Do You Blame Fritz Von Erich For His Sons' Deaths?

[Blackjack]

He had six sons. One died in childhood, three died in their 20s and one died at 33 years old. Only one is still alive. If Ric Flair is a bad father because one of his four children died in his 20s from drugs, what kind of father does that make Fritz?

I don't think you can blame it entirely on Fritz because achieving that level of fame at such a young age as his own sons did is very hard to manage and a lot of young stars have died as a result. I do think he was in denial over their drug use though and I think he pushed them too hard, such as flying them in from football games so they could wrestle that night, even when they had knee injuries and such. He'd just say "They're tough; they're Von Erichs"!

 

[sangreporsangre]

It's the same situation as Chuvalo. I don't know if blame is the right word per se, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he wasn't an absolutely shit father when most of your kids either OD or commit suicide.

 

[sleepwalk]

It certainly would have been interesting to see how those relationships would have developed had they lived.

These "stage fathers" have their successes (Pete Maravich, Beyonce) but a lot of backfires (Todd Marinovich) and mixed bags (Jackson family.)

I grew up in a family business. Dad was the oldest of five brothers. Grandpa accomplished a lot but didn't do a very good job of integrating being boss and Dad. My father thought he was a good father but a lousy boss. For my one uncle, its far more the other way around. As his children grew, they grew away and the business became unmanageable without the system he expected to 1) work forever and 2) them to follow explicitly.

Fritz tried to make his boys into kings over making them his sons.

 

[tec87]

It's the same situation as Chuvalo. I don't know if blame is the right word per se, but you're gonna have a hard time convincing me that he wasn't an absolutely shit father when most of your kids either OD or commit suicide.

(I’m totally butchering this quote but it’s the gist of it)

Then tell your only surviving son “that he’s not real man because he’s still here and didn’t go out like his brothers”

Fritz definitely pushed his kids but he turned a blind eye to everything just like every other promoter during the 80’s.

 

[El Moose]

Losing 5 out of 6 sons I'd like to have sympathy for Fritz but he exploited the hell out of family tragedy. It seems there were many occasions when he should've been a father and was instead a wrestling promoter

 

[A Pennysworth]

If I was totally honest. Id blame the business. They came up far too quickly and far too hard. In that time drugs were so prevelant in the business that it killed a lot of people. Its a tragedy that they killed a whole family nearly.

 

[Darth Nevets]

I once brought this up here, and hate to do so again, but here we go.

The last of his sons to die was Kerry, who used a revolver Fritz gifted him to end his life. Years later Fritz loaded the same revolver and pointed it at Kevin (his only living son). He aimed and said to Kevin "if you were a man you'd join your brothers." Kevin responded that it takes him more strength not to especially as he had a family at that point.

 

[itooknarro2knee]

If I was totally honest. Id blame the business. They came up far too quickly and far too hard. In that time drugs were so prevelant in the business that it killed a lot of people. Its a tragedy that they killed a whole family nearly.

I agree with this... they were in an era where you always worked hurt... always partied hard... and always kept up the illusion no matter what.
Having their fathers high expectations and having the fans pick the favourite probably did not help either.
And as popular as they were... it was really only in texas and maybe japan... Kerry never did that well in wwf.

 

[sleepwalk]

I remember reading that Gino Hernandez was very close with the entire Von Erich family. Interesting because of his similar fate and lifestyle.

It's also odd how Mike took his life after injuries forced him out if the ring when, by all accounts, he was more interested in camera work. Kevin and David wanted to play football and basketball (respectively) and see how far they could take it. Kerry was an athlete but more into wrestling... enough that he tested his shattered foot and ankle too soon. And poor Chris wanted it the most but was the least equipped. Fritz put that much pressure on the boys.

 

[mudflap mike]

i blame drugs and alcohol

 

[Jobber]

Shit apples
Damn shame

 

[Ozymandias]

I remember reading that Gino Hernandez was very close with the entire Von Erich family. Interesting because of his similar fate and lifestyle.

It's also odd how Mike took his life after injuries forced him out if the ring when, by all accounts, he was more interested in camera work. Kevin and David wanted to play football and basketball (respectively) and see how far they could take it. Kerry was an athlete but more into wrestling... enough that he tested his shattered foot and ankle too soon. And poor Chris wanted it the most but was the least equipped. Fritz put that much pressure on the boys.

You ever see the WCCW documentary?

 

[sleepwalk]

You ever see the WCCW documentary?

The "Wrestling with the Curse" one? No, I don't think I have but I may have. I dont know if it was that one or the WWE one that I think they made. The one I saw was pretty honest about the issues the boys had and how Fritz was blind or complicit.

 

[Blackjack]

I once brought this up here, and hate to do so again, but here we go.

The last of his sons to die was Kerry, who used a revolver Fritz gifted him to end his life. Years later Fritz loaded the same revolver and pointed it at Kevin (his only living son). He aimed and said to Kevin "if you were a man you'd join your brothers." Kevin responded that it takes him more strength not to especially as he had a family at that point.

That shows that while Fritz was in denial over drug use and pushed them too hard, there were moe reasons. Otherwise Kevin would have killed himself too. It was harder for Kevin than the rest of his brothers. As he said, once I had 5 brothers; now I'm not even a brother. When the Twin Towers went down people called Kevin to ask him how to deal with grief!

Dory Funk Sr. was a promoter on on the NWA Board that chose who the champion should be. He also wanted his sons to be "kings" as someone said of Fritz. Yet both sons are alive and well, and Terry is an excellent family man with two daughters who love him. Dory Jr. is married but I don't know if he has kids. Neither son got into drugs - not even steroids. Dory Sr. sounds like he was a hell of a good dad.

 

[Blackjack]

You ever see the WCCW documentary?

I have the WWE made Triumph and Tragedy Of World Class Wrestling and "Heroes of World Class which is the best wrestling documentary I've ever seen and one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on any subject. I bought it for $20 2 years ago and now it's $50, btw. Apparently it's out of print. Are you referring to one of these?

 

[sleepwalk]

I have the WWE made Triumph and Tragedy Of World Class Wrestling and "Heroes of World Class which is the best wrestling documentary I've ever seen and one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on any subject. I bought it for $20 2 years ago and now it's $50, btw. Apparently it's out of print. Are you referring to one of these?

Probably one or both of those.
Netflix used to carry the WWE docs but then the network and then nope.
The one that stuck out the most for me was the AWA one because of how flattering it was to Verne. The WCCW one obviously could not be the same way.

 

[Ozymandias]

I have the WWE made Triumph and Tragedy Of World Class Wrestling and "Heroes of World Class which is the best wrestling documentary I've ever seen and one of the best documentaries I have ever seen on any subject. I bought it for $20 2 years ago and now it's $50, btw. Apparently it's out of print. Are you referring to one of these?

Yeah, the Triumph and Tragedy one

 

[Blackjack]

Probably one or both of those.
Netflix used to carry the WWE docs but then the network and then nope.
The one that stuck out the most for me was the AWA one because of how flattering it was to Verne. The WCCW one obviously could not be the same way.

I love those documentaries on specific territories or pomotions like the AWA one. I enjoyed that a lot. I would love to see one on the Florida NWA territory headed by Eddie Graham who was considered one of the best bookers in the business and was often referred to as the booker with the best finishes for matches in the entire industry!

I'd love to see a documentary on Georgia Championship Wrestling as well since they had so many of my favorite wrestlers and had some of the all time great feuds in pro wrestling history such as The Last Battle Of Atlanta between Tommy Rich and Buzz Sawyer. Unfortunately, since Ole Anderson was the booker and part owner, it's very doubtful that Vince would release a documentary on Ole's promotion.

Eddie Graham's promotions another story though! Eddie Graham was close friends with Vince's father and The WWWF and Florida Wrestling used to cooperate on talent exchanges. Eddie Graham allowed Vince Sr. to have Bob Backlund. Eddie Graham allowed Dusty Rhodes to go to New York for a trio of matches with then WWWF champion "Superstar" Billy Graham. In return Vince probably let Eddie have Andre The Giant more often than any other promoter and sent other WWWF talent to Florida if there was somebody Eddie Graham really wanted for a particular angle. So I see a documentary on Florida Wrestling (CWF) to be more likely than a documentary on any other NWA territory except JCP but they have released so much stuff regarding JCP indirectly, considering all the Ric Flair DVDs they've released, even if there isn't a DVD titled The Rise And Fall Of Jim Crockett Promotions that I think a JCP documentary probably isn't coming along anytime too soon.

The time is right for a CWF DVD set. They have been described by many top wrestlers as being the main influence for ECW, except Florida Wrestling had a lot more emphasis placed on hiring wrestlers with excellent amateur wrestling backgrounds (Jack Brisco for one) and having lots of chain wrestling and technical wrestling on thenundercard and mid-card, sometimes even the main event such as the Dory Funk Jr. vs Jack Brisco matches which were the most realistic, most technical World Title matches being presented by any territory of nay promotion anywhere in the world. If you've never seen Dory Funk Jr. vs. Jack Brisco, treat yourself to seeing just how gritty and realistic pro wrestling can look when the wrestlers have great talent and the goal of making their match look like a legitimate athletic contest.

 

[Prime Shane Douglas]

I watched the David Vin Erich tribute episode (not the Parade of Champions)

Fritz drug his grieving wife and VERY young son Chris on camera to do a damn angle. Chris was in tears and all Fritz kept talking about was how Kerry, Kevin and Mike were going to be champs.

It was sketchy as hell watching now knowing that all sans Kevin ended up killing themselves in less than a decade.

 

[GSPSAKU]

While it was very tragic, Fritz definitely shoulders most of the blame for his son's deaths. He brought them into the wrestling lifestyle, pushed them to be wrestlers, knew about the drug use and abuse, still allowed them to wrestle and book them at the top, and used his family's tragedies as a way to make money.