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Professional wrestling may be scripted, but what happened to the Von Erich family is very real. A24 and director Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw (2023) tells the tragic story of one of the most legendary families in pro wrestling.
The Von Erichs had an amazing career in the ring, but what happened outside the jam-packed walls of every building they wrestled in is far from amazing. Durkin described the film as “part family drama, part Gothic horror and part sports movie, The Iron Claw is a true Greek tragedy in the American heartland.”
History of Von Erichs
The Adkisson family, known in pro wrestling as the Von Erichs, are one of wrestling’s most well-known families. Their lineage within the squared circle rank as high as families like the Harts (Owen Hart and Bret Hart) and the Anoa’i family (Rocky Johnson, Roman Reigns, Rikishi, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson).
Even if they were not inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2009, what they did in their hometown of Dallas, Texas, alone makes them legends.
The family begins with the patriarch Fritz Von Erich, born Jack Barton Adkisson. He wrestled throughout the United States, winning multiple championships in multiple wrestling promotions, including World Class Championship Wrestling.
WCCW plays a big part in the movie, as that is where his sons got famous. He also wrestled in Japan, where pro wrestling is arguably bigger than anywhere in the world. During his career, he created the signature move that gave the movie its title – the iron claw.
In 1952, him and his wife, Doris, had their first son, Jack Adkisson Jr., In 1959, the family experienced the first of many unfortunate tragedies. When Jack Jr. was 6 years old, he was electrocuted after he stepped on the tongue of the family trailer, fell into a snow melt puddle and drowned.
Two years prior, their second son – Kevin Ross Adkisson, who wrestled as Kevin Von Erich – was born. Kevin is the last surviving son of Fritz. Kevin has a successful wrestling career and was most known for using his father’s signature move and wrestling barefoot.
In 1958, their third son, David, was born. David is known for being in a tag-team duo with his brothers, Kevin and Kerry, as well as having a feud with wrestling legend Ric Flair, although he never beat Flair. In 1984, David was in Japan wrestling amid his feud with Flair. On the evening of Feb. 10 he died of acute enteritis (stomach and intestinal swelling).
In 1960, Fritz’ fourth son, Kerry, was born. He was known as the best-known of the Von Erich’s. He spent most of his
career in WCCW. After the death of his brother David, they held a memorial wrestling show in his honor. At the show, Kerry won the National Wrestling Alliance World Title after he beat Ric Flair.
In 1986, Kerry was in a motorcycle accident that resulted in the amputation of his right foot. After the accident, he continued to wrestle despite being in immense pain, keeping the amputation a secret from fans and fellow wrestlers. In 1993, he died after shooting himself in the heart at the family’s ranch in Texas.
In 1964, the Fritz’ fifth son, Mike, was born. He is known for being tag-team partners with Kerry in their feud with The Fabulous Freebirds.
In 1985, Mike injured his shoulder in a match and surgery was required, which led to coma-inducing toxic shock syndrome. He partially recovered and returned to wrestling, despite lack of strength and coordination. Two years later, Mike took a large dose of tranquilizer pills and alcohol and died.
The youngest son of Fritz, Chris, was born in 1969. He had a short-lived wrestling career due to asthma and brittle bones. After not being able to achieve what his father and brothers did, he became depressed. At 21 years old, he shot himself in the head and died.
The only surviving son of Fritz, Kevin Von Erich, had two sons, David Michael Ross Adkisson and Kevin Marshall Adkisson. Kevin named his sons after his brothers. They grew up to be pro wrestlers like their father and grandfather.
In 2017, Ross and Marshall competed with their father as his final match. In 2019, they signed a multi-year contract with Major League Wrestling to continue the legacy of the Von Erich family.
Not just a sports movie
When was the last time a sports movie brought you to tears? Not just one tear running down your face, but full-on ugly cry? Well, I can tell you for me it was when I watched The Iron Claw.
This film is more than just pro wrestling. It is a true story of family, mental health and raw emotion.
Some of our favorite movies are ones we want to watch over and over again, but the The Iron Claw is so jam-packed with raw emotion that the audiences feels in their soul that it could be awhile before I watch it again. Not because it was a bad movie – because it is far from a bad movie – but because it is a heavy film about the tragic story of the Von Erich family.
In the movie, they only focus on Fritz Von Erich (played by Holt McCallany); his wife, Doris (played by Maura Tierney); and their sons, Kevin (played by Zac Efron), David (played by Harrison Dickinson), Kerry (played by Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (played by (Stanley Simons). The film doesn’t show their first son Jack Jr. until the emotional ending. The youngest brother Chris is not shown at all.
On why they decided not to, director Durkin said, “The reality is so much worse than what is in the movie. You can’t make a movie like that. There’s just not enough time for it – it’s so relentless.”
In an interview with IndieWire, Durkin said, “[Chris Von Erich] was in it for a long time, not just a draft. I wrote the script for seven years, and Chris was part of it for maybe five of those years. It’s really hard on a human level to look at them as characters on a page because they were real people. … I ultimately took it out because it seemed like it was the difference between the film getting made or not.
“[Including Chris] was clearly showing off the rhythm of the film, the weight of the film, the focus of the film, which was trying to be about Kevin Von Erich’s survival but was getting lost in the amount of tragedy. I had to find that balance to make the screenplay work on a level that made it a workable film.”
Actor Zac Efron, who plays Kevin Von Erich, said about the film, “It’s the story of a guy who successfully breaks a vicious cycle in his family and is able to rise above and move forward with love in his life.”
One of the details of the film that adds to the realism of it is the actual wrestling in the movie. The cast did most of their own stunts and moves while filming the in-ring scenes. Another detail I appreciate is the addition of actual pro wrestlers.
Chavo Guerrero Jr. – nephew of pro wrestling legend Eddie Guerrero, who played The Sheik in the film – has been a pro wrestler since 1994 and was also the wrestling choreographer on the film. This is the third time Guerrero was wrestling choreographer as he worked on Netflix’s series GLOW and NBC’s Young Rock.
The film also features Ryan Nemeth, who wrestles in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and All Elite Wrestling’s Maxwell Jacob Freedman, better known as MJF. Freedman played Lance Von Erich and Nemeth played Gino Hernandez. As well as acting in it, Freedman was also an executive producer on the movie.
One of the reasons we watch movies is captivating stories, but often those stories are fabricated and put together in a writers room. We love watching movies with tragedies where the main character survives and pulls through in the end.
The Iron Claw is just that, but it is a true story, which makes it even more heartbreaking. Adding to the heartbreak is that the true story is even more gut wrenchingly sad that the writer and director felt that he couldn’t include the full family story in the movie.
When looking at other aspects of the film other than its story, everything is just about perfect. The writing and directing by Durkin is phenomenal. The cinematography by Matyas Erdely is amazing and fits the film.
Susan Shopmaker’s casting of Efron, White, Dickinson, Simons, McCallany and Tierney is absolutely amazing. Production company A24 has a way of having that special touch in just about every film they produce, and The Iron Claw has that.
I wholeheartedly believe this film deserved Academy Awards, or at the very least nominations. However, this film was on the tail end of Oscar’s season so the Academy likely had their minds made up on who was going to be nominated.
It is hard to narrow down all that happened in the emotional rollercoaster that was The Iron Claw, but I will try to narrow it down into a few words. Family, wrestling, repressed emotion, tragedy, love and perseverance.
You’ll have to watch the film to fully understand what I am talking about. This movie is without a doubt one of the best in recent years, and I’m sure just about everyone who has seen it will agree.
If you love sports, family and the story of persevering through tragedy, I encourage you to go watch The Iron Claw. However, fair warning – make sure you have a box of tissues or two at the ready.
The Iron Claw was released in theaters on Dec. 22, 2023, and today is streaming on Max.
Cannon Crompton is sports editor of the Cherokee Scout. Email him at sports@cherokeescout.com or call 828-827-5122, Ext. 18.