Yahoo Movies The Iron Claw's tragic true story shows the dark side of wrestling
As wrestling biopic The Iron Claw hits Prime Video for streaming, it's worth taking a look at the true tragedy of the Von Erich dynasty.
The spectre of tragedy looms over a lot of professional wrestling, but nowhere more than in the case of the Von Erich family. This year's star-studded biopic The Iron Claw explores their horrifying story, in which the family experienced so much hardship that they began to believe they were cursed.
The movie, which stars Zac Efron alongside Harris Dickinson and The Bear's Jeremy Allen White, is now streaming on Prime Video in the UK after its cinema run. So let's delve into the true story behind the showmanship and sadness of Sean Durkin's prestige biopic.
How did the 'Von Erich curse' start?
In the 1950s, the Texan-born wrestler Jack Adkisson made a big change. In order to make his way in the ring, he renamed himself Fritz Von Erich and played an evil German character, taking advantage of the anti-German sentiment in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. This character catapulted him to the top of the business.
Fritz and his wife Doris had their first child — a son called Jack Jr. — in 1952. He died in 1959 at the age of just six following a tragic accident in which he was electrocuted and subsequently drowned in a melting snow puddle.
Read more: Zac Efron reveals 'magical' wrestling secrets behind The Iron Claw (Yahoo Entertainment)
In the wake of this tragedy, Fritz began to train his other sons as wrestlers. He groomed them for success on a national and international level, hoping they would break out of the Texas territory Fritz controlled. In the days before WWE became a global powerhouse, American wrestling was focused on these regional territories, while one shared champion travelled across the country as the undisputed star of the business.
Five of the Von Erich sons would eventually make their way into the wrestling world, but tragedy struck over and over again. Soon, the idea of the "Von Erich curse" was a widely discussed phenomenon.
How does The Iron Claw portray the Von Erich family tragedies?
The film introduces Kevin Von Erich (Efron) as the golden boy of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, but he is soon overshadowed by his more charismatic younger brother David (Dickinson). They are joined in the ring by another brother, Kerry (White), when his hopes of throwing discus at the Olympics fall apart.
David's increasing stardom pushed him ahead of Kevin in the pecking order, right up until a fateful tour of Japan in 1984. David died in Tokyo as a result of acute enteritis — an inflammation of the small intestine.
Read more: The Iron Claw movie review: Zac Efron and co fail to pin down this tragic true-life wrestling story (Evening Standard)
In the next few years, tragedy hit both Kerry and younger brother Mike (Stanley Simons), who the film depicts as being essentially forced into the business. Kerry beat touring world champion Ric Flair to win the belt, but soon after lost his foot in a motorcycle accident. He returned to the ring with a prosthetic — keeping the amputation secret from fans — but battled substance abuse issues and, in 1993, he took his own life on the family's ranch.
Mike, meanwhile, injured his shoulder in 1985, having only reluctantly started wrestling after David's death. He suffered toxic shock syndrome as a side effect of surgery, which left him with severe brain damage. In 1987, he took a fatal drug overdose.
Read more: The Iron Claw Gets Multiple Things Wrong About Fritz Von Erich. Setting The Record Straight (CinemaBlend)
Efron's performance in the film is terrific, depicting a man forced to deal with his family gradually slipping away around him due to the pressures of their fame, as well as the paranoia he feels about the prospect of a curse. The movie concludes with his sadness at the fact he "used to be a brother", but ends up being the last man standing.
What happened to Chris Von Erich?
The Iron Claw doesn't even show the true extent of the Von Erich family tragedy as it removes the story of Chris Von Erich.
Chris was the youngest of the Von Erich brood and loved wrestling, but struggled to achieve the success of his brothers due to being shorter and suffering from brittle bones. In 1991, having been hit hard by Mike's death, Chris took his own life at the age of 21.
Read more: Zac Efron says cast chemistry makes The Iron Claw a special film (BANG Showbiz)
In an interview with the LA Times, Durkin explained why Chris's story couldn't make it into the movie. He said: "There was a repetition to it, and it was one more tragedy that the film couldn’t really withstand. I honestly don’t know if it would have gotten made."
Even without Chris's story, The Iron Claw is a movie that weighs heavily with tragedy. It shows the impact that a business as intense as professional wrestling can have on the people within it, especially during the chaotic period of the 1980s.
As for the "Von Erich curse", Kevin is still alive today and has repeatedly said in interviews that he doesn't believe there is really a curse on his family. What's undeniable, though, is that the Von Erich's saw a lot more tragedy than the average family — and they kept on fighting despite it all.
The Iron Claw is available to stream on Prime Video in the UK.
