Von Erich family

The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member working in wrestling has used the ring name "Von Erich" after family patriarch Fritz Von Erich (real name Jack Adkisson). Fritz, who wrestled from 1953 to his retirement in 1982, took on the German-sounding name as part of his wrestling gimmick (i.e. in-ring persona), as he originally portrayed a Nazi heel.

Fritz and his wife Doris had six children between 1952 and 1969, all sons. Except for their firstborn Jack Jr., who died at age six, all went on to become professional wrestlers. By the time Fritz died of cancer in 1997 at age 68, five of his sons had predeceased him: Jack Jr. drowned in a freak accident in 1959, David died from enteritis in 1984 at age 25, and Mike, Chris, and Kerry all died by suicide, respectively in 1987 at age 23, 1991 at age 21, and 1993 at age 33. Kevin, Fritz's last surviving son, retired from wrestling in 1995 and remains alive today. The Von Erichs' involvement in wrestling continued into a third generation: Kerry's daughter Lacey wrestled from 2007 until 2010, and Kevin's sons Marshall and Ross have been wrestling since 2012, including as a tag team named "The Von Erichs".

The deaths of Kevin's brothers are the main basis for a widespread myth about a family curse. The term "Von Erich curse" is also used colloquially to refer to the chain of events leading to each brother's death, as well as associated tragedies (such as the death of David's two-month-old daughter of SIDS in 1978). The story of the Von Erich family has been presented as a cautionary tale about parental influence and the various dangers of the professional wrestling business.^[1] They remain one of the best-known families in professional wrestling, both for their accomplishments and their tragic personal history: Fritz and all five of his wrestler sons were collectively inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009, and he, David, Kerry and Kevin were all individually inducted into the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame between 2007 and 2016. The family was the subject of a Dark Side of the Ring episode in 2019, and the 2023 biographical film The Iron Claw, titled after the Von Erichs' signature move.