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Fun Fact: The reason why Kevin Von Erich wrestles without boots is because someone hid his boots in his locker room as a joke and with no time to continue searching for his boots, he had to wrestle without them. Since that time, Kevin continued wrestling without boots and it became his trademark.
@@Anonymous-o8jnot true! He never liked how the boots felt on his feet and started wrestling without them because he felt more comfortable that way. I’m actually from Dallas and not only grew up watching them, but my family knew their family personally.
im confused about the iron claw on flair scene. the movie differentiates kayfabe from what really goes on behind the scenes. the scene is portrayed as a "shoot". so was he not really supposed to hold the claw on flair or what?
@@N30WULF I got my source from a miscellaneous channel on RU-vid about that “fact” so I guess I stand corrected. Last time I trust small time RU-vidrs, that’s for sure. Sorry for the misunderstanding sir.
The only thing I raised an eyebrow at was winning the title and then getting in a motorcyle accident on what seemed like that very night! Really?? That part, and the last death seemed ratcheted up not for pacing, but for drama. Otherwise I loved the movie. Is it the best wrestling movie ever? I'd still say Darren Arronofsky's The Wrestler, but, like Fritz, my rankings can always change ;)
I agree. I was confused and thought after Kerry won the title he went out for a ride after too many beers and then lost his foot even though I know that’s not what really happened. Kerry’s foot was saved and had reconstructive surgery and he tried to walk on it too soon and his foot couldn’t bear all of his weight, causing the doctors to have no other choice, but to amputate.
I think it's a very odd choice to exclude Chris Von Erich from the entire movie. Even if they rewrote his character to be off screen, why not even mention him? They didn't even include him in the family photo at the end of the movie. I understand the family approved the movie, but still odd to me.
These guys were my moms favorite when I was a kid. We watched the 80s feuds of the VonErichs & the Fabulous Freebirds in their prime. Their family story has always saddened me. I'll have to give this movie a watch.
Kevin was the only one to escape the "curse" because he had a healthy source of emotional support from his wife. Notice how none of the other brothers had a loved one. Their pain, stress, anger and depression had nowhere to be let out. Their dad ignored their pain and kept pushing them while their mom was emotionally distanced. Kevin was lucky that he found his own family.
It’s honestly a miracle that Kevin was able to break his family cycle of toxic masculinity. And was able to realize that being a man doesn’t mean you have to be so stone cold and hard. That’s it’s perfectly normal to show emotion
I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a kid. I watched a lot of WCCW back in the day and was a huge fan of the Von Erichs. I noticed several discrepancies in the timeline vs. real life. I’d say the film was correct about 75% of the time which is all I ask about biopics.
I am torn between seeing it and skipping for the same reason. I was at Will Rogers Coliseum every week during their prime. Stood at the turnbuckle with b&w 8x10's for autographs, and had all of theirs. I was seeing an usher at the time (teens back then) and he got tickets for me and gave me insider info when he knew stuff like when Mike had his debut. I was there and got to talk to him for a minute as the wrestlers would walk around the arena before the first match time. I was devastated by each death I'll tell you. But man! Were those the days!!!
Those not from North Texas cannot grasp how popular this family was. FRITZ (Jack Adkisson) played football/threw discus at SMU in Dallas. My brother threw discus in the 70s and was good, but always lost to Kerry as he broke record after record. The whole family would show up at the meets and mingle with the crowd, acting like one of them, and the people loved it. Silly Pizza Inn commercials, appearances at children's hospitals and all sorts of charity events. Like every family, there were dark secrets, but to the people here, they were royalty.
Yeah that’s the only thing the film didn’t really highlight. Which is why the brothers was so close. They couldn’t go any where without ppl crowding them
I was in middle school and high school during their time, living in Wichita Falls, TX. I used to watch them wrestle at Shepard Air Force Base. They were huge, super popular. Sad story.
That’s what I’m saying. I went into it not knowing anything about this family. Left crying the theater and have been looking at videos of them non stop. This story is good on its own I feel like people treat it too much as a biopic.
yeh i loved it. depressing movies really enthrall me. If you like sad movies i recommend: Plague Dogs, Dancer in the Dark, and Grave of the Fireflies. you can throw requiem for a dream in there but i figure most people already know about that one and i think its slightly less depressing than those
Trust me, if you watch the movie (which I did) the grief will transpire through and through. This movie is not a documentary but rather a dramatization of a true story.
You know what's crazy? I honestly think it would have been way too much for the film. Even on its own, their story is almost unbelievable. Even David's first child died shortly afterwards. At some point artistically, the moral of the story needs to balance out and connect with the audience. It was a risk but they could afford to take it. If Chris was more involved in the ring early on I would agree with you.
Very disrespectful to leave out Chris.. A movie about the Von Erich family and you leave out their baby brother.. He was important.. He deserved to be in there.
@@kryceksangel How?? He had asthma and wasn't as athletic as his brothers, but he wrestled too and sadly he too killed himself. He is part of this tragic family story. But a just dead Kerry being carried by Kevin to the dining room table was realistic? Thats BS. That was extremely lazy on the director.
@@calicialandry9285I read that the director thought Chris's story was too repetitive. For a casual who doesn't know the true story it would be hard to believe that that many deaths happened in that short a time.
I think they should have made the film longer, there's more than enough material to make a 3 hour movie, and they shouldn't have omitted Chris. Sure, he only wrestled two matches and both of them were against the future Paul Bearer, but he was part of the family.
Director had mentioned something along the lines that it was too much to show the death of all 5 brothers in the movie. They mentioned jack but dont show his death and although i understand the directors point they should’ve at least mentioned chris by name. It would’ve been a very honorable thing to at least show him towards the end after kerry dies and he reunites with all his brothers in the afterlife chris should’ve been part of that scene
For 3 hours just make it a documentary. Chris would have taken too much time and it would have painted Fritz it worse light than he was already in - especially for the events that took place with Chris in the ring. They dedicated the movie to all the brothers including Chris at the very end if you watched the credits. Not every movie/biography is going to be perfect. You cant include every event in their lives its just too much.
@@itsRockyTVI agree that putting every event of their lives is too much but omitting one of the brothers from a biopic about the brothers is a huge chunk of their story gone
@@boopkal4716 it absolutely is. However when you read about what happened to him it really puts Fritz into a bad light - even more than what he is in the movie. I think that could have been a good reason enough to let it go. Also the original script had Chris in it and some early filming so we could maybe get something once its released. They dedicate it to him at the end with the rest of the brothers. It does suck they didn't add him or mention him but that family had so much going on it was probably a lot.
Chris was in early versions of the screenplay but was cut due to time and the director thinking that the audience wouldn't be able to handle that many deaths In one film plus I think he was having trouble getting a studio to make the movie because of that fact.
Love the fact Kevin Adkisson (Von Erich) pieced together with the film makers this tragic story about the family 😢 must've been so hard reliving some of the heartache his quote still brings me to tears "in my life I had 5 brothers now I'm not even a brother" 💪🤙💙
The Vice documentary about the Von Erichs is almost unbelievable due to the amount of tragedy in Kevins life. Kevin seems like such a sweet, and caring person, just a good dude. It really makes you sad that someone so authentically kind suffers through so much loss of family.
As an old fan, i suggest u watch some of the doc's they have here on YT. Way better then the movie. Not even gonna watch it. I hate when the story is so changed up from the whole truth. Just my opinion..
@@aceloco817I'm an old fan too been watching wrestling since I was 5 in 1988 and was at a show when I was only 2 saw a WWF show in Winnipeg Manitoba at the old Winnipeg Arena and saw Andre wrestle wrestling is my life and I think the stories and docs on youtube are just retelling facts pieced together in magazines or old VHS tapes and a little kayfabe sprinkled in for pizazz lol but I really love the stories you hear from the wrestlers themselves and you can hear the heartache in Kevin's voice whenever he's asked about his families legacy
and to answer a question not asked never saw the movie either and not going to because I'd rather keep the memories of the Von Erich's alive from what I've seen in other DVD match series and docs that's the way it should be
@@KWK2022 I can feel Kevin's pain cause he lost the loved ones he grew up with and now he's the lone original Von Erich standing and in bare feet still which I've always loved about him he wrestles in his bare feet as does his son's at times I feel his pain personally because I'm living through it I used to have a large family growing up and now I'm the last one standing well not the last one my lil 3 and half month old son is my legacy but I've learned to keep pushing on in life never let anything bring you down and that's just recently seeing most of what Kevin has said and it's his strength that I've used myself to keep pushing on in life and now my son will keep my legacy going as all our kids will do🤘🤟
He played himself. Acted no different than any other movie. You don't win Oscars for that. He didn't even get the accent right or even tried. I don't even think he got the hair color right. Also looked like a little midget wrestler out there as short as he is. 🤣🤣
Fritz was a hard guy, pressured the boys way too much, and made them do questionable things at times, but Fritz Von Erich loved his boys and was devastated by each death. I wouldn’t say the boys were cursed with Fritz. The wrestling world in the 1980s was the wild freaking west, and the boys were ill-equipped to handle it all.
@@greenlawlerthey did a great job portraying Fritz as emotionally cold which he absolutely was in real life; he even told Kevin he wasn't man enough to kill himself while Kevin was grieving to his father.
@greenlawler Why are you saying there was no way? There was absolutely a way and there's almost never been a good thing said about Fritz aside from the fact he ran a successful promotion and had some of the top boys, that man was a real life villain who would do anything to see his company on top, he gave Kerry steroids when he was still in school, he used a fairly brain dead Mike fresh out of surgery to sell out a show in the Cotton Bowl, he used David's death as an angle to sell out an event, he also forced David to honor that booking after he said he was sick which is what killed him, he put Chris into such high pressure situations we all know how that ended, Kerry killed himself because of the rampant drug use that Fritz would ignore I mean Kerry was literally facing prison before death, he also forced Kerry and Kevin to get into the ring after David died they weren't allowed to mourn, like the list of offenses go on and on and on.
It’s the best “wrestling” movie there is, hands down. Regardless of accuracy, it captures the story and the emotion of professional wrestling. It combines real and fake into a work of art.
It was about 85% accurate the only stuff that was off was the condense story line at times and the bother Chris but if anything the real story was even sadder which is mind blowing.
It's a great film, but most enjoyable if you are not knowledgeable with the true past and timeline. I knew the facts and still enjoyed it as a great movie. My issue is Chris should have not been erased. It adds to the tragedy. So much pain and tragedy in this family they actually had to remove a kid and his suicide
I think for tightening the story they omitted Chris. Especially since he also killed himself in the similar fashion to Kerry. I think they just need to keep it tight. Enough tragedy was depicted. I think in this instance it was not done for nefarious reasons.
The director (who also wrote it) said it was done for time constraints. And I get that. Kev, David, Kerry (and eventually)Mike were always a unit in the business. Chris really didn't get involved until roughly a year before he actually died, after David and Mike were already gone. Honestly, their story is the type that easily could've been a mini series. Had it been, Chris definitely would've been in it.
If people want a 100% factual telling in order there's literal documentaries. Like The Dark Side of the Ring, this is a film, inspired by true events. Is it messed up to not even name drop Chris, possibly but for story telling purposes, his death is near similar to Kerry, it wouldn't flow and just be trauma dumping.
In all fairness, as someone who has been a diehard wrestling fan since the mid 90's..... Given it's a movie and mostly discussing the brothers...... I am fine with the film omitting conspiracy theories, compressing time lines(as many movies based on reality do) and I kind of understand omitting Fritz's original pro Nazi character. I have to agree with another comment i saw about 70-75 percent accurate which is still rather impressive
Just came from the theater and agree with this. It was a great movie and I was catching the discrepancies during the film including the mission of Chris but loved it none the less. I literally told my wife they would have to make a serious if they wanted to cover all of the brothers and tragedies but for the time given I feel like it was exceptionally well done!
Chris taught he was insignificant that he would never be as loved, as cared about, as important as his brothers. That he would never meet the expectations of his father. He killed himself thinking that no one would care when he was gone. Look like he was right...
The last living brother said if they captured the idea that they all loved each other he would like the movie! So sounds like he was saying close enough!
I mean really that 70-75 percent accuracy number is about the best a movie can do anymore, without boring people or including over dramatizations for entertainment. I really with they did include all of the brothers deaths and actually give Chris some legacy there, but I mean, it comes to bad storytelling just killing everyone. I think they did a helluva job capturing how brutal it really was for Kevin and how their dad is probably the root of these issues.
@@johnsandovaliii5312 the director said it would have been too sad to have also included Chris, and I agree his life was probably the most tragic and heartbreaking. Also for story and runtime purposes it was probably too many characters to develop
I think the guy who plays Kerry was a major miscasting. Kerry was much larger in height and muscles than him. I would’ve been happy with Zac Efron playing Kerry rather than Kevin. I just really get hung up on casting and they screwed up. Fritz was perfectly cast tho.
@@kryceksangelif I remember correctly, in the movie he says he distanced himself from the family because he didn’t want to curse them during his phone call with Kevin
Fritz was "reportedly" a very hard, cruel bully and brute in business and especially to his own family. He supposedly belittled, manipulated, controlled, and emotionally destroyed almost every member. Years of being unable to meet his unrealistic ego driven expectations were the "curse". Just tragic all around. I remember seeing Kerry back in the mid 80's as a kid against bam Bam Bigalow. It was a relativly small venue in El Paso Texas (so we were up close). Even as a kid he was clearly struggling with his demons and the match was extremely short because of it. He didn't look well or like he wanted to be there. I don't know personally know all the inner details of how dysfunctional the family was, but if half as bad as what has been reported is true, then it explains much.
Overall i thought the movie was great. The only thing i didn't like was the casting of Ric Flair, that guy was awful. I've seen other people do better imitations of Ric Flair.....
Only wrestling fans will care about that. This is different because it's an incredibly tragic story where a whole family of wrestlers died in a 3 year span and it's almost hard to believe. This is a story about the tragedy suffered by wrestlers. Not a movie about wrestling, with a tragic story beat
Such a tragic story. It is fantastic though that their story has been told to the world. Been a wrestling fan since the mid 80’s. Rest in Paradise. The legacy will always live on.🙏🏻
I just watched an interview with Kevin. Zac Efron never saw or spoke with Kevin once. he's portraying the only living son in the movie and never even asked him a single question. imo that's wrong.
The first time I saw the trailer, I thought Zac was playing Kerry, but I can see why they chose him since he's the biggest name out of the actors who played the brothers
I gotta say they did a pretty good job on making the actors who played David and Kerry look like them. The one who played Mike looked nothing like him.
What I hope people who watch The Iron Claw is to research what the Von Erichs were REALLY like. The film is great and very well made but the reality is way more interesting than the fictional interpretation the film presents. The Von Erichs were genuinely incredible, raw talents who had crowds in the palm of their hands. Their legacy should not be defined by the 'curse', people should celebrate how great they were.
The main actor shouldve played Kerry instead of Kevin , Kerry was about 270 around 6/2 the actor who got in good shape to play Kerry was smaller the Kevin which is not true
I thought it was bad casting for the part of Kerry. Since the story centered on Kevin, maybe they didn't want an actor that was physically bigger than Zac Efron.
I actually went to school with the Von Erichs in Lake Dallas, Tx., they were like small town royalty. Hell, my school annual that a full page picture of Fritz with his championship belt on the back page!
As someone who knows nothing about the story before seeing the movie, it’s kinda crazy to think they just completely ignored and got rid of the brother Chris and his life story!
I agree to a certain point. His part of the Von Erich story is very important, but it's so sad that I almost agree with the decision to leave him out of it. I don't see it as they forgot about him, more that they wanted to respect his memory
There are going to be things that are accurate & others that wouldn’t. Regardless of the beliefs of the Film & this RU-vidr opinion on this topic, still enjoyed the movie regardless of the criticism that has been taken. Did see it today & thought it was good. Been a wrestling fan for almost 25 years now.
When it comes to wrestling dynasties though,... the two often collide. Wrestling is not just business to them, its LIFE. ... and sometimes unfortunately... death.
@@k1productions87 this is true and this dynasty still keeps going and in true WCCW ways, independently of the big names with RAM Von Erich. Some great stories from Jeff Jarrett on his podcast when they went over the period of Jerry Jarrett buying the Dallas territory.
@@ADAM_COLLECTS I did like how the Dark Side of the Ring episode made sure to show Kevin as someone who has healed from the tragedy, rather than just succumbing to it, and that his sons are still passionate for the business and he's cool with it. I wish the movie included the gun theft moment Kevin spoke of. Seeing him almost succumb to grief, only for a simple "we love ya, Kev" from a Texas native to be just enough to snap him out of it and straighten him out. Would give a potentially hopeful moment as a conclusion, but I'm not expecting it to be there. But it does make me tear up every time I hear it on the Dark Side episode
You make a movie about a family and you leave out the youngest, weakest, who took his own life at the age of 21. I guess he wasn't as inportant of the big bag wrestling guys. In my view ir ruined the movie.
This movie was so beautiful! I was the only one in the theatere on Christmas Day which was kinda cool having the whole theatere to myself I really laughed and cried
The biggest discrepancy for me was the size of the actors compared to the actual wrestlers they portrayed. All the actors were completely undersized. They were closer to the height of Chris in real life, unfortunately Chris didn’t have a character in the movie and was left out. Zach Efron was the most jacked and looked more like Kerry than Kevin. The actor that played Kerry was a miss. And the Ric Flair character was horrible, like seriously how did the director allow that to happen. I liked the movie but the casting was off to me.
They needed well known actors to portray the Von Erich brothers, i heard Channing Tatum was suppose to play Kerry but I guess the director thought he was too old for the part.
I thought Efron was awesome and I agree with you. He’s 5’8” but I still believed his acting sold the 6’2” Kevin because Efron is bigger then life in the movie. He’s no Arnold but I respect the game of actors who peek out their physique and work it into their roles. For example one scene that really hit me was when Kevin, in the movie at least the most jacked of them all, takes a hard unexpected it outside the ring and can barely stand. It was believable because wrestling is so physical. It was moving to me because even the most in shape dude was instantly hampered by serious injury. And what built up the entire movie in my eyes was the antagonist father, who literally could care less about his son’s wellbeing, even though you could argue he does care because all he wants is the belt and success and fame and money. I liked the character who played Kerry because while I don’t have a frame of reference for the original men, that actor looked like something out of the 1980s, so just his entire look in general sold me on the setting.
@@jonathanhammond5563 Efron did an awesome job. He was dedicated to the role. Hes gone from a young buck in High school musical and has matured to a very serious role in this movie . Amazing range, like seriously Daniel day Lewis acting talent in my opinion. He is a legend. The physical dedication was not understated. He still wouldn’t have been my pick, but he killed it, major props.
I hate people who think a movie is bad bc the actors aren't 100% a dead ringer for someone they are portraying. If you want to see the real life people, go back and watch their matches, watch the real documentaries. This is a movie, it needs the best actors who can give the best performances of the characters/people, not who looks the most like someone.
@@Oregonduck09 ScoDucks! Don’t be hateful friend. What does the last sentence of my comment say that you replied to? What is your first sentence to me? From one duck to another…Don’t be like that, it’s putting false words in my mouth so you can justify hate. Not cool. I believe you and accept your opinion, you don’t accept mine. I make no apologies for that. I believe art is subjective, you hate people for opinions 😬 As I said before, I liked the movie.
WCCW was definitely a part of our lives growing up. I still remember, losing David felt like losing a family member and Kerry winning the championship was so emotionally powerful.
Regarding the death of David, enteritis is agony, so I’m sure he did have a lot of narcotics in his system at the time of his death. I would be more surprised if he didn’t eat pain pills like candy to control that kind of pain until he could get back to the states and have it looked into.
Iron Claw is one movie where you know going in that it wasn't going to have a happy ending. That said, man, their feud with the Freebirds is legendary. Some of the most brutal matches I ever saw.
I am familiar with the Von Erich family's involvement with wrestling, but not so much to depict any inaccuracies. With that being said, in my opinion, it made the movie enjoyable. I liked seeing legends like Flair, Brody, The Fabulous Freebirds, and Harley Race included in the film.
Definitely a decent movie but as someone whos well semi versed on the von erich story a few very important moments should have been added imo. The fact that chris was omitted was the most glaring and how kevin found him. Fritz not finding his favorite son kerry and kevin attacking fritz to my knowledge never happened. Kevins parents split up as well with fritz getting brain cancer and pulling a gun on kevin should have been included. Lastly kevin almost found himself in a bad way stealing a gun but was later helped and embraced by strangers when knew who he was thus helping save kevin would have been maybe the most beautiful part of a story that ends so sadly. Hope to see it redone more accurately and with a little better casting. Only casting problem for me was the actors that played kevin and kerry should have been switched but still a solid movie.
The movie was ok but not great. Some of the acting was a little stiff(not the wrestling way) Like one of those vh1 docs about bands where the acting is corney. I didnt like the Ric Flair portrayal, the guy had a accent, maybe a northeast accent. And no jake roberts 😩 I would give the movie 7.6/10
My favorite line on the ring from Kevin, was actually said in the movie by David during an interview on their match with the Freebirds. Don't get the change.🤷🏾 The Freebirds strut out in their Southern, Georgia shiny, sparkling garb and flag, and color gauard. Like they were good old boy Jesus' or something. The VEs come out for the match, Kevin grqbs the mic and says...""This war isn't between Texas and Georgia, its between descency and filth." Classic, Priceless.. (love you GA, not talking bout you).
I think it was to demonstrate that David had better mic skills and appeared to be more confident and charismatic than Kevin (no idea if that was true in real life, tbh) and help explain why he was becoming more popular and would soon leapfrog Kevin into a push for the title. That's the impression I got, anyway.
Some speculated that Kerry's pending trial date and possible prison sentence is what led to his suicide. That was not mentioned in the movie or this video.
I saw the Iron Claw tonight. People who don't know anything about the Von Erichs will probably like it. I know a fair amount about the Von Erichs so I was kind of disappointed. First off, they completely ignored the fact that Chris ever existed. That is completely inexcusable to me. The guy who played Ric Flair did a terrible job. I have seen a ton of people impersonate Ric Flair and this guy was the worst by far. The guy who played Kerry Von Erich looked the smallest of all the brothers which was bad casting. Zac Efron did a great job as Kevin, but considering he looked completely jacked, he should have played Kerry. There are too many inaccuracies in the way the story was told. I could go on and on about that. At least at the start of the movie, they said based on a true story. Sadly if they stuck to the real story it would have been a much better film.
I had to google these people and even I can tell Zac played the wrong brother…🤦🏾♂️😂😂 Hollywood is terrible at casting. They just had to make him the surviving brother for some odd reason when he literally looks more like the Kerry dude and would’ve gotten a Oscar for portraying the REAL story of Kerry.
Just saw the iron claw today and i didnt realize that they were just going to completely ignore Chris, i thought at the very least he would be a minor character that dies off screen but man not even acknowledging him was pretty egregious
@@davemeers37 With regards to Lance, I just always wondered what the heck Fritz was thinking. He cut his teeth in Portland, but he was from the Dallas-Fort Worth area and had been a star quarterback in high school so he was known to a lot of people in the area. It was insane to try to pass him off as a relative.
@@mdf3530 not sure all I know is Kevin and Kerry hated the idea and it was one of Fritz’s worst moves if they had said he was an old friend who played football either with Kevin or at the same school then maybe it would have been ok
Another right and wrong was the selling of the organization to Jerry Jarrett was right. However Kevin didn't want to sell but Kerry and Fritz did. Also Kerry went to WWF after the company was sold.
I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a kid & I thought the movie was good. My gf who tolerates wrestling only for me thought it was great. The only thing that bothers me that Chris Von Erich is omitted completely, not even a mention. Regardless of the directors reasoning I felt it was wrong.
I loved it. I really appreciated how wrestling was portrayed. It wasn't shown as "fake". The matches seemed like real fights. I really think the way they told the story was great!! One more thing they got wrong was Pam and Kevin got married in 1980...in the movie it happens 1 week before David goes to Japan in 1984.
Also (spoiler alert ending) Kevin to the best of my knowledge didn't vent to his baby boy's about having 5(4?) Brothers and now he's not even a brother (heartbreaking immortal statement of all the tragedies he suffered)i believe it was on the WWE produced DVD The Triumph and Tragedy of the VonErich's and Doris washed her hands of Fritz with a divorce b4 their passing i believe it should of been mentioned instead of it seeming like they lived out the rest of their days together...i was happy to learn Kevin got a ranch,married 40 years, and brought his entire clan/offspring to live with them... 3 kids and 13 grandkids he deserves it...i also believe they should of made a scene in which Fritz handed Kevin a loaded gun and told him if he had any guts he'd do himself like his brothers...and Kevin's immortal response of "No pop's it takes more guts to stay and deal with life" bc he proved it all worked out...
Mike was actually wrestling *before* David died, even teamed up several times. In fact, Mike was (arguably) a runner-up best in the brotherhood, in his par-on skills. He mangled both Ric Flair *and* Jake Roberts in lesser known matches, he was still even considered a rookie wrestler, who never even wanted to be one and had the least preparation and training, and still faired out way better, even more than Kevin, who while is an amazing, talented athlete, Mike sprouted into an extremely powerful gladiator in such a short time, and if he never got sick in the first place, he'd probably both still be here and have had a lengthy time in the WWF, maybe even fighting alongside Kerry in a duet stable.
Have you watched the story Vice did on the Von Erichs? Kevin himself along with others said Mike wasn't really a good wrestler and like you mentioned in the match with Flair he was terrible and was carried in that match as well as the Gino Hernandez match. He just didn't have what it took and never would have regardless of what happened to him and to say that he was better than Kevin is out right delusional!
As a person who was born and raised Dallas, TX, had an uncle that wrestled in the time Fritz did under the name of Killer Karl Kox, went to see many matches at the Sportatorium, and am fully aware of the Von Erich’s lives I already knew the discrepancies of this movie. The bottom line, which the movie somewhat portrayed but didn’t do justice to was Fritz was a piece of shit human being that was hated by many in the wrestling industry. He is the underlying root reason his kids killed themselves. And yes they were all on drugs and alcohol, in which David’s drug overdose that killed him was covered up. Kevin was the only one who: 1) actually wanted to be a wrestler like his father, and 2) was not a dope fiend or alcoholic.
I’ve been waiting to see this movie since October. I grew up watching WCCW in the 80’s & loved the heel work of Gino & Chris of ‘The Dynamic Duo’. My daughter & I arrived at the movie theater & they said they were having technical difficulties & wouldn’t be showing it.
They screwed it up when they had the actor playing Kerry smaller than Kevin. Kerry was huge,much bigger than Kevin, both were great athletes but Kevin was about 225 and Kerry was around 265 or so.
Kerry was a reincarnation of Jack Jr. Which is why he was the most loved. It makes sense, as Kerry was born about 11 months after Jack Jr died. Amazing!
Kerry was the main screwup to me . The guy that played him was too short and not buffed enough Kerry was built like a Greek Adonis with huge muscles. But I knew they would not be able to cast him right. They left out Chris who also wrestled and killed himself at age 21. I myself having been into wrestling since the days of Pepper Gomez, Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson watched the von Erichs and followed them through the eighties until Kerry’s death feel the film fell short
i think the way kerry went out is even more sad because he tried to reach out but his dad was just busy and thought nothing of it at the time. that would have hit pretty hard.
Mannnn or mannnn. I heard great reviews about the movie. One thing that urks me is why would you get a 5’6 smaller actor to play KERRY VON ERICH who was a hulking figure and was supposed to be the chosen one. He was my favorite VON ERICH!! It’s flat out inexplicable. I know this story is more towards KEVIN but at least get KERRY physically right.
Spent many nights at the Sportatorium on Fridays and Will Roges in Ft. Worth on Monday nights. As a kid I watched Saturday Night Wrestling in the 60's before the brothers started wrestling. That was when Dan Coates & Red Bastein were the play-by-play announcers long before Mark Lowrance and Bill Mercer (the announcer portrayed in the movie) started. The TV show was still in black & white back then. Most memorable on-going feud was Fritz vs Blackjack Mulligan. I lived through everything portrayed in the movie in my teens to early 30's. My dad and I were at that sweltering hot day at Texas Stadium when Kerry beat Flair for the world title. I don't know how the wrestlers kept from passing out from dehydration that day. That scene brought back a lot of memories for me. I was in a youth organization working our fund raiser at the Cotton Bowl one time at an SMU game. I was standing outside the concession stand on break in the ramp going up to the seats when Fritz walked by. I said, "Hi Fritz" and he stopped to look at me, smiled really big, stuck his hand out to shake mine and said, "How you doin' pardner". I could barely grab his whole hand to shake it. After that all my DeMolay brothers were in awe that he spoke to me and I actually got to shake his hand. That was before David passed so every time one of the brothers died it felt a little bit personal to me just because Fritz talked to me and I shook his hand. That was the kind of charisma Fritz had. Anyway, despite the inaccuracies in the movie, I really enjoyed it. It brought back MANY great memories for me.
I liked the movie! I didn't think it was right erasing Chris from the story ! But I understand the Directors decision that it was one more tragedy that the film didn't need and in order to tell the story right the movie would of had to have a run time of 3 to 4 hours. It was a Good movie and I plan on buying it when it comes out on DVD!
Fun movie, felt like a kid again watching it. The guy who played "kerry" was too small, should've switched with the other actor who was huge. Also omitting a brother altogether was kind of weird, they also mentioned the only living brother wasn't even consulted which doesn't make any sense when making a biopic, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
