8 Wrestling Angles Which Exploited Real Life Deaths

3. WCCW Cashing In On Von Erich Deaths

The tragedy of the Von Erich family is well documented, with the devastated family being dealt blow after blow throughout the 1980s and '90s.

During the early-to-mid '80s, World Class Championship Wrestling was in a boom thanks to the Von Erich brothers, the sons of owner and promoter Fritz Von Erich, who dominated the main event scene.

When one of the brothers, David, died prematurely in 1984 on the cusp of battling Ric Flair for the NWA Heavyweight Championship, Fritz put on a memorial show where David's brother Kerry would win an emotionally charged title match against Flair for the same belt, with the build revolving largely around David's passing.

It's when another memorial show was put on the following year, and the one after that, that people started getting a little uncomfortable, as David's death was constantly used to garner heat and sympathy leading into each show.

Fritz could see that the first memorial show was one of the company's most successful, so in the eyes of a businessman and promoter, he saw dollar signs.

The tragedy was dragged out over years, often resulting in the next Von Erich using their emotion to take a big win at each Memorial Parade Of Champions, as they were billed.

Unfortunately in 1987, the family lost another when Mike committed suicide, so the next memorial show was fired up once again. Oddly enough, the main event was somehow a six-woman Mud Pit match.