Von Erich family
The story of the Von Erich family has been presented as a cautionary tale about parental influence and the various dangers of the professional wrestling business.
[1] They remain one of the best-known families in professional wrestling, both for their accomplishments and their tragic personal history: Fritz and all five of his wrestler sons were collectively inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, and he, David, Kerry and Kevin were all individually inducted into the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame between 2007 and 2016.
The family was the subject of a Dark Side of the Ring episode in 2019 and the 2023 biographical film The Iron Claw, titled after the Von Erichs' signature move.
Fritz was also a major part of Japanese wrestling, where he was known as "Tetsu no Tsume" (鉄の爪; "The Iron Claw"), and helped rebuild the business after the death of Rikidōzan.
He died at age six in Niagara Falls, New York, on March 7, 1959, after he stepped on a trailer tongue, was electrically shocked, then fell into a melting snow puddle face first and drowned.
The majority of Kevin's career was spent working in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he had feuds against wrestlers such as Chris Adams, The Fabulous Freebirds, and Ric Flair.
At WrestleMania 25, Kevin represented the Von Erich family during their induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.
It was there that he faced off with Harley Race and later Ric Flair several times for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (never winning), as well as teamed with brothers Kevin and Kerry against The Fabulous Freebirds.
[23] Ric Flair wrote in his autobiography, To Be the Man, that "everyone in wrestling believes" that it was a drug overdose that really killed him and that Bruiser Brody (a fellow wrestler who found David) disposed of the narcotics by flushing them down a toilet before the police arrived.
[3] A tribute show was held a couple of months later in his honor, during which his younger brother, Kerry Von Erich, won the NWA World Title from Ric Flair.
Known as "The Modern Day Warrior" and "The Texas Tornado", Kerry was by far the best-known of the Von Erich Family.
Amongst the many major feuds he had were those against Gino Hernandez, Iceman Parsons, Chris Adams and The Fabulous Freebirds.
He continued wrestling after the accident with a prosthesis and kept the amputation secret from the majority of fans and fellow wrestlers.
[28][29] Kerry died after shooting a .44 caliber bullet through his heart on February 18, 1993, on his father's ranch in Denton County, Texas.
Bret Hart states in his autobiography, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, that Kerry had told him months before about his plans, that he had wanted to follow his late brothers, and that they were calling him.
[33] In 1985, he injured his shoulder on a tour of Israel and had surgery, leading to toxic shock syndrome, as there was an infection missed by the surgeons.
After an arrest for DUI and marijuana possession, Mike took a fatal dose of tranquilizers and alcohol around April 12, 1987, in Denton County, Texas.
Ross returned to Texas to attend college in 2008, according to the family website, and reportedly has wrestled a couple of times.
[38] Ross and Marshall made their national television debut as part of the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) Slammiversary XII PPV on June 15, 2014, in a tag match defeating The BroMans via disqualification.
[39] In July 2017 Ross, along with his brother Marshall and father Kevin, wrestled at the Rage Megashow in Israel.
Marshall and Ross made their national television debut at Slammiversary XII on June 15, 2014,[39] where they defeated The BroMans.
In July 2017 Marshall, along with his brother Ross and father Kevin, wrestled at the Rage Megashow in Israel.
Lance Von Erich was the stage name of Dallas-born professional wrestler William Kevin "Ricky" Vaughn.
On two episodes of MLW Fusion, Tom Lawlor, who was involved in a feud with the Von Erichs after turning his back on them, mercilessly beat and then aligned himself with a wrestler he called "Rip Von Erich", who was played by a wrestler who had previously gone under the name Kit Osbourne in other promotions.
This eventually became a storyline in the Global Wrestling Federation with Skandor Akbar accusing LeRibeus of being an illegitimate son of Fritz Von Erich.
The movie portrays the Von Erich family through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; directed by Sean Durkin, the film stars Zac Efron, Lily James, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Holt McCallany.
