Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1 - video Dailymotion

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Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1

Transcript

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

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

00:00:37you know the laughing children you remember being a little kid too and it's just beautiful

00:00:47I love life now can't wait to wake up in the morning so I just say thank you Lord for

00:00:55another

00:00:55day you know he doesn't owe me a thing but a place to be born and a place to die

00:01:03there was a time I thought life is too long and now I think life is too short

00:01:10here come the Von Eriks

00:01:14you gotta understand how big a star the Von Eriks were in Texas

00:01:17if you knew anything about professional wrestling you knew who and what the Von Eriks were

00:01:21the Von Eriks the royal family of wrestling with father Fritz as the king of the ring

00:01:27and each of his sons waiting to take over the throne Fritz had six kids each of these boys are

00:01:34gonna be world heavyweight champions I'm dedicating my life to it the greatest name in professional

00:01:39wrestling today the Von Eriks we began to really understand how important the Von Eriks were to the

00:01:45state of Texas they were superheroes the Von Eriks are a prime attraction they were on their way to

00:01:51greatness until all the tragedy struck at six years old Uncle Jackie is just gone

00:01:58David Von Eriks was found lying across his bed early this morning as it's awfully hard to believe

00:02:03it could have been a heart attack Michael Von Eriks remains in critical condition at Baylor

00:02:08the medical center doctors say the wrestler has toxic shot syndrome investigators found a handwritten

00:02:14note mom and dad I'm in a better place Gary Von Eriks was in an accident recently this crumpled

00:02:21wreckage is all that's left some call it the curse of the iron claw it doesn't get easier

00:02:26Lord please don't take any more of my children was it a curse was it just a series of tragic

00:02:33coincidences was it the pressure of the wrestling business the pressure of family the pressure of

00:02:37the fans they did go through a lot of tragedy it was made for movie it's a new film it's

00:02:43called

00:02:43the iron claw don't you dare question me great acting Zac Efron did a phenomenal job but been nice

00:02:50if they'd had the real story this one is a little different I've never talked about the things I've

00:02:56talked about but I wanted it to be said it might sound like the craziest story you ever heard but

00:03:02I know

00:03:16it's true

00:03:20there you go when I'm out here with my grandkids to me this is as good as it gets

00:03:30and I've not been raised the way I was maybe I'd be different but it's just important to me

00:03:36oh when I think about my youth my time with my brothers that's it was so great so much fun

00:03:45we had

00:03:46then and then my dad he didn't have any idea what it was like to have brothers you know it's

00:03:55too bad too

00:03:55because uh because he was an only child and I can't imagine what that would like to be an only

00:04:02child

00:04:08Fritz von Erich is my father he was born Jack Adkinson in Jewett Texas he had pretty rough life I

00:04:16think he's

00:04:17only child and uh my granddad was busy and didn't have a lot of time for him my granddad didn't

00:04:24really

00:04:24pay any attention to my dad it 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 in their town the dads would

00:04:38bet on their boys and have them fight in the woods and when when granddad would lose um his dad

00:04:45would just

00:04:45beat him in front of everyone the one person that my granddad felt like loved him was his daddy Ross

00:04:54his grandfather and so daddy Ross lived a few hours away and for granddad that was his one source of

00:05:02you know love and encouragement there was a guy in town who asked my granddad if you know he was

00:05:11maybe

00:05:1112 or 13 years old my granddad was at the time and he said you know Jack if you want

00:05:16to ride I'll give

00:05:17you a ride you can ride in my truck with me and I go out there every weekend I'd be

00:05:21happy to take you

00:05:23and granddad was so excited to take that chance the man drove him in the truck on the way there

00:05:32the man

00:05:33and um molested my granddad my granddad said I wanted to see daddy Ross so bad that I let that

00:05:42happen every couple of weeks you know to go see daddy Ross and it was worth it so that that

00:05:48you know broke

00:05:49my heart whenever he told me about that that he was um molested as a little boy I didn't know

00:05:58that

00:05:59there are things he didn't tell me but he did tell Kristen it's just really I guess he had no

00:06:05reason

00:06:06to tell me I didn't need to know I suppose kind of surprising

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

00:06:25the best way to get people to notice him was his athletic ability his size

00:06:33and so he went to college and he actually had a scholarship for football and he threw discus

00:06:40at SMU here you were at SMU with a scholarship and you met this uh young lady named Doris at

00:06:48the

00:06:49time that my grandparents met they loved each other so much and Mimi she wasn't gonna let this boy go

00:06:57you know like this was a boy that was going places and uh you eventually married Doris but what did

00:07:02that

00:07:02cost you you mean up to an hour at that time well it it cost me my scholarship when I

00:07:10started as a freshman

00:07:11at SMU they put a non-marriage rule in that any freshman that came in from then on at that

00:07:16time and later if they got married they lost a scholarship so because you

00:07:20I didn't think it meant me I was too great uh-huh and you lost a scholarship yes sir just

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

00:07:28all this time went on uh I had a wife and a young baby on the way and uh I

00:07:34really didn't didn't know what I was gonna do yet

00:07:42he tried lots of jobs he was a detective and a bus driver

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

00:07:53I said French you got a big name at SMU he said man we can train you for about six

00:07:58months put you in

00:07:58that sport term you'll sell that building out and when he mentioned how much money I was gonna make

00:08:03football in there I mean to tell you he got my attention yes he said you're liable to make twenty

00:08:07or twenty five thousand dollars your first year in the business man I belong to him after that

00:08:12that's when my dad started professional wrestling Jack Atkinson of Dallas 251 pounder

00:08:19Atkinson is the tall boy on the right so Jack Atkinson started off as a local hero football player from

00:08:26SMU

00:08:26but he set out to travel far and wide to really make this his full-time career

00:08:31in wrestling there's no middle ground either want the people to love you or to hate you people

00:08:39love to cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy I think he was really smart in seeing

00:08:45the

00:08:45opportunity there to be a memorable heel a bad guy and so that's what my dad did he thought well

00:08:55the most

00:08:56detestable person I can think of would be a Nazi he changed his name to Fritz von Erich basically the

00:09:03most German name he could think of and there was a lot of potential in that character but he is

00:09:14rough and

00:09:15tough and nasty growing up as a fan if you watch TV you knew Fritz he just looked the part

00:09:22of a villain

00:09:22and and he played the part of a villain unbelievably the iron claw was Fritz's infamous finishing hold

00:09:32where he would take his big mitts and just wrap it around the skull and just squeeze until sometimes

00:09:38until blood came out or until they gave up that character was beneficial for his family and he was a

00:09:46family man he wanted Jackie to have everything his wife to be taken care of granddad what you were

00:09:57reborn um 1957 oh that is so that's daddy right okay okay so uncle Jackie and you yeah by 1957

00:10:11was just the

00:10:13two of us me Jackie and my mom and dad my mother loved her children she loved me Jackie so

00:10:23much my mother

00:10:25was so full of love and my dad loved her we were happy and jovial and it was a great

00:10:32time you are look at

00:10:35that cute baby that's me Jackie uh he was my big brother he kissed me he loves you he had

00:10:46the best

00:10:47personality of his size funny like he's trying to make you laugh big brother stuff

00:10:59it was in 1959 up in Niagara Falls we didn't have money back then we were we lived in a

00:11:06trailer house

00:11:07and uh one day Jackie wanted to go play and my mother was busy and so she said yeah go

00:11:14play

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

00:11:21and Mimi said yes just go ahead come 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 um you can

00:11:37send

00:11:37Jackie home thank you so much for having him and her friend said well Jackie's not here

00:11:44Mimi said her heart dropped she immediately knew something was wrong

00:11:54that day Mimi was cleaning and it was cold outside and when she called her friend and said hey will

00:12:04you

00:12:04please send Jackie home she said Jackie never came over oh I mean as a mother when you say when

00:12:12you hear

00:12:12that that that's I just can't imagine Mimi 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 there was looking for him

00:12:34eventually the neighbors say just go home and wait go home and wait and and we're looking cops are on

00:12:40their way so Mimi goes home so an officer knocked on the door when she opened it he said we

00:12:48found him

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

00:13:00him to me but she said she there was this siren in her mind like why is this why is

00:13:04he not happy

00:13:04why does his face not match what I'm hearing and um he just you know said we found him and

00:13:11Mimi said

00:13:12that she like he went to hug her and she just punched him in the chest over and over and

00:13:17um just screamed

00:13:20and cried at 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 room or

00:13:37something that had the sheet metal siding and so he was walking by rubbing his finger along it

00:13:44and he touched a spot where the skin on the trailer had been electrified the guy had wired his trailer

00:13:52wrong he touched it it knocked him out he was face down on the ground some snow had melted so

00:14:00his face

00:14:01was in a puddle um 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 that news

00:14:16and then he comes home and you say here's what happened today my dad came home and punched the car

00:14:25window and broke the glass and it was a such a terrible time losing Jackie our first baby

00:14:35was a terrible blow to me listening to her tell that story made me realize oh she changed at that

00:14:45point

00:14:49she had an anger towards god god if you're real why did you let my little boy die

00:14:55she 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 Mimi blamed herself too but she also blamed

00:15:13granddad for being gone so I think that sort of cumulatively as time went on that you know

00:15:21anger that resentment sort of just built upon itself

00:15:32anyone that loses a child there's no pain and no hurt anyone can ever go through unless you lose

00:15:38one of your children how did you feel about god at that time I didn't I didn't have a I

00:15:42didn't have

00:15:43a lord at the time I didn't didn't know he was there I didn't think he was there I just

00:15:47turned I

00:15:47said lord if you're there if you're getting me back to Texas I said I will follow you the rest

00:15:52of

00:15:52my life he got me back to Texas it took a long time and I wanted a straight line and

00:15:58we went like

00:15:59this but we got there after uncle Jackie died granddad when he had the opportunity to wrestle in

00:16:08Dallas regularly or in Texas I think that they wanted to pursue that for sure because it meant

00:16:15that they could you know be together more and wouldn't have to be separate so my grandparents

00:16:22and my dad they moved back to Texas

00:16:31oh wow there's a ranch that's where your great uncles grew up

00:16:39so after I was born my mother had four kids all boys Dave was born in 1958

00:16:46Carrie in 1960 Mike was born in 1964 and then Chris was born in 1969

00:16:55look at uncle Chris what's he riding there's Chris my little brothers thought the world of me and I was

00:17:03really protective of him and and I just fell into the job that was me now my big brother and

00:17:08uh and I loved my brothers look at you and uncle Dave daddy yeah skinny Dave we always hunted and

00:17:18fished

00:17:19and uh spent time together oh what great memories we had we all had horses we rode horses everywhere

00:17:29didn't everyone have their own motorcycle and their own dog yeah we sure did and our own BB gun

00:17:34and that's what we did all day they're scared with us first 22. Carrie and I grew up together at

00:17:42their

00:17:43house out there and their ranch it was like Disneyland wear shorts and barefooted no shirt all through

00:17:50summer so that type of stuff oh that was me that's a flip oh yeah I said to my dad

00:18:00one day dad what

00:18:01should I do for a living huh I like to brag and I'm gonna show off he said you might

00:18:06want to try pro wrestling son

00:18:11after uncle Jackie passed away Mimi and granddad had this idea that the world is dangerous and they both

00:18:22had the desire to keep their family safe from the ugliness of this world so they tried to make their

00:18:33house be the fun house where you wouldn't want to leave at that time my Mimi was unbelievably strong I

00:18:43mean she had to she had to keep it together to lose a six-year-old is how do you

00:18:51go on and whatever

00:18:52she did I think she did it right I just think it's amazing that both of them had this mentality

00:19:00to hold

00:19:02it all together like that both of them tell me about raising the boys the greatest members I have

00:19:09in my life is raising those youngings gosh it was fine I wish I could do it again I think

00:19:15that my dad

00:19:15learned a lot from his youth even though his father didn't wasn't around he learned from that he's going

00:19:23to be the kind of father that is around don't misunderstand me I made a lot of mistakes raising my

00:19:27children but my wife and I love to have a minute of it that may be the difference a lot

00:19:31of folks they

00:19:32don't love it a lot of the home movies that we have you can hear granddad talking he's narrating

00:19:37the whole thing and just laughing and chuckling he didn't have parents that wanted to spend time

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

00:19:51in the

00:19:52history of wrestling who would you say is the greatest wrestler of all time that's a rather

00:19:59leading question don't you think what do you think the answer is going to be there I would say Fritz

00:20:03Von Erich right there's no doubt about that the most winning wrestler the rest of the storm the most

00:20:07money in the world today has got to be Fritz Von Erich at the time Fritz he just became uh

00:20:13an idol

00:20:14around here in Dallas Whitworth area Fritz Von Erich by his own admission the world's greatest wrestler

00:20:21people in Texas love Fritz Von Erich I mean he was that guy could have been king of Texas I

00:20:27remember

00:20:27Coach Landry and guys from the Cowboys would call my dad for advice and I just never really dawned on

00:20:34me how important he was not just Texas but all over all over the world my dad was a big

00:20:42star in Japan

00:20:43and uh he took each one of us the first one of my sons to go on the trip I

00:20:51don't think Kevin even had

00:20:52any idea what to expect when he got there the first time I went with him I looked out the

00:21:01window and there

00:21:02were all these photographers like so many at least a hundred photographers I said dad there's some kind of

00:21:10movie stores should see all the photographers outside and my dad that's who they were there

00:21:16to see I couldn't believe it but they just wanted to see us wanted to see uh the guy the

00:21:21iron glow

00:21:23kids you know just like any other little fella out there we uh we wanted to be just like our

00:21:27dads I

00:21:27guess all y'all are the same way and uh you know so we tried extra hard to I guess

00:21:33you know the young

00:21:34kids are just that way anything my dad did you know he was like we just wanted to be like

00:21:38him

00:21:39someone with Jack Atkinson's mindset he wants to conquer the world and by this time you know he knew

00:21:45how the business of pro wrestling worked and I think he probably just thought if I'm gonna make a go

00:21:51of this if it's worth my time to be a wrestler it's more worth my time to be running everything

00:21:57he kind of took over the Dallas promotion now Fritz was the promoter and Fritz then used that

00:22:04opportunity to exert his power and to kind of take over the booking of the Texas territory and all of

00:22:13the Texas towns nobody realizes it at the time but the path for the Von Erich boys is being set

00:22:20here

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 me Dave Carey Mike were all athletes and we were good at it

00:22:39but

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

00:22:47and it he couldn't breathe he really couldn't get enough air to to really be a successful athlete

00:22:54and it's just too bad it's just the way it is but me Dave Carey Mike we just had a

00:23:01gift for it

00:23:03Kevin I mean in high school he really loved football man nobody could tackle him he just run over

00:23:10everybody you know so there's one game he averaged like 21 yards a carry when dad would come to the

00:23:17football games it'd be a touchdown or something I'd look up in the audience and I'd see his hands do

00:23:22this

00:23:24and that's all I cared about that's all I wanted to see was how he felt about it David was

00:23:296 7 so he

00:23:31was a great basketball player in Lake Dallas the only all-state athletes that school was ever had

00:23:36with my sons David's all-state in basketball two consecutive years but the kids uh I've been very

00:23:45proud of it it was kind of cool David and Kevin both got scholarships to North Texas which when North

00:23:52Texas was really a division one you know powerhouse Kevin went first and then David went the next year

00:23:59and played basketball and football I went to college to play football I didn't care about my

00:24:07degree or anything like that I loved football and that's all I could think about it was his freshman

00:24:13year I was there when Carey went to watch the game and Denton at North Texas and uh I think

00:24:19somebody

00:24:20got blocked into him his own man or something and just tore his ACL you know just one of the

00:24:25worst

00:24:25things and he came back with a vengeance and I'll be dadgum if he didn't hurt the other one his

00:24:31uh

00:24:31sophomore year with my knees out I could tell it took something from my quickness football wasn't as

00:24:40much fun to me and so uh it was just a matter of time before I quit playing it it

00:24:47was over not time to

00:24:49make a living so I dropped out of college and I gave wrestling a try Kevin Von Erich was the

00:25:00oldest son

00:25:00and the first to give pro wrestling a shot when he decided to get in he didn't have to look

00:25:05far I

00:25:06mean his dad ran the local promotion by then Jack had taken over the Dallas promotion what's now known

00:25:12as world-class championship wrestling so this is slowly becoming a family business I remember when

00:25:20Kevin debuted like it was yesterday I remember it because I was such a big fan of Fritz Von Erich

00:25:26and

00:25:26then Kevin debuts and he's he's this really good looking young guy with his great body it's this

00:25:32incredible star athlete and you're like wow this guy could carry on the Von Erich legacy Kevin majored

00:25:38in football and suffered an injury and football's loss became professor wrestling game in fact when

00:25:44I started out wrestling we had to change buildings because the crowd was getting bigger from the Will

00:25:50Rogers complex in Fort Worth here's Saturday Night Wrestling there was the writing on the wall I could

00:25:56never make this kind of money cleaning catfish and washing dishes meanwhile David starts to take

00:26:04notice of what his brother Kevin was doing out there in the wrestling ring so even as a college

00:26:09student he begins to dabble in his dad's business as well David Von Erich high school all-stater

00:26:15and basketball Dave loved basketball when Dave got his first wrestling paycheck

00:26:25he thought goodbye basketball introducing from Denton Texas weighing 236 pounds David Von Erich David was

00:26:35the one that picked up on the psychology of the of matches really well man he was really good

00:26:43David blocks races suplex lifts race suplex by David Von Erich David had all the tools

00:26:50David was a natural it has been simply all David Von Erich who has dominated Harley race 18 years old

00:26:58he had his first seller that's pretty young to sell out a building like he did David Harley race

00:27:04David Von Erich oh he caught him in the claw he caught race in the claw that's it

00:27:12David Von Erich I've known his old man for a long time he's legend and this kid right here

00:27:23is not damn far behind

00:27:29David Von Erich Dave and I were pro wrestlers now my dad at all he never really wanted us to

00:27:40wrestle he really didn't he wanted us to go to college and have desk jobs I never wanted my boys

00:27:49to be in

00:27:49wrestling what I didn't realize was that the only last they'd ever known my dad was a pro wrestler

00:27:55and so that's the way we were brought up we wanted to be the best we possibly could and so

00:27:59uh my dad

00:28:00never pressured us into wrestling or pressured us into anything we just wanted to compete they

00:28:04literally had to talk for instance to let them start working and there's David look at that over the top

00:28:09and

00:28:09a big drop kick dad really didn't like that I say he didn't like it but the buildings were packed

00:28:15your shell out crowds every week Kevin Von Erich that's what the people here want to see my dad

00:28:21was a promoter too so we like that I think we have the very finest professional wrestlers in the world

00:28:27coming up my son Kevin my oldest boy Kevin Von Erich just stay with us you're gonna enjoy this

00:28:32I don't believe this look at Kevin the oldest brother wrestled so the younger brother wanted to

00:28:39wrestle and my grandmother she said whatever they did my granddad made him do it a hundred and ten

00:28:46percent so he did give them a choice but if they wanted to he made sure that they committed a

00:28:52hundred

00:28:52percent and she was supportive of that and then also my dad didn't have to pay us like he did

00:28:58the other

00:28:59guys we didn't mind the dad didn't pay us like the other wrestlers it was okay with us you know

00:29:03because

00:29:04everything was working out great we have probably the greatest wrestling father of all times a man

00:29:10by the name of Fritz Von Erich our ambition in life is to live up to his name and to

00:29:15do as well as he's

00:29:16done in this sport we have a family and we're a family and we did it for the family and

00:29:22and it's not

00:29:24for my family or for Dave's family it was for the family at the time my brother Dave got married

00:29:34young

00:29:35well he had a girlfriend and when to do the right thing and marry her and he did around this

00:29:45time

00:29:45David's girlfriend Candy gets pregnant and in 1978 their daughter Natasha is born David was real

00:29:52excited about her you know and uh Candy was just a wonderful mother once they had the child he was

00:30:01already talking like man I I don't want to be on the road as much it makes it hard he

00:30:05was so excited

00:30:06about the cruise I'll never forget he was good they were going on the cruise they had never been

00:30:10on a cruise and back then hardly anybody been on a cruise but and then sure enough Dave he gets

00:30:19a

00:30:19phone call they were able to get a hold of them and let them know that the child had died

00:30:28it was SIDS sudden infant death syndrome it was just horrific man we didn't understand I mean how

00:30:38does a child just you know back then SIDS was a huge questions and you know that a child could

00:30:45just a baby

00:30:45could just die in the middle of the night that had been perfectly healthy and but that's what happened

00:30:50you know obviously that was a big blow for Dave David and Candy it affected their relationship they just

00:31:01kind of drifted apart and they ended up getting a divorce that's tough you know nobody nobody wants

00:31:08to bury their kids Jack Jr. Fritz's firstborn son had died and then Jack's first grandchild dies of SIDS

00:31:20I don't know at that point if you start thinking in terms of a curse but it really does seem

00:31:25like

00:31:26there's a bad moon hanging over this family

00:31:32on my left the sensational Von Erich brothers David and Kevin

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

00:31:41off the ropes and a big drop kick

00:31:45we were performing and so we weren't home like

00:31:49like Kerry was

00:31:51at home when Kerry was the big brother

00:31:55and Dave and I were out Kerry was a lot more permissive and Dave and I were

00:32:00Kerry was that way with Mike and Chris and he let things go

00:32:04things like drinking and staying out

00:32:08Dave 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 uh also

00:32:31Kerry was a really

00:32:33an elite athlete

00:32:35the Von Erichs were all

00:32:37athletes but

00:32:39my brother Kerry was gifted

00:32:42in fact

00:32:43Kerry was offered a full

00:32:46rod scholarship at University of Texas

00:32:48to play football

00:32:50and Kerry I heard him say it I was sitting right there

00:32:53he said

00:32:53I 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 she couldn't throw it that far

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

00:33:18but my mother was there every

00:33:19every 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

00:33:34tryout for 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

00:33:51and 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 and things like that

00:34:14so Mike and I were best friends

00:34:16one day Mike said to Kerry

00:34:20can I have a party

00:34:21and Kerry said

00:34:23only if you invite Kathy Murray

00:34:26Kerry and I got to talking

00:34:28and the rest is history

00:34:29we just stayed together after that

00:34:32you know that young love that's so raw

00:34:35and so real

00:34:36and you're so young

00:34:38and it's your first

00:34:39and so that was really powerful for me

00:34:49my 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

00:35:00I 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

00:35:11it probably was scary to her to see

00:35:14this is a semi-famous family

00:35:16they're all wrestlers

00:35:17but I think when she saw

00:35:20what a beautiful family they were

00:35:21behind 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

00:35:35he just looked like this

00:35:36handsome jock

00:35:38you know

00:35:40here's what they're waiting for

00:35:41Kevin Von Erich

00:35:43David Von Erich

00:35:44Kevin and Dave

00:35:45I mean the story was already

00:35:47of the Von Erichs

00:35:48they were drawing everywhere they go

00:35:50and look at this pen of audio

00:35:53but the other thing was

00:35:54it was

00:35:56it was eating on Carrie

00:35:58Carrie saw that

00:36:00and was just thinking

00:36:01wow

00:36:02this is a really big deal

00:36:04Carrie wanted to wrestle

00:36:06but Fritz wanted him

00:36:06to finish college

00:36:07Carrie was adamant

00:36:09matter of fact

00:36:10Carrie literally

00:36:11had a meeting with Fritz

00:36:13he said

00:36:13I 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

00:36:25to the ring

00:36:26after the Olympics

00:36:27I don't really know

00:36:30that he ever thought

00:36:31of doing anything else

00:36:34Carrie just had this

00:36:36innate ability

00:36:37of this charisma

00:36:38some guys just walk

00:36:40into a room

00:36:40and have this light come on

00:36:42Carrie Von Erich

00:36:43listen to the crowd

00:36:47now you got

00:36:47Kevin, Dave, and Carrie

00:36:49so three Von Erichs

00:36:50on the card

00:36:51they had the look

00:36:52they had the feel

00:36:53and they could work

00:36:54Dave was the best

00:36:55worker of all of them

00:36:56the head scissors

00:36:57Carrie had the good looks

00:36:59and the charisma

00:37:00look at Carrie

00:37:01up top

00:37:02Kevin had kind of

00:37:04a little mix

00:37:05of all of them

00:37:07all these boys

00:37:08who just

00:37:10dominated

00:37:10every aspect

00:37:12of Texas wrestling

00:37:14there was a short time

00:37:15where Carrie

00:37:16me 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

00:37:23one town have Carrie

00:37:25one town have me

00:37:26one town have Dave

00:37:27and the houses

00:37:28were all good

00:37:28you know

00:37:29they're all sellouts

00:37:30they were great

00:37:31listen to this crowd

00:37:33roar

00:37:33they're on their feet

00:37:34it was like

00:37:35a fairy tale

00:37:36for two or three years

00:37:37and it all

00:37:42a good wrestler

00:37:43is one that

00:37:44you know

00:37:45a natural athlete

00:37:46first of all

00:37:47like my sons

00:37:48and his kids like this

00:37:49that make wrestling

00:37:50what it is today

00:37:51Carrie Von Erich

00:37:52as his brother

00:37:53David and Kevin

00:37:54have almost

00:37:55a religious

00:37:56responsibility

00:37:57to learn the art

00:37:59of wrestling

00:38:00from their father

00:38:01since 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 what a dazzling

00:38:11show of wrestling ability

00:38:18there's

00:38:18a misconception

00:38:20that Fritz

00:38:21sort of dragged

00:38:22all his sons

00:38:22into the ring

00:38:23kicking and screaming

00:38:24but

00:38:25I think for

00:38:26Kevin and then David

00:38:27and then Carrie

00:38:28it was hard to turn down

00:38:29the allure

00:38:30of the pro wrestling ring

00:38:31and once they got in there

00:38:32and the crowd

00:38:33started reacting to them

00:38:34Fritz basically said

00:38:35well if they're all

00:38:36in let's make

00:38:37the most of it

00:38:41fantastic

00:38:42what excitement

00:38:43they're just

00:38:44nothing like it

00:38:45in the whole world

00:38:47they would come out

00:38:49through the crowd

00:38:50to

00:38:50different songs

00:38:52it would range

00:38:52by ZZ Top

00:39:04we wanted to put

00:39:06the kind of wrestling

00:39:07out there

00:39:07that we'd like

00:39:09so rock

00:39:10was a big part

00:39:11of our presentation

00:39:16all of a sudden

00:39:16you have something

00:39:17that becomes

00:39:17this rock show

00:39:18and it was

00:39:19a rock show

00:39:20you watched

00:39:21the other matches

00:39:21they were all good

00:39:22but when they came out

00:39:24that was the show

00:39:26it was just

00:39:27pure

00:39:28energy

00:39:29the guys

00:39:30wanted to be like

00:39:31them

00:39:31the girls

00:39:32wanted to be

00:39:32with them

00:39:33everyone trying to

00:39:34grab a hold

00:39:35and carry

00:39:36that's gonna kiss

00:39:37boy she's lucky

00:39:38isn't she

00:39:38it was just a spectacle

00:39:40anytime that they

00:39:41would come to the ring

00:39:41every match that you'll

00:39:43see 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

00:39:49certainly in Texas

00:39:49probably in the world

00:39:51itself

00:39:51the world famous

00:39:52Sportatoil

00:39:53if it's there

00:39:54it's the best

00:39:55in professional wrestling

00:39:55the home of the Von Erics

00:39:57Sportatoil

00:39:58is the greatest

00:39:58building in the world

00:39:59atmosphere personified

00:40:01this crowd

00:40:02is going wild

00:40:05one of the wildest nights

00:40:07in the history

00:40:08of Texas wrestling

00:40:10I only was able

00:40:11to go once

00:40:12at the Sportatorium

00:40:14I bragged

00:40:15to my friends

00:40:17for weeks

00:40:18bro

00:40:19I saw the Von Erics

00:40:21live

00:40:21watch this

00:40:25it wasn't your

00:40:26daddy's wrestling

00:40:27anymore

00:40:28they changed

00:40:29the demographic

00:40:30and I think also

00:40:31the show on TV

00:40:33was completely different

00:40:34hi

00:40:35I'm Kerry Von Erics

00:40:37and this is my dog

00:40:38Shay

00:40:38for several weeks

00:40:39now we've been

00:40:40telling you about

00:40:40the changes

00:40:41in the new

00:40:41world-class wrestling

00:40:42show

00:40:42and this is just

00:40:44some of the

00:40:44improvements we've

00:40:45made

00:40:45we want to put

00:40:46boom mics

00:40:47in the ring

00:40:48cameras not just

00:40:50by the ring

00:40:50they climb up

00:40:51on the ring

00:40:52I'll never forget

00:40:54it Fritz

00:40:54set Kerry and I

00:40:55down in his office

00:40:56and he said

00:40:57I'm getting ready

00:40:58to do

00:40:58this thing called

00:40:59syndication

00:41:00that we're going

00:41:01to go all over

00:41:02the country

00:41:02and all over

00:41:03the world

00:41:03it's cable TV

00:41:05and we're like

00:41:05what is that

00:41:06you know

00:41:06when we first

00:41:07started syndication

00:41:08we had 10 or 12

00:41:09markets

00:41:10then we got 20

00:41:10pretty soon

00:41:11we were in 47

00:41:12markets

00:41:12when cable

00:41:13started coming around

00:41:15we finally got

00:41:16world-class

00:41:16wrestling out of

00:41:18Dallas

00:41:18and that's when

00:41:19I was exposed

00:41:19to the Von Erics

00:41:20and how important

00:41:22the Von Erics

00:41:23were to the

00:41:23state of Texas

00:41:24you know

00:41:25I would watch

00:41:26KTTV

00:41:27Channel 11

00:41:28in my dorm

00:41:28it was absolutely

00:41:30amazing

00:41:30the rock concert

00:41:35atmosphere

00:41:35the sportatorium

00:41:37craze

00:41:37the way

00:41:38they looked

00:41:39on TV

00:41:40all of this

00:41:41combined

00:41:41to make

00:41:42the Von Erics

00:41:43like the hottest

00:41:44thing

00:41:45in all of Texas

00:41:46the Von Erics

00:41:47in Texas

00:41:48it was almost

00:41:49religion

00:41:50it was a family

00:41:51of superheroes

00:41:53here obviously

00:41:53the Dallas Cowboys

00:41:54how popular they were

00:41:55if there's anything

00:41:56a Texan loves

00:41:57more than chili

00:41:57it would have to be

00:41:58the sport of football

00:41:59if you saw a Dallas

00:42:01Cowboy at the

00:42:02local sports store

00:42:03you didn't know

00:42:04who he was

00:42:04because he didn't

00:42:05have the helmet

00:42:05the number on

00:42:06to wear with wrestling

00:42:07you know

00:42:08there they were

00:42:08right there

00:42:08in 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

00:42:21they were pretty popular

00:42:22in terms of what

00:42:23we would talk about

00:42:24in the locker room

00:42:24there was two things

00:42:26that were big in Texas

00:42:27it was football

00:42:27and the Von Erics

00:42:28it wasn't football

00:42:29and wrestling

00:42:29it was football

00:42:30and the Von Erics

00:42:32I think

00:42:32what really made

00:42:34the Von Erics

00:42:34more popular

00:42:35than a lot of other

00:42:37great baby faces

00:42:38around the country

00:42:39was you saw them

00:42:40grow up

00:42:41and everybody felt

00:42:42like

00:42:43almost like

00:42:44they're part of the life

00:42:45they're part of

00:42:46what's happening to them

00:42:46they've really come

00:42:48behind us

00:42:48they were like

00:42:48they're kids

00:42:49and they're like

00:42:49all 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 Erics boys

00:42:58these were salt of the earth guys

00:43:01tell us a little bit

00:43:01about Kevin

00:43:02I've been getting

00:43:03into some cliff diving

00:43:04I went cliff diving

00:43:05in Acapulco

00:43:06a couple weeks ago

00:43:07and I like to ride planes

00:43:09I like to ride horses

00:43:10I like to

00:43:11I like to fish

00:43:12and Kevin and I

00:43:13have just gotten

00:43:14into a little bit

00:43:14of sky diving

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

00:43:21we were your big brother

00:43:22your son

00:43:23your grandson

00:43:24your uncle

00:43:25your cousin

00:43:27Von Erics was the name

00:43:28dad gave me

00:43:29and 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

00:43:37any of them

00:43:38were presumptuous

00:43:39about who they were

00:43:40or ever even said

00:43:42hey do you know

00:43:43who I am

00:43:43or hey

00:43:44I'm this

00:43:44I'm that

00:43:45now

00:43:45I think that's Fritz

00:43:48teaching them

00:43:49hey

00:43:49you're somebody

00:43:50but you're nobody

00:43:52the people make you

00:43:53who you are

00:43:54with my brothers and I

00:43:55if we lose a fight

00:43:56the people are right there

00:43:58they're cheering for us

00:43:59just as loud as

00:44:00if we lose

00:44:01because they want us

00:44:02to know

00:44:03that they're behind us

00:44:03all the way

00:44:05it was just a

00:44:06great 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

00:44:15in the middle of Texas

00:44:16for spot shows

00:44:17and we 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

00:44:25it just 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

00:44:33and swim in the rivers

00:44:35all the way

00:44:36all 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 today

00:44:48the Von Erics

00:44:49have been for years

00:44:50today the allegiance

00:44:52of a lot of wrestling fans

00:44:53belongs to the Von Erics

00:44:55to Father Fritz

00:44:56and his three wrestling sons

00:44:57and there are still

00:44:58two more Von Erics

00:45:00waiting to jump into the ring

00:45:01Mike and Chris

00:45:04right now

00:45:05the Von Erics

00:45:05are a prime attraction

00:45:06a guaranteed draw

00:45:08at dozens of wrestling arenas

00:45:10but as successful

00:45:11as they are

00:45:12they've never forgotten

00:45:13that the most important ingredient

00:45:15in any family business

00:45:17is the family

00:45:18you talk about Fritz

00:45:20family man

00:45:21business man

00:45:22his business

00:45:23is his family

00:45:24they're your meal ticket

00:45:26right now

00:45:26the dramatic arrival

00:45:28of the Von Erics

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 just

00:45:35constant demand

00:45:36the feeling that

00:45:37like if we let anything slip

00:45:39then this could all

00:45:40come crashing down

00:45:41it was just a ton of pressure

00:45:42on them to keep it going

00:45:48we would have a weekly

00:45:49family reunion

00:45:50in there

00:45:51you know

00:45:51on Friday nights

00:45:53good evening

00:45:54and welcome to the

00:45:55world 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

00:46:01always be people here

00:46:03you know

00:46:03and

00:46:03hanging their arms out

00:46:05and

00:46:06I've got scars

00:46:07all over my shoulder

00:46:08for the girls

00:46:09scratching like this

00:46:10you should see

00:46:10my shoulders

00:46:11Kevin Von Erich

00:46:12what a beautiful specimen

00:46:15well I grew up in here

00:46:16you know

00:46:17it's like my little playground

00:46:18oh

00:46:19off the rock

00:46:23yeah

00:46:23that's some good memories

00:46:27that'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

00:46:35to have that sort of isolation

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 to

00:46:42take some edge off

00:46:44oh man

00:46:45you're right

00:46:46I'd probably crack up

00:46:48if I didn't have

00:46:48the country to come out to

00:46:50I don't get off

00:46:50on disco dancing

00:46:52and this is really

00:46:53where I'm at

00:46:53this is where my head is

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

00:47:10I don't think

00:47:12wrestling

00:47:13was the number one

00:47:14priority for Kevin anymore

00:47:16he's obligated to do

00:47:17the wrestling

00:47:18he wanted to do

00:47:19the family thing

00:47:19he 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

00:47:31to that baby

00:47:33and Pam

00:47:34my queen

00:47:34that gave me that baby

00:47:35I had somebody

00:47:37to protect

00:47:39Kristen

00:47:40give me your

00:47:41give me your

00:47:43pretty girl

00:47:44my father

00:47:46big mean

00:47:47tough fritz

00:47:48he loved being

00:47:50a grandfather

00:47:51Kristen and him

00:47:53were like that

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

00:48:07he was

00:48:09just the epitome

00:48:11of safety

00:48:12for us

00:48:14now that's what I call

00:48:15pretty

00:48:16pretty

00:48:18now me

00:48:19always have one

00:48:19of your pretty

00:48:20pretty

00:48:21Mimi

00:48:22was also

00:48:23so loving

00:48:25and my

00:48:25grandparents

00:48:26did a really

00:48:27good job

00:48:27of making

00:48:28us feel like

00:48:29we were all

00:48:30a community

00:48:31and we had

00:48:32each other

00:48:33look at me

00:48:33question

00:48:37the first time

00:48:39I realized

00:48:39that there was

00:48:40something

00:48:40maybe different

00:48:41about our

00:48:42family

00:48:42we were going

00:48:43to have a

00:48:43six flags day

00:48:44as a family

00:48:45and when we

00:48:46arrived at the

00:48:48park

00:48:48there were

00:48:49police everywhere

00:48:50and they put us

00:48:51right on a golf

00:48:52cart

00:48:52and we had a

00:48:53couple hours

00:48:53of the park

00:48:55exclusively

00:48:55but they opened

00:48:57the gate

00:48:57and I just have

00:48:58this image

00:48:58in my mind

00:48:59of I was

00:49:00sitting on the

00:49:00back of this

00:49:01golf cart

00:49:01and these people

00:49:02chasing us

00:49:03and screaming

00:49:04and this one

00:49:05lady had

00:49:05mascara

00:49:07running down

00:49:07her face

00:49:08and I remember

00:49:09thinking

00:49:09you know

00:49:10they're not

00:49:10chasing anybody

00:49:11else

00:49:11and don't

00:49:12they know

00:49:12how boring

00:49:13my dad is

00:49:15and how boring

00:49:15my uncles are

00:49:16like why do

00:49:17they think

00:49:17it's so cool

00:49:18you never

00:49:20realized

00:49:20what kind

00:49:22of rock stars

00:49:22these kids

00:49:23these kids

00:49:24had become

00:49:25and here they

00:49:26come

00:49:27the trio

00:49:28of wrestling

00:49:29personified

00:49:30everybody wanted

00:49:31to see the

00:49:32Von Erichs

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

00:49:36that's when

00:49:37wrestling just

00:49:38blew up

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

00:49:46go against

00:49:47the Von Erich

00:49:48boys

00:49:48and that

00:49:49was the

00:49:49perfect

00:49:49antithesis

00:49:50in the

00:49:50Freebirds

00:49:51hey man

00:49:51we're running

00:49:52these Von Erichs

00:49:53out of Texas

00:49:53when it comes

00:49:54to notorious

00:49:56bad

00:49:58that you

00:49:59love to

00:49:59hate

00:50:01that'd be

00:50:02us

00:50:02if we

00:50:03gotta run

00:50:04over the

00:50:04Von Erichs

00:50:05we'll do

00:50:06it with

00:50:06pleasure

00:50:07oh my

00:50:08goodness

00:50:08well the

00:50:09Freebirds

00:50:10were just

00:50:10so easy

00:50:12to 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

00:50:17it kind of

00:50:18became like

00:50:19college football

00:50:20rivalry in a

00:50:21sense

00:50:21Georgia versus

00:50:22Texas

00:50:23this war is not

00:50:25between Texas

00:50:25and Georgia

00:50:26it's between

00:50:27decency

00:50:27and filth

00:50:31it was like

00:50:32setting a nuclear

00:50:33bomb off

00:50:33in the state of

00:50:34Texas

00:50:34I've never seen

00:50:36anything like it

00:50:36we'll say thanks

00:50:37to people of

00:50:38Dallas Texas

00:50:38because it's

00:50:39the biggest

00:50:39crowd ever

00:50:40to be in

00:50:40the Sportatorium

00:50:41shows that

00:50:42used to on a

00:50:43Saturday night

00:50:43do 500 people

00:50:45all of a sudden

00:50:46we were doing

00:50:468,000

00:50:47just packed

00:50:49to the walls

00:50:49and so this

00:50:51one is gonna

00:50:51start in a hurry

00:50:53the rivalry

00:50:54worked I think

00:50:55because when

00:50:57we would get

00:50:57in that ring

00:50:58you could tell

00:50:59that these guys

00:51:00really don't

00:51:01like each other

00:51:02it may take

00:51:03everybody in the

00:51:04arena to separate

00:51:05these two

00:51:05but there was

00:51:06a respect

00:51:07between us

00:51:08that really

00:51:09made it work

00:51:10too

00:51:13you're supposed

00:51:14to make a man

00:51:15that's your job

00:51:16and of course

00:51:17the fans ate it up

00:51:18the whole family

00:51:19sticks together

00:51:20that's been their

00:51:21motto

00:51:21and their creed

00:51:22for two hours

00:51:24or three hours

00:51:24they got to

00:51:25cheer for the good

00:51:26it's not just

00:51:26our win

00:51:27it's all of our win

00:51:28and boo the evil

00:51:29and that's what

00:51:31wrestling is

00:51:32I get so wrecked

00:51:33and I just love it

00:51:34and I really do

00:51:36this is one of the

00:51:36few places

00:51:37when you come

00:51:37and holler

00:51:38and scream

00:51:38and they don't

00:51:39take you to jail

00:51:40me and my buddies

00:51:41ride down there

00:51:41every Friday night

00:51:43I was there

00:51:43watching the

00:51:44Von Erickson

00:51:44free birds go at it

00:51:46you could see

00:51:47those TV ratings

00:51:48shooting up

00:51:49and all we had

00:51:50to do was

00:51:50keep doing

00:51:51what we're doing

00:51:51just make it

00:51:52a little more

00:51:53dangerous

00:51:53and a little

00:51:54more reckless

00:51:54this looks like

00:51:55it's gonna be

00:51:56a wild plug

00:51:57fest

00:51:58whoop it over

00:52:00when you watch

00:52:01those guys

00:52:01they're beating

00:52:02the shit out

00:52:03each other

00:52:03I mean this is

00:52:04incredible

00:52:04and that's what

00:52:05Texans love so much

00:52:06about it

00:52:07people love to fight

00:52:08I never wanted

00:52:10to be a fake

00:52:11I really enjoyed

00:52:12what I did

00:52:13I loved it

00:52:14and I felt real

00:52:15doing it

00:52:15I gave people

00:52:16real entertainment

00:52:18some of my brothers

00:52:19I mean they were

00:52:21really into it

00:52:22really really

00:52:24believed

00:52:24that what we were

00:52:26doing

00:52:26was real

00:52:27Kevin Von Erich

00:52:29is now

00:52:29covered in blood

00:52:30a lot of times

00:52:31after the matches

00:52:32I felt like

00:52:33it was real

00:52:34because it hurt

00:52:35and the free bird

00:52:36is a loose bird

00:52:37as he goes to the floor

00:52:38and says

00:52:39man alive

00:52:40what hit me

00:52:49when you're young

00:52:50you feel like

00:52:51you're bulletproof

00:52:52nothing can hurt you

00:52:54and now

00:52:55Kevin Von Erich

00:52:58struggling

00:52:59you can break a bone

00:53:01and keep going

00:53:02boss got a broken nose

00:53:03hey

00:53:05when you're right

00:53:06you win every time

00:53:07this doesn't hurt a bit

00:53:08there's plenty more

00:53:09you were pretty much

00:53:10always playing with pain

00:53:12you had to wrestle

00:53:14or you didn't get paid

00:53:15my nose has been broken

00:53:16dozens of times

00:53:17I got broken ribs

00:53:18my elbows have been

00:53:19both dislocated

00:53:20my shoulder

00:53:21my knee operations

00:53:23a tooth knocked out

00:53:24from Michael Hayes' boot

00:53:25we used to take

00:53:26injections

00:53:28xylacaine

00:53:28marcaine

00:53:29procaine

00:53:29but they're not drugs

00:53:31they just numb

00:53:33nerve endings

00:53:35and I didn't want to live

00:53:36like that anymore

00:53:38and so

00:53:39to deal with that pain

00:53:42I grew my own marijuana

00:53:49I don't want to be a proponent

00:53:50for such a thing

00:53:51but I have to say

00:53:52that I took a healthy approach

00:53:54by growing it myself

00:53:55hey man

00:53:56where are we going to smoke one again?

00:53:58Kevin

00:53:59if God makes it

00:54:00if it's a vegetable

00:54:01if it goes on a tree

00:54:02or in the ground

00:54:03I want it

00:54:04but I don't want anything

00:54:06made by man

00:54:08and here comes

00:54:09the modern day warrior

00:54:11Carrie Von Erich

00:54:12for Carrie

00:54:14the business

00:54:15was becoming

00:54:17very taxing

00:54:18on the body

00:54:19in general

00:54:20with

00:54:21the amount of time

00:54:23in the gym

00:54:23and pumping iron

00:54:24and then

00:54:25just getting hurt

00:54:26in the ring

00:54:27oh Carrie

00:54:29is pretty well shaken

00:54:30when you're getting hurt

00:54:32all the time

00:54:32and you

00:54:35start asking

00:54:36for prescription drugs

00:54:37right

00:54:37and then

00:54:39how much is enough

00:54:41and do I need something

00:54:42even harder

00:54:43stronger

00:54:45to relieve this pain

00:54:47you know

00:54:48you can just get caught up

00:54:49in that

00:54:52and there were

00:54:52there's doctors

00:54:54because of who they are

00:54:55they're famous

00:54:55who would just

00:54:57write a prescription

00:54:58and

00:54:58here you go

00:55:00and then you take it

00:55:01and you go

00:55:02well it does help me

00:55:03feel better

00:55:04but the doctor

00:55:05just prescribed it

00:55:06it's legal

00:55:07and I think a lot of people

00:55:09got fooled by that

00:55:11Carrie

00:55:11felt a big responsibility

00:55:13to the business

00:55:15he took care of his fans

00:55:17it'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

00:55:22my father bred us

00:55:24to be winners

00:55:25not losers

00:55:26and to fight 100%

00:55:27every night

00:55:27whenever

00:55:28we were in that ring

00:55:29so

00:55:30Carrie fought

00:55:32between

00:55:32his health

00:55:33and

00:55:35keeping up

00:55:36with

00:55:37the image

00:55:38that

00:55:38was so important

00:55:40to the Von Ericks

00:55:58Dave was the only one

00:56:00of all of us

00:56:00that liked

00:56:02strong

00:56:03liquor

00:56:03had a bottle of it

00:56:04in his bag

00:56:07and then he

00:56:09told us

00:56:10he had a really bad

00:56:10stomach ache

00:56:11and booze

00:56:12was helping him

00:56:13stomach pain

00:56:14must have

00:56:15something else

00:56:15I mean

00:56:16he said

00:56:16it was like

00:56:17a 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 did think

00:56:26he had a virus

00:56:27or something

00:56:27because it

00:56:28you know

00:56:28had some symptoms

00:56:29but

00:56:30he didn't want her

00:56:31to worry

00:56:31you know

00:56:32so he wouldn't

00:56:33have said anything

00:56:36so Carrie and I

00:56:37made sure

00:56:37he went to the

00:56:39doctor about

00:56:40a proctologist

00:56:41I guess it was

00:56:42they 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

00:56:50his knees

00:56:52and

00:56:54Dave got mad

00:56:55easy

00:56:55the doc

00:56:56hit a switch

00:56:57and Dave

00:56:57was

00:56:58bought up

00:57:00he was

00:57:01furious

00:57:02he said

00:57:03absolutely

00:57:04not

00:57:04I'll tear

00:57:05this place

00:57:06down

00:57:06and he had

00:57:07to unstrapped

00:57:08Dave

00:57:08and let him

00:57:08go

00:57:09but

00:57:10if they would

00:57:11have done

00:57:11the

00:57:13examination

00:57:13I think

00:57:14they would

00:57:14have found

00:57:14something

00:57:19it's around

00:57:1983

00:57:20that

00:57:20David

00:57:21first starts

00:57:22complaining

00:57:22of stomach

00:57:23pain

00:57:23and

00:57:23also

00:57:24I think

00:57:24you know

00:57:25taking a lot

00:57:25of hard

00:57:26bumps

00:57:26in the

00:57:26ring

00:57:26and

00:57:27especially

00:57:28coming up

00:57:28in the

00:57:29Atkinson

00:57:29household

00:57:31maybe you're

00:57:31just taught

00:57:32to rub

00:57:32some dirt

00:57:33on it

00:57:33you know

00:57:35because he

00:57:35wasn't being

00:57:36treated for it

00:57:37he started

00:57:37turning to

00:57:37painkillers

00:57:40one time

00:57:41he showed

00:57:42up on

00:57:45quaaludes

00:57:45you know

00:57:47you know

00:57:47when you can't

00:57:48talk

00:57:48and you're

00:57:49slurring your

00:57:50word

00:57:50that's when

00:57:51it becomes

00:57:51bad

00:57:52I've seen

00:57:53him where

00:57:53he's a puddle

00:57:54in the middle

00:57:54of the floor

00:57:55and he's

00:57:55supposed to

00:57:56be going

00:57:56to the ring

00:57:57you know

00:57:59so he

00:57:59got to

00:58:00try and

00:58:00get him

00:58:01up

00:58:01and get

00:58:01him

00:58:01going

00:58:03before long

00:58:04he almost

00:58:05couldn't

00:58:05overcome

00:58:05it

00:58:08looking at

00:58:08today's world

00:58:09I'd say

00:58:09they've had

00:58:10an opioid

00:58:10problem

00:58:11he was

00:58:11addicted

00:58:11to pills

00:58:13and boy

00:58:13I know

00:58:14Fritz was

00:58:14just irate

00:58:15about it

00:58:16you're

00:58:17you're

00:58:17your

00:58:17fans

00:58:17a

00:58:17disservice

00:58:18anytime

00:58:18you get

00:58:18out

00:58:19of

00:58:19line

00:58:19because

00:58:19you

00:58:20are

00:58:20an

00:58:20image

00:58:21to

00:58:21them

00:58:21that

00:58:21they want

00:58:22to live

00:58:22up to

00:58:23and so

00:58:23many pro

00:58:24athletes

00:58:25you know

00:58:25what I'm

00:58:26talking

00:58:26about

00:58:26man

00:58:27they have no

00:58:28use for

00:58:28their fans

00:58:28the fans

00:58:29is what

00:58:29made

00:58:30them

00:58:30it's what

00:58:31made

00:58:31us

00:58:33and we

00:58:34need to

00:58:34always be

00:58:35aware of

00:58:35the responsibility

00:58:36that goes

00:58:36with them

00:58:38image was

00:58:38really important

00:58:39to

00:58:39granddad

00:58:40but

00:58:42Mimi was

00:58:44I think

00:58:45more concerned

00:58:46about

00:58:47family image

00:58:49and

00:58:49reputation

00:58:50than

00:58:51did

00:58:52granddad

00:58:53was

00:58:53she wanted

00:58:55to

00:58:55have a

00:58:56perfect

00:58:57family

00:58:57that

00:58:58didn't

00:58:58fail

00:58:59and Mimi

00:59:00was really

00:59:01concerned

00:59:01about

00:59:02media

00:59:03granddad

00:59:04maybe was

00:59:05to a point

00:59:06that it

00:59:07affected

00:59:07the business

00:59:08Fritz always

00:59:09said it's one

00:59:10thing what a

00:59:10man does

00:59:11on his own

00:59:11time

00:59:12but when

00:59:13you're on

00:59:13my time

00:59:13you need

00:59:14to be

00:59:14top shape

00:59:16they're under

00:59:17pressure

00:59:18they were pretty

00:59:19much on call

00:59:2024 hours a day

00:59:21dealing with the

00:59:22public

00:59:22dealing with the

00:59:23news

00:59:24several thousand

00:59:25waiting in line

00:59:26for hours

00:59:27to see the

00:59:28famous

00:59:28wrestling

00:59:29Von Eric

00:59:30it was fun

00:59:32though

00:59:32everywhere you

00:59:33went

00:59:33you were treated

00:59:35like you were

00:59:35royalty

00:59:37we get

00:59:38endorsements

00:59:38through wrestling

00:59:39and so we

00:59:39get free cars

00:59:41from these

00:59:41dealerships

00:59:43they were top

00:59:44stars and Mike

00:59:45and Chris

00:59:46always looked

00:59:47up to them

00:59:48and they were

00:59:49like if they

00:59:50can do it

00:59:50I can do it

00:59:52Mike and Chris

00:59:52were super close

00:59:54they came to the

00:59:54matches every week

00:59:55right after high

00:59:56school Mike

00:59:57wanted to be a

00:59:58part of what his

00:59:59brothers were doing

01:00:00I've seen the

01:00:00debut of all

01:00:01these guys

01:00:02Kevin David

01:00:03Kerry and now

01:00:04they debut in

01:00:05just a few minutes

01:00:06of Mike

01:00:07Von Eric

01:00:08for Mike

01:00:09it was hard

01:00:10not being

01:00:11a Von Eric

01:00:12you know

01:00:12if he was

01:00:13anywhere with

01:00:13the brothers

01:00:14he was treated

01:00:14as if he was

01:00:15in the business

01:00:16and it was

01:00:17contagious

01:00:17little Mike

01:00:18I say

01:00:19is a big old

01:00:19stud but tonight

01:00:20I think he's

01:00:20going to show

01:00:21his colors

01:00:21he's a Von

01:00:22Eric right

01:00:22down to the

01:00:22wire

01:00:23Mike wanted

01:00:24to wrestle

01:00:24so bad

01:00:25he wanted

01:00:25to be like

01:00:26Dave

01:00:26Mike's been

01:00:27taught by the

01:00:27best

01:00:28because we

01:00:28were taught

01:00:29by the best

01:00:29you like your

01:00:30leg and hair

01:00:31cat

01:00:31oh just

01:00:32stiffer

01:00:32yeah

01:00:32oh that's

01:00:33an excellent

01:00:33right here

01:00:35and now I

01:00:35got his leg

01:00:36oh yeah

01:00:38and here he

01:00:39comes

01:00:41Mike Von

01:00:41Eric

01:00:44he has not

01:00:45only his own

01:00:45career to think

01:00:46about

01:00:47but of course

01:00:48he's upholding

01:00:49the honor of

01:00:50the Von

01:00:50Eric families

01:00:51part of it

01:00:52for him

01:00:52was just

01:00:53being with

01:00:53his brothers

01:00:55like okay

01:00:55they're not

01:00:56going out

01:00:56on the road

01:00:56and leaving

01:00:57me anymore

01:00:57I get to

01:00:58come along

01:00:58I'm the baby

01:00:59brother

01:01:00and we're

01:01:00going to have

01:01:00a good time

01:01:01together

01:01:01you know

01:01:02and they did

01:01:02you know

01:01:03a lot of

01:01:03people think

01:01:04that Von

01:01:04Eric's have

01:01:04bit off

01:01:04more than

01:01:05we can chew

01:01:05they think

01:01:06that Mike's

01:01:06too young

01:01:07to be getting

01:01:07in the ring

01:01:07with us

01:01:08this kid

01:01:08is not

01:01:09going to

01:01:09let me

01:01:09down

01:01:09we're

01:01:10going to

01:01:10take

01:01:10those

01:01:10freebirds

01:01:10at this

01:01:13point

01:01:14the Von

01:01:14Eric's

01:01:15and the

01:01:15freebirds

01:01:17our story

01:01:17was so

01:01:18high

01:01:25that it

01:01:26was time

01:01:26to take

01:01:27it to

01:01:27a stadium

01:01:28which was

01:01:29unheard of

01:01:29back then

01:01:31we were

01:01:32doing the

01:01:32six-man

01:01:33tag team

01:01:33championship

01:01:33which at

01:01:34that time

01:01:34would have

01:01:35now been

01:01:35Kevin

01:01:36Kerry

01:01:37and Mike

01:01:38against

01:01:39the

01:01:39birds

01:01:40now if

01:01:40the

01:01:40freebirds

01:01:41think

01:01:41they

01:01:41can

01:01:41beat

01:01:41us

01:01:42go ahead

01:01:42and come

01:01:43on with

01:01:43it

01:01:43all you

01:01:43got

01:01:43and then

01:01:44the main

01:01:45event

01:01:45was going

01:01:45to be

01:01:45Flair

01:01:46versus

01:01:46David

01:01:47for

01:01:47the

01:01:49NWA

01:01:49World

01:01:50Heavyweight

01:01:50Championship

01:01:51the

01:01:52nature

01:01:52boy

01:01:52Rick

01:01:52Flair

01:01:53arguably

01:01:53the

01:01:54greatest

01:01:55wrestler

01:01:55of all

01:01:56time

01:01:56I

01:01:56thrive

01:01:57I

01:01:58thrive

01:01:58I'm

01:01:59being

01:01:59called

01:01:59the

01:02:00greatest

01:02:00but

01:02:01it was

01:02:02already

01:02:02decided

01:02:02it was

01:02:03very

01:02:03hush-hush

01:02:04but David

01:02:05was going

01:02:05to beat

01:02:06Ric Flair

01:02:06for the

01:02:07title

01:02:10and then

01:02:10about

01:02:11five weeks

01:02:12before

01:02:12the show

01:02:13Dave

01:02:13goes to

01:02:14Japan

01:02:14to work

01:02:15over there

01:02:18for months

01:02:19before the

01:02:20Japan trip

01:02:21he didn't

01:02:22look right

01:02:22to me

01:02:24it was

01:02:25the stomach

01:02:26you know

01:02:27Dave

01:02:28had that

01:02:30ashen

01:02:30look

01:02:30about

01:02:31him

01:02:31you know

01:02:31white

01:02:32look

01:02:33his eyebrows

01:02:34would get

01:02:35white

01:02:38and so

01:02:39already

01:02:40had an idea

01:02:41something

01:02:41bad was

01:02:42going to

01:02:42happen

01:02:52this is

01:02:53December 24th

01:02:54Christmas Eve

01:02:551983

01:03:01it was so cold

01:03:02that day

01:03:02remember the pond

01:03:03froze over

01:03:04wow

01:03:04that never

01:03:06happens

01:03:10there's

01:03:11Kathy

01:03:11and Uncle

01:03:12Chris

01:03:12there's

01:03:12Chris

01:03:14dad

01:03:15thanks for

01:03:15the stereo

01:03:16dad

01:03:16oh yeah

01:03:17babe

01:03:17wow

01:03:18thanks

01:03:22there's

01:03:22Uncle Mike

01:03:23and me

01:03:23ah

01:03:24Mike

01:03:26all the kids

01:03:27love Mike

01:03:28don't they

01:03:28who is right

01:03:30take him

01:03:30in his hands

01:03:31oh that's right

01:03:32wow

01:03:37dear Heavenly Father

01:03:38thank you for

01:03:39everything you've

01:03:40given us

01:03:40all the family

01:03:41being together

01:03:42the brothers

01:03:42that's great

01:03:44Lord

01:03:44thank you for

01:03:45everything you've

01:03:45given us

01:03:46after that

01:03:47Christmas

01:03:49our life

01:03:50would not be

01:03:51the same

01:03:54for months

01:03:55before the

01:03:56Japan trip

01:03:57Dave was white

01:03:59as a ghost

01:03:59he didn't look

01:04:02right

01:04:02to me

01:04:04I was with him

01:04:05when he wrestled

01:04:06in Austin

01:04:06Texas

01:04:07and after the

01:04:08matches

01:04:08he was throwing

01:04:08up

01:04:09he was sick

01:04:10and he kept

01:04:11saying

01:04:11ah it's just

01:04:12some virus

01:04:12I got

01:04:14and everybody

01:04:15just thought

01:04:15he had the

01:04:15flu

01:04:16you know

01:04:16it was

01:04:18this dead

01:04:18winter

01:04:19you know

01:04:20early February

01:04:22we knew

01:04:23Debbie was sick

01:04:23but they had

01:04:24no idea

01:04:24how sick

01:04:25the boys

01:04:26had been

01:04:26raised to be

01:04:26there

01:04:27just thousands

01:04:27of people

01:04:28that paid their

01:04:28money to see

01:04:29those boys

01:04:29wrestle

01:04:30so the broken

01:04:31leg

01:04:31we expect

01:04:32them to be

01:04:32there

01:04:33and he looked

01:04:34pale

01:04:34and I could

01:04:35tell my mom's

01:04:36face

01:04:36she was worried

01:04:36about Dave

01:04:37they were talking

01:04:38and I looked

01:04:39at him

01:04:39I thought

01:04:40if I lost

01:04:40him

01:04:41I just put

01:04:41my hands

01:04:42on him

01:04:42don't you

01:04:43go over there

01:04:43and die

01:04:44Dave

01:04:44and he said

01:04:44I won't give

01:04:46and I thought

01:04:47I kissed him

01:04:49no yeah

01:04:50yeah

01:04:50can't happen

01:04:51no

01:05:02when you go

01:05:03to Japan

01:05:03it's always

01:05:04pretty 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

01:05:12it was great

01:05:13I talked to

01:05:14Bill Irwin

01:05:14about it

01:05:15he said

01:05:16they got to

01:05:16that to Tokyo

01:05:17when they went

01:05:18about six 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

01:05:24finish his

01:05:25because Dave

01:05:26ate a lot

01:05:27but then Dave

01:05:28ordered a third steak

01:05:30and ate it

01:05:31we get out of there

01:05:32and go back

01:05:32to the hotel

01:05:34and we go into

01:05:35the hotel

01:05:35we go in

01:05:36and 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

01:05:44I think he left

01:05:45and went upstairs

01:05:46and puked

01:05:47and then he came

01:05:48back 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

01:05:58in that bar

01:05:59last

01:05:59and David goes

01:06:00well come by the room

01:06:02come on by

01:06:03you know

01:06:03we'll have a drink

01:06:04or 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

01:06:08a beer

01:06:09or something

01:06:10right there

01:06:10and you know

01:06:11after the beer

01:06:12it was

01:06:13it was the end

01:06:14of the night

01:06:14he goes

01:06:15yeah I'm just

01:06:16gonna call my wife

01:06:18okay

01:06:19see you tomorrow

01:06:25well tomorrow comes

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

01:06:27at five o'clock

01:06:28like

01:06:28what the hell

01:06:29you know

01:06:30where's David

01:06:33and in the distance

01:06:34you hear sirens

01:06:38everybody's looking

01:06:38at 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

01:06:47with the key

01:06:47and unlocked his door

01:06:50and there was David

01:06:51in the same spot

01:06:53I left him

01:06:53just laid back

01:06:57still dressed

01:06:58in the same clothes

01:06:59everything

01:07:06to this day

01:07:07I 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

01:07:23and I picked up the phone

01:07:25and she was crying

01:07:26and I knew

01:07:28and 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

01:07:51let me die

01:08:00seeing my dad

01:08:01and knowing that

01:08:02he'd lost his son

01:08:03he'd lost Dave

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

01:08:20Fritz 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

01:08:36it was pills

01:08:37it was this

01:08:38I'm not saying

01:08:39there wasn't any pills involved

01:08:40because

01:08:41undoubtedly

01:08:41he was in excruciating pain

01:08:44and

01:08:44but did he do enough

01:08:45to OD

01:08:46no

01:08:48the autopsy said

01:08:50acute enteritis

01:08:51heart failure

01:08:53so basically

01:08:54what they were saying

01:08:55was

01:08:55because of the acute enteritis

01:08:56his intestines ruptured

01:08:58he filled up with blood

01:09:00and it caused heart failure

01:09:13some say that

01:09:14David Von Erich's death

01:09:16hit Dallas Fort Worth

01:09:17like Elvis Presley's death

01:09:19hit the nation

01:09:19David Von Erich

01:09:21died Friday

01:09:22of enteritis

01:09:23he was 25 years old

01:09:26I mean at the funeral

01:09:28that we're expecting

01:09:30500 to 800 people

01:09:32and we end up with

01:09:33almost 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 to capacity

01:09:42and hundreds stood outside

01:09:44hoping to catch

01:09:45a few strains of the service

01:09:47from the loudspeaker system

01:09:48it was a quiet

01:09:50but unhappy group

01:09:51it hit everyone

01:09:53like a ton of bricks

01:09:55the schools let out

01:09:57I live and care for Davey

01:10:00and I wanted to be here

01:10:01the funeral procession

01:10:03stretched five miles

01:10:04across the Lone Star State

01:10:05it was a hero send off

01:10:07they shut down the highway

01:10:09all the way from Denton

01:10:11to Oak Grove Cemetery

01:10:12and Oak Cliff

01:10:13things all of a sudden

01:10:14then it was like

01:10:15this is like 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

01:10:26that we realized

01:10:27how 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 for

01:10:37the last experience

01:10:38that was ever going to make

01:10:40our 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 accept

01:10:45death a lot easier

01:10:46hey we know our brother

01:10:48Dave's in a lot better place

01:10:49than we are right now

01:10:51the loss of a brother

01:10:52was devastating for him

01:10:55he said

01:10:56you know

01:10:57I think I should just go

01:10:58and be with David

01:11:01there was always this

01:11:02thing

01:11:03with the brothers

01:11:04that

01:11:05maybe not so much Kevin

01:11:06because Kevin was the oldest

01:11:07trying to protect his 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 through this

01:11:29you get off your death

01:11:31and you start moving again

01:11:32you start laughing again

01:11:35and you refuse

01:11:37to stay down

01:11:38you don't get over it

01:11:40but we do have to keep fighting

01:11:42we have to make it

01:11:43for the weak ones

01:11:43for our children

01:11:44for our women

01:11:45for those that love us

01:11:47and those that are hurting

01:11:48you know

01:11:53you know

01:11:54like Kerry and I

01:11:55were talking about

01:11:55earlier today

01:11:56Dave wanted that

01:11:58world championship

01:11:58more than anything

01:11:59in the world

01:12:00and that

01:12:01world championship

01:12:04is going to be

01:12:05around the Von Erich waist

01:12:06it has to be

01:12:07not only for our family

01:12:09but for Dave

01:12:11when David Von Erich died

01:12:14Fritz already has

01:12:15this giant stadium show

01:12:17booked at Cowboy Stadium

01:12:19and they have to go

01:12:20through with it

01:12:21and now

01:12:22as much as they

01:12:23might have wanted to

01:12:25just mourn him

01:12:27they have to keep

01:12:28the business going

01:12:31my dad was a businessman

01:12:34it's a family business

01:12:35this is what I do

01:12:36it's my job

01:12:38I'll never forget

01:12:39after Dave died

01:12:40there was talk about

01:12:41well

01:12:42we can't put the belt

01:12:43on the other two boys

01:12:44at that point

01:12:45and Fritz was like

01:12:46it's not an option

01:12:47it's a question now

01:12:48which of you two

01:12:49is going to be

01:12:50the next world champion

01:12:51so when you take that title

01:12:53there's no question

01:12:54anybody's man in the world

01:12:55that you are the best

01:12:56that there is

01:12:57and the best there ever was

01:12:58all in Dave's memory

01:13:00so Kerry and I

01:13:01had like a coin flip

01:13:03with my dad

01:13:05but um

01:13:07the truth though it was

01:13:08that I was married

01:13:09and I did not want

01:13:11to travel

01:13:12like the world champion

01:13:12has to travel

01:13:13it's all over the place

01:13:15I had my children

01:13:16I didn't want to be

01:13:18the world champion

01:13:19and uh

01:13:20Kerry did

01:13:22and so as far as

01:13:23the coin flip's concerned

01:13:24it was more like

01:13:25you win

01:13:30there are no seatbelts

01:13:31on the chairs

01:13:32here at Texas Stadium

01:13:33but we almost need them

01:13:35my goodness

01:13:36I mean what

01:13:36an atmosphere

01:13:38what a huge

01:13:40match feeling

01:13:42and

01:13:43Kerry had the weight

01:13:44of the state

01:13:45on his back

01:13:46from Denton, Texas

01:13:47weighing 259 pounds

01:13:49Mr. Kerry

01:13:50you know when I talk

01:13:53about the butterflies

01:13:54or something like this

01:13:55it's almost impossible

01:13:56to describe in words

01:13:57the way I felt

01:13:58but it was like

01:13:59all the Texas Stadium

01:14:00was electrified

01:14:01that title shot

01:14:02was supposed to be

01:14:03David's

01:14:04David passes away

01:14:06in Japan

01:14:06now his brother

01:14:08comes and steps in

01:14:09and who does he

01:14:11have to

01:14:11I mean

01:14:12Ric Flair

01:14:13prime Ric Flair

01:14:14Texas Stadium

01:14:16sold out

01:14:17the largest crowd

01:14:18ever

01:14:18to see wrestling

01:14:20anywhere in the world

01:14:21is on hand

01:14:22here at Texas Stadium

01:14:23a history making event

01:14:25everyone are

01:14:26in the state of Texas

01:14:30I was

01:14:31pregnant with Holly

01:14:33and it was

01:14:35a great day

01:14:36for all of us

01:14:37Kerry Von Erich

01:14:39probably the most

01:14:40beautiful ring jacket

01:14:41I've ever seen

01:14:41he wanted to

01:14:43to make his dad proud

01:14:45and all the fans too

01:14:47right

01:14:47to make sure that

01:14:48that Von Erich image

01:14:49was

01:14:50you know

01:14:51upheld

01:14:52this is it

01:14:53here we go

01:14:55watching that one

01:14:56Blair can't find

01:14:58the handle

01:14:58at my Papa Jody's

01:15:00house

01:15:01Kerry is rolling

01:15:03now

01:15:05it was like

01:15:06watching a Mike

01:15:07Dyson fight

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

01:15:17power slam

01:15:18you got

01:15:1940,000

01:15:20grieving people

01:15:23we had to

01:15:24have the pop

01:15:26and it's

01:15:27Aaron Kloff

01:15:31Kerry's got him

01:15:32here's what

01:15:33Nelson can't

01:15:33go

01:15:34three

01:15:35the dream

01:15:36steps

01:15:37two

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 the title

01:15:57Kerry Von Erich

01:15:58is the new world

01:16:00heavyweight champion

01:16:02to have

01:16:02our guy

01:16:03Kerry Von Erich

01:16:05you know

01:16:05that iconic stadium

01:16:06with the holy roof

01:16:07so God can watch

01:16:08his team

01:16:10it was a day

01:16:11of celebration

01:16:11in the state

01:16:12for the Texas flag

01:16:13the big yellow rose

01:16:14and the heavyweight belt

01:16:17winning the ultimate 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 of Texas

01:16:24Prince there

01:16:26to greet Kerry

01:16:26there's Mrs. Von Erich

01:16:28Kerry's brother

01:16:30you know

01:16:31today

01:16:31the world belongs

01:16:32to Texas

01:16:33because if it wasn't

01:16:34for the Texas people

01:16:35I wouldn't have nothing

01:16:36and you know

01:16:36what else

01:16:37my brother David

01:16:38tonight

01:16:38he had the best seat

01:16:39in the house

01:16:40right upstairs

01:16:41looking down

01:16:41and just God bless him

01:16:43man

01:16:43because he saw

01:16:44everything I did

01:16:45and we're just so happy

01:16:46it was

01:16:48just one of the

01:16:49greatest moments

01:16:50I think

01:16:50in his history

01:16:51of wrestling

01:16:56then

01:16:57Kerry had to take

01:16:58on the responsibility

01:16:59of being the champion

01:17:00and it's not fun

01:17:02here now comes

01:17:03world heavyweight champion

01:17:04Kerry Von Erich

01:17:05that's a 360 day deal

01:17:09he goes from

01:17:10David's dead

01:17:12you're the main event

01:17:15promos

01:17:16promos

01:17:17promos

01:17:19and you can't just say

01:17:20oh we're taking a week off

01:17:23so between that

01:17:25and losing his brother David

01:17:27that's when I started seeing

01:17:29a little bit more

01:17:31of the drug starting to come in

01:17:33oh Bill

01:17:33there's so much going on

01:17:34inside my head

01:17:35I feel like

01:17:37I'm ready now

01:17:38I believe with all my heart

01:17:39I can take

01:17:40I think before David's death

01:17:41the drugs were under control

01:17:44where it wasn't

01:17:45causing any problems

01:17:47for him

01:17:47and then after David's death

01:17:49it just

01:17:58that was the right call

01:18:00for Kerry to be

01:18:01world champion

01:18:01for that night

01:18:03in that stadium

01:18:06regardless of how it turned out

01:18:07it was the right call

01:18:09Rick switches him

01:18:10pulls him back

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 heavyweight champion

01:18:17once again

01:18:19with an 18 day reign

01:18:21the NWA

01:18:22was sort of doing a solid

01:18:23for the state of Texas

01:18:25you know for Dallas

01:18:25for the Von Erich family

01:18:27for all the tragedy

01:18:28that they were going through

01:18:29right in that moment

01:18:31and it wasn't meant

01:18:32to be a long term solution

01:18:34I think for Kerry

01:18:35it didn't matter

01:18:36that he lost it so quickly

01:18:37because you're on top

01:18:38right

01:18:39how much further can you go

01:18:41like I'm accepted now

01:18:42right

01:18:42my dad trusted me

01:18:44to be able to do this

01:18:45and I did it

01:18:46I tried to do this

01:18:47all my life

01:18:47a national wrestling

01:18:48last world champion

01:18:49and I was never able

01:18:50to take it

01:18:50but Kerry took it

01:18:52even after losing the title

01:18:54the Von Erichs

01:18:55they were still drawing

01:18:56in huge crowds

01:18:56and I think that just

01:18:58says something

01:18:59about their start

01:19:01listen to this crowd

01:19:02roar

01:19:03they're on their feet

01:19:06it's getting around

01:19:07that the Von Erichs

01:19:08and world class

01:19:09championship 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

01:19:19and 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

01:19:30which was opposite

01:19:31of 60 minutes

01:19:33which was the number

01:19:35one show

01:19:35in the country

01:19:35and we would

01:19:37almost double

01:19:38their ratings

01:19:39with 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

01:19:49family that's

01:19:50dominant

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

01:19:55at the beginning

01:19:56there was a meeting

01:19:57took place in Dallas

01:19:59you 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

01:20:07they 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

01:20:21Dallas 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 he was

01:20:34extremely 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

01:20:55for 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

01:21:10I 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

01:21:17was really hard

01:21:18for he and I

01:21:20I kept seeing

01:21:21Kerry Atkinson

01:21:23getting buried

01:21:24underneath

01:21:25the Von Erich image

01:21:28I was losing

01:21:29I was losing

01:21:30a part of my husband

01:21:31that 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

01:21:53because 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

01:22:07get 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

01:22:19it was hard to be

01:22:21in that position

01:22:22to where

01:22:22you go tell someone

01:22:24that their son's

01:22:25got a problem

01:22:26I mentioned it

01:22:27one time

01:22:28and I got heat

01:22:30for it

01:22:30not from Fritz

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

01:22:35my grandmother

01:22:36loved her boys

01:22:38so much

01:22:39and I love Mimi

01:22:41I love my grandmother

01:22:43but it's frustrating

01:22:46because it

01:22:46it is 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 love

01:22:59and respect

01:22:59between the boys

01:23:00and Fritz

01:23:01and it went both ways

01:23:02I saw it first hand

01:23:04Mr. Epcotson

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

01:23:21literally having to

01:23:21push his way through

01:23:22life was great

01:23:23everybody thought

01:23:24it was going to

01:23:25last forever

01:23:28wrong

01:23:30we have to deal

01:23:30with life as it comes

01:23:32don't cry about it

01:23:34the tragedy

01:23:35started coming around

01:23:38it had its effect

01:23:40it had its effect

01:23:41suicides

01:23:41drugs

01:23:43alcohol

01:23:44you name it

01:23:45it all played a part

01:23:56it's so cool

01:23:57how you all

01:23:58got to wrestle together

01:23:59well just imagine you inside

01:24:01you know just playing outside

01:24:02but there's thousands of people watching

01:24:04so that's what's going to happen

01:24:06when they play with their brother

01:24:07in front of a bunch of people

01:24:11there was a time that

01:24:12they could all wrestle in

01:24:13any town

01:24:14and sell it out

01:24:15the Von Erichs have won the hearts

01:24:18of wrestling fans

01:24:19they're the most popular

01:24:20wrestling family in 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 heroes 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

01:24:48if Mike Von Erich dies

01:24:49the whole world

01:24:50is going to hate you

01:24:51it's in the Lord's plan

01:24:52for these things to happen

01:24:53the Von Erichs are strong

01:24:55I saw a lot of depression in him

01:24:57I do remember times

01:24:59where he wasn't sober

01:25:01the doctor told him

01:25:02he just might never be able

01:25:04to go back into wrestling

01:25:05dozens of searchers

01:25:06have 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

Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1

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