12 Wrestlers Whose Ring Names Outlasted Their Gimmicks

The Von Erichs have such legendary status in Texas wrestling and such a tragic legacy in the history of professional wrestling that it’s easy to forget that Von Erich was never their family name. Fritz Von Erich and his sons, Kevin Von Erich, David Von Erich, Kerry Von Erich, Mike Von Erich, and Chris Von Erich were, in reality, Jack Adkisson, Kevin Adkisson, David Adkisson, Kerry Adkisson, Mike Adkisson, and Chris Adkisson.

But what is most extraordinary about the family tradition of the Von Erich name is not that the name is fictitious (after all, the celebrated Rhodes family is legally the Runnels family, and the celebrated Anderson family is not even a family at all). No, what is most extraordinary is that the quintessential All-American sports family’s name originated with the quasi-Nazi character its patriarch used to portray.

Teamed in the 1950s with his fictitious brother Waldo Von Erich, “Fritz” played a German heel who antagonized fans still reeling from the Second World War. Billed from Berlin and wearing a large iron cross on his ring jacket to go with his “Iron Claw” finishing move, the implications were hard to miss.

Although his fictitious brother Waldo would take the gimmick several steps further, wearing military garb with German and SS insignias and giving Nazi salutes well into the 1970s, Fritz backpedaled from the gimmick enough to contend for the prestigious NWA title, promote World Class Championship Wrestling, and become an institution in the Dallas area. Fans in the 1980s did not bat an eye when the territory’s top good guys, those homegrown boys from deep in the heart of Texas, all carried with them the name of a once-dastardly foreign heel from the Third Reich.

Of the first two generations of Von Erichs, only Kevin survives, but three of Fritz’s grandchildren have tried their hands at wrestling, each competing under the Von Erich name and turning up in TNA. Not bad for a name that has been outdated for well over half a century.