10 Terrifying Wrestling Curses That Will Chill Your Blood
3. The Von Erich Family Curse Apocrypha
The Von Erich family history is so tragic in such a fascinating way that it's strange to think that nobody thought to make the upcoming 'Iron Claw' movie, currently in production, before now.
It is written and directed by Sean Durkin, making his feature debut, so there's no real way of knowing yet how faithful, sensitive and affecting it will turn out - but the greatest screenwriter in history would struggle to pen a line as devastatingly succinct as that uttered by the lone survivor of the Fritz clan, Kevin Von Erich:
"I used to have five brothers. Now I'm not even a brother".
Fritz Von Erich's first son, Jake Adkisson Jr., was accidentally electrocuted at the age of six. David Von Erich, his third son, died in 1984. The official cause of death was acute enteritis, but the belief within the wrestling industry, whether true or otherwise, was that drugs were a heavily contributing factor. Kerry Von Erich, the fourth son, died by suicide in 1993, by which point an overwhelming sadness and grief haunted what remained of the family. As per Bret Hart's autobiography, Kerry believed that his late brothers were calling him.
Mike Von Erich, Fritz's fifth, died after he ingested a fatal dose of tranquillisers in 1987 when, after suffering the life-altering effects of toxic shock syndrome two years prior, he no longer possessed the physical strength to continue his wrestling career. Chris Von Erich died by suicide in 1991. He never was able to wrestle with the incandescent babyface fire of his hearth-throb brothers; constantly injured as a result of brittle bones, locked in a perpetual state of grief and tragic, unrealised ambition, he shot himself.
The story needed no embellishing, but locker rooms, always on the sell, created apocrypha around it nonetheless: as the urban legend goes, Fritz, who achieved notoriety by adopting a Nazi gimmick, was confronted by a holocaust survivor who lost all of his sons and could only wish Fritz knew his pain.
He in all likelihood was not, but that is pro wrestling for you. The darker it is, the easier it gets to suspend one's disbelief.