The Shocking True Story of the Von Erich Curse
Is the first family of Texas wrestling cursed? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be discussing The Shocking True Story of the Von Erich Curse.
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00:00 "The Von Erich family ascended to wrestling superstardom,
00:03 but just as quickly suffered relentless personal tragedy."
00:07 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're discussing the shocking true story of the Von Erich Curse.
00:13 "It's the only thing that matters to me."
00:14 The 2023 film The Iron Claw dramatized the lives and careers of the Von Erich family,
00:21 a name synonymous with professional wrestling in the 1970s and 80s.
00:25 However, is there any basis to the conjecture that this first family of Texas wrestling was cursed?
00:31 "People said my family was cursed."
00:32 The short answer to our first question is no,
00:36 at least according to the real-life Kevin Von Erich.
00:39 "What happened is just terrible, just a terrible thing, but no curse."
00:43 The last surviving Von Erich brother told Vice as much during his appearance on the
00:47 season one episode of Dark Side of the Ring, titled, tellingly, "The Last of the Von Erichs."
00:52 However, this hasn't stopped many wrestling fans and journalists from musing about how
00:57 so much misfortune and personal tragedy can afflict one family line so deeply,
01:01 from a father to his sons.
01:03 "It was a dynasty, it was a family dynasty."
01:06 Zac Efron's portrayal of Kevin in The Iron Claw presents a Von Erich who lends more weight to the
01:11 apparent curse that seemed to follow his family since the days his father, Jack Adkisson,
01:15 changed his name to Fritz Von Erich.
01:17 The elder Adkisson portrayed a heel, or bad guy,
01:20 during his wrestling heyday in the 1950s and '60s.
01:23 The name Fritz Von Erich was actually given to Jack by the patriarch of another famous
01:27 wrestling family, the Harts. Specifically, it was Stu Hart who paired Jack as Fritz
01:32 alongside wrestler Walter Sieber, dubbed Waldo, as the fictional, villainous German Von Erich brothers.
01:38 "He could create a lot of heat just coming across as the German hit the ring and was
01:42 gonna beat up all the Americans."
01:44 Fritz Von Erich and his kayfabe, aka storyline brother Waldo, were billed as German nationals
01:49 with sympathies to that country's historical connections to World War II.
01:53 Thus, Fritz became a feared heel in Stu Hart's Canadian territory of stampede wrestling,
01:58 then known as Klondike Wrestling.
02:00 It was the relatively early days of his career when Fritz would develop his feared
02:04 Iron Claw finishing maneuver.
02:06 "Oh, did you see? Fritz Von Erich and the master of the Iron Claw,
02:09 Kessler Showbrancher, coming off the rope and is applying the Iron Claw to him right now."
02:14 Described simply, it was when he would grasp his opponent's head in a vice-like grip
02:19 and squeeze until his foe succumbed to the pressure.
02:22 "After years and years of doing the claw, you get scary, crazy good at it."
02:30 The Iron Claw was passed down by Fritz to his sons, as they too entered the wrestling business.
02:35 The powerhouse trio of Kevin, Kerry, and David Von Erich were the first to achieve stardom,
02:40 but they and the rest of the family were already no strangers to tragedy.
02:44 The Iron Claw also touches upon the story of their older brother Jack Adkisson Jr.,
02:49 who passed away following an accidental electrocution in 1959.
02:54 "They were all crying, and Jackie had been electrocuted."
02:58 It was the loss of Jack Jr. that in part helped push Fritz to slow down his in-ring career in
03:03 order to focus on promotion. This would enable the Von Erichs to establish roots,
03:07 buy a home, and hopefully become more financially stable.
03:10 It would be in world-class championship wrestling where the Von Erichs' legacy as
03:14 the first family of Texas wrestling would be forged. The company was founded by Ed McLemore
03:19 in 1966, but was run and operated by Fritz until he passed WCCW to his sons, Kevin and Kerry, in 1988.
03:27 This was during an age when professional wrestling was largely split into state-run
03:31 territories that worked under the larger banner of the National Wrestling Alliance, aka the NWA.
03:37 The vagabond life of a traveling wrestler may have been over for Fritz, but WCCW's television
03:43 deal with ESPN, as well as its array of impressive talent, enabled his sons to become stars.
03:49 Kevin, Kerry, and David Von Erich became household names in Texas,
03:53 gaining the love and respect of their fans while becoming celebrities in the process.
03:57 Fritz's children worked as babyfaces or good guys, and exemplified the Von Erich
04:02 family's cultivated public persona of virtuous, God-fearing Texans who fought for the straight
04:07 and narrow. "Coming off the ropes, up and over, rolls him up, this may be it!"
04:10 In-ring battles with high-profile names like Bruiser Brody, Gentleman Chris Adams, Abdullah
04:16 the Butcher, and particularly the Fabulous Freebirds made the three Von Erich sons some
04:20 of the most popular professional wrestlers full stop. "Here will be David and Kevin
04:26 both who come in and they're gonna have a triple truck, a fly truck!"
04:31 However, the path of a professional wrestler at that time historically necessitated at least
04:36 one trip to Japan. It was here where one's medal as a superstar could be tested, new goals achieved,
04:42 and new legacies forged for that country's rabid pro-wrestling faithful. Unfortunately,
04:47 the journey east would prove fatal for David Von Erich, who died at only 25 years of age,
04:52 while working there in 1984. "This voice says David Manning,
04:57 Joe Higuchi, All Japan Pro Wrestling, David Von Erich dead."
05:02 The official cause of death provided by the U.S. Embassy in Japan was labeled as acute enteritis,
05:08 resulting in a ruptured appendix. Other theories abound, however, including one by Rick Flair that
05:13 alleges his overuse of painkillers. Another, backed by both Kevin Von Erich and family friend
05:18 David Manning, surmises that it was perhaps a heart attack that felled the Yellow Rose of Texas.
05:23 "Texas got hurt that day."
05:25 The story of the Von Erich family doesn't get any easier at this point,
05:29 because no fewer than three other of Fritz's sons would die by their own hand in the following
05:34 years. The first would be Mike Von Erich, who was thrust into the pro-wrestling spotlight as
05:39 a replacement for David. The iron claw highlights the younger Von Erich's preferential desire to
05:43 work behind the scenes in WCCW as opposed to in the ring. The film also leans into Mike's interest
05:49 in music and songwriting. Yet Mike Von Erich debuted in 1983 for WCCW, and even embarked
05:56 upon a semi-successful tour of Japan in 1987 near the end of his career.
06:08 Prior to this, a 1985 trip to Tel Aviv, Israel would result in an in-ring shoulder injury.
06:14 "Only a year after David's death, Mike dislocates his shoulder in the ring."
06:19 The surgery to repair this injury took a turn for the worse, and Mike suffered toxic shock syndrome
06:24 as well as some brain damage. He did return to the ring, however, a feat not showcased in
06:29 The Iron Claw. Still, the shadow of David Von Erich loomed large over Mike's career,
06:33 and a number of personal setbacks, including a car accident and an arrest for DUI,
06:38 pushed the young man to a dark place in the spring of 1987.
06:42 "The Von Erich family attorney assisted Mike during his release from jail.
06:46 He would be the last person to see him alive."
06:49 Mike Von Erich was only 23 when he intentionally mixed a combination of alcohol and an excess
06:55 amount of placidil, a sleeping medication. "Everybody was just so sad, every day, and now Mike."
07:01 Chris Von Erich was even younger than Mike, just 21, when he tragically took his own life
07:06 on September 12th, 1991. The smallest Von Erich brother had followed a similar path to his brother
07:12 Mike, although by all accounts, Chris Von Erich did harbor a deep desire to become a professional
07:17 wrestler. Unfortunately, the young man's asthma and comparatively diminutive stature made
07:22 acclimating to wrestling difficult. "He had brittle bones because of the asthma medication that he took."
07:27 The portrayal of Mike Von Erich in The Iron Claw seems to be an amalgamation of both brothers,
07:32 since a training sequence underlines the younger Von Erich's struggles during training.
07:36 Chris Von Erich's in-ring career lasted barely a year before his struggles with depression became
07:41 fatal. If Mike and Chris struggled to find their footing in professional wrestling,
07:45 then it's perhaps Carey Von Erich that saw the highest profile and the most success.
07:49 A one-time Olympic hopeful, Carey would see his career blossom into a tenure in the WWF
07:54 after leaving his father's company in 1990. "Claw right into the head,
07:58 got the conquistador, there it is, that spinning hammer move. It's all over but the shouting brain.
08:04 Champion!" Carey's time working for Vince McMahon would be short-lived, however,
08:08 and it was during this time when the struggles of Von Erich's personal life, including arrests,
08:13 a divorce, and substance use, would eventually come to a head.
08:16 Amazingly, Carey was still able to wrestle at this elite level, despite enduring a 1986
08:22 motorcycle accident that resulted in the amputation of his foot. "When they made the
08:26 decision to amputate, I would have never, ever thought it could be kept secret."
08:32 Still, Carey Von Erich's frustration with his career setbacks and personal challenges proved
08:37 to be too much for the young man to bear. Carey Von Erich died on February 18th, 1993.
08:43 Industry folks such as Bret Hart claimed to have had conversations with Carey,
08:46 where Von Erich expressed admiration for the self-destructive actions of his brothers,
08:50 and expressed a desire to follow down their path. "Dad found him and he said he'd never
08:54 seen such a peaceful look on Carey's face." Kevin Von Erich echoed these sentiments during
08:59 his appearance on 'Dark Side of the Ring,' even mentioning how his father Fritz once
09:03 threatened to do the same. Kevin tells the story of an armed Fritz, then suffering from severe
09:08 brain and lung cancer, admonishing his son for not having, quote, "the guts" to follow in his
09:12 brother's footsteps. Fritz Von Erich would eventually succumb to his cancer on September
09:17 10th, 1997. Kevin, meanwhile, is the last surviving original Von Erich. The pro-wrestling
09:23 legend credits family with keeping him grounded amidst that industry's often tumultuous world.
09:28 The image, presented during his 'Dark Side of the Ring' appearance,
09:30 paints a portrait of a grateful man who doesn't take his success for granted.
09:34 "I'm lucky in a way that I've found that the only thing that lasts is family."
09:39 The relationship between Fritz and his sons is also not painted with as many heavy,
09:43 dramatic strokes as in 'The Iron Claw.' Kevin, by all accounts, paints Fritz Von Erich as a man
09:48 haunted by the death of his firstborn, Jack Jr. "He out-sang himself for too much what a good man
09:54 he was." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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10:11 Fritz, according to Kevin, was a man who, quote, "was at war with the world" and in deep personal
10:17 pain. Unfortunately, there's no way to go back and paint the Von Erich story with any colorful
10:22 brushes. We need to look at the present, and perhaps the future, to see how Kevin's connection
10:26 to religion and family have borne fruit and brought peace. Kevin's sons entered the business,
10:32 and currently wrestle under the names Ross and Marshall Von Erich. Carrie Von Erich's
10:36 daughter Lacey also wrestled for the WWE and TNA until retiring in 2010. So is the Von Erich family
10:44 cursed? No, but their legacy within the professional wrestling industry is one of public success and
10:49 private pain. It's a bittersweet tragedy that's gone on to both inspire others in its wake,
10:54 while also serving as a cautionary tale for surviving professional wrestling's one-of-a-kind
10:59 way of life. Hey, who knows? Maybe the story will continue.
11:07 [Music]