World Class Tragedy

Every time you turned a street corner in Dallas, you heard people whispering the name Von Erich, the surname of the world's most famous family.The patriarch, Fritz Von Erich, had already set in stone that the name was going to be popular before his sons were old enough to lace up their boots. Every week, The Sportatorium in Dallas would be crowded all throughout the early 1980's. Kevin, David, and Kerry were the first sons to enter the sport by becoming Dallas favorites. Just like on the AWA, Fritz owned the company and put trust in himself and his sons to be the superstars of the company. Part of the NWA, World Class Championship Wrestling would put up a challenge to the stronghold of the WWF which was gaining steam in the Northeast. Life was great when WCCW was living its heyday. The stars where happy, the fans were happy, and the Von Erichs were more popular than ever. But before they could blink, their world would come crumbling down around them. In 1984, WCCW was a huge promotion with the arrival of the feud of The Fabulous Freebirds and The Von Erich family the previous year. David, Kevin, Kerry, and Mike were all a factor in the company now, and their good name had even spread to Japan. There, David was the biggest star of them all. Considered by many the most talented of the brothers, David traveled to Tokyo in February of 1984. Recently, he had been tag-teaming with his older brother Kevin back in the states, when Kevin noticed David was ill and pale. He let Kevin wrestle nearly the whole match, and was urged by his family not to take the trip to Japan for he was still very sick and wasn't feeling well. On the night of February 10th, David and some fellow WCCW wrestlers decided to have a big meal and go drinking. Von Erich proudly took part in the activity, eating and drinking more than anyone else. Bill Irwin recalls on the Triumph and Tragedy: World Class Championship Wrestling DVD that he had twice as much as everyone else ,he suspects, because David "purged" his first sitting. Later that night, Irwin left him on the side of his bed ready to call home where he was found the next morning. David Von Erich was dead at the age of 25 of acute enteritis caused by a intestinal abrasion. WCCW hosted a memorial card in which Kerry Von Erich defeated Ric Flair in the main event for the NWA World Title. However, his reign would last only eighteen days particularly because of the lack of interest form the fans who were still mourning David's death. The reign would haunt Kerry for years. At the same time, Mike Von Erich was brought into the wrestling game to fill the void left by David's death. He was never comfortable in the ring and was always weary of competition. In August of 1985, Mike was injured and was rushed into shoulder surgery. Four days after the operation, his had a fever of 107 degrees. He had gained toxic shock syndrome from an incision on his arm. His life would be put into grave danger because of this, and his health was,of course, displayed mainstream in Dallas. Mike would win the fight for his life but would suffer from extreme weight loss and suspected brain damage. His personality changed following the sickness as well as his in-ring ability. His voice was now slurred and he was limited in the ring. Mike was suffering form deep depression that would never be uplifted. After more had derailed in his life, he committed suicide by overdose on April 12, 1087, giving the excuse of not living up to expectations of turning into "David". The Von Erich family was hit hard again as well as the wrestling business. WCCW was slowing down after the deaths of David, Mike, and fellow star Gino Hernandez who had overdosed the previous year. Next into the business came the youngest brother, Chris, who suffered form asthma. His health issues would affect him dramatically for he realized he could never be able to wrestle, his dream, because of the brittleness of his bones caused by medication. Regardless though, he would become a WCCW star after hitting Michael Hayes in the back with a chair in defense of his brother Kevin. He would debut in the ring though in 1990; however, his condition would worsen due to the breaking of bones in the ring. After finally coming to grasp with the reality of not being able to live his dream, Chris took own life on September 12, 1991 at the age of 21. Kerry had had a motorcycle accident in 1986 causing the amputation of his foot. He had decided to take his chances and leave the crippled WCCW, with encouragement form his brother Kevin, to work for the WWF as the Texas Tornado. He had began abusing several substances including anabolic steroids following the accident and the passing of his brothers. After winning and losing the Intercontinental Title in the WWF, Kerry, who was arguably the most popular Von Erich, was arrested on several charges involving drugs. On February 18, 1993, he took his own life, the third of the Von Erichs to do so. WCCW and the family it was built around was once again crushed. The company, now called the United States Wrestling Association, collapsed soon (the name of USWA would go on, but it would no longer be associated with WCCW.) Fritz would die in 1997 at the age of 68 form cancer. The brothers are survived by older brother Kevin who still feels the affects of the tragedy of his family. Several people speculate a family curse, but those closest to the family know, truly, the dynasty just fell apart. The tragedy plagued the wrestling world by basically inducing the downward spiral of World Class, though, there were other factors. What happened, today, can be thought of only as one thing, a "World Class Tragedy."