Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1 - video Dailymotion

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#video #Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1

Transcript

00:00:22I think I had to grow up to realize that life is not about just laughing it up all day.

00:00:30There's a lot of terrible things that happen, but in between those moments are those good ones, too, you know,

00:00:38the laughing children.

00:00:41You remember being a little kid, too, and it's just beautiful.

00:00:47I love life.

00:00:50Can't wait to wake up in the morning.

00:00:53So I just say thank you, Lord, for another day.

00:00:56You know, he doesn't owe me a thing, but a place to be born and a place to die.

00:01:03There was a time I thought life is too long, and now I think life is too short.

00:01:10Here comes the Von Eriks.

00:01:14You've got to understand how big a star of the Von Eriks were in Texas.

00:01:17If you knew anything about professional wrestling, you knew who and what the Von Eriks were.

00:01:22The Von Eriks, the royal family of wrestling, with Father Fritz as the king of the ring and each of

00:01:28his sons waiting to take over the throne.

00:01:31Fritz had six kids.

00:01:32Each of these boys are going to be world heavyweight champions.

00:01:36I'm dedicating my life to it.

00:01:38The greatest name in professional wrestling today, the Von Eriks.

00:01:41We began to really understand how important the Von Eriks were to the state of Texas.

00:01:46They were superheroes.

00:01:47The Von Eriks are a prime attraction.

00:01:49They were on their way to greatness until all the tragedies struck.

00:01:54At six years old, Uncle Jackie is just gone.

00:01:58David Von Eriks was found lying across his bed early this morning, as it's awfully hard to believe it could

00:02:03have been a heart attack.

00:02:05Michael Von Eriks remains in critical condition at Baylor Medical Center.

00:02:09Doctors say the restful have toxic shot syndrome.

00:02:12Investigators found a handwritten note.

00:02:14Mom and Dad, I'm in a better place.

00:02:18Gary Von Eriks was in an accident recently.

00:02:20This crumpled wreckage is all that's left.

00:02:23Some call it the curse of the iron claw.

00:02:25It doesn't get easier.

00:02:27Lord, please don't take any more of my children.

00:02:29Was it a curse?

00:02:31Was it just a series of tragic coincidences?

00:02:34Was it the pressure of the wrestling business?

00:02:36The pressure of family?

00:02:37The pressure of the fans?

00:02:39They did go through a lot of tragedy.

00:02:41It was made for movie.

00:02:42It's a new film.

00:02:43It's called The Iron Claw.

00:02:45Don't you dare question me.

00:02:46Great acting.

00:02:47Zac Efron did a phenomenal job.

00:02:48But it would have been nice if they'd have had the real story.

00:02:53This one is a little different.

00:02:54I've never talked about the things I've talked about.

00:02:56But I wanted it to be said.

00:03:00It might sound like the craziest story you ever heard, but I know it's true.

00:03:17Down, see the hook.

00:03:19Right now.

00:03:21And there you go.

00:03:23When I'm out here with my grandkids, to me, this is as good as it gets.

00:03:31Had I not been raised the way I was, maybe I'd be different, but it's just important to me.

00:03:37Oh, Reggie!

00:03:39When I think about my youth and my time with my brothers, it was so great, so much fun we

00:03:45had then.

00:03:46And then my dad, he didn't have any idea what it was like to have brothers.

00:03:54You know, it's too bad, too, because he was an only child, and I can't imagine what that would like

00:04:01to be, being an only child.

00:04:08Fritz von Erich is my father.

00:04:10He was born Jack Atkinson in Jewett, Texas.

00:04:15He had a pretty rough life, I think.

00:04:17He's the only child, and my granddad was busy and didn't have a lot of time for him.

00:04:23My granddad didn't really pay any attention to my dad.

00:04:26It was like, if they weren't hunting, well, they weren't talking.

00:04:30Any stories I have about granddad being little are things that he told me.

00:04:35In their town, the dads would bet on their boys and have them fight in the woods.

00:04:41And when granddad would lose, his dad would just beat him in front of everyone.

00:04:49The one person that my granddad felt like loved him was his daddy Ross, his grandfather.

00:04:55And so daddy Ross lived a few hours away, and for granddad, that was his one source of, you know,

00:05:03love and encouragement.

00:05:05There was a guy in town who asked my granddad if, you know, he was maybe 12 or 13 years

00:05:12old.

00:05:12My granddad was at the time.

00:05:14And he said, you know, Jack, if you want a ride, I'll give you a ride.

00:05:18You can ride in my truck with me, and I go out there every weekend.

00:05:21I'd be happy to take you.

00:05:23And granddad was so excited to take that chance.

00:05:28The man drove him in the truck on the way there.

00:05:32The man molested my granddad.

00:05:35Granddad.

00:05:38My granddad said, I wanted to see daddy Ross so bad that I let that happen every couple of weeks,

00:05:44you know, to go see daddy Ross, and it was worth it.

00:05:47So that, you know, broke my heart whenever he told me about that.

00:05:52That he was molested as a little boy.

00:05:57I didn't know that.

00:06:00There are things he didn't tell me, but he did tell Kristen.

00:06:03It's just really, I guess he had no reason to tell me.

00:06:07I didn't need to know, I suppose.

00:06:09But kind of surprising.

00:06:15I think that granddad had felt invisible for a large part of his childhood and recognized that the best way

00:06:27to get people to notice him was his athletic ability, his size.

00:06:34And so he went to college, and he actually had a scholarship for football, and he threw discus at SMU.

00:06:42Here you were at SMU with a scholarship, and you met this young lady named Doris.

00:06:48At the time that my grandparents met, they loved each other so much.

00:06:53And Mimi, she wasn't going to let this boy go, you know, like this was a boy that was going

00:06:59places.

00:07:00And you eventually married Doris, but what did that cost you?

00:07:04You mean up to an hour at that time?

00:07:08Well, it cost me my scholarship.

00:07:10When I started as a freshman at SMU, they put a non-marriage rule in that any freshman that came

00:07:15in from then on at that time and later, if they got married, they lost their scholarship.

00:07:19So, because you married?

00:07:20I didn't think they met me.

00:07:21I was too great.

00:07:23Uh-huh.

00:07:23And you lost their scholarship?

00:07:24Yes, sir.

00:07:25Just to condense it, brother, that's what happened.

00:07:28All this time went on, uh, I had a wife and a young baby on the way, and, uh, I

00:07:34really didn't know what I was going to do yet.

00:07:42He tried lots of jobs.

00:07:44He was a detective and a bus driver.

00:07:49Ed Stranger Lewis, belonging to Ole, it was one of the greatest all-time wrestlers I guess there ever was.

00:07:54I said, French, you got a big name at SMU.

00:07:56He said, man, we can train you for about six months, put you in that sport, and you'll sell that

00:08:00building out.

00:08:01And when he mentioned how much money I was going to make, partner, I mean, to tell you, he got

00:08:04my attention.

00:08:05Yes.

00:08:05He said, you're liable to make $20,000 or $25,000 your first year in the business.

00:08:10Man, I belonged to him after that.

00:08:12That's when my dad started professional wrestling.

00:08:15Jack Atkinson of Dallas, 251-pounder.

00:08:19Atkinson is the tall boy on the right.

00:08:22So Jack Atkinson started off as a local hero, football player from SMU, but he set out to travel far

00:08:28and wide to really make this his full-time career.

00:08:32In wrestling, there's no middle ground.

00:08:35You either want the people to love you or to hate you.

00:08:38People love to cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy.

00:08:42I think he was really smart in seeing the opportunity there to be a memorable heel.

00:08:51A bad guy.

00:08:53And so that's what my dad did.

00:08:54He thought, well, the most detestable person I can think of would be a Nazi.

00:09:00He changed his name to Fritz von Erich, basically the most German name he could think of.

00:09:06From Berlin, Germany, Fritz von Erich.

00:09:10And there was a lot of potential in that character.

00:09:14But he is rough and tough and nasty.

00:09:16Growing up as a fan, if you watched TV, you knew Fritz.

00:09:19This guy is just vicious.

00:09:21He just looked the part of a villain, and he played the part of a villain, unbelievably.

00:09:26Fritz von Erich, and the master of the Iron Claw.

00:09:28The Iron Claw was Fritz's infamous finishing hold, where he would take his big mitts and just wrap it around

00:09:35the skull,

00:09:36and just squeeze until sometimes until blood came out or until they gave up.

00:09:42That character was beneficial for his family, and he was a family man.

00:09:47He wanted Jackie to have everything and his wife to be taken care of.

00:09:56Granddad, what year were you born?

00:09:59Um, 1957.

00:10:04Oh, that is, so that's Daddy, right?

00:10:07Oh, okay.

00:10:08Okay, so Uncle Jackie and you.

00:10:09Yeah.

00:10:10By 1957, it was just the two of us.

00:10:13Me, Jackie, and my mom and dad.

00:10:19My mother loved her children.

00:10:21She loved me and Jackie so much.

00:10:24My mother was so full of love, and my dad loved her.

00:10:29We were happy and jovial, and it was a great time.

00:10:33There you are.

00:10:34Look at that cute baby.

00:10:36That's me, Jackie.

00:10:39He was my big brother.

00:10:41He kissed me.

00:10:42He loves you.

00:10:44Oh, Josh.

00:10:46He had the best personality.

00:10:48He was funny.

00:10:51I feel like he's trying to make you laugh.

00:10:54Exactly.

00:10:55That big brother stuff.

00:10:56Oh.

00:11:00It was in 1959, up in Niagara Falls.

00:11:03We didn't have money back then.

00:11:05We were, we lived in a trailer house, and one day, Jackie wanted to go play, and my mother

00:11:11was busy, and so she said, yeah, go play.

00:11:16Uncle Jackie asked if he could go to his friend's house, a couple of mobile homes down, and Mimi

00:11:22said, yes, just go ahead.

00:11:24You can come home for lunch, but yes, go.

00:11:29Later on, Mimi called her friend, and they chatted for a few minutes, and then she said,

00:11:36um, you can send Jackie home.

00:11:38Thank you so much for having him.

00:11:40And her friend said, well, Jackie's not here.

00:11:44Mimi said her heart dropped.

00:11:46She immediately knew something was wrong.

00:11:55That day, Mimi was cleaning, and it was cold outside, and when she called her friend and

00:12:04said, hey, will you please send Jackie home?

00:12:06She said, Jackie never came over.

00:12:07I mean, as a mother, when you say, when you hear that, that's, I just can't imagine.

00:12:19Mimi dropped the phone and just ran outside, looking, screaming his name.

00:12:27And they couldn't find him, so everybody in the little town was looking for him.

00:12:34Eventually, the neighbors say, just go home and wait.

00:12:37Go home and wait.

00:12:38And we're looking.

00:12:40Cops are on their way.

00:12:41So Mimi goes home.

00:12:43And so an officer knocked on the door.

00:12:46When she opened it, he said, we found him.

00:12:53But she said his countenance didn't match his words.

00:12:56And she was just like, okay, give him to me, give him to me.

00:13:00But she said, shoot, there was this siren in her mind, like, why is this, why is he not

00:13:04happy?

00:13:05Why does his face not match what I'm hearing?

00:13:08And he just, you know, said, we found him.

00:13:11And Mimi said that she, like, he went to hug her and she just punched him in the chest

00:13:16over and over and screamed and cried.

00:13:22At six years old, he was just gone.

00:13:27Just like that.

00:13:30What happened was, in this mobile home park, someone had a little trailer or equipment room

00:13:37or something that had the sheet metal siding.

00:13:40And so he was walking by, rubbing his finger along it.

00:13:44And he touched a spot where the skin on the trailer had been electrified.

00:13:50The guy had wired his trailer wrong.

00:13:53He touched it.

00:13:54It knocked him out.

00:13:56He was face down on the ground.

00:13:59Some snow had melted.

00:14:00So his face was in a puddle.

00:14:02And I think the actual cause of death was drowning.

00:14:08And then whenever granddad finally did get home, I cannot even imagine.

00:14:15But just holding that news and then he comes home and you say, here's what happened today.

00:14:21My dad came home and punched the car window and broke the glass and it was such a terrible time.

00:14:31Losing Jackie, our first baby, was a terrible blow to me.

00:14:39Listening to her tell that story made me realize, oh, she changed at that point.

00:14:49She had an anger towards God.

00:14:52God, if you're real, why did you let my little boy die?

00:14:56She loved him, but she felt like, almost like, but God owed her one for letting her baby be taken.

00:15:05And at the time, granddad blamed himself for being gone.

00:15:10Mimi blamed herself too, but she also blamed granddad for being gone.

00:15:15So I think that sort of cumulatively, as time went on, that, you know, anger, that resentment sort of just

00:15:24built upon itself.

00:15:32Anyone that loses a child, there's no pain and no hurt anyone can ever go through unless you lose one

00:15:38of your children.

00:15:39How did you feel about God at that time?

00:15:41I didn't have a Lord at the time.

00:15:44I didn't know he was there.

00:15:45I didn't think he was there.

00:15:46I just turned.

00:15:47I said, Lord, if you're there, if you're getting me back to Texas, I said, I will follow you the

00:15:52rest of my life.

00:15:54But he got me back to Texas.

00:15:55It took a long time and I went in a straight line.

00:15:58We went like this, but we got there.

00:16:03After Uncle Jackie died, granddad, when he had the opportunity to wrestle in Dallas regularly or in Texas,

00:16:11I think that they wanted to pursue that for sure because it meant that they could, you know, be together

00:16:18more and wouldn't have to be separate.

00:16:20So my grandparents and my dad, they moved back to Texas.

00:16:31Oh, wow.

00:16:33There was a ranch.

00:16:34That's where your great uncles grew up.

00:16:39So after I was born, my mother had four kids, all boys.

00:16:44Dave was born in 1958.

00:16:46Carrie in 1960.

00:16:49Mike was born in 1964.

00:16:53And then Chris was born in 1969.

00:16:55Look at Uncle Chris.

00:16:57Where's he riding?

00:16:58That was Chris.

00:17:00My little brothers thought the world of me and I was really protective of them.

00:17:05And I just fell into the job.

00:17:07That was me and my big brother.

00:17:08And I loved my brothers.

00:17:11Look at you and Uncle Dave, Daddy.

00:17:14Yeah.

00:17:15Skinny Dave.

00:17:16We always hunted and fished and spent time together.

00:17:23Oh, what great memories we had.

00:17:25We all had horses.

00:17:27We rode horses everywhere.

00:17:29Didn't everyone have their own motorcycle and their own dog?

00:17:32Yeah, we sure did.

00:17:33And our own BB gun.

00:17:34And that's what we did all day.

00:17:37There's Carrie with us first 22.

00:17:39Carrie and I grew up together at their house out there in their ranch.

00:17:44It was like Disneyland.

00:17:47Wear shorts and barefooted and no shirt all through summer.

00:17:51So that type of stuff.

00:17:52Oh, that was me.

00:17:53That's a flip.

00:17:54Really?

00:17:54It was a twist and flip.

00:17:55You never told me you could do a.

00:17:57Oh, yeah.

00:17:58A back of the morning.

00:17:59I said to my dad one day, Dad, what should I do for a living?

00:18:02I like to brag and I'm a show off.

00:18:05He said, you might want to try pro wrestling, son.

00:18:10After Uncle Jackie passed away, Mimi and Granddad had this idea that the world is dangerous and they both had

00:18:22the desire to keep their family safe from the ugliness of this world.

00:18:31So they tried to make their house be the fun house where you wouldn't want to leave.

00:18:38At that time, my Mimi was unbelievably strong.

00:18:44I mean, she had to she had to keep it together to lose a six year old is how do

00:18:51you go on?

00:18:51And whatever she did, I think she did it right.

00:18:53I I just think it's amazing that both of them had this mentality to hold it all together like that.

00:19:04Both of them.

00:19:06Tell me about raising the boys.

00:19:09The greatest memories I have in my life is raising those youngins.

00:19:12Gosh, it was fun.

00:19:13I wish I could do it again.

00:19:14I think that my dad learned a lot from his youth.

00:19:17Even though his father didn't wasn't around, he learned from that he's going to be the kind of father that

00:19:24is around.

00:19:25Don't misunderstand me.

00:19:26I made a lot of mistakes raising my children.

00:19:28But my wife and I love to prevent it of it.

00:19:30That may be the difference to a lot of folks.

00:19:32They don't love it.

00:19:33A lot of the home movies that we have, you can hear Granddad talking.

00:19:37He's narrating the whole thing and just laughing and chuckling.

00:19:44He didn't have parents that wanted to spend time with him.

00:19:46So he wanted to be a dad that that did that wanted to spend time with his kids.

00:19:52In the history of wrestling, who would you say is the greatest wrestler of all time?

00:19:59That's a rather leading question, don't you think?

00:20:00What do you think the answer is going to be there?

00:20:02I would say Fritz Von Erich.

00:20:03Right.

00:20:04There's no doubt about that.

00:20:05The most winning wrestler, the wrestler that's throwing the most money in the world today has got to be Fritz

00:20:09Von Erich.

00:20:09At the time, Fritz, he just became an idol around here in Dallas-Waltworth area.

00:20:17Fritz Von Erich, by his own admission, the world's greatest wrestler.

00:20:22People in Texas love Fritz Von Erich.

00:20:24I mean, he was, that guy could have been king of Texas.

00:20:26I remember Coach Landry and guys from the Cowboys would call my dad for advice, and I just never really

00:20:33dawned on me how important he was.

00:20:36Not just Texas, but all over, all over the world.

00:20:41My dad was a big star in Japan, and he took each one of us.

00:20:46Kevin's the first one of my sons to go on the trip.

00:20:50I don't think Kevin even had any idea what to expect when he got there.

00:20:57The first time I went with him, I looked out the window, and there were all these photographers, like, so

00:21:05many, at least 100 photographers.

00:21:08I said, Dad, there's some kind of movie store.

00:21:11You should see all the photographers outside.

00:21:13And my dad, that's who they were there to see.

00:21:16I couldn't believe it.

00:21:18But they just wanted to see us.

00:21:19Wanted to see the guy with the iron glow.

00:21:23Kids, you know, just like any other little fellow out there, we wanted to be just like our dads.

00:21:27I guess all of y'all are the same way.

00:21:29Sure.

00:21:30And, you know, so we tried extra hard to, I guess, you know, young kids are just that way.

00:21:35Anything my dad did, you know, he was like, we just wanted to be like him.

00:21:39Someone with Jack Atkinson's mindset, he wants to conquer the world.

00:21:43And by this time, you know, he knew how the business of pro wrestling worked.

00:21:48And I think he probably just thought, if I'm going to make a go of this, if it's worth my

00:21:52time to be a wrestler, it's more worth my time to be running everything.

00:21:57He kind of took over the Dallas promotion.

00:21:59Now, Fritz was the promoter, and Fritz then used that opportunity to exert his power and to kind of take

00:22:09over the booking of the Texas territory and all of the Texas towns.

00:22:14Nobody realizes it at the time, but the path for the Von Erich boys is being set here.

00:22:21And in a lot of ways, that would be a shadow over the family forever.

00:22:30All of my brothers were in sports.

00:22:33Me, Dave, Kerry, Mike, we're all athletes, and we were good at it.

00:22:39But with Chris, he had asthma and had to take medicine for it, and it stunted his growth, and he

00:22:49couldn't breathe.

00:22:50He really couldn't get enough air to really be a successful athlete, and it's just too bad.

00:22:56That's just the way it is.

00:22:57But me, Dave, Kerry, Mike, we just had a gift for it.

00:23:03Kevin, I mean, in high school, he really loved football, man.

00:23:08Nobody could tackle him.

00:23:10He'd just run over everybody, you know.

00:23:12So there's one game he averaged like 21 yards a carry.

00:23:16When Dad would come to the football games, it'd be a touchdown or something.

00:23:19I'd look up in the audience, and I'd see his hands do this.

00:23:24And that's all I cared about.

00:23:25That's all I wanted to see was how he felt about it.

00:23:29David was 6'7", so he was a great basketball player.

00:23:33In Lake Dallas, the only All-State athletes that that school has ever had were my sons.

00:23:38David was All-State in basketball two consecutive years.

00:23:42But kids, I've been very proud of them.

00:23:47It was kind of cool.

00:23:49David and Kevin both got scholarships to North Texas, which when North Texas was really a Division I powerhouse,

00:23:56Kevin went first, and then David went the next year and played basketball and football.

00:24:03I went to college to play football.

00:24:05I didn't care about my degree or anything like that.

00:24:09I loved football, and that's all I could think about.

00:24:12It was his freshman year.

00:24:14I was there.

00:24:15Wayne Carey went to watch the game in Denton at North Texas.

00:24:18And I think somebody got blocked into him, his own man or something, and just tore his ACL, you know,

00:24:24just one of the worst things.

00:24:26And he came back with a vengeance, and I'll be dadgum if he didn't hurt the other one his sophomore

00:24:32year.

00:24:33With my knees out, I could tell it took something from my quickness.

00:24:39Football wasn't as much fun to me.

00:24:42And so it was just a matter of time before I quit playing it.

00:24:47It was over.

00:24:49Not time to make a living.

00:24:51So I dropped out of college, and I gave wrestling a try.

00:24:58Kevin Von Erich was the oldest son and the first to give pro wrestling a shot.

00:25:03When he decided to get in, he didn't have to look far.

00:25:06I mean, his dad ran the local promotion.

00:25:08By then, Jack had taken over the Dallas promotion, what's now known as world-class championship wrestling.

00:25:14So this is slowly becoming a family business.

00:25:19I remember when Kevin debuted like it was yesterday.

00:25:23I remember it because I was such a big fan of Fritz Von Erich.

00:25:26And then Kevin debuts, and he's this really good-looking young guy with this great body.

00:25:31It's this incredible star athlete.

00:25:34And you're like, wow, this guy could carry on the Von Erich legacy.

00:25:37Kevin majored in football and suffered an injury, and football's loss became Professor Wrestling's game.

00:25:43In fact, when I started out wrestling, we had to change buildings because the crowd was getting bigger.

00:25:49From the Will Rogers Complex in Fort Worth, here's Saturday Night Wrestling.

00:25:54There was the writing on the wall.

00:25:55I could never make this kind of money, cleaning catfish and washing dishes.

00:26:02Meanwhile, David starts to take notice of what his brother Kevin was doing out there in the wrestling ring.

00:26:08So even as a college student, he begins to dabble in his dad's business as well.

00:26:13David Von Erich, high school all-stater in basketball.

00:26:17Dave loved basketball.

00:26:19When Dave got his first wrestling paycheck...

00:26:23Oh, that must have broken some boards.

00:26:26He thought, goodbye basketball.

00:26:29Introducing, from Denton, Texas, weighing 236 pounds, David Von Erich.

00:26:35David was the one that picked up on the psychology of the matches really well.

00:26:40Three brush rolling, ground up by David.

00:26:41Man, he was really good.

00:26:43David blocks races, suplex lifts, race, suplex by David Von Erich.

00:26:48Like David had all the tools, David was a natural.

00:26:52It has been simply all David Von Erich who has dominated Harley Race.

00:26:5718 years old, he had his first sell-off.

00:27:01That's pretty young to sell out a building like he did.

00:27:03David Harley Race.

00:27:05Oh, he caught him in the claw.

00:27:07He caught race in the claw.

00:27:09That's it.

00:27:12David Von Erich.

00:27:34Dave and I were pro wrestlers now.

00:27:38My dad, he never really wanted us to wrestle.

00:27:41He really didn't.

00:27:42He wanted us to go to college and have desk jobs.

00:27:48I never wanted my boys to be in wrestling.

00:27:50What I didn't realize was that's the only last thing you'd ever know.

00:27:53My dad was a pro wrestler, and so that's the way we were brought up.

00:27:56We wanted to be the best we possibly could.

00:27:58And so my dad never pressured us into wrestling or pressured us into anything.

00:28:02We just wanted to compete.

00:28:03They literally had to talk, for instance, to let them start working.

00:28:07And there's David.

00:28:08Look at that.

00:28:08Over the top and a big drop kick.

00:28:10Dad really didn't like that.

00:28:12I say he didn't like it, but the buildings were packed.

00:28:15You know, sell-out crowds every week.

00:28:17Kevin Von Erich.

00:28:18That's what the people here want to see.

00:28:21My dad was a promoter, too, so he liked that.

00:28:24I think we have the very finest professional wrestlers in the world.

00:28:27Coming up, my son Kevin, my oldest boy Kevin Von Erich.

00:28:30Just stay with us.

00:28:31You're going to enjoy this.

00:28:32I don't believe this.

00:28:33Look at Kevin.

00:28:34Oh!

00:28:36The oldest brother wrestled, so the younger brother wanted to wrestle.

00:28:39And my grandmother, she said, whatever they did, my granddad made him do it 110%.

00:28:47So he did give them a choice.

00:28:49But if they wanted to, he made sure that they committed 100%.

00:28:53And she was supportive of that.

00:28:55And then also, my dad didn't have to pay us like he did the other guys.

00:28:59We didn't mind that dad didn't pay us like the other wrestlers.

00:29:02It was okay with us, you know, because everything was working out great.

00:29:05We have probably the greatest wrestling father of all times, a man by the name of Fritz Von Erich.

00:29:12Our ambition in life is to live up to his name and to do as well as he's done in

00:29:16this sport.

00:29:18We had a family, and we were a family, and we did it for the family.

00:29:23And it's not for my family or for Dave's family.

00:29:26It was for the family.

00:29:31At the time, my brother Dave got married young.

00:29:35Well, he had a girlfriend, and he wanted to do the right thing and marry her, and he did.

00:29:44Around this time, David's girlfriend Candy gets pregnant.

00:29:47And in 1978, their daughter, Natasha, is born.

00:29:51David was real excited about her, you know.

00:29:54And Candy was just a wonderful mother.

00:29:59Once they had the child, he was already talking like, man, I don't want to be on the road as

00:30:03much.

00:30:04It makes it hard.

00:30:05He was so excited about the cruise.

00:30:07I'll never forget.

00:30:08They were going on a cruise.

00:30:09They had never been on a cruise.

00:30:11And back then, hardly anybody had been on a cruise.

00:30:13But, and then, sure enough, Dave, he gets a phone call.

00:30:20They were able to get a hold of him and let him know that the child had died.

00:30:28It was SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.

00:30:33It was just horrific, man.

00:30:36We didn't understand.

00:30:37I mean, how does a child just, you know.

00:30:40Back then, SIDS was a huge question.

00:30:42And, you know, that a child could just, a baby could just die in the middle of the night.

00:30:47That had been perfectly healthy.

00:30:49But that's what happened, you know.

00:30:53Obviously, that was a big blow for Dave.

00:30:57David and Candy, it affected their relationship.

00:31:00They just kind of drifted apart.

00:31:02And they ended up getting a divorce.

00:31:05It was tough.

00:31:06You know, nobody, nobody wants to bury their kids.

00:31:10Jack Jr., Fritz's firstborn son, had died.

00:31:14And then Jack's first grandchild dies of SIDS.

00:31:20I don't know at that point if you start thinking in terms of a curse.

00:31:24But it really does seem like there's a bad moon hanging over this family.

00:31:32On my left, the sensational Von Erich brothers, David and Kevin.

00:31:39Dave and I were on the road a lot.

00:31:42Off the ropes and a big dropkick.

00:31:45We were performing, and so we weren't at home like, uh, like Carrie was.

00:31:51At home, when Carrie was the big brother and Dave and I were out,

00:31:57Carrie was a lot more permissive than Dave and I were.

00:32:01Carrie was out with Mike and Chris, and he'd let things go.

00:32:05Things like, uh, drinking, staying out.

00:32:09Dave and I would have never let that go.

00:32:12And Carrie was all about fun.

00:32:16Everybody loved him, and he was so good inside.

00:32:19He just wanted to make you laugh.

00:32:22Carrie was pleasant all the time, laughing and joking,

00:32:26uh, playing ribs constantly.

00:32:29But, uh, also, Carrie was, uh, really, uh, an elite athlete.

00:32:35The Von Erichs were all athletes, but my brother, Carrie, was gifted.

00:32:42In fact, Carrie was offered a full-rod scholarship at the University of Texas to play football.

00:32:50And Carrie, I heard him say it, I was sitting right there, and he said,

00:32:53I don't want, I don't really like football, Coach.

00:32:56I don't think I want to do that.

00:32:58I'll throw the discus.

00:33:00He was number one in the nation, uh, when we were seniors in the discus.

00:33:05I'll tell you what, folks.

00:33:07Every day, my mother was out there lugging four or five discuses that weighed four pounds apiece,

00:33:14throwing them back to me every day.

00:33:15And she couldn't thaw it that far.

00:33:16She had run it in that far.

00:33:18But my mother was there every, every workout.

00:33:21And he wound up throwing the discus, but for the University of Houston.

00:33:25Tom Tellez was the University of Houston coach.

00:33:28He was the Olympic coach.

00:33:30So that's another reason Carrie went to Houston.

00:33:32He was really wanting to go to the tryout for the 1980 Olympics.

00:33:37And then they boycotted it.

00:33:40Carrie said, I don't want to wait until 1984.

00:33:42That's four, five years away, basically, nearly.

00:33:45And he, he wanted to leave college.

00:33:49So that's when Carrie came back home.

00:33:52And I knew Carrie from his younger brother, Mike.

00:33:57Because Mike and I were in, in class together since third grade.

00:34:02And so Mike was the strongest male athlete in school.

00:34:07And I was the strongest female athlete in school.

00:34:11So we used to get all the awards together and things like that.

00:34:14So Mike and I were best friends.

00:34:18One day, Mike said to Carrie, can I have a party?

00:34:22And Carrie said, only if you invite Kathy Murray.

00:34:26Carrie and I got to talking.

00:34:28And the rest is history.

00:34:29We just stayed together after that.

00:34:32You know, that young love that's so raw and so real.

00:34:36And you're so young.

00:34:38And it's your first.

00:34:39And so that was really powerful for me.

00:34:44Hi, Dad.

00:34:47Hey, Kim.

00:34:48Get you shot, here.

00:34:50My dad and my mom.

00:34:52What a beautiful love story they have.

00:34:55My mom adores my dad.

00:34:57And my dad loves and treasures my mom.

00:35:01I got married in 1980.

00:35:03My sweet Pam.

00:35:04I've been so happy with her.

00:35:06We've been married 45 years.

00:35:11I mean, yes, it probably was scary to her to see.

00:35:14This is a semi-famous family.

00:35:17They're all wrestlers.

00:35:18But I think when she saw what a beautiful family they were behind closed doors,

00:35:23and she wanted to be a part of that.

00:35:25And they cherished her.

00:35:27And she said she had always prayed, I want to marry a godly man.

00:35:31That's who my dad was.

00:35:32And on the outside, that's not what my dad looked like.

00:35:35He just looked like this handsome jock, you know.

00:35:40Here's what they're waiting for.

00:35:42Kevin Von Erich, David Von Erich.

00:35:44Kevin and Dave.

00:35:46I mean, the story was already of the Von Erichs.

00:35:49They were drawn everywhere they go.

00:35:50And look at this plenum podium.

00:35:53But the other thing was, it was eating on Carrie.

00:35:58Carrie saw that and was just thinking, wow, this is a really big deal.

00:36:04Carrie wanted to wrestle, but Fritz wanted him to finish college.

00:36:08Carrie was adamant.

00:36:09Matter of fact, Carrie literally had a meeting with Fritz.

00:36:13He said, I want a meeting with my dad.

00:36:15And he told Fritz, either I start working here or I'll go somewhere else.

00:36:21You are looking at the spotlight on Carrie Von Erich as he makes his way to the ring.

00:36:26After the Olympics, I don't really know that he ever thought of doing anything else.

00:36:35Carrie just had this innate ability of this charisma.

00:36:39Some guys just walk into a room and have this light come on.

00:36:42Carrie Von Erich, listen to the crowd.

00:36:47Now you got Kevin, Dave, and Carrie.

00:36:50So three Von Erichs on the card.

00:36:51They had the look, they had the feel, and they could work.

00:36:54Dave was the best worker of all of them.

00:36:56The head scissors.

00:36:57Carrie had the good looks and the charisma.

00:37:00Look at Carrie, up top.

00:37:03Kevin had kind of a little mix of all of them.

00:37:07All these boys who just dominated every aspect of Texas wrestling.

00:37:14There was a short time where Carrie, me, and Dave could all be in the same town.

00:37:18There they are, the Von Erichs.

00:37:21Eventually, after about a year, we'd one town have Carrie, one town have me, one town have Dave.

00:37:27And the houses were all good, you know, they're all sellouts.

00:37:31They were great.

00:37:31Listen to this crowd roar, they're on their feet.

00:37:34It was like a fairy tale for two, three years.

00:37:38And they're all.

00:37:42A good wrestler is one that, you know, a natural athlete, first of all.

00:37:47Like my sons and his kids like this, they make wrestling what it is today.

00:37:51Carrie Von Erich, as his brother David and Kevin, have almost a religious responsibility to learn the art of wrestling

00:38:00from their father since they were small children.

00:38:02Winning something our dad instilled in us a long time ago, and we do it as fairly as we can,

00:38:06but number one, goal is to win.

00:38:08Two, three, oh, what a dazzling show of wrestling ability.

00:38:18There's a misconception that Fritz sort of dragged all his sons into the ring, kicking and screaming.

00:38:24But I think for Kevin and then David and then Carrie, it was hard to turn down the allure of

00:38:30the pro wrestling ring.

00:38:31And once they got in there and the crowd started reacting to them, Fritz basically said, well, if they're all

00:38:36in, let's make the most of it.

00:38:41Fantastic. What excitement. They're just, they're just nothing like it in the whole world.

00:38:47They would come out through the crowd to different songs. It would look range by ZZ Top.

00:39:04We wanted to put the kind of wrestling out there that we've got.

00:39:09So rock was a big part of our presentation.

00:39:16All of a sudden, you have something that becomes this rock show, and it was a rock show.

00:39:21You watched the other matches, they were all good.

00:39:23But when they came out, that was the show.

00:39:26It was just pure energy.

00:39:29The guys wanted to be like them. The girls wanted to be with them.

00:39:33Everyone's trying to grab a hold of Terry.

00:39:36That's going to kiss. Boy, she's lucky, isn't she?

00:39:38It was just a spectacle any time that they would come to the ring.

00:39:42Every match that you'll see tonight is not from a studio.

00:39:45It's from a live arena, one of the oldest, most well-known arenas, certainly in Texas, probably in the world

00:39:51itself.

00:39:51The world-famous Sportatorium. If it's there, it's the best in professional wrestling.

00:39:56The home of the Von Erichs.

00:39:58Sportatorium is the greatest known in the world, an atmosphere personified.

00:40:01This crowd is full and wild.

00:40:05One of the wildest nights in the history.

00:40:08Of Texas wrestling.

00:40:10I only was able to go once at the Sportatorium.

00:40:14I bragged to my friends for weeks.

00:40:19Bro, I saw the Von Erichs live.

00:40:22Watch this.

00:40:25It wasn't your daddy's wrestling anymore.

00:40:28They changed the demographic.

00:40:30And I think also the show on TV was completely different.

00:40:34Hi, I'm Gary Von Erich.

00:40:37And this is my dog, Shea.

00:40:39For several weeks now, we've been telling you about the changes in the new world-class wrestling show.

00:40:43And this is just some of the improvements we've made.

00:40:46We want to put boom mics in the ring.

00:40:49Cameras, not just by the ring, they climb up on the ring.

00:40:53I'll never forget it.

00:40:54Fritz sat Kerry and I down in his office and he said, I'm getting ready to do this thing called

00:40:59syndication.

00:41:00That we're going to go all over the country and all over the world.

00:41:04It's cable TV.

00:41:05And we're like, what is that?

00:41:06You know, when we first started syndication, we had 10 or 12 markets.

00:41:10Then we got 20.

00:41:11Pretty soon we were in 47 markets.

00:41:13When cable started coming around, we finally got world-class wrestling out of Dallas.

00:41:18And that's when I was exposed to the Von Erichs and how important the Von Erichs were to the state

00:41:23of Texas.

00:41:25You know, I would watch KTTV, Channel 11 in my dorm.

00:41:29It was absolutely amazing.

00:41:31Three, Gary Von Erich wins the box.

00:41:34The rock concert atmosphere, the sportatorium craze, the way they looked on TV.

00:41:40All of this combined to make the Von Erichs the hottest thing in all of Texas.

00:41:46The Von Erichs in Texas was almost religion.

00:41:50It was a family of superheroes.

00:41:52Here, obviously, the Dallas Cowboys, how popular they were.

00:41:55If there's anything a Texan loves more than chili, it would have to be the sport of football.

00:41:59If you saw a Dallas Cowboy at the local sports store, you didn't know who he was because he didn't

00:42:05have the helmet and the number on.

00:42:06To where with wrestling, you know, there they were right there in your living room every Saturday night doing an

00:42:11interview right in your face.

00:42:13Yeah, baby.

00:42:14We told you, Bill, there's something magic with Kevin and I in that ring together.

00:42:18We would get tickets to go watch him wrestle.

00:42:20And so they were pretty popular in terms of what we would talk about in the locker room.

00:42:25There was two things that were big in Texas.

00:42:27It was football and the Von Erichs.

00:42:28It wasn't football and wrestling.

00:42:29It was football and the Von Erichs.

00:42:32I think what really made the Von Erichs more popular than a lot of other great babyfaces around the country

00:42:39was you saw them grow up.

00:42:41And everybody felt like, almost like, they're part of the life.

00:42:45They're part of what's happening to them.

00:42:47They've really come behind us.

00:42:48They were like their kids and they're like all parents and all the young kids around and everything else.

00:42:52They're really nice to us here.

00:42:53So we love it.

00:42:55They're part of us.

00:42:56We took an ownership of the Von Erich boys.

00:42:59These were salt of the earth guys.

00:43:01Tell us a little bit about Kevin.

00:43:02I've been getting into some cliff diving.

00:43:04I went to cliff diving on Acapulco a couple of weeks ago.

00:43:07And I like to ride planes.

00:43:09I like to ride horses.

00:43:10I like to fish.

00:43:13And Kevin and I have just gotten into a little bit of skydiving.

00:43:16We've been doing that for about two months now.

00:43:18We weren't big shots.

00:43:20We acted like we were your big brother, your son, your grandson, your uncle, your cousin.

00:43:27Von Erich was the name dad gave me and I'm proud to have it.

00:43:30It was so important to be a good role model.

00:43:33Be respectful.

00:43:35My dad was like that.

00:43:36I didn't think any of them were presumptuous about who they were or ever even said, hey,

00:43:42do you know who I am?

00:43:43Or, hey, I'm this, I'm that now.

00:43:46No.

00:43:46I think that's Fritz teaching them, hey, you're somebody, but you're nobody.

00:43:52The people make you who you are.

00:43:54With my brothers and I, if we lose a fight, the people are right there.

00:43:58They're cheering for us just as loud as if we lose because they want us to know that they're

00:44:03behind us all the way.

00:44:05It was just a great life, you know.

00:44:08I can remember the three of us just being young and getting in the car and head up to

00:44:13Oklahoma for spot shows or down in the middle of Texas for spot shows.

00:44:18We were kids.

00:44:19Everything was fun.

00:44:20Everybody was our friend.

00:44:22The police all knew us.

00:44:23We all liked each other.

00:44:25It just kind of spoils you because you can get in your car.

00:44:28All you got to do is take your boots and your trunks and go to another town and make a

00:44:33living, swimming the rivers all the way, all the way back, and just laugh the whole time.

00:44:41Man, that was fun.

00:44:43Just me and my brothers.

00:44:46The greatest name in professional wrestling today, the Von Erics, have been for years.

00:44:51Today, the allegiance of a lot of wrestling fans belongs to the Von Erics, to Father Fritz

00:44:56and his three wrestling sons.

00:44:57And there are still two more Von Erics waiting to jump into the ring.

00:45:01Mike and Chris.

00:45:04Right now, the Von Erics are a prime attraction, a guaranteed draw at dozens of wrestling arenas.

00:45:10But as successful as they are, they've never forgotten that the most important ingredient

00:45:15in any family business is the family.

00:45:19You talk about Fritz.

00:45:20Family man, businessman.

00:45:22His business is his family.

00:45:24They're your meal ticket right now.

00:45:26The dramatic arrival of the Von Erics as hundreds of youngsters come to the ring,

00:45:31seeking autographs, their pictures.

00:45:34But there's this just constant demand.

00:45:36The feeling that, like, if we let anything slip, then this could all come crashing down.

00:45:41It was just a ton of pressure on them to keep it going.

00:45:48We would have a weekly family reunion in there, you know, on Friday nights.

00:45:53Good evening, and welcome to the world-famous Sportatorium, the home of world-class championship

00:45:59wrestling.

00:46:00I'd come down right here.

00:46:02Always be people here, you know, and hanging their arms out.

00:46:06I've got scars all over my shoulder for the girls scratching like this.

00:46:10You should see my shoulders.

00:46:11Kevin Von Erich, what a beautiful specimen.

00:46:15Well, I grew up in here, you know.

00:46:17It's like my little playground.

00:46:18Oh, off the rock!

00:46:23Yeah, that's some good memories.

00:46:27That's where it all started.

00:46:29Kevin was a, he was an entertainer.

00:46:31But as a person, he was a pretty simple guy, you know.

00:46:33Like, he just wanted to have that sort of isolation, that sort of getting away from everything else.

00:46:39You're working nearly every night.

00:46:41This must be a great way to just to take some edge off.

00:46:45Oh, man, you're right, Bill.

00:46:46I'd probably crack up if I didn't have the country to come out to.

00:46:50I don't get off on disco dancing, and this is really where I'm at.

00:46:54This is where my head is.

00:46:55Gotta wait for your daughter to get old enough to come out.

00:46:58We'll have to see about that.

00:47:01Once I had my first baby, once Pam had Kristen, well, my priorities changed, and wrestling became work.

00:47:11I don't think wrestling was the number one priority for Kevin anymore.

00:47:16He's obligated to do the wrestling.

00:47:18He wanted to do the family thing.

00:47:20He would show up at the matches, he would leave immediately.

00:47:24You know, he didn't hang around and go home and be dad.

00:47:26And then also, my life went from loving my dog and my 22 to that baby.

00:47:33And Pam, my queen that gave me that baby, I had somebody to protect.

00:47:59My granddad was one of the best men that I've ever met.

00:48:06He was just the epitome of safety for us.

00:48:14Now, that's what I call pretty, pretty, pretty.

00:48:18Now, Mimi was also so loving, and my grandparents did a really good job of making us feel like

00:48:29we were all a community, and we had each other.

00:48:33Look at me, question.

00:48:34I love you, good daddy.

00:48:36I love you, good daddy.

00:48:38The first time I realized that there was something maybe different about our family,

00:48:42we were going to have a Six Flags Day as a family.

00:48:46And when we arrived at the park, there were police everywhere, and they put us right on

00:48:51a golf cart, and we had a couple hours of the park exclusively.

00:48:56But they opened the gate, and I just have this image in my mind of I was sitting on the

00:49:00back of this golf cart, and these people chasing us and screaming.

00:49:04And this one lady had mascara running down her face.

00:49:08And I remember thinking, you know, they're not chasing anybody else, and don't they know

00:49:12how boring my dad is and how boring my uncles are?

00:49:16Like, why do they think it's so cool?

00:49:17Well, you never realized what kind of rock stars these kids had become.

00:49:25And here they come, the trio of wrestling personified.

00:49:30Everybody wanted to see the Von Erics, but they needed a nemesis.

00:49:34You know, and when the Freebirds came in, that's when wrestling just blew up.

00:49:39Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, the Freebirds.

00:49:44You finally had somebody that could go against the Von Erics boys, and that was the perfect

00:49:49antithesis in the Freebirds.

00:49:51Hey, man, we're running these Von Erics out of Texas.

00:49:53When it comes to notorious bad motherfuckers that you love to hate, that'd be us.

00:50:03If we got to run over the Von Erics, we'll do it with pleasure.

00:50:07Oh, my goodness.

00:50:09Well, the Freebirds were just so easy to hate.

00:50:13The Freebirds brought their own flags from Georgia into Texas, which is something you

00:50:17don't know.

00:50:18It kind of became like a college football rivalry, in a sense, Georgia versus Texas.

00:50:23This war is not between Texas and Georgia.

00:50:26It's between decency and filth.

00:50:31It was like setting a nuclear bomb off in the state of Texas.

00:50:35I've never seen anything like it.

00:50:37We're going to say thanks to the people of Dallas, Texas, because it's the biggest cloud

00:50:40ever to be in this auditorium.

00:50:41Shows that used to, on a Saturday night, do 500 people.

00:50:45All of a sudden, we were doing 8,000 just packed to the walls.

00:50:50And so this one is going to start in a hurry.

00:50:53The rivalry worked, I think, because when we would get in that ring, you could tell that

00:50:59these guys really don't like each other.

00:51:02It may take everybody in the arena to separate these two.

00:51:06But there was a respect between us that really made it work, too.

00:51:13You're supposed to make them mad.

00:51:15That's your job.

00:51:17And of course, the fans ate it up.

00:51:18The whole family sticks together.

00:51:20That's been their motto and their creed.

00:51:22For two hours or three hours, they got to cheer for the good.

00:51:26It's not just our win.

00:51:27It's all of our win.

00:51:28And boo the evil.

00:51:30And that's what wrestling is.

00:51:32I get so wrecked up today.

00:51:33I just love it.

00:51:34I really do.

00:51:36This is one of the few places where you come and holler and scream and they don't take you

00:51:39to jail.

00:51:40Me and my buddies would ride down there every Friday night.

00:51:43I was there watching the Von Erickson, the Freebirds, go at it.

00:51:46You could see those TV ratings shooting up.

00:51:49And all we had to do was keep doing what we're doing, just make it a little more dangerous

00:51:53and a little more reckless.

00:51:55This looks like it's going to be a wild plug fest.

00:51:58Whoop it over!

00:52:00When you watch those guys, you're like, they're beating the s*** out of each other.

00:52:03I mean, this is incredible.

00:52:05And that's what Texans love so much about it.

00:52:07People love to fight.

00:52:08I never wanted to be a fake.

00:52:11I really enjoyed what I did.

00:52:13I loved it and I felt real to it.

00:52:15I gave people real entertainment.

00:52:18Some of my brothers.

00:52:20I mean, they were really into it.

00:52:23Really, really believed that what we were doing was real.

00:52:27Kevin Von Erick is now covered in blood.

00:52:31A lot of times after the matches, I felt like it was real.

00:52:34Because it hurt.

00:52:35And the pre-bird is a loose bird as it goes to the floor and says, man alive, what hit

00:52:40me?

00:52:49When you're young, you feel like you're bulletproof.

00:52:52Nothing can hurt you.

00:52:54And now Kevin Von Erick.

00:52:58Struggling.

00:52:59You can break a bone and keep going.

00:53:02Bo's got a broken nose.

00:53:04Hey.

00:53:04I've got a dozen sutures.

00:53:05When you're right, you win every time.

00:53:07This doesn't hurt a bit.

00:53:08There's plenty more...

00:53:09You were pretty much always playing with pain.

00:53:12You had to wrestle or you didn't get paid.

00:53:15My nose has been broken dozens of times.

00:53:17I've got broken ribs.

00:53:18My elbows have been both dislocated.

00:53:20My shoulder, my knee operations, a tooth knocked out from Michael Hayes' boot.

00:53:25We used to take injections, xylocaine, marcane, procaine.

00:53:30But they're not drugs.

00:53:31They just numb nerve endings.

00:53:35And I didn't want to live like that anymore.

00:53:38And so to deal with that pain, I grew my own marijuana.

00:53:49I don't want to be a proponent for such a thing, but I have to say that I took a

00:53:53healthy

00:53:54approach by growing it myself.

00:53:56Hey, man, where are we going to smoke one again?

00:53:58Kevin.

00:53:59If God makes it, if it's a vegetable, if it goes on a tree or in the ground, I want

00:54:04it.

00:54:05But I don't want anything made by man.

00:54:08And here comes the modern-day warrior, Kerry Von Erick.

00:54:12For Kerry, the business was becoming very taxing on the body in general with the amount

00:54:22of time in the gym and pumping iron and then just getting hurt in the ring.

00:54:28Oh, Kerry is pretty well shaken.

00:54:30When you're getting hurt all the time and you start asking for prescription drugs, right,

00:54:38and then how much is enough?

00:54:41And do I need something even harder, stronger to relieve this pain?

00:54:47You know, you can just get caught up in that.

00:54:52And there were, there's doctors, because of who they are, they're famous, who would just

00:54:57write a prescription and here you go.

00:55:00And then you take it and you go, well, it does help me feel better.

00:55:04Well, the doctor just prescribed it.

00:55:06It's legal.

00:55:08And I think a lot of people got fooled by that.

00:55:11Kerry felt a big responsibility to the business.

00:55:15He took care of his fans.

00:55:18It's tough, but we know it's a job, it's a responsibility that we have to do.

00:55:22And my father bred us to be winners, not losers, and to fight 100% every night whenever we were

00:55:29in that ring.

00:55:30So Kerry fought between his health and keeping up with the image that was so important to

00:55:40the Von Ericks.

00:55:44Well, David's been drinking Southern Comfort, so he's on the bed.

00:55:58Dave was the only one of all of us that liked strong liquor, had a bottle of it in his

00:56:05bag.

00:56:07And then he told us he had a really bad stomach ache and a booze was helping him.

00:56:14Stomach pain must have been something else.

00:56:15I mean, he said it was like a knife.

00:56:19He had diarrhea for months.

00:56:22At the time, Dave was married to Trish.

00:56:25I know she didn't think he had a virus or something because it, you know, had some symptoms, but

00:56:30he didn't want her to worry, you know, so he wouldn't have said anything.

00:56:36So Kerry and I made sure he went to the doctor about it, a proctologist, I guess it was.

00:56:43They told Dave to lean against this little wall thing.

00:56:46They put his elbows down, strapped them in, strapped his elbow here in his knees.

00:56:53And Dave got mad at ease.

00:56:56The doc hit a switch and Dave was butt up.

00:57:00He was furious.

00:57:02He said, absolutely not.

00:57:05I'll tear this place down.

00:57:07And he had to unstrapped Dave and let him go.

00:57:09But if they would have done the examination, I think they would have found something.

00:57:19It's around 83 that David first starts complaining of stomach pain.

00:57:23And also, I think, you know, taking a lot of hard bumps in the ring and especially coming up in

00:57:29the Atkinson household,

00:57:31maybe you're just taught to rub some dirt on it, you know, because he wasn't being treated for it.

00:57:37He started turning to painkillers.

00:57:40One time he showed up on Quaaludes, you know, you know, when you can't talk and you're slurring your word,

00:57:50that's when it becomes bad.

00:57:52I've seen him where he's a puddle in the middle of the floor and he's supposed to be going to

00:57:56the ring.

00:57:58You know, so you got to try and get him up and get him going.

00:58:03Before long, he almost couldn't overcome it.

00:58:08Looking at today's world, I'd say they've had an opioid problem.

00:58:11He was addicted to pills.

00:58:13And boy, I know Fritz was just irate about it.

00:58:16You're doing your fans a disservice any time you get out of line because you are an image to them

00:58:21that they want to live up to.

00:58:23And so many pro athletes, you know what I'm talking about, man.

00:58:27They have no use for their fans.

00:58:29Their fans is what made them.

00:58:30It's what made us.

00:58:33And we need to always be aware of the responsibility that goes with them.

00:58:37Image was really important to granddad.

00:58:41But Mimi was, I think, more concerned about family image and reputation than did granddad was.

00:58:54She wanted to have a perfect family that didn't fail.

00:59:00And Mimi was really concerned about media.

00:59:04Granddad maybe was to a point that it affected the business.

00:59:09Fritz always said, it's one thing what a man does on his own time.

00:59:12But when you're on my time, you need to be top shape.

00:59:16They're under pressure.

00:59:18They were pretty much on call 24 hours a day dealing with the public, dealing with the news.

00:59:24Several thousand waiting in line for hours to see the famous wrestling fan Eric.

00:59:30It was fun, though.

00:59:32Everywhere you went, you were treated like you were royalty.

00:59:37We get endorsements through wrestling, and so we get three cars from these dealerships.

00:59:43They were top stars, and Mike and Chris always looked up to them.

00:59:48And they were like, if they can do it, I can do it.

00:59:52Mike and Chris were super close.

00:59:54They came to the matches every week.

00:59:55Right after high school, Mike wanted to be a part of what his brothers were doing.

01:00:00I've seen the debut of all these guys, Kevin, David, Kerry,

01:00:04and now they debut in just a few minutes of Mike Von Erich.

01:00:08For Mike, it was hard not being a Von Erich.

01:00:12You know, if he was anywhere with the brothers, he was treated as if he was in the business.

01:00:16And it was contagious.

01:00:18Little Mike, I say, is a big old stud.

01:00:20But tonight, I think he's going to show his colors.

01:00:21He's a Von Erich right down on the wire.

01:00:23Mike wanted to wrestle so bad.

01:00:25He wanted to be like Dave.

01:00:26Mike's been taught by the best, because we were taught by the best.

01:00:30Do you like your leg in here, Kev?

01:00:31Oh, just stiffer.

01:00:32Oh, yeah, yeah.

01:00:33Oh, that's an excellent one.

01:00:33And we're all four right here.

01:00:35And now I got his leg.

01:00:37Oh, yeah.

01:00:37I go nowhere.

01:00:39And here he comes, Mike Von Erich.

01:00:44He has not only his own career to think about,

01:00:47but, of course, he's upholding the honor of the Von Erich families.

01:00:51Part of it for him was just being with his brothers.

01:00:55Like, okay, they're not going out on the road and leaving me anymore.

01:00:57I get to come along.

01:00:59I'm the baby brother, and we're going to have a good time together.

01:01:01You know, and they did.

01:01:03You know, a lot of people think that Von Erichs have bit off more than we can chew.

01:01:05They think that Mike's too young to be getting in the ring with us.

01:01:08This kid is not going to let me down.

01:01:09We're going to take those free birds.

01:01:11Oh, look at that move.

01:01:13At this point, the Von Erichs and the free birds, our story was so high.

01:01:19All right, it wraps up one, two, three.

01:01:25That it was time to take it to a stadium, which was unheard of back then.

01:01:31We were doing the six-man tag team championship, which at that time would have now been Kevin,

01:01:36Kerry, and Mike against the birds.

01:01:40Now, if the free birds think they can beat us, go ahead and come on with it all you got.

01:01:44And then the main event was going to be Flair versus David for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

01:01:51The nature boy, Ric Flair, arguably the greatest wrestler of all time.

01:01:56I thrive! Woo! I thrive! I'm being called the greatest!

01:02:00But it was already decided.

01:02:03It was very hush-hush.

01:02:04But David was going to beat Ric Flair for the title.

01:02:10And then about five weeks before the show, Dave goes to Japan to work over there.

01:02:18For months before the Japan trip, he didn't look right to me.

01:02:24But it was the stomach, you know.

01:02:27Dave had that ashen look about him, you know, white look.

01:02:33His eyebrows would get white.

01:02:38And so, Marty had an idea something bad was going to happen.

01:02:52This is December 24th, Christmas Eve, 1983.

01:03:01It was so cold that day. Remember, the pond froze over. Wow.

01:03:05That never happens.

01:03:08I'll lay some bets on it.

01:03:11There's Kathy.

01:03:12And Uncle Chris.

01:03:12There's Chris.

01:03:14Dad, thanks for the stereo, Dad.

01:03:16Oh, yeah, babe.

01:03:17Wow.

01:03:19Thanks.

01:03:22There's Uncle Mike and me.

01:03:23Ah, Mike.

01:03:26All the kids love Mike, don't they?

01:03:29Who is right?

01:03:30Who is right?

01:03:32Who is right?

01:03:32Wow.

01:03:37Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you've given us.

01:03:41All the family being together, the brothers.

01:03:43That's great, Lord.

01:03:44Thank you for everything you've given us.

01:03:46After that Christmas,

01:03:50our life would not be the same.

01:03:55For months before the Japan trip,

01:03:58Dave was white as a ghost.

01:04:00He, uh,

01:04:01he didn't look right to me.

01:04:05I was with him when he wrestled in Austin, Texas,

01:04:07and after the matches, he was throwing up.

01:04:09He was sick.

01:04:11And he kept saying,

01:04:12ah, it's just some virus I got.

01:04:14And everybody just thought he had the flu.

01:04:16You know,

01:04:16it was,

01:04:18it was dead winter,

01:04:19you know,

01:04:20early February.

01:04:22We knew David was sick,

01:04:23but they had no idea how sick.

01:04:25The boys had been raised to be there.

01:04:27Just thousands of people

01:04:28had paid their money

01:04:29to see those boys wrestle.

01:04:30So the broken leg brought him,

01:04:32we expect them to be there.

01:04:33And he looked pale,

01:04:34and I could just tell my mom's face.

01:04:36He was worried about it, Dave.

01:04:37They were talking.

01:04:38And I looked at him,

01:04:39I thought,

01:04:40if I lost him,

01:04:41you know,

01:04:41I just put my hands on him,

01:04:42and said,

01:04:43don't you go over there and die, Dave.

01:04:44And he said,

01:04:45I won't give.

01:04:46And I thought,

01:04:47I kissed him.

01:04:49Now I get it.

01:04:50Yeah.

01:04:51Can't happen now.

01:05:02When you go to Japan,

01:05:04it's always pretty much the same.

01:05:07We would eat,

01:05:08and we'd have,

01:05:09drink beers,

01:05:10and have fun,

01:05:11and, you know,

01:05:12it was,

01:05:12it was great.

01:05:13I talked to Bill Irwin about it.

01:05:15He said,

01:05:16they got to that,

01:05:17to Tokyo,

01:05:18and they went about six o'clock,

01:05:19and had a big steak.

01:05:21And they wanted,

01:05:22two steaks.

01:05:23And Bill said,

01:05:24he couldn't even finish his,

01:05:25because Dave ate a lot,

01:05:26you know.

01:05:27But then,

01:05:28Dave ordered a third steak,

01:05:30and ate it.

01:05:31We get out of there,

01:05:32and go back to the hotel.

01:05:34And we go into the hotel,

01:05:35and we go in,

01:05:36and of course,

01:05:36the bar's still open.

01:05:37Well, shit,

01:05:38we gotta go in there.

01:05:40And David said,

01:05:40hey,

01:05:41I'll be right back.

01:05:44I think he left,

01:05:45and went upstairs,

01:05:46and puked.

01:05:47And then he came back down.

01:05:49Everybody that's there,

01:05:50including myself,

01:05:52we were kind of full,

01:05:53but he ate,

01:05:54and he ate some more.

01:05:57David and I were in that,

01:05:58in that bar last,

01:06:00and David goes,

01:06:01well,

01:06:01come by the room.

01:06:02Come on by,

01:06:03you know,

01:06:03we'll have a drink,

01:06:04or whatever.

01:06:04Last one.

01:06:05Went on into his room,

01:06:06went in,

01:06:07sat down.

01:06:07I think we had a beer,

01:06:09or something right there.

01:06:11And you know,

01:06:11after the beer,

01:06:12it was,

01:06:13it was the end of the night.

01:06:14He goes,

01:06:15yeah,

01:06:16I'm just gonna call my wife.

01:06:18Okay,

01:06:19see you tomorrow.

01:06:25Well,

01:06:25tomorrow comes,

01:06:26and everybody's on the bus

01:06:27at five o'clock.

01:06:28Like,

01:06:29what the hell?

01:06:30You know,

01:06:30where's David?

01:06:33And in the distance,

01:06:34you hear sirens.

01:06:38Everybody's looking at each other.

01:06:40Everybody up.

01:06:40We all went off the bus,

01:06:42right into the hotel,

01:06:43up the stairs,

01:06:44right to the corner room,

01:06:46and they were there with the key,

01:06:48and unlocked his door.

01:06:50And there was David,

01:06:51in the same spot I left him,

01:06:54just laid back,

01:06:57still dressed,

01:06:58in the same clothes,

01:06:59everything.

01:07:06To this day,

01:07:08I cannot stand

01:07:09a phone call

01:07:10before daylight,

01:07:12because that's what

01:07:13I got

01:07:14that morning

01:07:16that Trish called me.

01:07:20And when that phone rang,

01:07:22it was dark,

01:07:24and I picked up the phone,

01:07:25and she was crying.

01:07:26I knew.

01:07:27And she said,

01:07:29he's dead,

01:07:29Kev,

01:07:29and I just said,

01:07:31I have to go.

01:07:33I hung the phone up.

01:07:37I went outside,

01:07:38and I was just crushed,

01:07:41you know.

01:07:43I couldn't stand up,

01:07:44and I just laid down

01:07:45in the forest,

01:07:46and pushed the leaves back,

01:07:47and put my face

01:07:48in that black dirt,

01:07:50and I breathed it.

01:07:51God let me die.

01:08:00Seeing my dad,

01:08:02and knowing that he'd lost his son,

01:08:04he'd lost Dave,

01:08:06oh my gosh,

01:08:07that was,

01:08:08that was the worst part.

01:08:12it was as bad

01:08:15as grief can get.

01:08:20Fritz had already said,

01:08:22whatever that autopsy says,

01:08:23we got to go with,

01:08:24because the public's probably

01:08:25going to get it

01:08:25sooner or later.

01:08:28And everybody thought David

01:08:29died of an overdose,

01:08:30but he didn't.

01:08:32I heard all the stories

01:08:33around the industry

01:08:34that

01:08:36it was pills,

01:08:37it was this.

01:08:38I'm not saying there

01:08:39wasn't any pills involved,

01:08:40because undoubtedly,

01:08:42he was in excruciating pain.

01:08:44And,

01:08:44but did he do enough

01:08:46to OD?

01:08:46No.

01:08:48The autopsy said,

01:08:50acute enteritis,

01:08:52heart failure.

01:08:53So basically,

01:08:54what they were saying was,

01:08:55because of the acute enteritis,

01:08:57his intestines ruptured.

01:08:59He filled up with blood,

01:09:01and it caused heart failure.

01:09:13Some say that

01:09:14David Von Erich's death

01:09:16hit Dallas-Fort Worth

01:09:17like Elvis Presley's death

01:09:19hit the nation.

01:09:20David Von Erich

01:09:21died Friday of enteritis.

01:09:23He was 25 years old.

01:09:26I mean,

01:09:27at the funeral,

01:09:28that we're expecting

01:09:30500 to 800 people,

01:09:32and we end up with

01:09:33almost 10,000.

01:09:35Fans from the area

01:09:37and foes from the ring

01:09:38turned out.

01:09:39The 1,800-seat church

01:09:41was soon filled to capacity,

01:09:43and hundreds stood outside,

01:09:45hoping to catch a baby

01:09:46a few strains of the service

01:09:47from the loudspeaker system.

01:09:49It was a quiet

01:09:50but unhappy group.

01:09:52It hit everyone

01:09:53like a ton of bricks.

01:09:56The schools let out.

01:09:58I live and care for David,

01:10:00and I wanted to be here.

01:10:01The funeral procession

01:10:03stretched five miles

01:10:04across the Lone Star State.

01:10:06It was a hero send-off.

01:10:08They shut down the highway

01:10:09all the way from Denton

01:10:11to Oak Grove Cemetery

01:10:12and Oak Cliff.

01:10:14Things all of a sudden

01:10:15in there were like,

01:10:15this is like a president died.

01:10:19More fans waited

01:10:20at the cemetery

01:10:21for the procession

01:10:22of 150 cars to arrive.

01:10:25I don't think that we realized

01:10:27how much we were loved

01:10:30until we saw that.

01:10:32We're just overwhelmed today.

01:10:35All of these people

01:10:36showing up for

01:10:37the last experience

01:10:38that David's ever going to make.

01:10:40Our bodies may be left

01:10:41here on earth,

01:10:42but our souls go to heaven.

01:10:44It's made us accept death

01:10:45a lot easier.

01:10:47Hey, we know our brother Dave

01:10:48is in a lot better place

01:10:49than we are right now.

01:10:51The loss of a brother

01:10:53was devastating for him.

01:10:55He said,

01:10:56you know,

01:10:57I think I should just go

01:10:58and be with David.

01:11:01There was always this thing

01:11:03with the brothers

01:11:04that maybe not so much Kevin,

01:11:07because Kevin was the oldest

01:11:08trying to protect his brothers.

01:11:09But beyond that,

01:11:11they always wanted

01:11:11to be together.

01:11:15After losing Uncle Dave,

01:11:19Mimi was just filled

01:11:21with so much pain,

01:11:23but she wanted

01:11:26to have a great image.

01:11:27You say,

01:11:28God help me through this.

01:11:30You get off your death

01:11:31and you start moving again.

01:11:33You start laughing again

01:11:35and you refuse to stay down.

01:11:39You don't get over it,

01:11:40but we do have to keep fighting.

01:11:42We have to make it

01:11:43for the weak ones,

01:11:44for our children,

01:11:44for our women,

01:11:45for those that love us

01:11:47and those that are hurting.

01:11:48You know?

01:11:53You know,

01:11:54like Kerry and I

01:11:55were talking about

01:11:55earlier today,

01:11:57Dave wanted that

01:11:58world championship

01:11:58more than anything

01:11:59in the world.

01:12:00And that world championship

01:12:04is going to be

01:12:05around the Von Erich waist.

01:12:06It has to be

01:12:07not only for our family,

01:12:09but for Dave.

01:12:11When David Von Erich died,

01:12:14Fritz already has

01:12:15this giant stadium show

01:12:17booked at Cowboy Stadium

01:12:19and they have to go through

01:12:21with it.

01:12:21And now as much as

01:12:23they might have wanted

01:12:24to just mourn him,

01:12:27they have to keep

01:12:28the business going.

01:12:31My dad was a businessman.

01:12:34It's a family business.

01:12:35This is what I do.

01:12:37It's my job.

01:12:38I'll never forget

01:12:39after Dave died,

01:12:40there was talk about,

01:12:42well, we can't put the belt

01:12:43on the other two boys

01:12:44at that point.

01:12:45And Fritz was like,

01:12:46it's not an option.

01:12:47It's a question now,

01:12:48which of you two

01:12:49is going to be

01:12:50the next world champion?

01:12:51So when you take that title,

01:12:53there's no question

01:12:54to anybody's man

01:12:55in the world

01:12:55that you are the best

01:12:56that there is

01:12:57and the best there ever was.

01:12:58All in David's memory.

01:13:01And so Carrie and I

01:13:01had like a coin flip

01:13:03with my dad.

01:13:05But, um,

01:13:07the truth of it was

01:13:08that I was married

01:13:09and I did not want

01:13:11to travel like

01:13:12the world champion

01:13:12has to travel.

01:13:13It's all over the place.

01:13:15I had my children.

01:13:17I didn't want to be

01:13:18the world champion.

01:13:19And, uh,

01:13:21Carrie did.

01:13:22And so as far as

01:13:24the coin flip's concerned,

01:13:25it was more like

01:13:25you win.

01:13:30There are no seatbelts

01:13:31on the chairs

01:13:32here at Texas Stadium,

01:13:33but we almost need them.

01:13:35My goodness.

01:13:36I mean,

01:13:36what an atmosphere.

01:13:38What a huge match feeling.

01:13:42And Carrie had the weight

01:13:44of the state on his back.

01:13:52You know,

01:13:53when I talk about

01:13:54butterflies

01:13:54or something like this,

01:13:55it's almost impossible

01:13:56to describe in words

01:13:58the way I felt.

01:13:58But it was like

01:13:59all the Texas Stadium

01:14:00was electrified.

01:14:01That title shot

01:14:02was supposed to be David's.

01:14:04David passes away in Japan.

01:14:07Now his brother comes

01:14:09and steps in

01:14:10and who does he have to,

01:14:12I mean,

01:14:12Ric Flair.

01:14:13Prime Ric Flair.

01:14:15Texas Stadium sold out.

01:14:17The largest crowd ever

01:14:18to see wrestling

01:14:20anywhere in the world

01:14:21is on hand here

01:14:23at Texas Stadium,

01:14:24a history-making event.

01:14:26Carrie Bonner

01:14:26in the state of Texas.

01:14:31I was pregnant with Holly

01:14:33and it was

01:14:35a great day for all of us.

01:14:38Carrie Bonner

01:14:39probably the most beautiful

01:14:40ring jacket I've ever seen.

01:14:42He wanted to

01:14:43to make his dad proud

01:14:45and all the fans too, right?

01:14:47To make sure that

01:14:48that Bonneric image

01:14:49was, you know, upheld.

01:14:52This is it.

01:14:54Here we go.

01:14:55Watching that one.

01:14:57Blair can't find a handle.

01:14:59At my Papa Judy's house.

01:15:02Carrie is rolling now.

01:15:05It was like watching

01:15:06a Mike Tyson fight.

01:15:09Back to his feet.

01:15:10There's a drive by Carrie.

01:15:13And everybody had to go

01:15:14to the fight.

01:15:17Power slam.

01:15:19You got 40,000 grieving people.

01:15:23We had to have the pop.

01:15:26And it's a iron claw.

01:15:31Carrie's got him.

01:15:32Here's the Nelson 10.

01:15:34Go.

01:15:35Hey.

01:15:35The dream step 2.

01:15:38Yes.

01:15:42It's happened.

01:15:51Man, it gives you kind of,

01:15:52it gives you goosebumps

01:15:53thinking about it.

01:15:54How special that was

01:15:55for Carrie to win the title.

01:15:57Carrie Von Erich

01:15:58is the new world

01:16:00heavyweight champion.

01:16:02To have our guy,

01:16:03Carrie Von Erich,

01:16:05you know,

01:16:06that iconic stadium

01:16:07with the holy roofs

01:16:07so God can watch his team.

01:16:10It was a day of celebration

01:16:11in the state.

01:16:12For the Texas flag,

01:16:14the big yellow rose,

01:16:15and the heavyweight belt.

01:16:17Winning the ultimate prize

01:16:18in dedication to your brother

01:16:20who passed away,

01:16:22Carrie Von Erich was a god

01:16:24in the state of Texas.

01:16:24Prince there to greet Carrie.

01:16:27There's Mrs. Von Erich,

01:16:28Carrie's father.

01:16:31You know,

01:16:31today the world belongs to Texas

01:16:33because if it wasn't

01:16:34for the Texas people,

01:16:35I wouldn't have nothing.

01:16:36And you know what else?

01:16:37My brother David tonight,

01:16:39he had the best seat in the house

01:16:40right upstairs looking down

01:16:41and just God bless him, man,

01:16:43because he saw everything I did

01:16:45and we're just so happy.

01:16:46It was just one of the greatest moments,

01:16:50I think,

01:16:50in his history of wrestling.

01:16:56Then Carrie had to take on

01:16:58the responsibility

01:16:59of being the champion

01:17:00and it's not fun.

01:17:02Here now comes

01:17:03world heavyweight champion

01:17:04Carrie Von Erich.

01:17:06That's a 360-day deal.

01:17:09He goes from

01:17:10David's dead,

01:17:13you're the main event,

01:17:15promos, promos, promos,

01:17:19and you can't just say,

01:17:20oh, we're taking a week off.

01:17:23So between that

01:17:25and losing his brother David,

01:17:28that's when I started seeing

01:17:29a little bit more

01:17:31of the drugs starting to come in.

01:17:33Oh, Bill,

01:17:33there's so much going on

01:17:34inside my head.

01:17:35I feel like I'm ready now.

01:17:38I believe with all my heart

01:17:39I can take this.

01:17:40I think before David's death,

01:17:42the drugs were under control

01:17:44where it wasn't causing

01:17:46any problems for him.

01:17:47And then after David's death,

01:17:49it just...

01:17:58That was the right call

01:18:00for Carrie to be world champion.

01:18:02For that night,

01:18:03in that stadium,

01:18:06regardless of how it turned out,

01:18:07it was the right call.

01:18:09Rick switches him,

01:18:11pulls him back,

01:18:12he's got him,

01:18:13and that's it.

01:18:15And Ric Flair,

01:18:16the world heavyweight champion

01:18:18once again.

01:18:19With an 18-day reign,

01:18:21the NWA was sort of doing a solid

01:18:23for the state of Texas,

01:18:25you know, for Dallas,

01:18:26for the Von Erich family,

01:18:27for all the tragedy

01:18:28that they were going through

01:18:29right in that moment.

01:18:31And it wasn't meant

01:18:32to be a long-term solution.

01:18:34I think for Carrie,

01:18:35it didn't matter

01:18:36that he lost it so quickly

01:18:37because you're on top,

01:18:39right?

01:18:39How much further can you go?

01:18:41Like, I'm accepted now,

01:18:42right?

01:18:43My dad trusted me

01:18:44to be able to do this,

01:18:45and I did it.

01:18:46I tried to do this all my life,

01:18:47a national wrestling

01:18:48last world champion,

01:18:49and I was never able to take it.

01:18:51But Carrie took it.

01:18:52Even after losing the title,

01:18:54the Von Erichs,

01:18:55they were still drawing

01:18:56in huge crowds,

01:18:57and I think that just says

01:18:58something about their start.

01:19:01Listen to this crowd,

01:19:03roar,

01:19:03they're on their feet.

01:19:06It's getting around

01:19:07that the Von Erichs

01:19:08and World Class Championship

01:19:09wrestling

01:19:10is the number one sport

01:19:12in the world today.

01:19:14World Class

01:19:15was just booming.

01:19:18Line dropkick,

01:19:19and there goes Michael Hayes.

01:19:22They would play the show,

01:19:23I think it was

01:19:23at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings.

01:19:25We would have a replay

01:19:27of that

01:19:28at 6 at night,

01:19:30which was opposite

01:19:31of 60 Minutes,

01:19:33which was the number one show

01:19:35in the country,

01:19:36and we would almost double

01:19:38their ratings

01:19:39with a replay.

01:19:41At this point,

01:19:43World Class is so successful

01:19:46that, you know,

01:19:47Vince McMahon takes notice.

01:19:48If there's one family

01:19:50that's dominant

01:19:50and reigns supreme somewhat

01:19:52in the entire wrestling world,

01:19:54it would be

01:19:54the Von Erich family

01:19:55at the beginning.

01:19:56There was a meeting

01:19:57that took place in Dallas.

01:19:59You know, Vince said,

01:20:00join forces

01:20:01with the WWE.

01:20:04We'll go everywhere.

01:20:05And at that time,

01:20:07they would even take 40%,

01:20:08and we would be 60%.

01:20:11We didn't do the deal.

01:20:13Rich was,

01:20:15why do we need you?

01:20:16We just did

01:20:1640-some thousand people.

01:20:19The wrestling family,

01:20:20which has made Dallas

01:20:21and Fort Worth

01:20:22one of the hottest spots

01:20:23in the sport,

01:20:23is still growing strong.

01:20:25The people love

01:20:26the Von Erichs.

01:20:27It's amazing,

01:20:28but wherever the Von Erichs go,

01:20:29a crowd always follows.

01:20:33Kerry, he was extremely popular.

01:20:36People just loved him.

01:20:37He was actually

01:20:38in an audition

01:20:39with Sylvester Stallone

01:20:40for Rocky IV,

01:20:42and they picked

01:20:43Dolph Lundgren for it.

01:20:45But becoming famous

01:20:47at a really young age

01:20:48can be difficult.

01:20:53And that was pretty tough

01:20:55for me as a wife,

01:20:57being with somebody

01:20:58that was so famous.

01:21:00I love you too, Carrie,

01:21:01but you're married so.

01:21:03I'm just worried

01:21:04about his health.

01:21:05I'm worried that

01:21:05he's going to get an eye out

01:21:06or something.

01:21:07I'm not really worried

01:21:08about the girls kissing

01:21:09on him or anything.

01:21:10I know that goes.

01:21:11I don't blame him.

01:21:12I would too.

01:21:13I'd be jumping

01:21:13all over him too.

01:21:15I like Carrie's body.

01:21:17All of it was really hard

01:21:18for he and I.

01:21:20I kept seeing

01:21:21Carrie Atkinson

01:21:23getting buried

01:21:24underneath the Von Erich image.

01:21:28I was losing

01:21:29a part of my husband

01:21:31that was very important to me

01:21:34because Carrie Von Erich

01:21:35belonged to everybody.

01:21:39Maybe taking the drugs

01:21:40helped him to

01:21:41escape from that.

01:21:44At least he told me

01:21:46that one time.

01:21:50That's a big responsibility

01:21:51being on top

01:21:52because you're responsible

01:21:54for feeding everybody.

01:21:56And drinking and doing drugs

01:21:58don't help you

01:21:58balance that that well.

01:22:01Carrie sometimes,

01:22:02is he 100%?

01:22:03Is he 70%?

01:22:04What have we got

01:22:05to work with?

01:22:06And when we finally

01:22:07get him in the ring,

01:22:08Michael Hayes

01:22:08or Terry Gordon,

01:22:09I don't care which one,

01:22:12but when we get you

01:22:12in the ring, baby,

01:22:14I ain't going out

01:22:14to hurt you.

01:22:15I'm going out

01:22:15to cripple you.

01:22:16And I guarantee you that.

01:22:20It was hard

01:22:21to be in that position

01:22:22to where you go tell

01:22:24someone that their son

01:22:25has got a problem.

01:22:27I mentioned it one time

01:22:28and I got heat for it.

01:22:30Not from Fritz.

01:22:32I'll just leave it at that.

01:22:35My grandmother

01:22:37loved her boys so much

01:22:39and I love Mimi.

01:22:42I love my grandmother.

01:22:43But it's frustrating

01:22:46because it is just

01:22:48so easy to blame granddad.

01:22:50It's not always

01:22:51as it seems, you know.

01:22:54A lot of people

01:22:55wanted to make Fritz

01:22:56the bad guy.

01:22:57There was a deep love

01:22:59and respect

01:22:59between the boys

01:23:00and Fritz

01:23:01and it went both ways.

01:23:02I saw it firsthand.

01:23:04Mr. Eftikenson

01:23:05absolutely wanted

01:23:06the best for his boys,

01:23:08but he also wanted

01:23:10the best for his business.

01:23:12Fritz was also

01:23:13very consumed

01:23:14with making sure

01:23:15that train

01:23:16kept running down

01:23:16that track.

01:23:17And we are still

01:23:18breaking attendance records.

01:23:19Gary Von Erich

01:23:21literally having

01:23:21to push his way through.

01:23:22Life was great.

01:23:24Everybody thought

01:23:24it was going to last forever.

01:23:28Wrong.

01:23:30We got to deal

01:23:30with life as it comes.

01:23:32Don't cry about it.

01:23:34The tragedy

01:23:35started coming around.

01:23:38It had its effect.

01:23:40Suicides, drugs,

01:23:43alcohol,

01:23:44you name it,

01:23:45it all played a part.

01:23:56It's so cool

01:23:57how you all

01:23:58got to wrestle together.

01:23:59Well, just imagine

01:24:00you inside,

01:24:01you know,

01:24:01just playing outside,

01:24:03but there's thousands

01:24:03of people watching.

01:24:05So that's what's

01:24:05going to happen

01:24:06when they play

01:24:07with their brother

01:24:07in front of

01:24:08a bunch of people.

01:24:11There was a time

01:24:12that we could all

01:24:13wrestle in any town

01:24:14and sell it out.

01:24:15The Von Erichs

01:24:17have won the hearts

01:24:18of wrestling fans.

01:24:19They're the most popular

01:24:20wrestling family

01:24:21in the world.

01:24:23Yeah.

01:24:25It's not like people think.

01:24:26It's a family business.

01:24:28It wasn't fun,

01:24:29it was work.

01:24:31You're pressured

01:24:32to be on

01:24:33all of the time,

01:24:34an image

01:24:35that they all

01:24:36want to uphold.

01:24:38They're just good boys.

01:24:39The world just needs

01:24:40heroes today,

01:24:41that's all.

01:24:42There's pressure

01:24:43to keep that name alive.

01:24:44Professional wrestler

01:24:45Mike Von Erich

01:24:46remains in critical condition.

01:24:48If Mike Von Erich dies,

01:24:49the whole world

01:24:50is going to hate you.

01:24:51It's in the Lord's plan

01:24:52for these things to happen.

01:24:53The Von Erichs are strong.

01:24:55I saw a lot of

01:24:56depression in him.

01:24:57I do remember times

01:24:59where he wasn't sober.

01:25:02The doctor told him

01:25:02he just might never

01:25:03be able to go back

01:25:04into wrestling.

01:25:05Dozens of searchers

01:25:06have been scouring

01:25:07Lake Louisville

01:25:08by ground and air

01:25:09since Wednesday night.

01:25:10When I got the call,

01:25:11I knew our world

01:25:12is crumbling.

01:25:13Investigators found

01:25:14a handwritten note.

01:25:15Mom and Dad,

01:25:16I'm in a better place.

01:25:18I'd rather die

01:25:19than let you folks down.

Biography: WWE Legends - Season 5 Episode 1 - The Curse of the Von Erichs, Part 1

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