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It is hard to understand how the so-called “Von Erich Curse” could be seen as nothing more than a mythical idea by avid wrestling fans and even considered non-existent by the family’s only surviving relative. Stardom as well as tragedy has run in the family since the 1950s, when Jack Adkisson began wrestling under the ring alias Fritz Von Erich.
It was during the same decade that Fritz invented one of the sport’s most iconic wrestling moves, the Iron Claw, in which he extended his massive hand across his opponent’s face and choked him to oblivion.
In the same decade, in 1959, the family suffered its first unspeakable tragedy, when youngest son Jackie died at the age of just 7 in upstate New York after being electrocuted, falling face down, and drowning in a pile of melting snow. Went.
In the years and decades that followed, pain and grief plagued the Von Erichs, and these devastating events, sadly, came to define his iconic wrestling legacy.
The family’s wrestling stardom and tragic events became the subject of ESPN 30 for 30 short documentary dubbed curse wrestling In 2015. Almost a decade later, Zac Efron And jeremy alan white lead A star-studded cast For A24’s film on the real-life story of the Von Erich family, aptly dubbed iron claw,
The story centers on two extraordinary heroes, following the Von Erich family led by Fritz (played by mindhunter star Holt McCallany). Efron plays Kevin Von Erich, White plays Kerry Von Erich, Harris Dickinson plays David Von Erich, and Stanley Simmons plays Mike Von Erich. The Von Erich brothers spent the majority of their career in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where they won numerous individual and tag team titles. The family was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2009.
With the release of the film’s first trailer on Wednesday, ET takes a closer look at the real-life wrestling story of the Von Erich family.
Who is Fritz Von Erich?
Long before he found wrestling stardom and became the head of a family that produced wrestling stars, Jack Addickson was a football star at Southern Methodist University in Texas. The story goes that he briefly played for the then-Dallas Texans of the National Football League.
After football, Jack turned to wrestling in the early 1950s. According to a 1988 profile of the family D Magazine, Jack began fighting under the ring alias Fritz Von Erich and he took on the role of a Nazi villain. At 6 feet, 4 inches tall, Fritz was considered a tall man, not to mention a terrible personality.
Fritz eventually abandoned the villain role for the “good guy” role in the mid-1970s. But he retained the name, and his sons later adopted the famous surname that would define them as one of wrestling’s most prestigious families.
Tragedy struck in 1959
Fritz found stardom in the 1950s (never mind that he only got paid $5 per fight) but the highs as a wrestling star paled in comparison to the lows.
While living in a trailer park in Niagara Falls, New York, his wife Doris gave birth to their first son, Jackie, in 1952. But just seven years later, Jackie died of an electric shock. While playing in the trailer park, he touched an electrical wire. After touching the wire, little Jackie fell face first and drowned in a pile of melting snow.
When Jackie died, and according to Doris, Fritz was not out of the house on a wrestling trip. D Magazine, wanted to die after the death of her son. The outlet also reported that Doris would judge the timing based on the death in 1959 (“It happened about 12 years after Jackie died,” she would say of a family event).
The magazine reported that after losing his sons, Fritz returned to the ring with a vengeance.
Four more sons died at an interval of 10 years
This was between 1984 and 1993 when one death after another brought a stigma on the family.
David was the second son to die, and this one also came from nowhere. He died suddenly of an intestinal infection in a Tokyo hotel in 1984. Mike, Chris and Kerry will soon follow.
Mike died of a drug overdose at the age of just 23. D Magazine It was reported that after being arrested for DWI, Mike had gone into the woods and taken a fatal overdose of tranquilizers. Police found her body hidden in an old sleeping bag a few hundred yards from the Von Erichs’ home. Police also found a note from Mike addressed to his mother:
“Mom, you have always been amazing. I’m in a better place.”
Mike had a big heart. He would quietly visit disabled children in his spare time, and he would reportedly give his money to a poor elderly woman who lived near him.
Carey explained, “I don’t think Mike was ever sure he felt good enough to play the Von Erichs.” D Magazine, “I mean, it bugged him inside that he wasn’t as fast or strong as the rest of us. And after the toxic blow, that’s when he started losing his balance on the top ropes, or losing grip or something. So I felt like he lost a part of himself, you know what I mean?”
After this Chris died. He was only 22 when he died by suicide after being shot in the head. Kerry also died by suicide in 1993 after being shot in the chest. He was 33 years old.
On the day he tragically died, Kevin and Fritz spoke to ET After Kerry’s death at the family farm in Texas. After losing a third brother to suicide, Kevin described the hardships Kerry faced in the days, weeks and years leading up to his death. The most troubling issue at the time was the looming threat of a prison sentence when Carey was indicted by a grand jury for cocaine possession, so his probation was broken after a separate drug charge.
,[Kerry] Told me that if he had to go to jail, he would kill himself,” Kevin said of their last conversation. “He had seen that he had gone as far as he could with me, so he said, ‘Okay, Kev. I will not do that. I will not commit suicide. ‘Whatever you say, friend.’ And that’s how we left it at that.”
It was Fritz who discovered his son’s body. After that terrible moment, Fritz recalls their conversation that morning, saying that he should have told him a few things.
“It was a terrible experience for me,” Fritz recalled. “He said, ‘I just want to go back to a quiet place to be alone for a while.’ …When she saw me, she grabbed me and hugged me. And I hugged her. I kissed her. She said, ‘Daddy, I really love you.’ And I should have realized this was different. Something wasn’t right there.”
Despite such a tragic history, Kevin told dallas morning news In 2015 that “Von Erich Curse” is not a thing.
“It’s not a curse,” he said at the time. “for telling [you] The truth is, I may have believed it while it was going on, but I never said it out loud.”
for espn 30 for 30 short document, curse wrestlingKevin said, “After all this, I went a little crazy.”
He said, “I wanted to die, but I wasn’t going to kill myself.” “I wanted to go to jail and get into fights, and I wanted to be punished like I did something. It was stupid.”
In 1997, the head of the family died of brain and lung cancer. He was 68 years old.
Where is Kevin Von Erich?
Kevin moved to Hawaii with his wife and four children. His mother Doris also came along. He died in 2015.
Kevin and his family announced earlier this year that they would be relocating to Boerne, Texas, northwest of San Antonio.
iron clawWritten and directed by Sean Durkin, it will be released in theaters on December 22.
What does Kevin Von Erich say now
ET spoke to Kevin at the Los Angeles premiere iron claw Just a few days before the film hits theatres. kevin opened up About forming a strong bond with Efron.
“Zach loves to do the things that I love to do,” Kevin tells ET. “And we’re already talking [taking a] Spear fishing trip in Kauai at Kalia Rock. And we’ll see about Jeremy and the others, but Zach and I have a trip planned.”
Kevin also shared the message he hopes fans will take away from the new film.
“Many people are suffering badly and are probably at rock bottom and wondering, ‘How am I going to get out of this?’ You know?” says Kevin, a married man and father of four who recently moved from Hawaii to nearby San Antonio, Texas. “And a man’s got to fight. Life’s hard, and a lot of people have it harder than me, but I think if it’s the kind of movie that can help lift someone up and maybe “It shows them you can do it. Don’t give up. Keep fighting. Keep trying.”
iron claw In theaters now.
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