The world of wrestling has always been one of dramatic highs and lows, with fans watching as much for the powerful storylines as for the technical prowess of those involved.
But the story that is perhaps the sport’s most dramatic and heart-breaking actually took place outside the ring. Many wrestling fans will likely be familiar with the Von Erich family, one of the sport’s most iconic and successful dynasties.
Despite multiple members achieving stunning success in combat sport, many acknowledged that the Von Erich family almost seem to be cursed, considering the amount of ill-fortune they have had to face.
Breaking out in the 1980s, brothers David, Kevin and Kenny would become something of a powerhouse in the eyes of wrestling fans, competing in both under both the All Elite Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling banners before all joining WWF (now WWE) at various stages, while siblings Mike and Chris also achieved success in the sport.
The quintet, who had also all excelled at American football along with a string of other sports, would often be matched together as partners, and gained a host of fans through both their talent in the ring and their personalities outside of it.
While, the brothers all had some degree success in the sport, perhaps the most high profile bout was brother Kerry’s stunning victory against the infamous ‘Nature Boy’ Ric Flair in 1982, who was largely considered one of the sports best and most successful faces at the time. However, their public bravado seemed to have been masking a tragic reality.
The trio’s early life has been described as a difficult one, triggered by the death of their younger sibling Jack aged just six, after he was electrocuted in 1959 and subsequently drowned in a puddle in Niagara Falls, Canada. His death reportedly sent his father, also a professional wrestler, into a rage, where he violently started smashing windows in the family’s house.
In 1984, the Von Erich’s would suffer another tragic loss. David, who was the reigning NWA United States champion and arguably considered the best “technical” wrestler of the trio would be found dead in his hotel while on tour in Japan with the company.
Although rumours initially spread that David died of a drug overdose, it was later revealed that he died from acute enteritis, resulting in ruptured intestines filling his body with blood that led to a fatal heart attack.
Tragically, the death of David would then set into motion a desperate series of events.
In 1986, Kerry would suffer a serious motorcycle accident, and although he survived the crash, his foot had to be amputated, something which would massively impact his career and lead him to become addicted to painkillers as he attempted to mask the disability from the public using prosthetics.
One years later, 23-year-old Mike Von Erich took his own life after being arrested for DUI and marijuana possession.
Mike, whose career had been blighted by a serious shoulder injury, had gone on to develop toxic shock syndrome, which left him brain damaged which was made worse by a serious car crash, factors believed to have contributed to his troubled mental state.
In 1991, Chris would also take his tragically commit suicide at the family home in Denton, Texas. The wrestler had apparently spoken to his sibling Kevin about his struggles with mental health before he died via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
And brother Kerry, still struggling with pain-killer addiction following his motorbike crash, would also sadly take his own life in 1993, also at the Von Erich home in Denton.
Kerry’s untimely and tragic death came after two drug-related arrests with the second leaving Kerry staring down the barrel of serious prison time. WWE star Bret Hart wrote in his book Hitman: “Kerry confided that he’d made up his mind to join his brothers in heaven.”
The four deaths in nine years left Kevin Von Erich as the only surviving sibling having lost all five of his brothers in total, leading many to dub the family as ‘cursed’. In rare interviews, Kevin has spoken about having grown to accept his family’s complex and tragic past.
In 2009, the entire Von Erich family was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and in 2023 a feature film was released telling the family’s story called The Iron Claw, starring Zac Effron (Kevin) and Jeremy Allen White (Kerry).