Biography WWE Legends Season 5 Episode 1

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Transcript

00:00:22I think I had to grow up to realize that life is not about just laughing it up all day.

00:00:30And there's a lot of terrible things that happen, but in between those moments are those good ones, too, you

00:00:37know, the laughing children.

00:00:41You remember being a little kid, too, and it's just beautiful.

00:00:47I love life.

00:00:50Can't wait to wake up in the morning.

00:00:53So I just say thank you, Lord, for another day.

00:00:56You know, he doesn't owe me a thing, but a place to be born and a place to die.

00:01:02There was a time I thought life is too long, and now I think life is too short.

00:01:10Here come the Von Erics.

00:01:14You've got to understand how big a star is the Von Erics were in Texas.

00:01:17If you knew anything about professional wrestling, you knew who and what the Von Erics were.

00:01:21The Von Erics, the royal family of wrestling, with Father Fritz as the king of the ring and each of

00:01:28his sons waiting to take over the throne.

00:01:30Fritz had six kids.

00:01:32Each of these boys are going to be world heavyweight champions.

00:01:36I'm dedicating my life to it.

00:01:38The greatest name in professional wrestling today, the Von Erics.

00:01:41We began to really understand how important the Von Erics were to the state of Texas.

00:01:46They were superheroes.

00:01:47The Von Erics are a prime attraction.

00:01:49They were on their way to greatness until all the tragedies struck.

00:01:54At six years old, Uncle Jackie is just gone.

00:01:58David Von Erics was found lying across his bed early this morning.

00:02:01As it's awfully hard to believe it could have been a heart attack.

00:02:05Michael Von Erics remains in critical condition at Baylor Medical Center.

00:02:08Doctors say the rest of the world has toxic shock syndrome.

00:02:12Investigators found a handwritten note.

00:02:14Mom and Dad, I'm in a better place.

00:02:17Gary Von Erics was in an accident recently.

00:02:20This crumpled wreckage is all that's left.

00:02:22Some call it the curse of the Iron Claw.

00:02:25It doesn't get easier.

00:02:27Lord, please don't take any more of my children.

00:02:29Was it a curse?

00:02:30Was it just a series of tragic coincidences?

00:02:33Was it the pressure of the wrestling business?

00:02:35The pressure of family?

00:02:37The pressure of the fans?

00:02:38They did go through a lot of tragedy.

00:02:40It was made for movie.

00:02:42It's a new film.

00:02:43It's called The Iron Claw.

00:02:44Don't you dare question me.

00:02:46Great acting.

00:02:46Zac Efron did a phenomenal job.

00:02:48But it would have been nice if they'd have had the real story.

00:02:52This one is a little different.

00:02:54I've never talked about the things I've talked about.

00:02:56But I wanted it to be said.

00:02:59It might sound like the craziest story you ever heard, but I know it's true.

00:03:20There you go.

00:03:22When I'm out here with my grandkids, to me, this is as good as it gets.

00:03:30Had I not been raised the way I was, maybe I'd be different.

00:03:33But that's just important to me.

00:03:36Oh, Benji!

00:03:38When I think about my youth and my time with my brothers, it was so great.

00:03:44So much fun we had then.

00:03:46And then my dad, he didn't have any idea what it was like to have brothers.

00:03:53You know, it's too bad, too, because he was an only child.

00:03:59And I can't imagine what that would like to be, being an only child.

00:04:08Fritz von Erich is my father.

00:04:10He was born Jack Adkisson in Jewett, Texas.

00:04:15He had a pretty rough life, I think.

00:04:16He's an only child.

00:04:18And my granddad was busy and didn't have a lot of time for him.

00:04:22And my granddad didn't really pay any attention to my dad.

00:04:26It was like, if they weren't hunting, well, they weren't talking.

00:04:30Any stories I have about granddad being little are things that he told me.

00:04:35In their town, the dads would bet on their boys and have them fight in the woods.

00:04:41And when granddad would lose, his dad would just beat him in front of everyone.

00:04:49The one person that my granddad felt like loved him was his daddy Ross, his grandfather.

00:04:56And so daddy Ross lived a few hours away.

00:04:59And for granddad, that was his one source of, you know, love and encouragement.

00:05:05There was a guy in town who asked my granddad if, you know, he was maybe 12 or 13 years

00:05:12old.

00:05:12My granddad was at the time.

00:05:14And he said, you know, Jack, if you want a ride, I'll give you a ride.

00:05:18You can ride in my truck with me and I go out there every weekend.

00:05:21I'd be happy to take you.

00:05:23And granddad was so excited to take that chance.

00:05:28The man drove him in the truck on the way there.

00:05:32The man molested my granddad.

00:05:38My granddad said, I wanted to see daddy Ross so bad that I let that happen every couple of weeks,

00:05:44you know, to go see daddy Ross.

00:05:45And it was worth it.

00:05:47So that, you know, broke my heart whenever he told me about that.

00:05:52That he was molested as a little boy.

00:05:57I didn't know that.

00:05:59There are things he didn't tell me, but he did tell Kristen.

00:06:03It's just really, I guess he had no reason to tell me.

00:06:06I didn't need to know, I suppose.

00:06:09But kind of surprising.

00:06:15I think that granddad had felt invisible for a large part of his childhood.

00:06:22And recognized that the best way to get people to notice him was his athletic ability, his size.

00:06:34And so he went to college and he actually had a scholarship for football and he threw discus at SMU.

00:06:42Here you were at SMU with a scholarship and you met this young lady named Doris.

00:06:48At the time that my grandparents met, they loved each other so much.

00:06:53And Mimi, she wasn't going to let this boy go.

00:06:57You know, like this was a boy that was going places.

00:07:00And you eventually married Doris, but what did that cost you?

00:07:04You mean up till now?

00:07:05At that time.

00:07:08Well, it cost me my scholarship.

00:07:10When I started as a freshman at SMU, they put a non-marriage rule in that any freshman that came

00:07:15in from then on at that time and later,

00:07:17if they got married, they lost their scholarship.

00:07:19So because you married...

00:07:19Oh, no, I didn't think they meant me.

00:07:21I was too great.

00:07:22Uh-huh.

00:07:23And you lost their scholarship?

00:07:24Yes, sir.

00:07:25Just to condense it, brother, that's what happened.

00:07:28All this time went on.

00:07:30I had a wife and a young baby on the way and I really didn't know what I was going

00:07:35to do yet.

00:07:42He tried lots of jobs.

00:07:44He was a detective and a bus driver.

00:07:49Ed Stringer Lewis, belonging to Ole Ed, was one of the greatest all-time wrestlers I guess ever was.

00:07:53I said, French, you got a big name at SMU.

00:07:56He said, man, we can train you for about six months, put you in that sport of term, you'll sell

00:07:59that building out.

00:08:01And when he mentioned how much money I was going to make, partner, I mean, to tell you, he got

00:08:04my attention.

00:08:05Yes.

00:08:05He said, you're liable to make $20,000 or $25,000 your first year in the business.

00:08:10Man, I'll belong to him after that.

00:08:12That's when my dad started professional wrestling.

00:08:15Jack Atkinson of Dallas, 251-pounder.

00:08:19Atkinson is the tall boy on the right.

00:08:22So Jack Atkinson started off as a local hero, football player from SMU, but he set out to travel far

00:08:28and wide to really make this his full-time career.

00:08:32In wrestling, there's no middle ground.

00:08:34You either want the people to love you or to hate you.

00:08:38People love to cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy.

00:08:41I think he was really smart in seeing the opportunity there to be a memorable heel, a bad guy.

00:08:52And so that's what my dad did.

00:08:54He thought, well, the most detestable person I can think of would be a Nazi.

00:08:59He changed his name to Fritz von Ehrich, basically the most German name he could think of.

00:09:05From Berlin, Germany, Fritz von Ehrich.

00:09:09And there was a lot of potential in that character.

00:09:13But he is rough and tough and nasty.

00:09:16Growing up as a fan, if you watched TV, you knew Fritz.

00:09:19This guy is just vicious.

00:09:20He just looked the part of a villain, and he played the part of a villain, unbelievably.

00:09:25Fritz von Ehrich, and the master of the Iron Claw.

00:09:28The Iron Claw was Fritz's infamous finishing hold, where he would take his big mitts and just wrap it around

00:09:35the skull and just squeeze until sometimes until blood came out or until they gave up.

00:09:42That character was beneficial for his family, and he was a family man.

00:09:46He wanted Jackie to have everything and his wife to be taken care of.

00:09:56Granddad, what year were you born?

00:09:59Um, 1957.

00:10:03Oh, that is, so that's daddy, right?

00:10:07Okay.

00:10:07Okay, so Uncle Jackie and you.

00:10:09Yeah.

00:10:10By 1957, it was just the two of us, me, Jackie, and my mom and dad.

00:10:15It's so late.

00:10:19My mother loved her children.

00:10:21She loved me and Jackie so much.

00:10:24My mother was so full of love, and my dad loved her.

00:10:29We were happy and jovial, and it was a great time.

00:10:33There you are.

00:10:34Look at that cute baby.

00:10:36That's me.

00:10:37Jackie.

00:10:38He, uh, he was my big brother.

00:10:41He kissed me.

00:10:43He loves you.

00:10:44Oh, Jackie.

00:10:46He had the best personality, let's say.

00:10:48So funny, and...

00:10:50Like he's trying to make you laugh.

00:10:54Jackie.

00:10:55That big brother stuff.

00:10:56Aw.

00:10:57Mm-hmm.

00:10:59It was in 1959, up in Niagara Falls.

00:11:03We didn't have money back then.

00:11:05We were, we lived in a trailer house, and, uh, one day, Jackie wanted to go play, and my

00:11:11mother was busy, and so she said, yeah, go play.

00:11:15Uncle Jackie asked if he could go to his friend's house a couple of mobile homes down, and Mimi

00:11:22said, yes, just go ahead.

00:11:24Come, you can come home for lunch, but yes, go.

00:11:29Later on, Mimi called her friend, and they chatted for a few minutes, and then she said,

00:11:36um, you can send Jackie home.

00:11:38Thank you so much for having him, and her friend said, well, Jackie's not here.

00:11:43Mimi said her heart dropped.

00:11:46She immediately knew something was wrong.

00:11:54That day, Mimi was cleaning, and it was cold outside, and when she called her friend and

00:12:04said, hey, will you please send Jackie home?

00:12:05She said, Jackie never came over.

00:12:07Oh, I mean, as a mother, when you say, when you hear that, that's, I just can't imagine.

00:12:19Mimi dropped the phone and just ran outside, looking, screaming his name.

00:12:26And, uh, they couldn't find him, so everybody in the little town that was looking for him.

00:12:34Eventually, the neighbors say, just go home and wait.

00:12:37Go home and wait, and, and we're looking, the cops are on their way, so Mimi goes home.

00:12:43And so an officer knocked on the door.

00:12:46When she opened it, he said, we found him.

00:12:53But she said his countenance didn't match his words, and she was just like, okay, give him

00:12:59to me, give him to me.

00:13:00But she said, shoot, there was this siren in her mind, like, why is this, why is he not

00:13:04happy?

00:13:05Why does his face not match what I'm hearing?

00:13:08And, um, he just, you know, said, we found him.

00:13:11And Mimi said that she, like, he went to hug her, and she just punched him in the chest

00:13:16over and over, and, um, just screamed and cried.

00:13:22At six years old, he was just gone, just like that.

00:13:30What happened was, in this mobile home park, someone had a little, uh, trailer or equipment

00:13:36room or something that had the sheet metal siding.

00:13:40And so he was walking by, rubbing his finger along it, and he touched a spot where the skin

00:13:46on the trailer had been electrified.

00:13:50The guy had wired his trailer wrong.

00:13:53He touched it, it knocked him out.

00:13:55He was face down on the ground.

00:13:59Some snow had melted, so his face was in a puddle.

00:14:02Um, and I think the actual cause of death was, was drowning.

00:14:08And then whenever Granddad finally did get home, I, I cannot even imagine, but just holding

00:14:15that news, and then he comes home, and you say, here's what happened today.

00:14:21My dad came home and punched the car window and broke the glass, and it was, uh, oh, such

00:14:29a terrible time.

00:14:31Losing Jackie, our first baby, was a terrible blow to me.

00:14:39Listening to her tell that story made me realize, oh, she changed at that point.

00:14:49She had an anger towards God.

00:14:52God, if you're real, why did you let my little boy die?

00:14:56She loved him, but she felt like, almost like, but God owed her one for letting her baby be taken.

00:15:05And, at the time, Granddad blamed himself for being gone.

00:15:10Mimi blamed herself, too, but she also blamed Granddad for being gone.

00:15:15So I think that sort of cumulatively, as time went on, that, you know, anger, that resentment

00:15:23sort of just built upon itself.

00:15:32Anyone that loses a child, um, there's no pain and no hurt anyone can ever go through,

00:15:37unless you lose one of your children.

00:15:39How did you feel about God at that time?

00:15:41I didn't, I didn't have a, I didn't have a Lord at the time.

00:15:43I didn't, didn't know he was there.

00:15:45I didn't think he was there.

00:15:46I just turned.

00:15:47I said, Lord, if you're there, if you were getting me back to Texas, I said, I will follow

00:15:52you the rest of my life.

00:15:53He got me back to Texas.

00:15:55It took a long time and I walked in a straight line.

00:15:58We went like this, but we got there.

00:16:02After Uncle Jackie died, Granddad, when he had the opportunity to wrestle in Dallas regularly

00:16:09or in Texas, I think that they wanted to pursue that for sure, because it meant that

00:16:15they could, you know, be together more and wouldn't have to be separate.

00:16:20So my grandparents and my dad, they moved back to Texas.

00:16:31Oh, wow.

00:16:32There's a ranch.

00:16:34That's where your great uncles grew up.

00:16:39So after I was born, my mother had four kids, all boys.

00:16:44Dave was born in 1958, Carrie in 1960, Mike was born in 1964, and then Chris was born in

00:16:541969.

00:16:55Look at Uncle Chris.

00:16:57What's he riding?

00:16:58That was Chris.

00:16:59My little brothers thought the world of me, and I was really protective of them, and I

00:17:05just fell into the job.

00:17:06That was me now, my big brother, and I loved my brothers.

00:17:11Look at you and Uncle Dave, Daddy.

00:17:14Yeah, skinny Dave.

00:17:16We always hunted and fished and spent time together.

00:17:23Oh, what great memories we had.

00:17:25We all had horses.

00:17:27We rode horses everywhere.

00:17:28Didn't everyone have their own motorcycle and their own dog?

00:17:31Yeah, we sure did.

00:17:32And our own BB gun, and that's what we did all day.

00:17:37There's Carrie with his first .22.

00:17:39Carrie and I grew up together at their house out there in their ranch.

00:17:44It was like Disneyland.

00:17:47We're shorts and barefooted and no shirt all through summer, so that type of stuff.

00:17:52Oh, that was me.

00:17:53That's a flip.

00:17:54Really?

00:17:54It was a twist and flip.

00:17:55You never told me you could do a backflip or an 80.

00:17:59I said to my dad one day, Dad, what should I do for a living?

00:18:02I like to brag, and I'm going to show off.

00:18:04He said, you might want to try pro wrestling, son.

00:18:10After Uncle Jackie passed away, Mimi and Granddad had this idea that the world is dangerous,

00:18:21and they both had the desire to keep their family safe from the ugliness of this world.

00:18:31So they tried to make their house be the fun house where you wouldn't want to leave.

00:18:38At that time, my Mimi was unbelievably strong.

00:18:44I mean, she had to keep it together.

00:18:47To lose a six-year-old is, how do you go on?

00:18:51And whatever she did, I think she did it right.

00:18:53I just think it's amazing that both of them had this mentality to hold it all together like that, both

00:19:04of them.

00:19:06Tell me about raising the boys.

00:19:08The greatest memories I have in my life is raising those young'uns.

00:19:12Gosh, it was fun. I wish I could do it again.

00:19:14I think that my dad learned a lot from his youth.

00:19:17Even though his father wasn't around, he learned from that.

00:19:22He's going to be the kind of father that is around.

00:19:25Don't misunderstand me.

00:19:26I made a lot of mistakes raising my children, but my wife and I love to repent of it.

00:19:30That may be the difference to a lot of folks.

00:19:33A lot of the home movies that we have, you can hear Granddad talking.

00:19:36He's narrating the whole thing and just laughing and chuckling.

00:19:44He didn't have parents that wanted to spend time with him,

00:19:46so he wanted to be a dad that did, that wanted to spend time with his kids.

00:19:52In the history of wrestling, who would you say is the greatest wrestler of all time?

00:19:58That's a rather leading question, don't you think?

00:20:00What do you think the answer's going to be there?

00:20:02I would say Fritz Von Erich.

00:20:03Right. There's no doubt about that.

00:20:05The most winning wrestler, the wrestler that's throwing the most money in the world today,

00:20:08has got to be Fritz Von Erich.

00:20:09At the time, Fritz, he just became an idol around here in Dallas-Witworth area.

00:20:17Fritz Von Erich, by his own admission, the world's greatest wrestler.

00:20:21People in Texas loved Fritz Von Erich.

00:20:24I mean, he was, that guy could have been king of Texas.

00:20:26I remember Coach Landry and guys from the Cowboys would call my dad for advice,

00:20:31and I just never really dawned on me how important he was.

00:20:36Not just Texas, but all over, all over the world.

00:20:41My dad was a big star in Japan, and he took each one of us.

00:20:46Kevin's the first one of my sons to go on the trip.

00:20:50I don't think Kevin even had any idea of what to expect when he got there.

00:20:57The first time I went with him, I looked out the window,

00:21:01and there were all these photographers, like so many, at least 100 photographers.

00:21:08I said, Dad, there's some kind of movie store.

00:21:11You should see all the photographers outside.

00:21:13And my dad, that's who they were there to see.

00:21:16I couldn't believe it.

00:21:17But they just wanted to see us, wanted to see the guy with the iron glow.

00:21:23Kids, you know, just like any other little fellow out there,

00:21:25we wanted to be just like our dads.

00:21:27I guess all of y'all are the same way.

00:21:29That's true.

00:21:30And, you know, so we tried extra hard to, I guess, you know,

00:21:33the young kids are just that way.

00:21:35Anything my dad did, you know, he was like, we just wanted to be like him.

00:21:39Someone with Jack Atkinson's mindset, he wants to conquer the world.

00:21:43And by this time, you know, he knew how the business of pro wrestling worked.

00:21:48And I think he probably just thought, if I'm going to make a go of this, if it's worth my

00:21:52time to be a wrestler,

00:21:53it's more worth my time to be running everything.

00:21:57He kind of took over the Dallas promotion.

00:21:59Now, Fritz was the promoter, and Fritz then used that opportunity to exert his power

00:22:07and to kind of take over the booking of the Texas territory and all of the Texas towns.

00:22:14Nobody realizes it at the time, but the path for the Von Erich boys is being set here.

00:22:21And in a lot of ways, that would be a shadow over the family forever.

00:22:30All of my brothers were in sports.

00:22:33Me, Dave, Kerry, Mike were all athletes, and we were good at it.

00:22:39But with Chris, he had asthma and had to take medicine for it, and it stunted his growth.

00:22:48And he couldn't breathe.

00:22:50He really couldn't get enough air to really be a successful athlete.

00:22:54And it's just too bad.

00:22:56It's just the way it is.

00:22:57But me, Dave, Kerry, Mike, we just had a gift for it.

00:23:03Kevin, I mean, in high school, he really loved football, man.

00:23:07Nobody could tackle him.

00:23:10He'd just run over everybody, you know.

00:23:11So there's one game he averaged like 21 yards a carry.

00:23:16When Dad would come to the football games, it'd be a touchdown or something.

00:23:19I'd look up in the audience, and I'd see his hands do this.

00:23:24And that's all I cared about.

00:23:25That's all I wanted to see was how he felt about it.

00:23:28David was 6'7", so he was a great basketball player.

00:23:33In Lake Dallas, the only All-State athlete that that school has ever had were my sons.

00:23:46It was kind of cool.

00:23:49David and Kevin both got scholarships to North Texas, which when North Texas was really a

00:23:54Division I, you know, powerhouse.

00:23:56Kevin went first, and then David went the next year and played basketball and football.

00:24:03I went to college to play football.

00:24:05I didn't care about my degree or anything like that.

00:24:08I loved football, and that's all I could think about.

00:24:12It was his freshman year.

00:24:14I was there.

00:24:15Wayne Carey went to watch the game in Denton at North Texas.

00:24:18And I think somebody got blocked into him, his own man or something, and just tore his ACL,

00:24:24you know, just one of the worst things.

00:24:26And he came back with a vengeance.

00:24:28And I'll be dadgum if he didn't hurt the other one his sophomore year.

00:24:33With my knees out, I could tell it took something from my quickness.

00:24:39Football wasn't as much fun to me.

00:24:42And so it was just a matter of time before I quit playing it.

00:24:47It was over.

00:24:49I had time to make a living.

00:24:51So I dropped out of college, and I gave wrestling a try.

00:24:58Kevin Von Erich was the oldest son and the first to give pro wrestling a shot.

00:25:03When he decided to get in, he didn't have to look far.

00:25:06I mean, his dad ran the local promotion.

00:25:08By then, Jack had taken over the Dallas promotion, what's now known as world-class championship wrestling.

00:25:14So this is slowly becoming a family business.

00:25:19I remember when Kevin debuted like it was yesterday.

00:25:23I remember it because I was such a big fan of Fritz Von Erich.

00:25:26And then Kevin debuts, and he's this really good-looking young guy with this great body.

00:25:31It's this incredible star athlete.

00:25:34And you're like, wow, this guy could carry on the Von Erich legacy.

00:25:37Kevin majored in football and suffered an injury, and football's loss became professional wrestling's game.

00:25:43In fact, when I started out wrestling, we had to change buildings because the crowd was getting bigger.

00:25:49From the Will Rogers complex in Fort Worth, here's Saturday Night Wrestling.

00:25:54There was the writing on the wall.

00:25:55I could never make this kind of money, cleaning catfish and washing dishes.

00:26:01Meanwhile, David starts to take notice of what his brother Kevin was doing out there in the wrestling ring.

00:26:08So even as a college student, he begins to dabble in his dad's business as well.

00:26:13David Von Erich, high school All-Stater in basketball.

00:26:17Dave loved basketball.

00:26:19When Dave got his first wrestling paycheck...

00:26:23Oh, that's Mr. Wilkinson boy!

00:26:25He thought, goodbye basketball.

00:26:29Introducing, from Denton, Texas, weighing 236 pounds, David Von Erich.

00:26:34David was the one that picked up on the psychology of the matches really well.

00:26:39Reversed, rolling, ground up by David!

00:26:41Man, he was really good.

00:26:43David blocks race, a suplex, lifts, race, suplex by David Von Erich!

00:26:48David had all the tools.

00:26:50David was a natural.

00:26:52It has been simply all David Von Erich who has dominated Harley Race.

00:26:5718 years old, he had his first sell-off.

00:27:01That's pretty young to sell out a building like he did.

00:27:03David Harley Race.

00:27:05Oh, he caught him in the claw!

00:27:07He caught Race in the claw!

00:27:09That's it!

00:27:12David Von Erich!

00:27:15I've known his old man for a long time.

00:27:19He's legend.

00:27:21And this kid right here is not damn far behind.

00:27:34Dave and I were pro wrestlers now.

00:27:37My dad, he never really wanted us to wrestle.

00:27:41He really didn't.

00:27:42He wanted us to go to college and have desk jobs.

00:27:47I never wanted my boys to be in wrestling.

00:27:50What I didn't realize was that's the only last they'd ever known.

00:27:53My dad was a pro wrestler, and so that's the way we were brought up.

00:27:56We wanted to be the best we possibly could.

00:27:58And so my dad never pressured us into wrestling or pressured us into anything.

00:28:02We just wanted to compete.

00:28:03They literally had to talk, for instance, to let him start working.

00:28:06And there's David.

00:28:08Look at that.

00:28:08Over the top and a big dropkick!

00:28:10Dad really didn't like that.

00:28:12I say he didn't like it, but the buildings were packed.

00:28:14Like, you know, sell-out crowds every week.

00:28:17Kevin Von Erich, that's what the people here want to see.

00:28:21My dad was a promoter, too, so he liked that.

00:28:24I think we have the very finest professional wrestlers in the world.

00:28:27Coming up, my son Kevin, my oldest boy Kevin Von Erich.

00:28:30Just stay with us.

00:28:31You're going to enjoy this.

00:28:32I don't believe this!

00:28:33Look at Kevin!

00:28:34Oh!

00:28:36The oldest brother wrestled, so the younger brother wanted to wrestle.

00:28:39And my grandmother, she said, whatever they did,

00:28:43my granddad made him do it 110%.

00:28:47So, he did give them a choice, but if they wanted to,

00:28:51he made sure that they committed 100%, and she was supportive of that.

00:28:55And then also, my dad didn't have to pay us like he did the other guys.

00:28:59We didn't mind that dad didn't pay us like the other wrestlers.

00:29:02It was okay with us, you know, because everything was working out great.

00:29:05We have probably the greatest wrestling father of all times,

00:29:09a man by the name of Fritz Von Erich.

00:29:12Our ambition in life is to live up to his name,

00:29:14and to do as well as he's done in this sport.

00:29:18We had a family, and we were a family, and we did it for the family.

00:29:22And it's not for my family or for Dave's family.

00:29:26It was for the family.

00:29:30At the time, my brother Dave got married young.

00:29:35Well, he had a girlfriend, and...

00:29:37I'm going to do the right thing and marry her, and he did.

00:29:44Around this time, David's girlfriend Candy gets pregnant.

00:29:47And in 1978, their daughter, Natasha, is born.

00:29:51David was real excited about her, you know,

00:29:54and Candy was just a wonderful mother.

00:29:59Once they had the child, he was already talking like,

00:30:01man, I don't want to be on the road as much.

00:30:04It makes it hard.

00:30:05He was so excited about the cruise.

00:30:07I'll never forget, they were going on a cruise.

00:30:09They'd never been on a cruise.

00:30:11And back then, hardly anybody had been on a cruise, but...

00:30:15And then, sure enough, Dave.

00:30:18He gets a phone call.

00:30:20They were able to get a hold of him

00:30:22and let him know that the child had died.

00:30:28It was SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.

00:30:32It was just horrific, man.

00:30:36We didn't understand, I mean, how does a child just...

00:30:39You know, back then, SIDS was a huge question,

00:30:42and, you know, that a child could just...

00:30:45A baby could just die in the middle of the night

00:30:47that had been perfectly healthy.

00:30:49But that's what happened, you know.

00:30:53Obviously, that was a big blow for Dave.

00:30:57David and Candy, it affected their relationship.

00:31:00They just kind of drifted apart, and they ended up getting a divorce.

00:31:05It was tough.

00:31:06You know, nobody...

00:31:07Nobody wants to bury their kids.

00:31:10Jack Jr., Fritz's firstborn son, had died.

00:31:14And then Jack's first grandchild...

00:31:19Dies of SIDS.

00:31:20I don't know at that point if you start thinking in terms of a curse,

00:31:24but it really does seem like there's a bad moon hanging over this family.

00:31:32On my lap, the sensational Von Erich brothers, David and Kevin.

00:31:39Dave and I were on the road a lot.

00:31:42Off the ropes and a big drop kick.

00:31:45We were performing, and so we weren't home like Kerry was.

00:31:51At home, when Kerry was the big brother, and Dave and I were out,

00:31:57Kerry was a lot more permissive than Dave and I were.

00:32:01Kerry was that way with Mike and Chris, and he'd let things go.

00:32:05Things like drinking, staying out.

00:32:09Dave and I would have never let that go.

00:32:12Kerry was all about fun.

00:32:16Everybody loved him, and he was so good inside.

00:32:19He just wanted to make you laugh.

00:32:22Kerry was pleasant all the time, laughing and joking,

00:32:27playing ribs constantly.

00:32:29But also, Kerry was really an elite athlete.

00:32:35The Von Erichs were all athletes,

00:32:38but my brother Kerry was gifted.

00:32:42In fact, Kerry was offered a full-rod scholarship

00:32:46at University of Texas to play football.

00:32:50And Kerry, I heard him say it.

00:32:52I was sitting right there.

00:32:53He said, I don't want, I don't really like football, coach.

00:32:56I don't think I want to do that.

00:32:57I'll throw the discus.

00:33:00He was number one in the nation

00:33:02when we were seniors in the discus.

00:33:05I'll tell you what, folks.

00:33:06Every day, my mother was out there

00:33:09lugging four or five discuses

00:33:11that weighed four pounds apiece,

00:33:13throwing them back to me every day.

00:33:15And if she couldn't thaw it that far,

00:33:16she had run it in that far.

00:33:18But my mother was there every, every workout.

00:33:21And he wound up throwing the discus,

00:33:23but for the University of Houston.

00:33:25Tom Tellez was the University of Houston coach.

00:33:28He was the Olympic coach.

00:33:30So that's another reason Kerry went to Houston.

00:33:32He was really wanting to go to the tryout

00:33:35for the 1980 Olympics.

00:33:36And then they boycotted it.

00:33:40Kerry said, I don't want to wait until 1984.

00:33:42That's four, five years away, basically, nearly.

00:33:45And he, he wanted to leave college.

00:33:49So that's when Kerry came back home.

00:33:52And I knew Kerry from his younger brother, Mike.

00:33:57Because Mike and I were in, in class together

00:34:00since third grade.

00:34:02And so Mike was the strongest male athlete in school.

00:34:07And I was the strongest female athlete in school.

00:34:11So we used to get all the awards together

00:34:13and things like that.

00:34:14So Mike and I were best friends.

00:34:17One day, Mike said to Kerry,

00:34:20can I have a party?

00:34:21And Kerry said, only if you invite Kathy Murray.

00:34:26Kerry and I got to talking and the rest is history.

00:34:29We just stayed together after that.

00:34:32You know, that young love that's so raw and so real

00:34:36and you're so young and it's your first.

00:34:39And so that was really powerful for me.

00:34:44Hi, Dad.

00:34:50My dad and my mom,

00:34:52what a beautiful love story they have.

00:34:55My mom adores my dad

00:34:57and my dad loves and treasures my mom.

00:35:01I got married in 1980.

00:35:02My sweet Pam.

00:35:04I've been so happy with her.

00:35:06We've been married 45 years.

00:35:10I mean, yes, it probably was scary to her to see.

00:35:14This is a semi-famous family.

00:35:16They're all wrestlers.

00:35:18But I think when she saw

00:35:20what a beautiful family they were behind closed doors

00:35:22and she wanted to be a part of that

00:35:25and they cherished her.

00:35:26And she said she had always prayed,

00:35:29I want to marry a godly man.

00:35:30That's who my dad was.

00:35:32And on the outside,

00:35:33that's not what my dad looked like.

00:35:34He just looked like this handsome jock, you know.

00:35:40Here's what they're waiting for.

00:35:42Kevin Von Erich, David Von Erich.

00:35:44Kevin and Dave,

00:35:45I mean, the story was already of the Von Erichs.

00:35:48They were drawing everywhere they go.

00:35:50Now look at this plenumodium.

00:35:53But the other thing was it was,

00:35:55it was eating on Carrie.

00:35:58Carrie saw that and was just thinking,

00:36:02wow, this is a really big deal.

00:36:04Carrie wanted to wrestle,

00:36:06but Fritz wanted him to finish college.

00:36:08Carrie was adamant.

00:36:09Matter of fact,

00:36:11Carrie literally had a meeting with Fritz.

00:36:13He said, I want a meeting with my dad.

00:36:15And he told Fritz,

00:36:16either I start working here

00:36:18or I'll go somewhere else.

00:36:21You are looking at the spotlight

00:36:23on Carrie Von Erich

00:36:24as he makes his way to the ring.

00:36:26After the Olympics,

00:36:28I don't really know

00:36:29that he ever thought of doing anything else.

00:36:35Carrie just had this innate ability

00:36:37of this charisma.

00:36:39Some guys just walk into a room

00:36:40and have this light come on.

00:36:42Carrie Von Erich,

00:36:43listen to the crowd.

00:36:45Carrie!

00:36:46Carrie!

00:36:47Now you got Kevin, Dave, and Carrie.

00:36:49So three Von Erichs on the corner.

00:36:51They had the look,

00:36:52they had the feel,

00:36:53and they could work.

00:36:54Dave was the best worker of all of them.

00:36:56The head scissors.

00:36:57Carrie had the good looks

00:36:59and the charisma.

00:37:00Hey, look at Carrie!

00:37:01Up top!

00:37:02Kevin had kind of a little mix

00:37:05of all of them.

00:37:07All these boys

00:37:08who just dominated

00:37:10every aspect of Texas wrestling.

00:37:13There was a short time

00:37:15where Carrie, me, and Dave

00:37:16could all be in the same town.

00:37:18There they are!

00:37:19The Von Erichs!

00:37:20Eventually, after about a year,

00:37:23we'd one town have Carrie,

00:37:25one town have me,

00:37:26one town have Dave,

00:37:26and the houses were all good,

00:37:29you know,

00:37:29they all sell-outs.

00:37:30They were great.

00:37:31Listen to this crowd roar

00:37:33there on their feet!

00:37:34It was like a fairy tale

00:37:36for two, three years.

00:37:38It's been at all.

00:37:42A good wrestler is one that,

00:37:44you know,

00:37:45a natural athlete,

00:37:46first of all.

00:37:47Like my sons,

00:37:48and it's kids like this

00:37:49that make wrestling

00:37:50what it is today.

00:37:51Carrie Von Erich,

00:37:52as his brother David

00:37:53and Kevin

00:37:54have almost

00:37:55a religious responsibility

00:37:57to learn the art

00:37:59of wrestling

00:37:59from their father

00:38:00since they were

00:38:01small children.

00:38:02Winning something

00:38:03our dad instilled

00:38:03in us a long time ago

00:38:04and we do it

00:38:05as fairly as we can,

00:38:06but number one,

00:38:07goal is to win.

00:38:08Two, three,

00:38:09oh,

00:38:10what a dazzling show

00:38:11of wrestling ability!

00:38:18There's a misconception

00:38:20that Fritz sort of dragged

00:38:22all his sons into the ring

00:38:23kicking and screaming,

00:38:24but I think for Kevin

00:38:26and then David

00:38:27and then Carrie,

00:38:28it was hard to turn down

00:38:29the allure of the

00:38:30pro wrestling ring

00:38:31and once they got in there

00:38:32and the crowd started

00:38:33reacting to them,

00:38:34Fritz basically said,

00:38:36well, if they're all in,

00:38:37let's make the most of it.

00:38:41Fantastic!

00:38:42What excitement!

00:38:43There's just nothing like it

00:38:45in the whole world!

00:38:47They would come out

00:38:48through the crowd

00:38:49to different songs.

00:38:52It would look range

00:38:52by ZZ Top.

00:38:53Well, here it's fine

00:38:56and you've got the time

00:38:59and I tell you get

00:39:02don't sell me

00:39:04We wanted to put

00:39:06the kind of wrestling

00:39:07out there that we'd like.

00:39:09So rock was a big part

00:39:11of our presentation.

00:39:13Son of a prize piper

00:39:14of being used to this area.

00:39:15All of a sudden

00:39:16you have something

00:39:17that becomes this rock show

00:39:18and it was a rock show.

00:39:20You watched the other matches

00:39:21they were all good

00:39:22but when they came out

00:39:23that was the show.

00:39:25It was just pure energy.

00:39:29The guys wanted to be like them.

00:39:31The girls wanted to be with them.

00:39:33Everyone trying to

00:39:34grab a hold of Carrie.

00:39:36Matt's gonna kiss.

00:39:37Boy, she's lucky, isn't she?

00:39:38It was just a spectacle

00:39:39any time that they would

00:39:41come to the ring.

00:39:42Every match that you'll see tonight

00:39:43is not from a studio.

00:39:45It's from a live arena.

00:39:47One of the oldest,

00:39:48most well-known arenas

00:39:48certainly in Texas

00:39:49probably in the world itself.

00:39:51The world-famous Sportatorium.

00:39:53If it's there,

00:39:54it's the best

00:39:54in professional wrestling.

00:39:55The home of the Von Erichs.

00:40:13Sportatorium's

00:40:13I bragged to my friends

00:40:17for weeks.

00:40:18Bro,

00:40:20I saw the Von Erichs live.

00:40:21Watch this.

00:40:25It wasn't your daddy's wrestling anymore.

00:40:28They changed the demographic

00:40:30and I think also

00:40:31the show on TV

00:40:33was completely different.

00:40:35Hi, I'm Carrie Von Erich

00:40:36and this is my dog, Shea.

00:40:38For several weeks now,

00:40:40we've been telling you

00:40:40about the changes

00:40:41in the new world-class wrestling show

00:40:43and this is just some

00:40:44of the improvements we've made.

00:40:45We want to put boom mics

00:40:47in the ring.

00:40:48Cameras, not just by the ring,

00:40:50they climb up on the ring.

00:40:52I'll never forget it.

00:40:54Fritz set Carrie and I

00:40:55down in his office

00:40:56and he said,

00:40:57I'm getting ready to do

00:40:58this thing called syndication

00:41:00that we're going to go

00:41:01all over the country

00:41:02and all over the world.

00:41:03It's cable TV

00:41:04and we're like,

00:41:05what is that?

00:41:06You know,

00:41:06when we first started syndication,

00:41:08we had 10 or 12 markets

00:41:09and then we got 20.

00:41:11Pretty soon we were

00:41:11in 47 markets.

00:41:12When cable started

00:41:14coming around,

00:41:15we finally got world-class

00:41:16wrestling out of Dallas

00:41:18and that's when I was exposed

00:41:19to the Von Erichs

00:41:20and how important

00:41:22the Von Erichs were

00:41:23to the state of Texas.

00:41:24You know,

00:41:25I would watch KTTV,

00:41:27Channel 11

00:41:27in my dorm.

00:41:29It was absolutely amazing.

00:41:30Three, Carrie Von Erich

00:41:32wins the box.

00:41:34The rock concert atmosphere,

00:41:36the sportatorium craze,

00:41:37the way they looked on TV,

00:41:40all of this combined

00:41:41to make the Von Erichs

00:41:43like the hottest thing

00:41:44in all of Texas.

00:41:46The Von Erichs

00:41:47in Texas

00:41:48was almost religion.

00:41:50It was a family

00:41:51of superheroes.

00:41:52Here, obviously,

00:41:53the Dallas Cowboys,

00:41:54how popular they were.

00:41:55If there's anything

00:41:56a Texan loves more

00:41:57than chili,

00:41:57it would have to be

00:41:58the sport of football.

00:42:00If you saw a Dallas Cowboy

00:42:01at the local sports store,

00:42:03you didn't know who he was

00:42:04because he didn't have

00:42:05the helmet and the number on.

00:42:06To where with wrestling,

00:42:07you know,

00:42:08there they were

00:42:08right there in your living room

00:42:09every Saturday night

00:42:10doing an interview

00:42:11right in your face.

00:42:12Yeah, baby.

00:42:13We told you, Bill,

00:42:15there's something magic

00:42:16with Kevin and I

00:42:16in that ring together.

00:42:17We would get tickets

00:42:19to go watch them wrestle,

00:42:20and so they were pretty popular

00:42:22in terms of what we would

00:42:23talk about in the locker room.

00:42:25There was two things

00:42:26that were big in Texas.

00:42:27It was football

00:42:27and the Von Erichs.

00:42:28It wasn't football and wrestling.

00:42:29It was football and the Von Erichs.

00:42:32I think what really

00:42:33made the Von Erichs

00:42:34more popular

00:42:35than a lot of other

00:42:37great babyfaces

00:42:38around the country

00:42:39was you saw them grow up

00:42:41and everybody felt like

00:42:42almost like

00:42:43they're part of the life.

00:42:45They're part of

00:42:45what's happening to them.

00:42:47They really come behind us.

00:42:48They were like their kids

00:42:49and they're like all parents

00:42:50and all the young kids

00:42:51around and everything else.

00:42:52They're really nice to us here.

00:42:53So we love it.

00:42:54They're part of us.

00:42:55We took an ownership

00:42:57of the Von Erich boys.

00:42:58These were salt of the earth guys.

00:43:00Tell us a little bit about Kevin.

00:43:02I've been getting

00:43:03into some cliff diving.

00:43:04I went to cliff diving

00:43:05out in Acapulco

00:43:06a couple of weeks ago

00:43:07and I like to ride poems.

00:43:09I like to ride horses.

00:43:10I like to fish.

00:43:13Kevin and I have just gotten

00:43:14into a little bit of skydiving.

00:43:16We've been doing that

00:43:17for about two months now.

00:43:18We weren't big shots.

00:43:20We acted like

00:43:20we were your big brother.

00:43:22Your son, your grandson,

00:43:24your uncle, your cousin.

00:43:26Von Erich was the name

00:43:28Dad gave me

00:43:28and I'm proud to have it.

00:43:30It was so important

00:43:31to be a good role model.

00:43:33Be respectful.

00:43:34My dad was like that.

00:43:36I didn't think any of them

00:43:38were presumptuous

00:43:39about who they were

00:43:40or ever even said,

00:43:42hey, do you know who I am?

00:43:43Or, hey, I'm this,

00:43:44I'm that, no, no.

00:43:46I think that's Fritz

00:43:48teaching them,

00:43:49hey, you're somebody

00:43:50but you're nobody.

00:43:51The people make you

00:43:53who you are.

00:43:54With my brothers and I,

00:43:55if we knew it was a fight,

00:43:57the people are right there,

00:43:58they're cheering for us

00:43:59just as loud as if we lose

00:44:01because they want us to know

00:44:02that they're behind us

00:44:03all the way.

00:44:05It was just a great life,

00:44:07you know.

00:44:08I can remember

00:44:09the three of us

00:44:10just being young

00:44:11and getting in the car

00:44:12and head up to Oklahoma

00:44:14for spot shows

00:44:15or down to the middle of Texas

00:44:16for spot shows.

00:44:17We were kids.

00:44:18Everything was fun.

00:44:20Everybody was our friend.

00:44:21The police all knew us.

00:44:23We all liked each other.

00:44:25I guess it kind of spoils you

00:44:27because you can get in your car.

00:44:28All you gotta do

00:44:29is take your boots

00:44:30and your trunks

00:44:30and go to another town

00:44:32and make a living

00:44:34and swim in the rivers

00:44:35all the way up

00:44:36and all the way back

00:44:38and just laugh

00:44:39the whole time.

00:44:41Man, that was fun.

00:44:43Just me and my brothers.

00:44:46The greatest name

00:44:47in professional wrestling

00:44:48today,

00:44:48the Von Eriks

00:44:49have been for years.

00:44:50Today,

00:44:51the allegiance

00:44:51of a lot of wrestling fans

00:44:53belongs to the Von Eriks

00:44:54to Father Fritz

00:44:56and his three wrestling sons

00:44:57and there are still

00:44:58two more Von Eriks

00:45:00waiting to jump

00:45:01into the ring.

00:45:01Mike

00:45:02and Chris.

00:45:04Right now,

00:45:05the Von Eriks

00:45:05are a prime attraction

00:45:06a guaranteed draw

00:45:08at dozens

00:45:09of wrestling arenas.

00:45:10But as successful

00:45:11as they are,

00:45:12they've never forgotten

00:45:13that the most important

00:45:14ingredient in any

00:45:16family business

00:45:17is the family.

00:45:18You talk about Fritz,

00:45:20family man,

00:45:21businessman.

00:45:22His business

00:45:23is his family.

00:45:24They're your meal ticket

00:45:25right now.

00:45:26The dramatic arrival

00:45:27of the Von Eriks

00:45:29as hundreds of youngsters

00:45:30come to the ring

00:45:31seeking autographs,

00:45:32their pictures.

00:45:33But there's this

00:45:34just constant demand.

00:45:36The feeling that like

00:45:37if we let anything slip,

00:45:39then this could all

00:45:40come crashing down.

00:45:41It was just a ton

00:45:42of pressure on them

00:45:43to keep it going.

00:45:48We would have

00:45:49a weekly family reunion

00:45:50in there,

00:45:51you know,

00:45:51on Friday nights.

00:45:53Good evening

00:45:54and welcome

00:45:55to the world famous

00:45:56Sportatorium,

00:45:57the home of

00:45:57world class

00:45:58championship wrestling.

00:46:00I'd come down

00:46:01right here.

00:46:02Always meet people

00:46:03here, you know,

00:46:04and hanging their arms

00:46:05out.

00:46:06I've got scars

00:46:07all over my shoulder

00:46:08for the girls

00:46:08scratching like this.

00:46:10You should see

00:46:10my shoulders.

00:46:11Kevin Von Eriks,

00:46:12what a beautiful specimen.

00:46:15Well, I grew up

00:46:16in here, you know,

00:46:16it's like my little

00:46:17playground.

00:46:18Oh,

00:46:19up to up!

00:46:23Yeah,

00:46:24that's some good memories.

00:46:26That's where it all started.

00:46:29Kevin was,

00:46:29he was an entertainer,

00:46:31but as a person,

00:46:32he was a pretty simple guy,

00:46:33you know,

00:46:33like he just wanted

00:46:34to have that sort of

00:46:36isolation,

00:46:37that sort of getting away

00:46:38from everything else.

00:46:39You're working nearly

00:46:40every night.

00:46:41This must be a great way

00:46:42to just take some edge off.

00:46:44Oh, man,

00:46:45you're right,

00:46:45though.

00:46:46I'd probably crack up

00:46:47if I didn't have

00:46:48the country to come out to.

00:46:50I don't get off

00:46:50on disco dancing

00:46:51and this is really

00:46:53where I'm at.

00:46:54This is where my head is.

00:46:55Hey,

00:46:55wait for your daughter

00:46:56to get old enough

00:46:57to come out.

00:46:58We'll have to see

00:46:59about that.

00:47:01Once I had

00:47:02my first baby,

00:47:03once Pam had Kristen,

00:47:05well,

00:47:06my priorities changed

00:47:08and wrestling

00:47:09became work.

00:47:11I don't think

00:47:12wrestling was

00:47:13the number one priority

00:47:15for Captain anymore.

00:47:16He's obligated

00:47:17to do the wrestling.

00:47:18He wanted to do

00:47:19the family thing.

00:47:20He would show up

00:47:21at the matches.

00:47:22He would leave immediately.

00:47:23You know,

00:47:24he didn't hang around

00:47:24and go home

00:47:25and be dad.

00:47:26And then also,

00:47:27my life went from

00:47:29loving my dog

00:47:30and my 22

00:47:30to that baby

00:47:32and Pam,

00:47:34my queen,

00:47:34that gave me that baby.

00:47:36I had somebody

00:47:37to protect.

00:47:39Chris,

00:47:40dad,

00:47:40give me your

00:47:42good loan,

00:47:43you pretty girl.

00:47:45My father,

00:47:46big,

00:47:47mean,

00:47:48tough threats.

00:47:49He loved being

00:47:50a grandfather.

00:47:51Kristen and him

00:47:53were like that.

00:47:54Come here,

00:47:55close my face.

00:47:56Come here,

00:47:56you got it.

00:47:57You got it.

00:47:58You got it.

00:47:59My granddad

00:48:02was one of

00:48:03the best men

00:48:04that I've ever

00:48:05met.

00:48:06My baby girl.

00:48:08He was

00:48:09just the epitome

00:48:11of safety

00:48:12for us.

00:48:13Now that's what

00:48:14I call

00:48:15pretty,

00:48:16pretty,

00:48:16pretty.

00:48:18Now,

00:48:19me,

00:48:19always have

00:48:19one of your

00:48:19pretty face.

00:48:21Mimi was

00:48:23also so loving

00:48:24and my

00:48:25grandparents did

00:48:26a really good

00:48:27job of

00:48:27making us feel

00:48:29like we were

00:48:30all a community

00:48:31and we had

00:48:32each other.

00:48:33Look at me,

00:48:33Kristen.

00:48:34I love you,

00:48:35good daddy.

00:48:35I love you,

00:48:36so dear.

00:48:38The first time

00:48:39I realized

00:48:39that there was

00:48:40something maybe

00:48:41different about

00:48:41our family,

00:48:42we were going

00:48:43to have a

00:48:43Six Flags

00:48:44day as a

00:48:45family.

00:48:45And when we

00:48:46arrived at the

00:48:47park,

00:48:48there were police

00:48:49everywhere and

00:48:50they put us

00:48:51right on a

00:48:51golf cart and

00:48:52we had a couple

00:48:53hours of the

00:48:54park exclusively,

00:48:56but they opened

00:48:57the gate and I

00:48:57just have this

00:48:58image in my

00:48:59mind of I was

00:49:00sitting on the

00:49:00back of this

00:49:00golf cart and

00:49:01these people

00:49:02chasing us and

00:49:03screaming and

00:49:04this one lady

00:49:05had mascara

00:49:06running down

00:49:07her face.

00:49:08And I remember

00:49:08thinking,

00:49:09you know,

00:49:10they're not

00:49:10chasing anybody

00:49:11else and don't

00:49:12they know how

00:49:13boring my dad

00:49:14is and how

00:49:15boring my

00:49:16uncles are?

00:49:16Like,

00:49:16why do they

00:49:17think it's so

00:49:17cool?

00:49:19You never

00:49:20realized what

00:49:21kind of rock

00:49:22stars these

00:49:23kids had become.

00:49:25And here they

00:49:26come, the trio

00:49:28of wrestling

00:49:29personified.

00:49:30Everybody wanted

00:49:31to see the

00:49:32Von Erics,

00:49:32but they needed

00:49:33a nemesis,

00:49:34you know,

00:49:34and when the

00:49:35Freebirds came

00:49:35in, that's

00:49:37when wrestling

00:49:37just blew

00:49:38up.

00:49:39Michael Hayes

00:49:40and Terry

00:49:41Gordy,

00:49:42Buddy Roberts,

00:49:43the Freebirds.

00:49:44You finally

00:49:45had somebody

00:49:46that could go

00:49:46against the

00:49:47Von Erics boys

00:49:48and that was

00:49:49the perfect

00:49:49antithesis in

00:49:50the Freebirds.

00:49:51Hey, man,

00:49:51we're running

00:49:52these Von Erics

00:49:52out of Texas.

00:49:53When it comes

00:49:54to notorious

00:49:56bad

00:49:58that you love

00:49:59to hate,

00:50:01that'd be us.

00:50:03If we got

00:50:03to run over

00:50:04the Von Erics,

00:50:05we'll do it

00:50:06with pleasure.

00:50:07Oh, my goodness.

00:50:09Well, the Freebirds

00:50:10were just so

00:50:11easy to hate.

00:50:13The Freebirds

00:50:14brought their

00:50:14own flags

00:50:15from Georgia

00:50:15into Texas,

00:50:16which is

00:50:16something you

00:50:17don't do.

00:50:18It kind of

00:50:18became like

00:50:19a college

00:50:20football rivalry

00:50:21in a sense,

00:50:22Georgia versus

00:50:22Texas.

00:50:23This war is

00:50:24not between

00:50:25Texas and Georgia,

00:50:26it's between

00:50:27decency and

00:50:28filth.

00:50:30It was like

00:50:32setting a nuclear

00:50:33bomb off in the

00:50:34state of Texas.

00:50:34I've never

00:50:35seen anything

00:50:36like it.

00:50:37We're going to say

00:50:37thanks to people

00:50:38of Dallas, Texas,

00:50:38because it's the

00:50:39biggest crowd

00:50:40ever to be

00:50:40in the Sportatorium.

00:50:41Shows that used

00:50:42to on a Saturday

00:50:43night do 500

00:50:44people, all the

00:50:45time we were

00:50:46doing 8,000

00:50:47just packed

00:50:49to the walls.

00:50:50And so this

00:50:51one is going

00:50:51to start

00:50:52in a hurry.

00:50:53The rivalry

00:50:54worked, I think,

00:50:55because when we

00:50:57would get in

00:50:57that ring,

00:50:58you could tell

00:50:59that these guys

00:51:00really don't like

00:51:01each other.

00:51:02It may take

00:51:03everybody in the

00:51:04arena to separate

00:51:05these two.

00:51:06But there was a

00:51:06respect between

00:51:08us that really

00:51:09made it work,

00:51:10too.

00:51:13You're supposed to

00:51:14make them mad.

00:51:15That's your job.

00:51:16And of course,

00:51:17the fans ate it

00:51:18up.

00:51:18The whole family

00:51:19sticks together.

00:51:20That's been their

00:51:21motto and their

00:51:22creed.

00:51:22For two hours

00:51:23or three hours,

00:51:24they got to

00:51:25cheer for the

00:51:25good.

00:51:26It's not just

00:51:26our win,

00:51:27it's all of

00:51:27our win!

00:51:28And boo the

00:51:29evil.

00:51:30And that's

00:51:31what wrestling

00:51:31is.

00:51:32I get so

00:51:32wrecked up

00:51:33and I just

00:51:34love it.

00:51:34I really do.

00:51:36This is one of

00:51:36the few places

00:51:37where you come

00:51:37and holler and

00:51:38scream and they

00:51:38don't take you

00:51:39to jail.

00:51:40Me and my

00:51:40buddies would

00:51:41ride down there

00:51:41every Friday

00:51:42night.

00:51:43I was there

00:51:43watching the

00:51:44Von Erickson

00:51:44and the

00:51:44Freebirds go

00:51:45at it.

00:51:46You could see

00:51:47those TV

00:51:48ratings shooting

00:51:48up and all

00:51:49we had to do

00:51:50was keep doing

00:51:51what we were

00:51:51doing, just

00:51:51make it a

00:51:52little more

00:51:52dangerous and

00:51:53a little more

00:51:54reckless.

00:51:54This looks

00:51:55like it's

00:51:56going to be

00:51:56a wild

00:51:57blood fest.

00:51:58Whoop it

00:51:58over!

00:52:00When you

00:52:00watch those

00:52:01guys, you're

00:52:01like, they're

00:52:01beating the

00:52:02out of each

00:52:03other.

00:52:03I mean, this

00:52:04is incredible.

00:52:05And that's

00:52:05what Texans

00:52:06love so much

00:52:06about it.

00:52:07People love

00:52:08to fight.

00:52:09I never

00:52:09wanted to be

00:52:10a fake.

00:52:11I really

00:52:11enjoyed what

00:52:13I did.

00:52:13I loved it

00:52:14and I felt

00:52:14real doing it.

00:52:15I gave

00:52:16people real

00:52:16entertainment.

00:52:18Some of my

00:52:19brothers.

00:52:20I mean, they

00:52:21were really

00:52:21into it, really,

00:52:23really believed

00:52:24that what we

00:52:25were doing

00:52:26was real.

00:52:27Kevin Von

00:52:28Eric is now

00:52:29covered in

00:52:30blood.

00:52:31A lot of

00:52:31times after the

00:52:32matches, I

00:52:32felt like it

00:52:33was real.

00:52:34Because it

00:52:34hurt.

00:52:35And the

00:52:35free bird is

00:52:36a loose bird

00:52:37as he goes

00:52:38to the floor

00:52:38and says,

00:52:39man alive,

00:52:40what hit

00:52:40me?

00:52:49When you're

00:52:50young, you

00:52:50feel like you're

00:52:51bulletproof,

00:52:52nothing can

00:52:52hurt you.

00:52:54And now

00:52:55Kevin Von

00:52:55Eric,

00:52:58struggling.

00:52:59You can

00:52:59break a

00:53:00bone and

00:53:01keep going.

00:53:02Bo's got a

00:53:03broken nose.

00:53:03Hey,

00:53:05when you're

00:53:06right, you

00:53:06win every

00:53:06time.

00:53:07This doesn't

00:53:07hurt a bit.

00:53:08There's plenty

00:53:08more.

00:53:09You were

00:53:09pretty much

00:53:10always playing

00:53:11with pain.

00:53:12You had to

00:53:13wrestle or

00:53:14you didn't

00:53:14get paid.

00:53:15My nose

00:53:15has been

00:53:15broken dozens

00:53:16of times.

00:53:17I've got

00:53:17broken ribs.

00:53:18My elbows

00:53:19have been

00:53:19both dislocated.

00:53:20My shoulder,

00:53:21my knee

00:53:22operations,

00:53:23a tooth

00:53:23knocked out

00:53:24from Michael

00:53:24Hayes' boot.

00:53:25We used

00:53:25to take

00:53:26injections,

00:53:27xylacaine,

00:53:28marcane,

00:53:29procaine,

00:53:29but they're

00:53:30not drugs.

00:53:31They just

00:53:32numb nerve

00:53:33endings.

00:53:35And I

00:53:36didn't want

00:53:36to live

00:53:36like that

00:53:37anymore.

00:53:38And so

00:53:39to deal

00:53:40with that

00:53:40pain,

00:53:42I grew

00:53:43my own

00:53:43marijuana.

00:53:45Look,

00:53:45let's

00:53:45sprout it

00:53:46up here

00:53:46in the

00:53:46carpet.

00:53:49I don't

00:53:49want to

00:53:50be a

00:53:50proponent

00:53:50for such

00:53:51a thing,

00:53:51but I

00:53:51have to

00:53:52say that

00:53:52I took

00:53:53a healthy

00:53:53approach

00:53:54by growing

00:53:54it myself.

00:53:55Hey,

00:53:56man,

00:53:56where are we

00:53:56going to

00:53:56smoke one

00:53:57again?

00:53:58Kevin?

00:53:59If God

00:54:00makes it,

00:54:00if it's a

00:54:01vegetable,

00:54:01if it goes

00:54:02on a tree

00:54:02or in the

00:54:03ground,

00:54:03I want it,

00:54:04but I don't

00:54:05want anything

00:54:06made by

00:54:06man.

00:54:08And here

00:54:09comes the

00:54:10modern-day

00:54:10warrior,

00:54:11Cary

00:54:12Von Erich.

00:54:12For Cary,

00:54:14the business

00:54:15was becoming

00:54:17very taxing

00:54:18on the

00:54:18body in

00:54:19general with

00:54:21the amount

00:54:22of time in

00:54:23the gym and

00:54:23pumping iron

00:54:24and then just

00:54:25getting hurt

00:54:26in the ring.

00:54:28Oh,

00:54:28Cary is pretty

00:54:29well shaken.

00:54:30When you're

00:54:31getting hurt

00:54:32all the time

00:54:32and you

00:54:34start asking

00:54:36for prescription

00:54:36drugs,

00:54:37right,

00:54:38and then

00:54:39how much

00:54:40is enough

00:54:41and do I

00:54:42need something

00:54:42even harder,

00:54:44stronger,

00:54:45to relieve

00:54:46this pain?

00:54:47You know,

00:54:48you can just

00:54:48get caught

00:54:49up in that.

00:54:52And there

00:54:52were,

00:54:53there's doctors

00:54:54because of

00:54:54who they are,

00:54:55they're famous,

00:54:56who would just

00:54:56write a prescription

00:54:58and here you

00:54:59go.

00:55:00And then you

00:55:01take it and

00:55:01you go,

00:55:02well,

00:55:02it does help

00:55:03me feel better.

00:55:04Well,

00:55:04the doctor just

00:55:05prescribed it.

00:55:06It's legal.

00:55:07And I think

00:55:08a lot of people

00:55:08got fooled by that.

00:55:11Cary felt

00:55:12a big responsibility

00:55:13to the business.

00:55:15He took care

00:55:16of his fans.

00:55:18It's tough,

00:55:18but we know

00:55:19it's a job,

00:55:20it's a responsibility

00:55:21that we have to do.

00:55:22And my father

00:55:23bred us

00:55:24to be winners,

00:55:25not losers,

00:55:26and to fight

00:55:26100% every night

00:55:27whenever we were

00:55:29in that ring.

00:55:29So Cary fought

00:55:32between his health

00:55:33and keeping up

00:55:36with the image

00:55:38that was so

00:55:40important

00:55:40to the Von Eriks.

00:55:44Dave has been

00:55:45drinking Southern

00:55:46some for so years.

00:55:47Oh, oh, oh, oh.

00:55:48On the bed.

00:55:50I know Dave was

00:55:51over there.

00:55:51I said, Dave,

00:55:52what have you been in, too?

00:55:53Yeah, come on.

00:55:54I'll just drink

00:55:54some Southern, huh?

00:55:55I'll have you.

00:55:56Oh, babe.

00:55:58Dave was the only

00:55:59one of all of us

00:56:00that liked

00:56:02strong liquor,

00:56:03had a bottle of it

00:56:04in his bag.

00:56:07And then he

00:56:09told us

00:56:09he had a really

00:56:10bad stomachache

00:56:11and booze

00:56:11was helping him.

00:56:13Stomach pain

00:56:14must have

00:56:14did something else.

00:56:15I mean,

00:56:16he said it was

00:56:16like a knife.

00:56:18He had diarrhea

00:56:20for months.

00:56:22At the time,

00:56:23Dave was married

00:56:24to Trish.

00:56:25I know she didn't

00:56:26think he had

00:56:26a virus or something

00:56:27because it, you know,

00:56:28had some symptoms,

00:56:29but he didn't

00:56:31want her to worry,

00:56:32you know,

00:56:32so he wouldn't have

00:56:33said anything.

00:56:36So Carrie and I

00:56:37made sure

00:56:37he went to the

00:56:39doctor about it.

00:56:41A proctologist,

00:56:41I guess it was.

00:56:43They told Dave

00:56:44to lean against

00:56:44this little wall thing.

00:56:46They put his

00:56:47elbows down,

00:56:48strapped him in,

00:56:49strapped his elbow

00:56:50here in his knees.

00:56:53And Dave got mad.

00:56:55The doc hit a switch

00:56:57and Dave was

00:56:57bought up.

00:56:59He was furious.

00:57:02He said,

00:57:03absolutely not.

00:57:05I'll tear this

00:57:05place down.

00:57:06And he had

00:57:07unstrapped Dave

00:57:08and let him go.

00:57:09But if they would

00:57:11have done the

00:57:13examination,

00:57:13I think they would

00:57:14have found something.

00:57:18it's around 83

00:57:19that David first

00:57:21starts complaining

00:57:22of stomach pain.

00:57:23And also,

00:57:24I think,

00:57:25you know,

00:57:25taking a lot of

00:57:25hard bumps in the

00:57:26ring and especially

00:57:28coming up in the

00:57:29Atkinson household,

00:57:31maybe you're just

00:57:31taught to rub some

00:57:32dirt on it,

00:57:33you know.

00:57:34Because he wasn't

00:57:36being treated for it,

00:57:37he started turning

00:57:37to painkillers.

00:57:40One time he'd

00:57:41showed up on

00:57:45Quaaludes,

00:57:46you know.

00:57:47You know,

00:57:47when you can't talk

00:57:48and you're slurring

00:57:49your words,

00:57:50that's when it

00:57:51becomes bad.

00:57:52I've seen him

00:57:53where he's a puddle

00:57:54in the middle of

00:57:54the floor and he's

00:57:55supposed to be

00:57:56going to the ring.

00:57:57You know,

00:57:59so you gotta try

00:58:00and get him up

00:58:01and get him going.

00:58:03Before long,

00:58:04he almost couldn't

00:58:05overcome it.

00:58:08Looking at today's

00:58:08world,

00:58:09I'd say they've had

00:58:09an opioid problem.

00:58:11He was addicted

00:58:11to pills.

00:58:13And boy,

00:58:13I know Fritz was

00:58:14just irate about it.

00:58:16You're doing

00:58:17your fans a disservice

00:58:18any time you get

00:58:18out of the lane

00:58:19because you are

00:58:20an image to them

00:58:21that they want

00:58:22to live up to.

00:58:23And so many

00:58:23pro athletes,

00:58:25you know what

00:58:26I'm talking about,

00:58:26man,

00:58:27they have no use

00:58:28for their fans.

00:58:29Their fans is

00:58:29what made them.

00:58:30It's what made us.

00:58:32And we need

00:58:34to always be aware

00:58:35of the responsibility

00:58:36that goes with that.

00:58:37Image was really

00:58:38important to

00:58:39granddad.

00:58:41But Mimi was,

00:58:44I think,

00:58:45more concerned

00:58:46about family image

00:58:48and reputation

00:58:50than did granddad was.

00:58:54She wanted to

00:58:55have a perfect family

00:58:57that didn't fail.

00:58:59And Mimi was

00:59:00really concerned

00:59:01about media.

00:59:04Granddad maybe

00:59:05was to a point

00:59:06that it affected

00:59:07the business.

00:59:08Fritz always said

00:59:09it's one thing

00:59:10what a man does

00:59:11on his own time,

00:59:12but when you're

00:59:13on my time,

00:59:13you need to be

00:59:14top shape.

00:59:16They're under pressure.

00:59:18They were pretty much

00:59:19on call 24 hours a day

00:59:21dealing with the public,

00:59:23dealing with the news.

00:59:24Several thousand

00:59:25waiting in line

00:59:26for hours

00:59:27to see the famous

00:59:28wrestling Von Erich.

00:59:30It was fun, though.

00:59:32Everywhere you went,

00:59:34you were treated

00:59:35like you were royalty.

00:59:37We get endorsements

00:59:38through wrestling,

00:59:39and so we get

00:59:39free cars

00:59:41from these dealerships.

00:59:43They were top stars,

00:59:44and Mike and Chris

00:59:46always looked up

00:59:47to them,

00:59:48and they were like,

00:59:49if they can do it,

00:59:50I can do it.

00:59:52Mike and Chris

00:59:52were super close.

00:59:54They came to the matches

00:59:54every week.

00:59:55Right after high school,

00:59:57Mike wanted to be a part

00:59:58of what his brothers

00:59:59were doing.

01:00:00I've seen the debut

01:00:01of all these guys,

01:00:02Kevin, David, Carey,

01:00:04and now they debut

01:00:05in just a few minutes

01:00:06of Mike Von Erich.

01:00:08For Mike,

01:00:09it was hard not

01:00:10being a Von Erich.

01:00:12You know,

01:00:12if he was anywhere

01:00:13with the brothers,

01:00:14he was treated as if

01:00:15he was in the business,

01:00:16and it was contagious.

01:00:18Little Mike, I say,

01:00:19is a big old stud,

01:00:20but tonight I think

01:00:20he's going to show

01:00:21his colors.

01:00:21He's a Von Erich

01:00:22right down on the wire.

01:00:23Mike wanted to wrestle

01:00:24so bad.

01:00:25He wanted to be like Dave.

01:00:26Mike's been taught

01:00:27by the best

01:00:28because we were taught

01:00:29by the best.

01:00:30Do you lock your leg

01:00:30in here, Kev?

01:00:31Oh, just stiffer, yeah.

01:00:33Oh, that's an excellent

01:00:33one.

01:00:33I'm going to fall right here,

01:00:35and now I got his leg.

01:00:36Oh, yeah, I go nowhere.

01:00:38And here he comes,

01:00:41Mike Von Erich.

01:00:44He has not only his own

01:00:45career to think about,

01:00:47but of course he's upholding

01:00:49the honor of the

01:00:50Von Erich families.

01:00:51Part of it for him

01:00:52was just being

01:00:53with his brothers.

01:00:54Like, okay,

01:00:55they're not going out

01:00:56on the road

01:00:56and leaving me anymore.

01:00:57I get to come along.

01:00:59I'm the baby brother.

01:01:00We're going to have

01:01:00a good time together,

01:01:01you know,

01:01:02and they did.

01:01:03You know,

01:01:03a lot of people think

01:01:04that Von Erichs

01:01:04have bit off

01:01:04more than we can chew.

01:01:05They think that

01:01:06Mike's too young

01:01:07to be getting

01:01:07in the ring with us.

01:01:08This kid is not

01:01:09going to let me down.

01:01:09We're going to take

01:01:10those free birds.

01:01:10Oh, look at that move!

01:01:13At this point,

01:01:14the Von Erichs

01:01:15and the free birds,

01:01:17our story was so high.

01:01:19Party racked up.

01:01:20One, two, three!

01:01:25That it was time

01:01:26to take it

01:01:27to a stadium,

01:01:28which was unheard

01:01:29of back then.

01:01:31We were doing

01:01:32the six-man tag team

01:01:33championship,

01:01:34which at that time

01:01:34would have now been

01:01:35Kevin,

01:01:36Kerry,

01:01:37and Mike

01:01:38against the birds.

01:01:40Now,

01:01:40if the free birds

01:01:41think they can beat us,

01:01:42go ahead and come on

01:01:43with it all you got.

01:01:44And then the main event

01:01:45was going to be

01:01:45Flair versus David

01:01:47for the NWA

01:01:49World Heavyweight

01:01:50Championship.

01:01:51The nature boy

01:01:52Ric Flair,

01:01:53arguably the greatest

01:01:55wrestler of all time.

01:01:56I thrive!

01:01:57Woo!

01:01:57I thrive!

01:01:58I'm being called

01:01:59the greatest!

01:02:00But it was already

01:02:02decided.

01:02:03It was very hush-hush.

01:02:04But David was going

01:02:05to beat Ric Flair

01:02:06for the title.

01:02:10And then about

01:02:11five weeks before

01:02:12the show,

01:02:13Dave goes to Japan

01:02:14to work over there.

01:02:18for months

01:02:19before the Japan trip,

01:02:21he didn't look

01:02:22right to me.

01:02:24But it was

01:02:25the stomach,

01:02:26you know?

01:02:28Dave had that

01:02:29ashen look about him,

01:02:31you know,

01:02:31white look.

01:02:33His eyebrows

01:02:34would get white.

01:02:38And so

01:02:39Marty had an idea

01:02:41something bad

01:02:41was going to happen.

01:02:52this is December 24th,

01:02:54Christmas Eve,

01:02:561983.

01:03:01It was so cold that day.

01:03:02Remember,

01:03:03the pond froze over.

01:03:04Wow.

01:03:05That never happens.

01:03:10there's Kathy.

01:03:11And Uncle Chris.

01:03:12There's Chris.

01:03:14Dad,

01:03:15thanks for the stereo,

01:03:16Dad.

01:03:16Oh, yeah, babe.

01:03:17Wow.

01:03:18Thanks.

01:03:22There's Uncle Mike

01:03:23and me.

01:03:23Ah, Mike.

01:03:25You got a sperm.

01:03:26All the kids love Mike,

01:03:28don't they?

01:03:29Who is right?

01:03:30Take him out of his hands.

01:03:31Who is right?

01:03:32You got a sperm.

01:03:32Ow!

01:03:37Dear Heavenly Father,

01:03:38thank you for

01:03:39everything you've given us.

01:03:40All the family being together,

01:03:42the brothers.

01:03:43That's great, Lord.

01:03:44Thank you for everything

01:03:45you've given us.

01:03:46After that Christmas,

01:03:49our life would not be the same.

01:03:54For months

01:03:55before the Japan trip,

01:03:58Dave was white as a ghost.

01:04:01He didn't look right

01:04:02to me.

01:04:04I was with him

01:04:05when he wrestled

01:04:06in Austin, Texas,

01:04:07and after the matches,

01:04:08he was throwing up.

01:04:09He was sick.

01:04:10And he kept saying,

01:04:11ah, it's just some virus I got.

01:04:14And everybody just thought

01:04:15he had the flu.

01:04:16You know,

01:04:16it was

01:04:18this dead winter,

01:04:20you know,

01:04:20early February.

01:04:22We knew Davey was sick,

01:04:23but they had no idea

01:04:24how sick.

01:04:25The boys had been raised

01:04:26to be there.

01:04:27Just thousands of people

01:04:28had paid their money

01:04:28to see those boys wrestle.

01:04:30Shelter with a broken leg

01:04:31brought him.

01:04:31We expect him to be there.

01:04:33And he looked pale,

01:04:34and I could just tell

01:04:35my mom's face.

01:04:36She was worried about it, Dave.

01:04:37They were talking.

01:04:38And I looked at him,

01:04:39I thought,

01:04:39if I lost him,

01:04:41you know,

01:04:41I'd just put my hands on him.

01:04:42don't you go over there

01:04:43and die, Dave.

01:04:44And he said,

01:04:44I won't give.

01:04:45And I thought,

01:04:47I kissed him.

01:04:49Now I get.

01:04:50Yeah,

01:04:51can't happen now.

01:05:02When you go to Japan,

01:05:04it's always pretty much

01:05:05the same.

01:05:07We would eat,

01:05:08and we'd have,

01:05:09drink beers,

01:05:10and have fun,

01:05:10and you know,

01:05:11it was great.

01:05:13I talked to Bill Irwin

01:05:14about it.

01:05:15He said,

01:05:16they got to that,

01:05:17to Tokyo,

01:05:17and they went about

01:05:18six o'clock

01:05:19and had a big steak.

01:05:21And Dave wanted

01:05:22two steaks.

01:05:23And Bill said

01:05:24he couldn't even finish his,

01:05:25because Dave ate a lot,

01:05:26you know.

01:05:27But then,

01:05:28Dave ordered a third steak

01:05:30and ate it.

01:05:31We get out of there

01:05:32and go back to the hotel.

01:05:34Then we go into the hotel,

01:05:35we go in and of course

01:05:36the bar's still open.

01:05:37Well, shit,

01:05:38we gotta go in there.

01:05:39And David said,

01:05:40hey, I'll be right back.

01:05:43I think he left

01:05:45and went upstairs

01:05:46and puked.

01:05:47And then he came back down.

01:05:49Everybody that's there,

01:05:50including myself,

01:05:52we were kind of full,

01:05:53but he ate.

01:05:54And he ate some more.

01:05:56David and I

01:05:57were in that bar last.

01:05:59And David goes,

01:06:01well, come by the room.

01:06:02Come on by,

01:06:03you know,

01:06:03we'll have a drink

01:06:03or whatever.

01:06:04Last one.

01:06:05Went on into his room,

01:06:06went in,

01:06:07sat down.

01:06:07I think we had a beer

01:06:09or something right there.

01:06:10And you know,

01:06:11after the beer,

01:06:12it was the end of the night.

01:06:15He goes,

01:06:15yeah,

01:06:15I'm just gonna call my wife.

01:06:18Okay,

01:06:19see you tomorrow.

01:06:25Well,

01:06:25tomorrow comes,

01:06:26and everybody's on the bus

01:06:27at five o'clock.

01:06:28Like,

01:06:29what the hell?

01:06:30You know,

01:06:30where's David?

01:06:33And in the distance,

01:06:34you hear sirens.

01:06:37Everybody's looking at each other.

01:06:39Everybody up.

01:06:40We all went off the bus,

01:06:42right into the hotel,

01:06:43up the stairs,

01:06:44right to the corner room.

01:06:46And they were there with a key

01:06:47and unlocked his door.

01:06:50And there was David

01:06:51in the same spot I left him.

01:06:53just laid back,

01:06:56still dressed,

01:06:58in the same clothes,

01:06:59everything.

01:07:06To this day,

01:07:08I cannot stand

01:07:09a phone call

01:07:10before daylight

01:07:12because that's what

01:07:13I got

01:07:14that morning

01:07:16that Trish called me.

01:07:19And when that phone rang,

01:07:22it was dark,

01:07:24and I picked up the phone

01:07:25and she was crying.

01:07:26I knew.

01:07:27And she said,

01:07:28he's dead,

01:07:29Kev,

01:07:29and I just said,

01:07:31I have to go.

01:07:33I hung the phone up.

01:07:37I went outside

01:07:38and I was just crushed,

01:07:41you know.

01:07:42I couldn't stand up.

01:07:44And I just laid down

01:07:45in the forest

01:07:46and pushed the leaves back

01:07:47and put my face

01:07:48in that black dirt

01:07:49and I breathed it.

01:07:51God,

01:07:52let me die.

01:08:00Seeing my dad

01:08:01and knowing that

01:08:02he'd lost his son,

01:08:03he'd lost

01:08:04Dave.

01:08:06Oh, my gosh.

01:08:07That was,

01:08:08that was the worst part.

01:08:12It was

01:08:14as bad as grief can get.

01:08:19Fritz had already said,

01:08:21whatever that autopsy says,

01:08:23we got to go with

01:08:24because the public's

01:08:24probably going to get it

01:08:25sooner or later.

01:08:28And everybody thought

01:08:29David died of an overdose,

01:08:30but he didn't.

01:08:32I heard all the stories

01:08:33around the industry

01:08:34that it was pills,

01:08:37it was this.

01:08:38I'm not saying

01:08:39there wasn't any pills

01:08:39involved because

01:08:40undoubtedly he was

01:08:42in excruciating pain.

01:08:44And,

01:08:44but did he do enough

01:08:45to OD?

01:08:46No.

01:08:48The autopsy said,

01:08:50the autopsy said,

01:08:50acute enteritis,

01:08:52heart failure.

01:08:53So basically what

01:08:54they were saying was

01:08:55because of the acute

01:08:56enteritis,

01:08:57his intestines ruptured.

01:08:58He filled up with blood

01:09:00and it caused heart failure.

01:09:13some say that David

01:09:14von Erich's death

01:09:15hit Dallas-Fort Worth

01:09:17like Elvis Presley's

01:09:18death hit the nation.

01:09:20David von Erich

01:09:21died Friday

01:09:22of enteritis.

01:09:23He was 25 years old.

01:09:26I mean,

01:09:27at the funeral

01:09:28that we're expecting

01:09:30500 to 800 people

01:09:32and we end up

01:09:32with almost 10,000.

01:09:35Fans from the area

01:09:37and foes from the ring

01:09:38turned out.

01:09:39The 1800 seat church

01:09:41was soon filled

01:09:42to capacity

01:09:42and hundreds

01:09:43stood outside

01:09:44hoping to catch

01:09:45a few strains

01:09:46of the service

01:09:47from the loudspeaker system.

01:09:49It was a quiet

01:09:50but unhappy group.

01:09:51It hit everyone

01:09:53like a ton of bricks.

01:09:56The schools let out.

01:09:58I live and care

01:09:59for David

01:09:59and I wanted to be here.

01:10:01The funeral procession

01:10:02stretched five miles

01:10:04across the Lone Star State.

01:10:05It was a hero send-off.

01:10:08They shut down

01:10:08the highway

01:10:09all the way

01:10:10from Denton

01:10:10to Oak Grove Cemetery

01:10:12and Oak Cliff.

01:10:14Things all of a sudden

01:10:14in the process

01:10:15like this is

01:10:15like a president died.

01:10:19More fans waited

01:10:20at the cemetery

01:10:21for the procession

01:10:22of 150 cars

01:10:23to arrive.

01:10:25I don't think

01:10:25that we realized

01:10:26how much

01:10:29we were loved

01:10:30until we saw that.

01:10:32We're just overwhelmed

01:10:33today.

01:10:35All of these people

01:10:36showing up

01:10:36for the last experience

01:10:38that I was ever going to make.

01:10:39Our bodies

01:10:40may be left here on earth

01:10:42but our souls

01:10:43go to heaven.

01:10:44It's made us

01:10:45accept death

01:10:45a lot easier.

01:10:47Hey, we know

01:10:47our brother Dave

01:10:48is in a lot better place

01:10:49than we are right now.

01:10:51The loss

01:10:52of a brother

01:10:52was devastating

01:10:54for him.

01:10:55He said,

01:10:56you know,

01:10:57I think I should

01:10:58just go and be

01:10:58with David.

01:11:01There was always

01:11:02this thing

01:11:03with the brothers

01:11:04that maybe

01:11:05not so much Kevin

01:11:06because Kevin

01:11:07was the oldest

01:11:07trying to protect

01:11:08his brothers

01:11:09but beyond that

01:11:10they always wanted

01:11:11to be together.

01:11:15after losing

01:11:16Uncle Dave

01:11:18Mimi

01:11:19was just

01:11:21filled with

01:11:22so much pain

01:11:23but

01:11:24she

01:11:25wanted to have

01:11:26a great image.

01:11:27You say,

01:11:28God help me

01:11:28through this

01:11:29you get off

01:11:30your death

01:11:31and you start

01:11:32moving again.

01:11:33You start laughing

01:11:34again

01:11:34and you refuse

01:11:36to stay down.

01:11:38You don't get

01:11:39over it

01:11:39but we do

01:11:40have to keep

01:11:41fighting.

01:11:42We have to make

01:11:42it for the weak ones

01:11:43for our children

01:11:44for our women

01:11:45for those that

01:11:46love us

01:11:47and those that

01:11:47are hurting.

01:11:48you know.

01:11:53You know like

01:11:54Kerry and I

01:11:55were talking about

01:11:55earlier today

01:11:56Dave wanted

01:11:57that world

01:11:58championship

01:11:58more than anything

01:11:59in the world

01:11:59and that

01:12:01world championship

01:12:04is going to be

01:12:05around the

01:12:05Von Erich waist.

01:12:06It has to be

01:12:07not only for our

01:12:08family

01:12:09but for Dave.

01:12:11When David

01:12:12Von Erich

01:12:12died

01:12:14Fritz already

01:12:15has this

01:12:15giant stadium

01:12:16show

01:12:17booked

01:12:18at Cowboy

01:12:19Stadium

01:12:19and they

01:12:20have to

01:12:20go through

01:12:20with it

01:12:21and now

01:12:22as much

01:12:23as they

01:12:23might have

01:12:24wanted to

01:12:25just mourn

01:12:26him

01:12:27they have

01:12:28to keep

01:12:28the business

01:12:29going.

01:12:31My dad

01:12:32was a businessman

01:12:33it's a family

01:12:34business

01:12:35this is what

01:12:36I do

01:12:36it's my job

01:12:38I'll never

01:12:39forget after

01:12:39Dave died

01:12:40there was talk

01:12:41about well

01:12:42we can't put

01:12:42the belt

01:12:43on the other

01:12:43two boys

01:12:44at that point

01:12:45and Fritz was

01:12:46like it's not

01:12:46an option

01:12:47it's question

01:12:48now which of

01:12:48you two

01:12:49is going to

01:12:49be the next

01:12:50world champion

01:12:51so when you

01:12:51take that

01:12:52title

01:12:53there's no

01:12:53question

01:12:54anybody's

01:12:54man in the

01:12:55world

01:12:55that you

01:12:55are the

01:12:56best that

01:12:56there is

01:12:57the best

01:12:57there ever

01:12:57was

01:12:58all in

01:12:59David's

01:12:59memory

01:13:00and so

01:13:01and so

01:13:01Carrie and I

01:13:01had like a

01:13:02coin flip

01:13:02with my dad

01:13:05but

01:13:07the truth

01:13:07though it

01:13:07was

01:13:08that I

01:13:09was married

01:13:09and I

01:13:10did not

01:13:10want to

01:13:11travel

01:13:11like the

01:13:12world champion

01:13:12has to

01:13:13travel

01:13:13it's all

01:13:14over the

01:13:14place

01:13:15I had

01:13:16I had my

01:13:16children

01:13:16I didn't

01:13:17want to be

01:13:17world champion

01:13:19and

01:13:20Carrie did

01:13:22and so

01:13:23as far as

01:13:23the coin flip

01:13:24is concerned

01:13:24it was more

01:13:25like

01:13:25you win

01:13:29there are no

01:13:31seatbelts on

01:13:31the chairs

01:13:32here at

01:13:32Texas Stadium

01:13:33but we

01:13:34almost need

01:13:34them

01:13:34my goodness

01:13:35I mean

01:13:36what an

01:13:36atmosphere

01:13:37what a

01:13:39huge match

01:13:40feeling

01:13:42and

01:13:42Carrie had

01:13:44the weight

01:13:44of the state

01:13:45on his back

01:13:46from Denton

01:13:47Texas

01:13:47weighing 259

01:13:49pounds

01:13:49Mr. Carrie

01:13:50on air

01:13:52you know

01:13:53when I talk

01:13:53about the

01:13:54butterflies

01:13:54or something

01:13:55like this

01:13:55it's almost

01:13:55impossible

01:13:56to describe

01:13:57in words

01:13:57the way I felt

01:13:58but it was

01:13:59like all

01:13:59the Texas

01:13:59Stadium

01:14:00was electrified

01:14:01that title

01:14:02shot was

01:14:02supposed to

01:14:03be David's

01:14:04David passes

01:14:05away in Japan

01:14:07now his

01:14:08brother comes

01:14:08and steps

01:14:09in

01:14:09and who

01:14:11does he

01:14:11have to

01:14:11I mean

01:14:12Ric Flair

01:14:12prime Ric Flair

01:14:15Texas

01:14:15Stadium

01:14:16sold out

01:14:17the largest

01:14:17crowd ever

01:14:18to see

01:14:19wrestling

01:14:20anywhere

01:14:20in the world

01:14:21is on hand

01:14:22here at

01:14:23Texas Stadium

01:14:23a history

01:14:24making event

01:14:25Gary Von Erich

01:14:26in the state

01:14:28of Texas

01:14:30I was

01:14:31pregnant with

01:14:32Holly

01:14:33and it

01:14:34was

01:14:35a great day

01:14:36for all

01:14:37of us

01:14:37Gary Von Erich

01:14:39probably the most

01:14:40beautiful ring jacket

01:14:41I've ever seen

01:14:41he wanted

01:14:42to make his dad

01:14:44proud

01:14:45and all the fans

01:14:46too

01:14:46right

01:14:47to make sure

01:14:48that that Von Erich

01:14:49image was

01:14:49you know

01:14:50upheld

01:14:52this is it

01:14:53here we go

01:14:55watching that

01:14:56one

01:14:56Blair can't

01:14:57find a handle

01:14:58at my

01:15:00Papa Jody's

01:15:00house

01:15:01it was like

01:15:06watching a

01:15:06Mike Tyson

01:15:07fight

01:15:08back to his feet

01:15:10there's a drive

01:15:10by Kerry

01:15:13and everybody

01:15:14had to go

01:15:14to the fight

01:15:16power slam

01:15:18you got

01:15:1940,000

01:15:20grieving people

01:15:23we had to

01:15:24have the pop

01:15:25and it's

01:15:27a iron claw

01:15:31Kerry's got him

01:15:32here's the

01:15:32Nelson

01:15:33can't

01:15:33go

01:15:34way

01:15:35the dream

01:15:36steps

01:15:37true

01:15:37yes

01:15:41it's happened

01:15:51man

01:15:51it gives you

01:15:52kind of

01:15:52it gives you

01:15:52goosebumps

01:15:53thinking about

01:15:53it

01:15:53how special

01:15:54that was

01:15:55for Kerry

01:15:56to win

01:15:56the title

01:15:57Kerry Von Erich

01:15:58is the new

01:15:59world

01:16:00heavyweight champion

01:16:01to have

01:16:02our guy

01:16:03Kerry Von Erich

01:16:05you know

01:16:05that iconic

01:16:06stadium

01:16:06with the

01:16:07holy roofs

01:16:07so God

01:16:08can watch

01:16:08his team

01:16:10it was a

01:16:10day of

01:16:11celebration

01:16:11in the state

01:16:12for the

01:16:12Texas flag

01:16:13the big

01:16:14yellow rose

01:16:14and the

01:16:15heavyweight belt

01:16:16winning the

01:16:17ultimate prize

01:16:18in dedication

01:16:19to your brother

01:16:20who passed away

01:16:22Kerry Von Erich

01:16:23was a God

01:16:23in the state

01:16:24of Texas

01:16:24Prince

01:16:25there to greet

01:16:26Kerry

01:16:26there's

01:16:27Mrs. Von Erich

01:16:28Kerry's brother

01:16:30you know

01:16:31today

01:16:31the world

01:16:32belongs to Texas

01:16:33because if it

01:16:34wasn't for the

01:16:34Texas people

01:16:35I wouldn't have

01:16:36nothing

01:16:36and you know

01:16:36what else

01:16:37my brother

01:16:38David tonight

01:16:38he had the

01:16:39best seat in the

01:16:40house

01:16:40right upstairs

01:16:41looking down

01:16:41and just

01:16:42God bless

01:16:43him man

01:16:43because he

01:16:43saw everything

01:16:44I did

01:16:45and we're

01:16:45just so

01:16:45happy

01:16:46it was

01:16:48just one

01:16:49of the

01:16:49greatest

01:16:49moments

01:16:50I think

01:16:50in his

01:16:51history

01:16:51of wrestling

01:16:56then

01:16:57Kerry had

01:16:57to take

01:16:58on the

01:16:58responsibility

01:16:58of being

01:16:59the champion

01:16:59and it's

01:17:00not fun

01:17:01here now

01:17:02comes

01:17:03world

01:17:03heavyweight

01:17:03champion

01:17:04Kerry Von Erich

01:17:06that's a

01:17:06360 day

01:17:08deal

01:17:09he goes

01:17:10from

01:17:10David's

01:17:11dead

01:17:12you're

01:17:13the main

01:17:13event

01:17:15promos

01:17:16promos

01:17:18and you

01:17:19can't just

01:17:20say

01:17:20we're

01:17:20taking

01:17:20a week

01:17:21off

01:17:22so

01:17:23between

01:17:24that

01:17:25and

01:17:25losing

01:17:26his

01:17:26brother

01:17:27David

01:17:27that's

01:17:28when

01:17:28I

01:17:29started

01:17:29seeing

01:17:29a little

01:17:30bit

01:17:30more

01:17:31of the

01:17:31drugs

01:17:31starting

01:17:32to come

01:17:32in

01:17:32oh Bill

01:17:33so much

01:17:34going on

01:17:34inside

01:17:34my head

01:17:35I feel

01:17:36like

01:17:36I'm ready

01:17:37now

01:17:38I believe

01:17:38with all

01:17:38my heart

01:17:39I can take

01:17:39I think

01:17:40before

01:17:41David's

01:17:41death

01:17:41the drugs

01:17:42were under

01:17:43control

01:17:43where it

01:17:45wasn't

01:17:45causing

01:17:46any problems

01:17:46for him

01:17:47and then

01:17:48after David's

01:17:49death

01:17:49it just

01:17:53Carrie

01:17:53Monerick

01:17:54the new

01:17:54world heavyweight

01:17:55champion

01:17:55I guess

01:17:56that's something

01:17:56we've all

01:17:57dreamed about

01:17:59that was

01:17:59the right call

01:18:00for Carrie

01:18:00to be

01:18:01world champion

01:18:01for that night

01:18:03in that

01:18:04stadium

01:18:06regardless

01:18:06of how it

01:18:07turned out

01:18:07it was the

01:18:08right call

01:18:09Rick

01:18:09switches it

01:18:10pulls him

01:18:11back

01:18:11he's got him

01:18:12he's got him

01:18:13and that's it

01:18:14and Ric Flair

01:18:15the world

01:18:16heavyweight

01:18:17champion

01:18:17once again

01:18:18with an 18

01:18:20day reign

01:18:21the NWA

01:18:22was sort of

01:18:22doing a solid

01:18:23for the state

01:18:24of Texas

01:18:24you know

01:18:25for Dallas

01:18:25for the Von

01:18:26Erich family

01:18:27for all the

01:18:27tragedy that

01:18:28they were going

01:18:29through right

01:18:29in that moment

01:18:30and it wasn't

01:18:32meant to be

01:18:32a long-term

01:18:32solution

01:18:34I think for

01:18:34Carrie it

01:18:35didn't matter

01:18:36that he lost

01:18:36it so quickly

01:18:37because you're

01:18:38on top

01:18:38right

01:18:39how much

01:18:40further can

01:18:40you go

01:18:40like I'm

01:18:41accepted now

01:18:42right

01:18:42my dad

01:18:43trusted me

01:18:44to be able

01:18:44to do this

01:18:45and I did it

01:18:46I tried to do

01:18:46this all my life

01:18:47a national wrestling

01:18:48last world champion

01:18:49and I was never

01:18:50able to take it

01:18:50but Carrie took it

01:18:52even after losing

01:18:53the title

01:18:54the Von Erichs

01:18:55they were still

01:18:55drawing in huge crowds

01:18:56and I think that

01:18:58just says something

01:18:59about their start

01:19:01listen to this crowd

01:19:02roar

01:19:03they're on their feet

01:19:05it's getting around

01:19:07that the Von Erichs

01:19:07and world-class

01:19:08championship wrestling

01:19:10is the number one

01:19:11sport in the world

01:19:12today

01:19:14world-class

01:19:15was just booming

01:19:17line drop kick

01:19:19and there goes

01:19:20Michael Hayes

01:19:21they would play

01:19:22the show

01:19:23I think it was

01:19:23at 11 a.m.

01:19:24Sunday mornings

01:19:25we would have

01:19:26a replay

01:19:27of that

01:19:28at 6 at night

01:19:29which was opposite

01:19:31of 60 minutes

01:19:33which was the number

01:19:34one show in the country

01:19:35and we would almost

01:19:37double the ratings

01:19:38with a replay

01:19:41at this point

01:19:42world-class

01:19:43is so successful

01:19:45that

01:19:46you know

01:19:47Vince McMahon

01:19:47takes notice

01:19:48if there's one family

01:19:49that's dominant

01:19:50and reigns supreme

01:19:52somewhat

01:19:52in the entire

01:19:53wrestling world

01:19:54it would be

01:19:54the Von Erich family

01:19:55there was a meeting

01:19:56that took place

01:19:57in Dallas

01:19:58you know

01:19:59Vince said

01:20:00join forces

01:20:01with the WWE

01:20:03we'll go everywhere

01:20:05and at that time

01:20:06they would even

01:20:07take 40%

01:20:08we would be 60%

01:20:11we didn't do

01:20:12the deal

01:20:12Rich was

01:20:14why do we need you

01:20:15we just did

01:20:1647,000 people

01:20:18the wrestling family

01:20:20which has made

01:20:20Dallas and Fort Worth

01:20:22one of the hottest

01:20:22spots in the sport

01:20:23is still growing strong

01:20:24the people love

01:20:26the Von Erichs

01:20:27it's amazing

01:20:27but wherever

01:20:28the Von Erichs go

01:20:29a crowd always follows

01:20:33Kerry

01:20:34he was extremely popular

01:20:35people just loved him

01:20:36he was actually

01:20:38an audition

01:20:39with Sylvester Stallone

01:20:40for Rocky 4

01:20:42and they picked

01:20:43Dolph Lundgren

01:20:44for it

01:20:45but becoming famous

01:20:46at a really young age

01:20:48can be difficult

01:20:52and that was pretty tough

01:20:54for me

01:20:55as a wife

01:20:57being with somebody

01:20:58that was so famous

01:21:00I love you too Kerry

01:21:01but you're married so

01:21:02I'm just worried

01:21:04about his health

01:21:04I'm worried that

01:21:05he's going to get

01:21:06an eye out or something

01:21:07I'm not really worried

01:21:08about the girls kissing

01:21:09on him or anything

01:21:09I know that goes

01:21:11I don't blame him

01:21:11I would too

01:21:12I'd be jumping

01:21:13all over him too

01:21:14I like Kerry's body

01:21:16all of it

01:21:17all of it was really hard

01:21:18for he and I

01:21:19I kept seeing

01:21:21Kerry Atkison

01:21:22getting buried

01:21:23underneath

01:21:25the Von Erich image

01:21:28I was losing

01:21:29a part of my husband

01:21:30that was

01:21:31very important to me

01:21:34because Kerry Von Erich

01:21:35belonged to everybody

01:21:39maybe taking the drugs

01:21:40helped him

01:21:41to escape from that

01:21:44at least he told me

01:21:46that one time

01:21:50that's a big responsibility

01:21:51being on top

01:21:52because you're responsible

01:21:54for feeding everybody

01:21:56and drinking and doing drugs

01:21:58don't help you

01:21:58balance that that well

01:22:01Kerry sometimes

01:22:02is he 100%

01:22:03is he 70%

01:22:04what have we got

01:22:05to work with

01:22:05and when we finally

01:22:06get him in the ring

01:22:07Michael Hayes

01:22:08or Terry Gordon

01:22:09I don't care which one

01:22:11but when we get you

01:22:12in the ring baby

01:22:13I ain't going out

01:22:14to hurt you

01:22:15I'm going out

01:22:15to cripple you

01:22:16and I guarantee you that

01:22:20it was hard

01:22:21to be in that position

01:22:22to where

01:22:23you go tell someone

01:22:24that their son's

01:22:24got a problem

01:22:26I mentioned it

01:22:27one time

01:22:28and

01:22:29I got heat for it

01:22:31not from Fritz

01:22:32I'll just leave it at that

01:22:35my grandmother

01:22:36loved her boys

01:22:38so much

01:22:38and

01:22:39I love Mimi

01:22:41I love my grandmother

01:22:42but

01:22:45it's frustrating

01:22:46because

01:22:46it

01:22:47is just so easy

01:22:49to blame granddad

01:22:50it's not always

01:22:51as it seems

01:22:53you know

01:22:54a lot of people

01:22:55want to make Fritz

01:22:56the bad guy

01:22:57there is a deep

01:22:58love and respect

01:22:59between the boys

01:23:00and Fritz

01:23:01and it went both ways

01:23:02I saw it firsthand

01:23:04Mr. Epikenson

01:23:05absolutely wanted

01:23:06the best for his boys

01:23:08but he also wanted

01:23:10the best for his business

01:23:12Fritz was also

01:23:13very consumed

01:23:14with making sure

01:23:15that train

01:23:16kept running down

01:23:16that track

01:23:17and we are still

01:23:18breaking attendance records

01:23:19Harry Von Erich

01:23:20literally having to

01:23:21push his way through

01:23:22life was great

01:23:23everybody thought

01:23:24it was going to last forever

01:23:27wrong

01:23:29we had to deal

01:23:30with life as it comes

01:23:31don't cry about it

01:23:34the tragedy started

01:23:35coming around

01:23:38it had its effect

01:23:40suicides

01:23:41drugs

01:23:42alcohol

01:23:44you name it

01:23:45it all played a part

01:23:56it's so cool

01:23:57how you all

01:23:57got to wrestle together

01:23:59well just imagine

01:24:00you inside

01:24:00you know

01:24:01just playing outside

01:24:02but there's thousands

01:24:03of people watching

01:24:04so that's what's

01:24:05going to happen

01:24:06when they play

01:24:06with their brother

01:24:07in front of a bunch

01:24:08of people

01:24:11there was a time

01:24:12that they could all

01:24:13wrestle in any town

01:24:14and sell it out

01:24:15the Von Erichs

01:24:17have won the hearts

01:24:18of wrestling fans

01:24:19they're the most popular

01:24:20wrestling family

01:24:21in the world

01:24:23yeah

01:24:24it's not like people think

01:24:26it's a family business

01:24:28it wasn't fun

01:24:29it was work

01:24:31you're pressured

01:24:32to be on

01:24:33all of the time

01:24:34an image

01:24:35that they all

01:24:36want to uphold

01:24:38they're just good boys

01:24:39the world just needs

01:24:40heroes today

01:24:41that's all

01:24:41there's pressure

01:24:43to keep that name alive

01:24:44professional wrestler

01:24:45Mike Von Erich

01:24:46remains in critical condition

01:24:47if Mike Von Erich

01:24:49dies the whole world

01:24:50is going to hate him

01:24:50it's in the lord's plan

01:24:52for these things to happen

01:24:53the Von Erichs

01:24:54are strong

01:24:55I saw a lot of

01:24:56depression in him

01:24:57I do remember times

01:24:59where he wasn't

01:25:00sober

01:25:01the doctor told him

01:25:02he just might never

01:25:03be able to go back

01:25:04into wrestling

01:25:05dozens of searchers

01:25:06had been scouring

01:25:07Lake Louisville

01:25:08by ground and air

01:25:09since Wednesday night

01:25:10when I got the call

01:25:11I knew our world

01:25:12was crumbling

01:25:13investigators found

01:25:14a handwritten note

01:25:15mom and dad

01:25:16I'm in a better place

01:25:17I'd rather die

01:25:18than let you folks down

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