Clearly, the Von Erich brand has the longevity marketeers dream of.
More than 30 years after the Von Erichs peaked as an entertainment franchise, the “Iron Claw” has been met with the warm embrace of movie-goers as millions of the family’s adoring fans picked their preferred seats at theaters across the country.
The A24 Films production starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White is the somewhat true story of the family’s life in the show business of pro wrestling — the dropkicks, discus punches, and, of course, its patented iron claw — and its terribly tragic ending.
The Von Erichs as wrestlers were the protagonists in the real-world string of machismo storytelling. Dad Fritz and his sons Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike were the superheroes defending righteousness against the evil doing of the likes of Gary Hart, Bruiser Brody (who became a good guy), The Great Kabuki, Maniac Mark Lewis, and the devil incarnate, the Fabulous Freebirds, the brothers’ archnemesis.
It was all good fun for the teens and preteens of that day, more than 40 years ago, who tuned into the syndicated replay of what had happened on Monday night at Will Rogers Coliseum. Twitter, X, and Elon Musk were unheard of, much less available to give us blow-by-blow accounts in real time.
On KTVT/Channel 11 at 10:30 p.m. each Saturday was, first, Bill Mercer and, then later, Marc Lowrance providing the dramatic play-by-play. The theater reached a fever pitch as the hosts interviewed the combatants afterward.
There, the Von Erichs’ enemies engaged in glorious trash talk, disparaging and taunting their rivals, and boasted about their own abilities. The Von Erichs, too, addressed ongoing feuds and talked tough, but in a more gentlemanly (well, relative to wrestling) tone.
All of it served to build storylines and develop characters, not to mention give us something to talk about at the school cafeteria the next week.
As if we needed more distractions from what we should have been doing, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a weekly wrestling column, “On the Mat with Betty Ann Stout,” the creation of writer Jennifer Briggs Gerst.
It wasn’t the stuff of Hemingway, but she effectively spoke to her audience, giving us terms such as “the Handsome Halfwit of Highland Park” — that is, Gino Hernandez — and phrases like “Beef-O-Getti Brains.”
All of it was also more of an act than any of us realized. The human condition stalked the superhero brothers.
Hollywood employed its notorious license, we’re told, to take some liberties with the movie script.
For example, patriarch Fritz wasn’t actually Twain’s abusive Pap Finn, according to son Kevin. We also can safely assume that he wasn’t as well-versed on human development as, say, Mister Rogers. The Expectant Father: The Ultimate Guide for Dads-To-Be likely never passed through his calloused meat hooks.
But Hollywood probably had to alter the story simply in order to try to answer questions long left unanswered. All but one of the Von Erich brothers were robbed of old age, each dying tragically in their youth. David Von Erich died mysteriously while in Japan. Kerry, Mike, and Chris, the youngest brother, died by their own hands. An older brother died as a child. Only Kevin Von Erich is alive today, at age 66.
These muscle-bound warriors whom we thought had everything — the adoration of fame and the materials of fortune — in reality had nothing, particularly as it concerned supporting their brokenness.
In the end, like so many among us, they were done in, not by the villains of the World Class Championship Wrestling, but by silent killers of depression and despair, addiction, isolation, and loneliness.
As it turned out, while we pondered potential outcomes of the current WCCW storylines, the Von Erichs were more than likely grasping desperately for answers for overcoming their demons.
There’s irony in that, in the ring, the brothers always had each other, but in their lowest moment, there was no one there to fight off brute attackers.
Many of the great thinkers of the world have taken up the question of what makes a happy life. The answer has eluded so many for literally eons. Seeking it has doomed many others looking in all the wrong places.
The Von Erichs, ultimately, left a lasting legacy far bigger than conquests in a wrestling ring.
Rather, it’s in understanding that some of our neighbors live in a private hell. And it’s our duty to tag in to help them where we can when they are at their lowest, unspeakable depths by deploying faith, hope, and love.
