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