The Iron Claw Review: 6 Ups & 3 Downs

4. Kevin’s Explainer Of Wrestling

The Iron Claw Zac Efron
A24

Wrestling fans have long tried to explain professional wrestling adequately to their non-fan friends, describing it as an athletic soap opera, physical ballet, or choreographed fighting.

But Kevin Von Erich’s description of wrestling – and being a champion – in the movie is almost perfect. On a date with future wife Pam, Kevin compared wrestling to any other job, where success is based on performance and crowd reaction, and you’re promoted – read: moved up the card and made a champion – as a result of that success. Winning a world title, in Kevin’s telling, was a signal that you are trusted, reliable, over and deserving of leading your promotion.

Equating traditional job performance with in-ring acumen was a fantastic way of relating things for moviegoers who were non-fans, and it didn’t insult wrestling fans’ intelligence by dumbing it down to a level that made the industry look foolish.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.