Made for Viceland , airing on TV May 1st in the US.
Season 1. Episode 4.
The story : The Texas bred Von Erichs' family dynasty has two legacies...
The biggest names in wrestling and the most tragedies in a family...
Fritz Von Erich was a very popular wrestler in the 50s and 60s.
Inventor of the "iron claw" , he wanted to quit wrestling , take care of his family and promote wrestling.
His 5 boys loved watching him wrestle and were very into it.
So into it that the three oldest , along with their fathers help and need to get them into the business , created a career out of following in their fathers footsteps.
The result , the Von Erich boys - David , Kerry and Kevin became household names while growing up on TV.
They were teen idols and everyone loved them.
They wanted to be good examples.
David was the first to become prospect for World Champion but tragedy struck him down when he died suddenly while working in Japan in 1984.
Next Von Erich brother to become number one was Kerry.
He became world champion in honor of David in 1985.
Then Fritz felt the need to replace David so he brought in Lance as a Von Erich brother.
One of the major problems with Lance was that he wasn't actually a Von Erich , although Fritz promoted him as one.
Kerry and Kevin were dead set against this idea and in the end it began the damage to their family name.
Brother Mike was next on the roster but he wasn't exactly cut out for wrestling , even though he really wanted to wrestle. Then he got injured and while recovering acquired a staph infection.
Just when the family began thinking they lost another member Mike pulled through.
But his recovery was short lived as he became someone none of his family knew or recognized.
He couldn't handle the disappointment he had caused and decided to get out the easy way.
Brother Chris was the next and last member of the family to get into the business but he also was not cut out for that line of work.
He had health problems that caused the work to often be too much for him.
When he too got hurt , he was no longer able to work.
This put him into a deep depression , so much so that he was the next of the Von Erich boys to take his own life.
Another chance in the spotlight , Kerry went mainstream with WWF but he was hiding a secret that weighed on him for many years.
In fear that his secret would ruin his career the family swore to never tell and no one outside the family ever found out.
Next , by the advice of his father , he then became the Texas Tornado , dropping the family name completely.
But soon an ongoing drug problem and pressures to do better in the business took him down.
Stars (voice) Dutch Mantell , Kevin Von Erich , David Manning , Jim Cornette , David Meltzer , Ross Von Erich , Marshall Von Erich
Directed by Jason Eisener
Rated TV14
DOCUMENTARY/HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY/SERIES
"Whatever you put into something is what you get out of it."
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