If you were a North Texas wrestling fan in the 1980s, one name stood above the rest. It wasn’t Andre the Giant … or “Nature Boy” Ric Flair … or even Hulk Hogan. That name: Von Erich. A new film called The Iron Claw — which opens Friday — revisits the Von Erich family’s story.
And it takes you right back to wrestling's local heyday.
Imagine it’s a Friday night in 1984. Work or school are in the rearview mirror. Time to flip on the TV, adjust the rabbit ears, and settle in for this week’s broadcast of World Class Championship Wrestling, coming to you from Dallas’ home for wrestling: The Sportatorium. Ring announcer Ralph Pulley would kick off the action with something like ....
“First of all, on my right, from Minneapolis, weighing 240 pounds, Mr. Ric Flair. And his opponent, from Denton County, the new world heavy weight champion, Kerry Von Erich!”
That's the actual introduction to their 1984 bout at the Sportatorium. And if you thought the Nature Boy was going to come to Texas and leave with a victory well, that wasn't in the script that night.
The Von Erichs seemingly had it all. Fritz, the father, wrestled professionally in the 1960s. Then he ran the wrestling association that would make his sons stars. It was a true family affair.
“That was kind of the appeal of the Von Erichs," says Jeff Liles of Dallas, who watched the broadcasts on TV when he wasn’t at the Sportatorium to catch the tapings in person. Amid outlandish plots and over-the-top characters, the Von Erichs were easy to root for.
“I think that because the Von Erich kids were kind of naturally good looking, I think they ended up having a much broader appeal," he says. "You know, the family aspect of it was unique. It was generational. You know, the old folks could get into Fritz and the young people were into his kids.”
Sean Durkin wrote and directed “The Iron Claw, which stars Jeremy Allen White as Kerry Von Erich and Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich. As a kid growing up in England, he relished the chance to get his hands on even an old VHS tape featuring classic Von Erich matches.
“I remember seeing Kevin flying off the top rope and bare feet and just like seeing the brothers together and this beautiful — you know, they were each such individual styles, but together they were like this incredible team the way they complemented each other," Durkin said the day after the film's world premiere at the Texas Theatre in November. "And so without even knowing about the depth of their brotherhood, I think I felt it just from being a fan.”
Durkin’s film captures that brotherhood as well as the many, many tragedies that were part of it: a drowning, a sudden death overseas, a motorcycle accident at home — and multiple suicides.
Of the six Von Erich brothers, Kevin is the only survivor. The day after the film’s premiere, he said seeing his family all alive — at least on screen — left him imagining that one day they’d all be reunited in the next life.
“I think these guys did a great job capturing the love between us brothers and then the love between us and our father," he said.
There is a third leg to that love triangle – the connection between the Von Erichs and those screaming fans in the Sportatorium who lost it with every climb to the top rope. As Kerry said in a 1984 prematch interview:
"In this building, I won the Texas title the first time. I won the American title. And now, right here in Dallas, I’ve won the world title. Well, during all those titles, I never forgot the people of Texas. And this will be no different.”
In other words: The wrestling may have been fake. But the love was always real.
