would only get worse for him after he was arrested for a DWI charge. On April 12, 1987, Mike Von Erich was found in a sleeping bag just a short distance away from his childhood home, having overdosed on tranquilizers. The third Von Erich son was gone, but this unfortunately wasn’t the end of the tragedies for the family.
Chris Von Erich
When Chris grew up, he wanted to be like his big brothers and make a name for himself in professional wrestling. However, this would turn out to be his downfall. Physically, Chris wasn’t cut out for wrestling like his brothers, and he also suffered from asthma which limited what he could do. But by the 90’s, Chris was a full-time wrestler alongside his brother Kevin.
It was clear that Chris was just not cut out for the wrestling life and he wouldn’t compare to his older brothers. Following the passing of his brother Mike, Chris fell into a deep state of depression and started to abuse drugs in order to get rid of his pain. Chris did take his own live on September 12, 1991. Kevin found his body outside of the Von Erich family farm, with a gunshot wound to the head.
Kerry Von Erich
Probably the saddest stories of the Von Erich brothers is that of Kerry. Kerry was practically the face of the family with his charming charisma and beautiful physique, it was clear that Kerry was going places in his professional career.
Just three months after the death of his brother, Mike, Kerry completed a huge accomplishment: Dethroning Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1984.
Kerry also signed with the WWE in 1990 where he went by the alias of the Texas Tornado. While he quickly won the Intercontinental Title, he was released in 1992.
Outside of the ring, Kerry was abusing painkillers and had found himself being arrested twice. At the same time that he’s dealing with this, his marriage with his wife Cathy was on the brink of ending.
Kerry’s wrestling career would sadly come to an end two years after defeating Ric Flair due to a motorcycle accident. This accident caused Kerry to suffer from a dislocated hip, and since he tried to rush his recovery, he lost his right foot.
About a week after his 33rd birthday, Kerry took his own life by a gunshot wound.
End of an Era?
When Fritz Von Erich passed away in 1997 from brain and lung cancer, it seemed like the bad luck among the family had finally come to an end. Fritz and Doris would divorce in 1992, just months before the death of Kerry.
The Von Erich legacy truly is one of the biggest in wrestling history, but the ‘Von Erich Curse’ is also one of the most tragic downfalls of this powerhouse of a family.
Now it’s all questions of what if. What if Kerry never lost his foot, would he have accomplished way more? What if David never got sick, what impact would he have on Texas wrestling? What if Fritz kept the business thriving, would he have been able to compete with the likes of WWF/WWE?
Kevin Von Erich is still alive and it’s very evident he has been through a lot in his life. He was featured in Vice’s “Dark Side of the Ring”, where he talked about his brothers, and had to ask the show’s producers for a moment during the interview to regather himself.
He even mentioned how the death of his brothers took a toll on him mentally, referencing how he was very close to taking his own life. But thankfully, he was able to start his own family and break the curse himself.
Kevin currently lives in Hawaii and his two sons Marshall and Ross are starting to find their path in professional wrestling, but have yet to get their big break. Kerry’s daughter Lacey had a brief stint in TNA before retiring in 2010.
The Von Erichs were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
The Iron Claw
In 2023, A24 came out with the movie “The Iron Claw” that chronicles the story of the Von Erich family as they build a path in professional wrestling while being thrown curveballs from every direction.
The movie stars Zac Efron as Kevin, Jeremy Allen White as Kerry, Harris Dickinson as David, Maura Tierney as Doris, and Holt McCallany as Fritz. This powerful cast does a wonderful job of depicting events that happened throughout the Von Erich’s lives, but I think Zac Efron deserves all the flowers for his performance as Kevin. Efron’s emotional and dynamic performance truly makes you feel like you are watching a documentary about the family.
While the film doesn’t focus a lot on the accomplishments of the brothers but rather the tragic events that plagued the family, the delivery and emotion from the entire cast is what makes this movie a devastating, but amazing watch.
SOURCES
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/02/13/Funeral-services-for-wrestler-David-von-Erich-who-was/6328445496400/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/98295627/jack-barton-adkisson
https://www.wrestlinginc.com/1156763/the-tragic-story-of-the-von-erich-family/
https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a46146013/the-iron-claw-true-story-von-erich-family/
https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/a45665950/von-erich-family
https://www.thesportster.com/von-erich-curse-what-killed-family-members-kerry-mike-david-wccw/
https://www.npr.org/2014/01/24/265672102/against-the-ropes
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