Biography WWE Legends Season 5 Episode 1

BrightSoul

Transcript

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

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

00:00:37know, the laughing children.

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

00:00:47I love life.

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

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

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

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

00:01:10Here comes Devon Ericks.

00:01:14You've got to understand how big a star Devon Ericks were in Texas.

00:01:17If you knew anything about professional wrestling, you knew who and what Devon Ericks were.

00:01:22Devon Ericks, the royal family of wrestling, with Father Fritz as the king of the ring and each of his

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

00:01:30Fritz had six kids.

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

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

00:01:38The greatest name in professional wrestling today, Devon Ericks.

00:01:41You begin to really understand how important Devon Ericks were to the state of Texas.

00:01:46They were superheroes.

00:01:47Devon Ericks are a prime attraction.

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

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

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

00:02:03have been a heart attack.

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

00:02:09Doctors say the wrestler has toxic shock syndrome.

00:02:12Investigators found a handwritten note.

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

00:02:18Gary Von Erick was in an accident recently.

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

00:02:22Some call it the curse of the iron claw.

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

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

00:02:29Was it a curse?

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

00:02:34Was it the pressure of the wrestling business?

00:02:36The pressure of family?

00:02:37The pressure of the fans?

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

00:02:41It was made for movie.

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

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

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

00:02:46Great acting.

00:02:47Zac Efron did a phenomenal job.

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

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

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

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

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

00:03:17Down, set, hut.

00:03:19Right now.

00:03:21And there you go.

00:03:23When I'm out here with my grandkids, to me, this is as good as it gets.

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

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

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

00:03:45had then.

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

00:03:54You know, it's too bad, too, because he was an only child.

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

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

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

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

00:04:17He's the only child.

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

00:04:23My granddad didn't really pay any attention to my dad.

00:04:25It was like, if they weren't hunting, well, they weren't talking.

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

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

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

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

00:04:55And so Daddy Ross lived a few hours away.

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

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

00:05:12old.

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:05:32The man molested my granddad.

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

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

00:05:45And it was worth it.

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

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

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

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

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

00:06:07I didn't need to know, I suppose.

00:06:08It was kind of surprising.

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

00:06:27to get people to notice him was his athletic ability, his size.

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

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

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

00:06:53And Mimi, she wasn't going to let this boy go, you know, like this was a boy that was going

00:06:59places.

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

00:07:04You mean up till now or down?

00:07:06At that time.

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

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

00:07:15in from then on at that time and later, if they got married, they lost their scholarship.

00:07:19So because you married?

00:07:20Oh, no, I didn't think they meant me.

00:07:21I was too great.

00:07:22Uh-huh.

00:07:23And you lost their scholarship?

00:07:24Yes, sir.

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

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

00:07:34really didn't know what I was going to do yet.

00:07:42He tried lots of jobs.

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

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

00:07:54I said, French, you got a big name at SMU?

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

00:07:59sell that building out.

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

00:08:04my attention.

00:08:05Yes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:08:35You either want the people to love you or to hate you.

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

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

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

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

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

00:09:06From Berlin, Germany, Fritz von Erich.

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

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

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

00:09:19This guy is just vicious.

00:09:21He just looked the part of a villain, and he played the part of a villain, unbelievably.

00:09:25Fritz von Erich, then the master of the Iron Claw.

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

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

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

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

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

00:09:59Um, 1957.

00:10:04Oh, that is, so that's Daddy, right?

00:10:07Okay.

00:10:08Okay, so Uncle Jackie and you?

00:10:09Yeah.

00:10:11By 1957, it was just the two of us, me, Jackie, and my mom and dad.

00:10:19My mother loved her children.

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

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

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

00:10:33There you are.

00:10:34Look at that cute baby.

00:10:36That's me.

00:10:38Jackie, he was my big brother.

00:10:41He kissed me.

00:10:42Aw, he loves you.

00:10:44Oh, Jack.

00:10:46He had the best personality, he was funny, and...

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

00:10:54Jackie.

00:10:55That big brother stuff.

00:10:56Aw.

00:10:57Mm-hmm.

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

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

00:11:05We lived in a trailer house, and one day, Jackie wanted to go play, and my mother was busy,

00:11:12and so she said, yeah, go play.

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

00:11:23yes, just go ahead.

00:11:24You 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 Jackie home.

00:11:38Thank you so much for having him.

00:11:40And her friend said, well, Jackie's not here.

00:11:44Mimi said her heart dropped.

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

00:11:55That day, Mimi was cleaning, and it was cold outside, and when she called her friend and said,

00:12:04hey, will you please send Jackie home, she said, Jackie never came over.

00:12:08I mean, as a mother, when you hear that, I just can't imagine.

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

00:12:27And they couldn't find him, so everybody in the little town was looking for him.

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

00:12:37Go home and wait, and we're looking.

00:12:39The cops are on their way, so Mimi goes home.

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

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

00:12:53But she said his countenance didn't match his words.

00:12:56And she was just like, okay, give him to me, give him to me.

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

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

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

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

00:13:16and over and screamed and cried.

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

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

00:13:37the sheet metal siding.

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

00:13:47the trailer had been electrified.

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

00:13:53He touched it.

00:13:54It knocked him out.

00:13:56He was face down on the ground.

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

00:14:02And 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, and then

00:14:17he comes home and you say, here's what happened today.

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

00:14:29terrible time.

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

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

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

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

00:14:55She 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.

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

00:15:14And so I think that sort of, cumulatively, as time went on, that, you know, anger, that resentment sort of

00:15:24just 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 one

00:15:38of your children.

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

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

00:15:44I didn't, didn't know he was there.

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

00:15:46I just turned.

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

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

00:15:54He got me back to Texas.

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

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

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

00:16:11that they wanted to pursue that for sure.

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

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

00:16:32Oh, wow.

00:16:32There was a wrench.

00:16:33Wow.

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

00:16:37Oh, my God.

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

00:16:44Dave was born in 1958, Carrie in 1960, Mike was born in 1964, and then Chris was born in 1969.

00:16:56Look at Uncle Chris.

00:16:57What's he riding?

00:16:58That was Chris.

00:17:00My little brothers thought the world of me, and I was really protective of them, and I just fell into

00:17:06the job.

00:17:07That was me now, my big brother, and I loved my brothers.

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

00:17:14Yeah, skinny Dave.

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

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

00:17:25We all had horses.

00:17:27We rode horses everywhere.

00:17:29Didn't everyone have their own motorcycle and their own dog?

00:17:31Yeah, we sure did.

00:17:33And our own BB gun, and that's what we did all day.

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

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

00:17:44It was like Disneyland, wear shorts and barefooted and no shirt all through summer.

00:17:51So that type of stuff.

00:17:53Oh, that was me.

00:17:53That's a flip.

00:17:54Really?

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

00:17:55You never told me you could do a...

00:17:57Oh, yeah.

00:17:57A backflip 180.

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

00:18:02And I like to brag, and I'm a show-off.

00:18:05He said, you might want to try pro wrestling, son.

00:18:07It's fine.

00:18:08It's fine.

00:18:10It's fine.

00:18:20It's fine.

00:18:30It's fine.

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

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

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

00:18:48To lose a six-year-old is, how do you go on?

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

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

00:19:03like that, both of them.

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

00:19:09The goodest memories I have in my life is raising those youngins.

00:19:12Gosh, it was fun.

00:19:13I wish I could do it again.

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

00:19:18Even though his father wasn't around, he learned from that.

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

00:19:25Don't misunderstand me.

00:19:26I made a lot of mistakes raising my children.

00:19:28But my wife and I love to remember that.

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

00:19:31They don't love it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:20:03Right.

00:20:04There's no doubt about that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:20:27I remember Coach Landry and guys from the Cowboys would call my dad for advice,

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

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

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

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

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

00:20:57The first time I went with him, I looked out the window, and there were all these photographers,

00:21:03like, so many, at least 100 photographers.

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

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

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

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

00:21:18But they just wanted to see us, wanted to see the guy with the iron glow.

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

00:21:27our dads.

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

00:21:29That's true.

00:21:30And, you know, so we tried extra hard to, I guess, you know, the young kids are just

00:21:34that way.

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

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

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

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

00:21:52my 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.

00:22:00Now, Fritz was the promoter, and Fritz then used that opportunity to exert his power and

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:22:43And it stunted his growth, and he couldn't breathe.

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

00:22:55And it's just too bad.

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

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

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

00:23:08Nobody could tackle him.

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

00:23:12So there's one game he averaged like 21 yards a carry.

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

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

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

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

00:23:29David was 6'7", so he was a great basketball player.

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

00:23:38David's All-State in basketball two consecutive years.

00:23:41But the kids, I've been very proud of them.

00:23:47It was kind of cool.

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

00:23:57went first.

00:23:58And then David went the next year and played basketball and football.

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

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

00:24:09I loved football, and that's all I could think about.

00:24:12It was his freshman year.

00:24:14I was there when Kerry went to watch the game in Denton at North Texas.

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

00:24:24just one of the worst things.

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

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

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

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

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

00:24:47It was over.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

00:25:26And then Kevin debuts.

00:25:27And he's this really good-looking young guy with this great body.

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

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

00:25:37Kevin majored in football and suffered an injury.

00:25:40And football's loss became professional wrestling game.

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

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

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

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

00:26:02Meanwhile, David starts to take notice of what his brother Kevin was doing out there in the wrestling ring.

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

00:26:13David Von Erich, high school all-stater in basketball.

00:26:16Dave loved basketball.

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

00:26:22Oh, that's Mr. Wilkinson boy!

00:26:25He thought, goodbye basketball.

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

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

00:26:40Three-verse rolling cradle by David!

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

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

00:26:48David had all the tools.

00:26:50David was a natural.

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

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

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

00:27:03Dave and Harley Race.

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

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

00:27:09That's it!

00:27:12David Von Erich!

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

00:27:20He's legend.

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

00:27:35Dave and I were pro wrestlers now.

00:27:38My dad, I thought, he never really wanted us to wrestle.

00:27:41He really didn't.

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

00:27:48I never wanted my boys to be in wrestling.

00:27:50What I didn't realize was that's the only last thing you'd ever know.

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

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

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

00:28:02We just wanted to compete.

00:28:03They literally had to talk Fritz into letting him start working.

00:28:07And there's David.

00:28:08Look at that.

00:28:08Over the top and a big drop kick.

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

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

00:28:15You know, sell out crowds every week.

00:28:17Kevin Von Erich.

00:28:18That's what the people here want to see.

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

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

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

00:28:30Just stay with us.

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

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

00:28:33Look at Kevin.

00:28:34Oh!

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

00:28:39And my grandmother, she said, whatever they did, my granddad made him do it 110%.

00:28:47So he did give them a choice, but if they wanted to, he made sure that they committed 100%, and

00:28:53she was supportive of that.

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

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

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

00:29:05We have probably the greatest wrestling father of all times, a man by the name of Fritz Von Erich.

00:29:12Our ambition in life is to live up to his name and to do as well as he's done in

00:29:16this sport.

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

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

00:29:26It was for the family.

00:29:31At the time, my brother Dave got married young.

00:29:35Well, he had a girlfriend, and he wanted to do the right thing and marry her, and he did.

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

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

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

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

00:29:59Once they had the child, he was already talking like, man, I don't want to be on the road as

00:30:03much.

00:30:04It makes it hard.

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

00:30:07I'll never forget.

00:30:07They were going on a cruise.

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

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

00:30:13But, and then, sure enough, Dave.

00:30:18He gets a phone call.

00:30:19They were able to get a hold of him and let him know that the child had died.

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

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

00:30:36We didn't understand, I mean, how does a child just, you know, back then SIDS was a huge question, and,

00:30:43you know, that a child could just, a baby could just die in the middle of the night that had

00:30:47been perfectly healthy.

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

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

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

00:31:01They just kind of drifted apart, and they ended up getting a divorce.

00:31:05It was tough.

00:31:06You know, nobody, nobody wants to bury their kids.

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

00:31:14And 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 there's a bad moon hanging over this family.

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

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

00:31:42Off the ropes and a big dropkick.

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

00:31:51At home, when Carrie was the big brother, and Dave and I were out, Carrie was a lot more permissive

00:31:59than Dave and I were.

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

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

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

00:32:12And Carrie was all about fun.

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

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

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

00:32:25Uh, playing ribs constantly.

00:32:29But, uh, also, Carrie was a, uh, really, uh, an elite athlete.

00:32:35The Von Eriks were all athletes, but my brother, Carrie, was gifted.

00:32:42In fact, Carrie was offered a full-rod scholarship at University of Texas to play football.

00:32:50And Carrie, I heard him say it, I was sitting right there, and he said, I don't want, I don't

00:32:55really 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, uh, when we were seniors in the discus.

00:33:05I'll tell you what, folks, every day my mother was out there lugging four or five discuses that weighed four

00:33:12pounds apiece, throwing them back to me every day.

00:33:15And if she couldn't thaw it that far, she had run it in that far.

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

00:33:21And he wound up throwing the discus, but 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 Carrie went to Houston.

00:33:32He was really wanting to go to the tryout for the 1980 Olympics.

00:33:37And then they boycotted it.

00:33:40Carrie 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 Carrie came back home.

00:33:52And I knew Carrie from his younger brother, Mike, because Mike and I were in, in class together since third

00:34:01grade.

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.

00:34:18One day, Mike said to Carrie, can I have a party?

00:34:22And Carrie said, only if you invite Kathy Murray.

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

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

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

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

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

00:34:44Hi, Dad.

00:34:47They killed.

00:34:48Get you shot here.

00:34:50My dad and my mom, what a beautiful love story they have.

00:34:55My mom adores my dad and my dad loves and treasures my mom.

00:35:00I got married in 1980, my sweet Pam.

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

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

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

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

00:35:16They're all wrestlers.

00:35:18But I think when she saw what a beautiful family they were behind closed doors, and she wanted to be

00:35:24a part of that.

00:35:25And they cherished her.

00:35:27And she said she had always prayed, I want to marry a godly man.

00:35:31That's who my dad was.

00:35:32And on the outside, that's not what my dad looked like.

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

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

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

00:35:44Kevin and Dave, I mean, the story was already of the Von Erichs.

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

00:35:50And look at this pin of podium.

00:35:53But the other thing was it was eating on Kerry.

00:35:58Kerry saw that and was just thinking, wow, this is a really big deal.

00:36:04Kerry wanted to wrestle, but Fritz wanted him to finish college.

00:36:08Kerry was adamant.

00:36:09Matter of fact, Kerry literally had a meeting with Fritz.

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

00:36:15And he told Fritz, either I start working here or I'll go somewhere else.

00:36:21You are looking at the spotlight on Kerry Von Erich as he makes his way to the ring.

00:36:26After the Olympics, I don't really know that he ever thought of doing anything else.

00:36:35Kerry just had this innate ability of this charisma.

00:36:39Some guys just walk into a room and have this light come on.

00:36:42Kerry Von Erich, listen to the crowd.

00:36:45Kerry! Kerry!

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

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

00:36:51They had the look, they had the feel, and they could work.

00:36:55Dave was the best worker of all of them.

00:36:56The head scissors!

00:36:57Kerry had the good looks and the charisma.

00:37:00Look at Kerry! Up top!

00:37:02Kevin had kind of a little mix of all of them.

00:37:07All these boys who just dominated every aspect of Texas wrestling.

00:37:14There was a short time where Kerry, me, and Dave could all be in the same town.

00:37:18There they are, the Von Erichs!

00:37:21Eventually, after about a year, we'd one town have Kerry, one town have me, one town have Dave,

00:37:27and the houses were all good, you know, they're all sellouts.

00:37:31They were great.

00:37:31Listen to this crowd roar there on their feet!

00:37:34It was like a fairy tale for two, three years, and then it all.

00:37:42A good wrestler is one that, you know, a natural athlete, first of all.

00:37:47Like my sons, and it's kids like this that make wrestling what it is today.

00:37:52Kerry Von Erich, as his brother David and Kevin,

00:37:54have almost a religious responsibility to learn the art of wrestling from their father

00:38:01and said to say we're small children.

00:38:02Winning something our dad instilled in us a long time ago,

00:38:05and we do it as fairly as we can, but number one goal is to win.

00:38:08Two, three, oh, what a dazzling show of wrestling ability!

00:38:18There's a misconception that Fritz sort of dragged all his sons into the ring, kicking and screaming.

00:38:24But I think for Kevin, and then David, and then Kerry,

00:38:28it was hard to turn down the allure of the pro wrestling ring.

00:38:31And once they got in there and the crowd started reacting to them,

00:38:34Fritz basically said, well, if they're all in, let's make the most of it.

00:38:41Fantastic! What excitement!

00:38:44There's just nothing like it in the whole world!

00:38:47They would come out through the crowd to different songs.

00:38:52It would look range by ZZ Top.

00:39:04We wanted to put the kind of wrestling out there that we'd like.

00:39:09So rock was a big part of our presentation.

00:39:13Son of a prize piper of the youth for this area.

00:39:16All of a sudden, you have something that becomes this rock show,

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

00:39:20You watch the other matches, they're all good.

00:39:22But when they came out, that was the show.

00:39:26It was just pure energy.

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

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

00:39:33Everyone trying to grab a hold of Kerry.

00:39:36That's going to kiss.

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

00:39:38It was just a spectacle any time that they would come to the ring.

00:39:42Every match that you'll see tonight is not from a studio.

00:39:45It's from a live arena, one of the oldest, most well-known arenas,

00:39:49certainly in Texas, probably in the world itself.

00:39:51The world-famous Sportatorium.

00:39:53If it's there, it's the best in professional wrestling.

00:39:56The home of the Von Erichs.

00:39:58Sportatorium is the greatest building in the world,

00:40:00an atmosphere personified.

00:40:01This crowd is full and wild.

00:40:05One of the wildest nights in the history of Texas wrestling.

00:40:10I only was able to go once at the Sportatorium.

00:40:14I bragged to my friends for weeks.

00:40:18Bro, I saw the Von Erichs live.

00:40:22Watch this.

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

00:40:28They changed the demographic,

00:40:30and I think also the show on TV was completely different.

00:40:35Hi, I'm Kerry Von Erich, and this is my dog, Shea.

00:40:39For several weeks now, we've been telling you about the changes

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

00:40:43and this is just some of the improvements we've made.

00:40:46We want to put boom mics in the ring,

00:40:48cameras not just by the ring, they climb up on the ring.

00:40:53I'll never forget it.

00:40:54Fritz sat Kerry and I down in his office,

00:40:56and he said, I'm getting ready to do this thing called syndication

00:41:00that we're going to go all over the country and all over the world.

00:41:04It's cable TV, and we were like, what is that?

00:41:06You know, when we first started syndication,

00:41:08we had 10 or 12 markets, and then we got 20.

00:41:11Pretty soon, we were in 47 markets.

00:41:12When cable started coming around,

00:41:15we finally got world-class wrestling out of Dallas,

00:41:18and that's when I was exposed to the Von Erichs

00:41:20and how important the Von Erichs were to the state of Texas.

00:41:24You know, I would watch KTTV, Channel 11 in my dorm.

00:41:29It was absolutely amazing.

00:41:31Three, Kerry Butterick wins the box!

00:41:34The rock concert atmosphere, the sportatorium craze,

00:41:38the way they looked on TV,

00:41:40all of this combined to make the Von Erichs

00:41:43like the hottest thing in all of Texas.

00:41:46The Von Erichs in Texas was almost religion.

00:41:50It was a family of superheroes.

00:41:53Here, obviously, the Dallas Cowboys, how popular they were.

00:41:55If there's anything a Texan loves more than chili,

00:41:58it would have to be the sport of football.

00:42:00If you saw a Dallas Cowboy at the local sports store,

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

00:42:04because he didn't have the helmet and the number on.

00:42:06To where with wrestling, you know,

00:42:08there they were right there in your living room

00:42:09every Saturday night doing an interview right in your face.

00:42:13Yeah, baby!

00:42:14We told you, Bill,

00:42:15there's something magic with Kevin and I in that ring together.

00:42:18We would get tickets to go watch them wrestle,

00:42:20and so they were pretty popular

00:42:22in terms of what we would talk about in the locker room.

00:42:25There was two things that were big in Texas.

00:42:27It was football and the Von Erichs.

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

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

00:42:32I think what really made the Von Erichs more popular

00:42:35than a lot of other great babyfaces around the country was

00:42:39you saw them grow up,

00:42:41and everybody felt like,

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

00:42:45They're part of what's happening to them.

00:42:47They really come behind us.

00:42:48They were like their kids,

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

00:42:50and all the young kids around 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.

00:42:56We took an ownership of the Von Erich boys.

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

00:43:01Tell us a little bit about Kevin.

00:43:02I've been getting into some cliff diving.

00:43:04I went to cliff diving on Acapulco a couple weeks ago,

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

00:43:09I like to ride horses.

00:43:10I like to fish.

00:43:13Kevin and I have just gotten into a little bit of skydiving.

00:43:16We've been doing that for about two months now.

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

00:43:20We acted like we were your big brother,

00:43:22your son, your grandson, your uncle, your cousin.

00:43:27Von Erich was the name Dad gave me,

00:43:29and I'm proud to have it.

00:43:30It was so important to be a good role model.

00:43:33Be respectful.

00:43:34My dad was like that.

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

00:43:39about who they were or ever even said,

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

00:43:43Or, Hey, I'm this, I'm that, no, no.

00:43:46I think that's Fritz teaching them,

00:43:49Hey, you're somebody, but you're nobody.

00:43:52The people make you who you are.

00:43:54With my brothers and I, we knew it was a fight.

00:43:57The people are right there.

00:43:58They're cheering for us just as loud as if we lose,

00:44:01because they want us to know

00:44:03that they're behind us all the way.

00:44:05It was just a great life, you know.

00:44:09I can remember the three of us just being young

00:44:11and getting in the car

00:44:12and going to head up to Oklahoma for spot shows

00:44:15or down in the middle of Texas for spot shows.

00:44:17We were kids.

00:44:19Everything was fun.

00:44:20Everybody was our friend.

00:44:22The 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 got to do is take your boots and your trunks

00:44:30and go to another town and make a living

00:44:34and swim in the rivers all the way back

00:44:38and just laugh the whole time.

00:44:41Man, that was fun.

00:44:43Just me and my brothers.

00:44:46The greatest name in professional wrestling today,

00:44:48the Von Erics, have been for years.

00:44:51Today, the allegiance of a lot of wrestling fans

00:44:53belongs to the Von Erics,

00:44:55to Father Fritz and his three wrestling sons.

00:44:57And there are still two more Von Erics

00:45:00waiting to jump into the ring,

00:45:02Mike and Chris.

00:45:04Right now, the Von Erics are a prime attraction,

00:45:07a guaranteed draw at dozens of wrestling arenas.

00:45:10But as successful as they are,

00:45:12they've never forgotten that the most important ingredient

00:45:15in any family business is the family.

00:45:18You talk about Fritz, family man, business man.

00:45:22His business is his family.

00:45:24They're your meal ticket right now.

00:45:26The dramatic arrival of the Von Erics

00:45:29as hundreds of youngsters come to the ring

00:45:31seeking autographs, their pictures.

00:45:33But there's this just constant demand.

00:45:36The feeling that, like, if we let anything slip,

00:45:39then this could all come crashing down.

00:45:41It was just a ton of pressure on them to keep it going.

00:45:48We would have a weekly family reunion

00:45:50in there, you know, on Friday nights.

00:45:53Good evening and welcome to the world-famous

00:45:56Sportatorium, the home of world-class

00:45:58championship wrestling.

00:46:00I'd come down right here.

00:46:02Always be people here, you know,

00:46:03and hanging their arms out.

00:46:06I've got scars all over my shoulder

00:46:08for the girls scratching like this.

00:46:10You should see my shoulders.

00:46:11Kevin Von Erics, what a beautiful specimen.

00:46:15Well, I grew up in here, you know.

00:46:17It's like my little playground.

00:46:18Oh, off the rock!

00:46:23Yeah, I had some good memories.

00:46:27That's where it all started.

00:46:29Kevin was a...

00:46:30He was an entertainer.

00:46:31But as a person, he was a pretty simple guy, you know?

00:46:33Like, he just wanted to have that sort of isolation,

00:46:37that sort of getting away from everything else.

00:46:39You're working nearly every night.

00:46:41This must be a great way to just to

00:46:42take some edge off.

00:46:44Oh, man, you're right, brother.

00:46:46I'd probably crack up if I didn't have

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

00:46:50I don't get off on disco dancing,

00:46:52and this is really where I'm at.

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

00:46:55You gotta wait for your daughter

00:46:56to get old enough to come out.

00:46:58We'll have to see about that.

00:47:01Once I had my first baby,

00:47:03once Pam had Kristen,

00:47:05well, my priorities changed,

00:47:08and wrestling became work.

00:47:11I don't think wrestling

00:47:13was the number one priority for Kevin anymore.

00:47:16He's obligated to do the wrestling.

00:47:18He wanted to do the family thing.

00:47:20He would show up at the matches.

00:47:22He would leave immediately.

00:47:23You know, he didn't hang around

00:47:24and go home and be dad.

00:47:26And then also,

00:47:27my life went from loving my dog

00:47:30and my 22 to that baby.

00:47:33And Pam, my queen,

00:47:35that gave me that baby.

00:47:36I always had somebody to protect.

00:47:39Kristen, give me your...

00:47:59My granddad was one of the best men

00:48:04that I've ever met.

00:48:06My baby girl.

00:48:07He was just the epitome

00:48:11of safety for us.

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

00:48:15pretty, pretty, pretty.

00:48:18Now, me, my wife,

00:48:19I want you a pretty face.

00:48:22Mimi was also so loving,

00:48:24and my grandparents

00:48:26did a really good job

00:48:27of making us feel like

00:48:29we were all a community

00:48:31and we had each other.

00:48:33Look at me, Kristen.

00:48:34I love you, brother.

00:48:38The first time I realized

00:48:39that there was something

00:48:40maybe different about our family,

00:48:42we were going to have

00:48:43a Six Flags Day as a family.

00:48:46And when we arrived at the park,

00:48:48there were police everywhere,

00:48:50and they put us right on a golf cart,

00:48:52and we had a couple hours

00:48:53of the park exclusively,

00:48:56but they opened the gate,

00:48:57and I just have this image in my mind

00:48:59of I was sitting on the back

00:49:00of this golf cart

00:49:01and these people chasing us

00:49:03and screaming,

00:49:04and this one lady had mascara

00:49:06running down her face,

00:49:08and I remember thinking,

00:49:09you know,

00:49:10they're not chasing anybody else,

00:49:11and don't they know

00:49:12how boring my dad is

00:49:15and how boring my uncles are?

00:49:16Like, why do they think

00:49:17it's so cool?

00:49:19You never realized

00:49:20what kind of rock stars

00:49:22these kids had become.

00:49:25And here they come,

00:49:27the trio of wrestling personified.

00:49:30Everybody wanted to see

00:49:32the Von Eriks,

00:49:32but they needed a nemesis,

00:49:34you know,

00:49:34and when the Freebirds came in,

00:49:36that's when wrestling just blew up.

00:49:39Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy,

00:49:42Buddy Roberts,

00:49:43the Freebirds.

00:49:44You finally had somebody

00:49:46that could go against

00:49:47the Von Eriks boys,

00:49:48and that was the perfect antithesis

00:49:50in the Freebirds.

00:49:51Hey, man,

00:49:51we're running these Von Eriks

00:49:52out of Texas.

00:49:53When it comes to notorious

00:49:57bad motherfuckers

00:49:58that you love to hate,

00:50:01that'd be us.

00:50:03If we gotta run over

00:50:04the Von Eriks,

00:50:05we'll do it with pleasure.

00:50:07Oh, my goodness.

00:50:09Well, the Freebirds

00:50:10were just so easy to hate.

00:50:13The Freebirds brought

00:50:14their own flags

00:50:15from Georgia into Texas,

00:50:16which is something

00:50:17you don't do.

00:50:18It kind of became

00:50:19like a college football rivalry

00:50:21in a sense,

00:50:22Georgia versus Texas.

00:50:23This war is not

00:50:25between Texas and Georgia.

00:50:26It's between decency

00:50:27and filth.

00:50:31It was like setting

00:50:32a nuclear bomb off

00:50:33in the state of Texas.

00:50:35I've never seen

00:50:36anything like it.

00:50:37We'll say thanks

00:50:37to the people

00:50:38of Dallas, Texas,

00:50:39because it's the biggest

00:50:39cloud ever to be

00:50:40in this auditorium.

00:50:41Shows that used to,

00:50:42on a Saturday night,

00:50:43do 500 people.

00:50:45All the time,

00:50:46we were doing 8,000

00:50:47just packed to the walls.

00:50:50And so this one

00:50:51is gonna start

00:50:52in a hurry.

00:50:53The rivalry worked,

00:50:55I think,

00:50:56because when we would

00:50:57get in that ring,

00:50:58you could tell

00:50:59that these guys

00:51:00really don't like

00:51:01each other.

00:51:02It may take everybody

00:51:03in the arena

00:51:04to separate these two.

00:51:06But there was

00:51:06a respect between us

00:51:08that really made

00:51:10it work, too.

00:51:13You're supposed to make

00:51:14a 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 motto

00:51:21and their creed.

00:51:22For two hours

00:51:24or three hours,

00:51:24they got to cheer

00:51:25for the good.

00:51:26It's not just Arwen,

00:51:27it's all of Arwen!

00:51:28And boo the evil.

00:51:30And that's what wrestling is.

00:51:32I get so wrecked up here

00:51:33and I just love it.

00:51:34I really do.

00:51:36This is one of the few places

00:51:37where you come and holler

00:51:38and scream

00:51:38and they don't take you

00:51:39to jail.

00:51:40Me and my buddies

00:51:41ride down there

00:51:41every Friday night.

00:51:43I was there watching

00:51:44the Von Erickson

00:51:44and the Freembirds

00:51:45go 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 keep

00:51:50doing what we're doing

00:51:51just make it a little

00:51:52more dangerous

00:51:53and a little more reckless.

00:51:54This looks like

00:51:55it's going to be

00:51:56a wild plug-fest.

00:51:58Whoop it over!

00:52:00When you watch

00:52:01those guys,

00:52:01you're like,

00:52:01they're beating

00:52:02the shit out of each other.

00:52:03I mean,

00:52:03this is incredible.

00:52:05And that's what Texans

00:52:06love so much about it.

00:52:07People love to fight.

00:52:09I 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 to it.

00:52:15I gave people

00:52:16real entertainment.

00:52:18So did my brothers.

00:52:20I mean,

00:52:21they were really into it

00:52:22and really,

00:52:23really believed

00:52:24that what we were doing

00:52:26was real.

00:52:27Kevin Von Erick

00:52:29is now covered in blood.

00:52:31A lot of times

00:52:31after the matches,

00:52:32I felt like it was real

00:52:33because it hurt.

00:52:35And the Freemird

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 Erick

00:52:58struggling.

00:52:59You can break a bone

00:53:01and keep going.

00:53:02Bone's got a broken nose.

00:53:04Hey,

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've 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,

00:53:28marcane,

00:53:29procaine.

00:53:30But they're not drugs.

00:53:31They just numb

00:53:33nerve endings.

00:53:35And I didn't want

00:53:36to live like that anymore.

00:53:38And so,

00:53:40to deal with that pain,

00:53:42I grew my own marijuana.

00:53:45Look what's brought

00:53:46it up here in the carpet.

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

00:53:50a proponent for 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

00:53:56to 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

00:54:05anything made by man.

00:54:08And here comes

00:54:09the modern-day warrior,

00:54:11Carrie Von Erich.

00:54:13For Carrie,

00:54:14the business was

00:54:16becoming very taxing

00:54:18on the body

00:54:19in general

00:54:20with the amount

00:54:22of time in the gym

00:54:23and pumping iron

00:54:24and then just getting

00:54:26hurt in the ring.

00:54:28Well, Carrie

00:54:29is pretty well shaken.

00:54:30When you're getting

00:54:31hurt all the time

00:54:32and you start asking

00:54:36for prescription drugs,

00:54:37right,

00:54:38and then how much

00:54:40is enough

00:54:41and do I need

00:54:42something even harder,

00:54:44stronger,

00:54:45to relieve this pain,

00:54:47you know,

00:54:48you can just get

00:54:49caught up in that.

00:54:52And there were,

00:54:53there's doctors,

00:54:54because of who they are,

00:54:55they're famous,

00:54:56who would just

00:54:57write a prescription

00:54:58and here you go.

00:55:00And then you take it

00:55:01and you go,

00:55:02well, it does help

00:55:03me feel better.

00:55:04Well, 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 felt a big

00:55:12responsibility

00:55:14to the business.

00:55:15He took care

00:55:16of his fans.

00:55:18It's tough,

00:55:19but we know

00:55:19it's a job,

00:55:20it's a responsibility

00:55:21that we have to do.

00:55:22And my father

00:55:23bred us

00:55:24to be winners,

00:55:25not losers,

00:55:26and to fight 100%

00:55:27every night

00:55:27whenever we were

00:55:29in that ring.

00:55:30So Carrie fought

00:55:32between his health

00:55:33and keeping up

00:55:36with the image

00:55:38that was so important

00:55:40to the Von Ericks.

00:55:58Dave was the only

00:55:59one of all of us

00:56:00that liked

00:56:02strong liquor,

00:56:03had a bottle of it

00:56:04in his bag.

00:56:07And then he

00:56:09told us

00:56:10he had a really

00:56:10bad stomachache

00:56:11and booze

00:56:12was helping him.

00:56:13Stomach pain

00:56:14must have

00:56:14something else.

00:56:15I mean,

00:56:16he said it was

00:56:16like a knife.

00:56:18He had diarrhea

00:56:20for months.

00:56:22At the time,

00:56:23Dave was married

00:56:24to Trish.

00:56:25I know she didn't

00:56:26think he had

00:56:26a virus or something

00:56:27because it, you know,

00:56:28had some symptoms,

00:56:29but he didn't

00:56:31want her to worry,

00:56:32you know,

00:56:32so he wouldn't

00:56:33have said anything.

00:56:36So Carrie and I

00:56:37made sure

00:56:37he went to the doctor

00:56:39about a proctologist,

00:56:42I guess it was.

00:56:43They told Dave

00:56:44to lean against

00:56:44this little wall thing.

00:56:46They put his

00:56:47elbows down,

00:56:48strapped them in,

00:56:49strapped his elbow

00:56:50here in his knees.

00:56:53And Dave got mad.

00:56:55The doc hit a switch

00:56:57and Dave was

00:56:57butt up.

00:57:00He was furious.

00:57:02He said,

00:57:03absolutely not.

00:57:05I'll tear this place

00:57:06down.

00:57:06And he had to

00:57:07unstrap Dave

00:57:08and let him go.

00:57:10But if they would

00:57:11have done the

00:57:13examination,

00:57:13I think they would

00:57:14have found something.

00:57:19It's around 83

00:57:20that David first

00:57:21starts complaining

00:57:22of stomach pain.

00:57:23And also,

00:57:24I think, you know,

00:57:25taking a lot of hard

00:57:26bumps in the ring

00:57:26and especially

00:57:28coming up in the

00:57:29Atkinson household,

00:57:31maybe you're just

00:57:32taught to rub

00:57:32some dirt on it,

00:57:33you know?

00:57:35Because he wasn't

00:57:36being treated for it,

00:57:37he started turning

00:57:37to painkillers.

00:57:40One time,

00:57:41he showed up

00:57:42on Quaaludes,

00:57:46you know?

00:57:47You know,

00:57:47when you can't talk

00:57:48and you're slurring

00:57:49your word,

00:57:50that's when it

00:57:51becomes bad.

00:57:52I've seen him

00:57:53where he's a puddle

00:57:54in the middle

00:57:54of the floor

00:57:55and he's supposed

00:57:55to be going

00:57:56to the ring.

00:57:57You know?

00:57:59So you got to

00:57:59try and get him

00:58:01up and get him

00:58:01going.

00:58:03Before long,

00:58:04he almost couldn't

00:58:05overcome it.

00:58:08Looking at today's

00:58:09world, I'd say

00:58:09they've had an opioid

00:58:10problem.

00:58:11He was addicted

00:58:11to pills.

00:58:13And boy,

00:58:13I know Fritz was

00:58:14just irate about it.

00:58:16You're doing

00:58:17your fans a disservice

00:58:18any time you get

00:58:18out of the lane

00:58:19because you are

00:58:20an image to them

00:58:21that they want

00:58:22to live up to.

00:58:23And so many

00:58:24pro athletes,

00:58:25you know what

00:58:26I'm talking about,

00:58:26man,

00:58:27they have no use

00:58:28for their fans.

00:58:29The fans is what

00:58:29made them.

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

00:58:32And we need

00:58:34to always be aware

00:58:35of the responsibility

00:58:36that goes with them.

00:58:37Image was really

00:58:38important to

00:58:39granddad.

00:58:42But Mimi was,

00:58:44I think,

00:58:45more concerned

00:58:46about family

00:58:48image and

00:58:49reputation

00:58:50than

00:58:51that granddad

00:58:53was.

00:58:54She wanted

00:58:55to have

00:58:56a perfect family

00:58:57that didn't

00:58:58fail.

00:58:59And Mimi

00:59:00was really

00:59:01concerned

00:59:01about media.

00:59:04Granddad

00:59:04maybe was

00:59:05to a point

00:59:06that it

00:59:07affected the

00:59:08business.

00:59:09Fritz always

00:59:09said,

00:59:10it's one thing

00:59:10what a man

00:59:11does on his

00:59:11own time,

00:59:12but when you're

00:59:13on my time,

00:59:13you need to be

00:59:14top shape.

00:59:16They're under

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,

00:59:23dealing with the

00:59:23news.

00:59:24several thousand

00:59:25waiting in line

00:59:26for hours to

00:59:27see the famous

00:59:28wrestling

00:59:29Von Erich.

00:59:30It was fun,

00:59:32though.

00:59:32Everywhere you

00:59:33went, you were

00:59:34treated like you

00:59:35were royalty.

00:59:37We'd get

00:59:38endorsements

00:59:38through wrestling,

00:59:39and so we'd get

00:59:40free cars from

00:59:41these dealerships.

00:59:43They were top

00:59:44stars, and Mike

00:59:45and Chris always

00:59:47looked up to them,

00:59:48and they were like,

00:59:49if they can do it,

00:59:50I can do it.

00:59:52Mike and Chris

00:59:52were super close.

00:59:54They came to the

00:59:54matches every week.

00:59:55Right after high

00:59:56school, Mike wanted

00:59:58to be a part of what

00:59:59his brothers were

01:00:00doing.

01:00:00I've seen the

01:00:00debut of all these

01:00:01guys, Kevin, David,

01:00:03Carey, and now they

01:00:05debut in just a few

01:00:05minutes of Mike

01:00:07Von Erich.

01:00:08For Mike, it was

01:00:10hard not being a

01:00:11Von Erich.

01:00:12You know, if he was

01:00:13anywhere with the

01:00:13brothers, he was

01:00:14treated as if he was

01:00:15in the business, and

01:00:17it was contagious.

01:00:18Little Mike, I say,

01:00:19is a big old stud, but

01:00:20tonight I think he's

01:00:20going to show us

01:00:21colors.

01:00:21He's a Von Erich

01:00:22right down to the

01:00:22wire.

01:00:23Mike wanted to

01:00:24wrestle so bad.

01:00:25He wanted to be

01:00:25like Dave.

01:00:26Mike's been taught

01:00:27by the best, because

01:00:28we were taught by

01:00:29the best.

01:00:30Do you lock your

01:00:30leg in here, Kev?

01:00:31Oh, just stiffer.

01:00:32Yeah.

01:00:32Oh, that's an excellent

01:00:33ball right here, and

01:00:35now I got his leg.

01:00:37Oh, yeah.

01:00:37I go nowhere.

01:00:39And here he comes,

01:00:41Mike Von Erich.

01:00:44He has not only his

01:00:45own career to think

01:00:46about, but of course

01:00:48he's upholding the

01:00:50honor of the Von

01:00:50Erich families.

01:00:51Part of it for him

01:00:52was just being with

01:00:53his brothers.

01:00:55Like, okay, they're not

01:00:56going out on the road

01:00:56and leaving me anymore.

01:00:57I get to come along.

01:00:59I'm the baby brother, and

01:01:00we're going to have a good

01:01:01time together, you know,

01:01:02and they did.

01:01:03You know, a lot of

01:01:03people think that Von

01:01:04Erich's a bit off more

01:01:05than we can chew.

01:01:05They think that Mike's

01:01:06too young to be getting

01:01:07in the ring with us.

01:01:08This kid is not going to

01:01:09let me down.

01:01:09We're going to take

01:01:10those freebirds.

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

01:01:13At this point, the Von

01:01:14Erichs and the freebirds,

01:01:17our story was so high.

01:01:19Cardi racked up one, two,

01:01:21three!

01:01:25That it was time to take

01:01:27it to a stadium, which

01:01:28was unheard of back then.

01:01:31We were doing the six-man

01:01:32tag team championship, which

01:01:34at that time would have now

01:01:35been Kevin, Kerry, and Mike

01:01:38against the birds.

01:01:40Now, if the freebirds think

01:01:41they can beat us, go ahead

01:01:42and come on with it all you

01:01:43got.

01:01:44And then the main event was

01:01:45going to be Flair versus

01:01:46David for the NWA World

01:01:50Heavyweight Championship.

01:01:51The nature boy, Rick

01:01:52Flair, arguably the greatest

01:01:55wrestler of all time.

01:01:56I thrive!

01:01:57Woo!

01:01:57I thrive!

01:01:58I'm being called the

01:02:00greatest!

01:02:00But it was already decided.

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

01:02:04But David was going to beat

01:02:06Ric Flair for the title.

01:02:10And then about five weeks

01:02:12before the show, Dave goes

01:02:13to Japan to work over there.

01:02:18For months before the Japan

01:02:20trip, he didn't look right

01:02:22to me.

01:02:24But it was the stomach, you

01:02:26know.

01:02:27Dave had that ashen look

01:02:30about him, you know, white

01:02:32look.

01:02:33His eyebrows would get white.

01:02:38And so, Marty had an idea

01:02:41something bad was going to

01:02:42happen.

01:02:52This is December 24th, Christmas

01:02:55Eve, 1983.

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

01:03:03Remember, the pond froze over.

01:03:04Wow, that never happens.

01:03:08I'll lay some bets on it.

01:03:10There's Kathy.

01:03:11And Uncle Chris.

01:03:12There's Chris.

01:03:14Dad, thanks for the stereo,

01:03:16Dad.

01:03:16Oh, yeah, babe.

01:03:17Wow.

01:03:19Thanks.

01:03:20What are you doing?

01:03:21Right, Dad.

01:03:22There's Uncle Mike and me.

01:03:23Ah, Mike.

01:03:25You gotta spur him.

01:03:26All the kids love Mike.

01:03:28Don't they?

01:03:29Full is right.

01:03:30Kick him in his hands.

01:03:31Full is right.

01:03:32Cool.

01:03:32Wow.

01:03:34Wow.

01:03:37Dear Heavenly Father,

01:03:38thank you for everything you've

01:03:40given us.

01:03:41All of the family being together,

01:03:42the brothers.

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

01:03:44Thank you for everything you've

01:03:45given us.

01:03:46After that Christmas,

01:03:50our life would not be the same.

01:03:54For months before the Japan trip,

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

01:04:01He didn't look right to me.

01:04:04I was with him when he wrestled

01:04:06in Austin, Texas.

01:04:07And after the matches,

01:04:08he was throwing up.

01:04:09He was sick.

01:04:10And he kept saying,

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

01:04:14And everybody just thought

01:04:15he had the flu.

01:04:16You know,

01:04:16it was,

01:04:18it was dead winter.

01:04:19You know,

01:04:20early February.

01:04:22We knew Debbie was sick,

01:04:23but they had no idea how sick.

01:04:25The boys had been raised

01:04:26to be there.

01:04:27Just thousands of people

01:04:28had paid their money

01:04:29to see those boys wrestle.

01:04:30Silver broken leg brought him.

01:04:32We expect them to be there.

01:04:33And he looked pale,

01:04:34and I could just tell

01:04:35my mom's face.

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

01:04:37They were talking.

01:04:38And I looked at him,

01:04:39I thought,

01:04:40if I lost him,

01:04:41you know,

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

01:04:42I said,

01:04:43don't you go over there

01:04:43and die, Dave.

01:04:44And he said,

01:04:44I won't give.

01:04:45I thought,

01:04:46I kissed him.

01:04:49Now we're here.

01:04:50Yeah.

01:04:51Can't happen now.

01:05:02When you go to Japan,

01:05:04it's always pretty much the 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,

01:05:12it was great.

01:05:13I talked to Bill Irwin about it.

01:05:15He said,

01:05:16they got to that,

01:05:17to Tokyo,

01:05:18and they went about six o'clock,

01:05:19and had a big steak,

01:05:21and Dave wanted two steaks,

01:05:23and Bill said he couldn't even finish his,

01:05:25because Dave ate a lot,

01:05:26you know.

01:05:27But then,

01:05:28Dave ordered a third steak,

01:05:30and ate it.

01:05:31We get out of there,

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

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

01:05:35and we 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.

01:05:40And 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 back down.

01:05:49Everybody that's there,

01:05:50including myself,

01:05:52we were kind of full,

01:05:53but he ate,

01:05:54and he ate some more.

01:05:56David and I were in that,

01:05:58in that bar last,

01:06:00and David goes,

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

01:06:02Come on by,

01:06:03you know,

01:06:03we'll have a drink,

01:06:04or 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 a beer,

01:06:09or something right there,

01:06:10and, you know,

01:06:11after the beer,

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

01:06:15He goes,

01:06:15yeah,

01:06:16I'm just gonna call my wife.

01:06:18Okay,

01:06:19see you tomorrow.

01:06:25Well,

01:06:25tomorrow comes,

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

01:06:27at five o'clock.

01:06:28Like,

01:06:29what the hell?

01:06:30You know,

01:06:30where's David?

01:06:33And in the distance,

01:06:34you hear sirens.

01:06:38Everybody's looking at each other.

01:06:39Everybody up,

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

01:06:42right into the hotel,

01:06:43up the stairs,

01:06:44right to the corner room,

01:06:46and they were there with a key,

01:06:48and unlocked his door.

01:06:50And there was David,

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

01:06:54just laid back,

01:06:57still dressed,

01:06:58in the same clothes,

01:06:59everything.

01:07:06To this day,

01:07:08I cannot stand

01:07:09a phone call

01:07:10before daylight,

01:07:12because that's what

01:07:13I got

01:07:14that morning

01:07:16that Trish called me.

01:07:19And when that phone rang,

01:07:22it was dark,

01:07:24and I picked up the phone,

01:07:25and she was crying,

01:07:26and I knew.

01:07:28And she said,

01:07:29he'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.

01:07:43I 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 breathed it.

01:07:51God,

01:07:52let me die.

01:08:00Seeing my dad

01:08:01and knowing

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

01:08:04he'd lost Dave,

01:08:06oh my gosh,

01:08:07that was,

01:08:08that was the worst part.

01:08:12It was

01:08:15as 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

01:08:40undoubtedly,

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,

01:08:52heart failure.

01:08:53So basically

01:08:54what they were saying

01:08:55was because

01:08:56of the acute enteritis,

01:08:57his intestines ruptured.

01:08:59He 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.

01:09:20David Von Erich

01:09:21died Friday

01:09:22of enteritis.

01:09:23He was 25 years old.

01:09:26I mean,

01:09:27at the funeral

01:09:28that we're expecting

01:09:30500 to 800 people

01:09:32and we end up

01:09:32with almost 10,000.

01:09:35Fans from the area

01:09:37and foes from the ring

01:09:38turned out.

01:09:39The 1800 seat church

01:09:41was soon filled to capacity

01:09:42and hundreds stood outside

01:09:44hoping to catch

01:09:45a few strains

01:09:46of the service

01:09:47from the loudspeaker system.

01:09:49It was a quiet

01:09:50but unhappy group.

01:09:52It hit everyone.

01:09:53I got like a ton of bricks.

01:09:56The school's let out.

01:09:58I live and care for David

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.

01:10:06It was a hero send-off.

01:10:08They shut down the highway

01:10:09all the way from Denton

01:10:11to Oak Grove Cemetery

01:10:12and Oak Cliff.

01:10:14Things all of a sudden

01:10:14in there 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 to arrive.

01:10:25I don't think

01:10:26that we realized

01:10:27how much we 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 David's ever going to make.

01:10:40Our bodies may be

01:10:41left here on Earth

01:10:42but our souls go to Heaven.

01:10:44It's made us accept

01:10:45death a lot easier.

01:10:47Hey, we know our brother Dave

01:10:48is 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 thing

01:11:03with the brothers

01:11:04that maybe not so much Kevin

01:11:06because Kevin was the oldest

01:11:07trying to protect his brothers.

01:11:09But beyond that,

01:11:11they always wanted

01:11:11to be together.

01:11:15After losing

01:11:16Uncle Dave,

01:11:19Mimi

01:11:19was just filled

01:11:21with

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 duff

01:11:31and you start moving again.

01:11:33You 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

01:11:41to 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.

01:11:53You know,

01:11:54like Kerry and I

01:11:55were talking about

01:11:55earlier today,

01:11:57Dave wanted that

01:11:58world championship

01:11:58more than anything

01:11:59in the world.

01:12:00And that world championship

01:12:04is going to be

01:12:05a round of honor

01:12:05at 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 might

01:12:23have 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.

01:12:33It's a family business.

01:12:35This is what I do.

01:12:37It's my job.

01:12:38I'll never forget

01:12:39after Dave died,

01:12:40there was talk about,

01:12:42well,

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

01:12:48of which of you two

01:12:49is going to be

01:12:49the next world champion.

01:12:51So when you take that title,

01:12:53there's no question

01:12:54to anybody's man

01:12:55in the world

01:12:55that you are the best

01:12:56that there is

01:12:57and the best there ever was.

01:12:58Paul M. Davis member.

01:13:00And so Carrie and I

01:13:01had like a coin flip

01:13:03with my dad.

01:13:06But the truth of it was

01:13:08that I was married

01:13:09and I did not want

01:13:11to travel like

01:13:12the world champion

01:13:12has to travel.

01:13:13It's all over the place.

01:13:15I had my children.

01:13:17I didn't want

01:13:17to be the world champion.

01:13:20And Carrie did.

01:13:22And so as far

01:13:23as the coin flip's concerned,

01:13:25it 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,

01:13:36what an atmosphere.

01:13:38What a huge match feeling.

01:13:42And Carrie had the weight

01:13:44of the state on his back.

01:13:46From Denton, Texas,

01:13:47weighing 259 pounds,

01:13:49Mr. Carrie Lauder.

01:13:52You know,

01:13:53when I talk about

01:13:54the 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 David's.

01:14:04David passes away

01:14:06in Japan.

01:14:07Now his brother

01:14:08comes and steps in

01:14:09and who does he have to,

01:14:11I mean, Ric Flair.

01:14:13Prime Ric Flair.

01:14:15Texas Stadium

01:14:16sold out.

01:14:17The largest crowd

01:14:18ever to see wrestling

01:14:20anywhere in the world

01:14:21is on hand here

01:14:23here at Texas Stadium

01:14:23a history-making event.

01:14:25Carrie Vaughner

01:14:26in the state of Texas.

01:14:31I was pregnant

01:14:32with Holly

01:14:33and it was

01:14:35a great day

01:14:36for all of us.

01:14:38Carrie Vaughner,

01:14:39probably the most beautiful

01:14:40ring jacket

01:14:41I've ever seen.

01:14:42He wanted to

01:14:43make his dad proud.

01:14:45And all the fans, too,

01:14:47to make sure

01:14:48that that Von Erick image

01:14:49was, you 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 a handle.

01:14:59At my Papa Jody's house.

01:15:01Carrie is rolling now.

01:15:05It was like watching

01:15:06a Mike Tyson fight.

01:15:09Back to his feet.

01:15:10There's a drive by Carrie.

01:15:13And everybody had

01:15:14to go to the fight.

01:15:16Power Slam!

01:15:19You got

01:15:1940,000 grieving people.

01:15:23We had to have the pop.

01:15:26And it's a iron claw!

01:15:31Carrie's got him.

01:15:32Here's the Nelson can't.

01:15:34Go!

01:15:34Hey!

01:15:36The dream steps through!

01:15:38Yes!

01:15:41It's happened!

01:15:51Man, it gives you

01:15:52kind of, it gives you

01:15:52goosebumps thinking about it.

01:15:54How special that was

01:15:55for Carrie to win the title.

01:15:57Carrie Von Erick

01:15:58is the new world

01:16:00heavyweight champion!

01:16:02To have our guy,

01:16:03Carrie Von Erick,

01:16:05you know,

01:16:06that iconic stadium

01:16:06with the holy roof

01:16:07so God can watch his team.

01:16:10It was a day of celebration

01:16:11in the state.

01:16:12For the Texas flag,

01:16:14the big yellow rose,

01:16:15and the heavyweight belt.

01:16:17Winning the ultimate prize

01:16:18in dedication to your brother

01:16:20who passed away.

01:16:22Carrie Von Erick

01:16:23was a god

01:16:23in the state of Texas.

01:16:25Prince there

01:16:26to greet Carrie!

01:16:27There's Mrs. Von Erick!

01:16:28Carrie's brother!

01:16:30You know, today

01:16:31the world belongs to 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 what else?

01:16:37My brother David tonight,

01:16:39he had the best seat

01:16:39in the house,

01:16:40right upstairs

01:16:41looking down,

01:16:42and just God bless him, man,

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 greatest moments,

01:16:50I think,

01:16:50in his history

01:16:51of wrestling.

01:16:56Then,

01:16:57Carrie had to take on

01:16:58the responsibility

01:16:59of being a champion

01:17:00and it's not fun.

01:17:02Here now comes

01:17:03world heavyweight champion

01:17:04Carrie Von Erick!

01:17:06That's a 360-day deal.

01:17:09He goes from

01:17:10David's dead,

01:17:13you'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,

01:17:23between that

01:17:25and losing

01:17:26his brother David,

01:17:28that's when

01:17:28I started seeing

01:17:29a little bit more

01:17:31of the drugs

01:17:32starting 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 this.

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

01:17:42the 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...

01:17:59That was the right call

01:18:00for Carrie to be

01:18:01world champion.

01:18:02For that night

01:18:03and that stadium,

01:18:06regardless of how

01:18:07it turned out,

01:18:07it was the right call.

01:18:09Rick switches him,

01:18:11pulls him back,

01:18:12he's got him,

01:18:13and that's it.

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,

01:18:25for Dallas,

01:18:26for 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 Carrie,

01:18:35it didn't matter

01:18:36that he lost it so quickly

01:18:37because you're on top,

01:18:39right?

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.

01:18:51But Carrie took it.

01:18:52Even after losing

01:18:53the title,

01:18:54the Von Erichs,

01:18:55they were still drawing

01:18:56in huge crowds

01:18:56and I think that just says

01:18:58something about 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 sport

01:19:12in the world today.

01:19:14World Class

01:19:15was just booming.

01:19:18Flying dropkick

01:19:19and there goes

01:19:20Michael Hayes.

01:19:21They would play the show,

01:19:23I think it was

01:19:23at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings.

01:19:25We would have a replay

01:19:27of that

01:19:28at 6 at night,

01:19:30which was opposite

01:19:31of 60 minutes.

01:19:34which was the number one

01:19:35show in the country.

01:19:36And we would almost

01:19:37double their ratings

01:19:39with a replay.

01:19:41At this point,

01:19:42World Class

01:19:43is so successful

01:19:46that, you know,

01:19:47Vince McMahon

01:19:47takes notice.

01:19:48If there's one family

01:19:50that's dominant

01:19:50and reigns supreme

01:19:52somewhat in the

01:19:53entire wrestling world,

01:19:54it would be

01:19:54the Von Erich family

01:19:55at the beginning.

01:19:56There was a meeting

01:19:57that took place

01:19:57in Dallas.

01:19:59You know,

01:19:59Vince said,

01:20:00join forces

01:20:01with the WWE

01:20:04will go everywhere.

01:20:05And at that time,

01:20:07they would even

01:20:07take 40%

01:20:08and we would be 60%.

01:20:11We didn't do the deal.

01:20:13Rich was,

01:20:15why do we need you?

01:20:16We just did

01:20:1640-some thousand people.

01:20:19The wrestling family,

01:20:20which has made

01:20:21Dallas and Fort Worth

01:20:22one of the hottest spots

01:20:23in the sport,

01:20:23is still growing strong.

01:20:24The people love

01:20:26the Von Erichs.

01:20:27It's amazing,

01:20:28but wherever

01:20:28the Von Erichs go,

01:20:29a crowd always follows.

01:20:33Kerry,

01:20:34he was extremely popular.

01:20:36People just loved him.

01:20:37He was actually

01:20:38in an audition

01:20:39with Sylvester Stallone

01:20:40for Rocky IV,

01:20:42and they picked

01:20:43Dolph Lundgren for it.

01:20:45But becoming famous

01:20:46at a really young age

01:20:48can be difficult.

01:20:53And that was pretty tough

01:20:55for me as 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.

01:21:03I'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.

01:21:12I would too.

01:21:13I'd be jumping

01:21:13all over him too.

01:21:14I like Kerry's body.

01:21:17All of it was really hard

01:21:18for he and I

01:21:20I kept seeing

01:21:21Kerry Atkinson

01:21:23getting buried

01:21:23underneath the

01:21:25Von Erich image.

01:21:28I was losing

01:21:29a part of my husband

01:21:31that was very important

01:21:32to me

01:21:34because Kerry Von Erich

01:21:35belonged to everybody.

01:21:39Maybe taking the drugs

01:21:40helped him

01:21:41to escape from that.

01:21:44At least he told me

01:21:46that one time.

01:21:50That's a big responsibility

01:21:51being on top

01:21:52because you're responsible

01:21:54for feeding everybody

01:21:56and drinking and doing drugs

01:21:58don't help you

01:21:58balance that that well.

01:22:01Kerry sometimes,

01:22:02is he 100%?

01:22:03Is he 70%?

01:22:04What have we got

01:22:05to work with?

01:22:06And when we finally

01:22:07get him in the ring,

01:22:08Michael 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,

01:22:14I ain't going out

01:22:14to hurt you.

01:22:15I'm going out

01:22:15to cripple you

01:22:16and I guarantee you that.

01:22:20It was hard

01:22:21to be in that position

01:22:22to where you go tell someone

01:22:24that their son's

01:22:25got a problem.

01:22:26I mentioned it one time

01:22:28and I got heat for it.

01:22:31Not from Fritz.

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

01:22:35My grandmother

01:22:37loved her boys so much

01:22:39and I love Mimi.

01:22:42I love my grandmother,

01:22:43but it's frustrating

01:22:46because it is just so easy

01:22:49to blame Granddad.

01:22:50It's not always

01:22:51as it seems, you 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 firsthand.

01:23:04Mr. Eftikenson

01:23:05absolutely wanted the best

01:23:07for his boys

01:23:08but he also wanted

01:23:10the best

01:23:10for his business.

01:23:12Fritz was also

01:23:13very consumed

01:23:14in making sure

01:23:15that train

01:23:16kept running

01:23:16down that track

01:23:17and we are still

01:23:18breaking attendance records.

01:23:20Gary Von Erich

01:23:21literally having

01:23:21to push his way through.

01:23:22Life was great.

01:23:24Everybody thought

01:23:24it was going to last forever.

01:23:28Wrong.

01:23:30We got 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.

01:23:40Suicides, drugs,

01:23:42alcohol,

01:23:44you name it,

01:23:45it all played a part.

01:23:56It's so cool

01:23:57how you all

01:23:58got to wrestle together.

01:23:59Well, just imagine

01:24:00you inside,

01:24:01you know,

01:24:01just playing outside

01:24:02but there's thousands

01:24:03of people watching

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

01:24:05going to happen

01:24:06when they're playing

01:24:07with their brother

01:24:07in front of a bunch

01:24:08of people.

01:24:11There was a time

01:24:12that we could all

01:24:13wrestle in any town

01:24:14and sell it out.

01:24:16The Von Erichs

01:24:17have won the hearts

01:24:18of wrestling fans.

01:24:19They're the most popular

01:24:20wrestling family

01:24:21in the world.

01:24:23Yeah.

01:24:25It's not like people think.

01:24:26It's a family business.

01:24:28It wasn't fun,

01:24:29it was work.

01:24:31You're pressured

01:24:32to be on

01:24:33all of the time.

01:24:34An image

01:24:35that they all

01:24:36want to uphold.

01:24:38They're just good boys.

01:24:39The world just needs

01:24:40heroes today,

01:24:41that's all.

01:24:42There'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

01:24:49dies,

01:24:49the whole world

01:24:50is going to hate him.

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

01:24:52for these things to happen.

01:24:53The Von Erichs

01:24:54are strong.

01:24:55I saw a lot

01:24:56of 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

01:25:03be able to go back

01:25:04into 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.

01:25:18I'd rather die

01:25:18than let you folks down.

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