Dark Side of the Ring 1x4

1. when we talk about wrestling in,

2. it's hard to imagine how popula.

3. The von erich brothers were.

4. Those guys were ready-made.

5. the von erich family could've be

6. equivalent of the kennedys.

7. It was a dynasty. It was a fami.

8. They were the all-american boys.

9. They are real-life texas heroes.

10. They didn't have to put 'em in.

11. They didn't have to give 'em a.

12. They had the look; they had the;

13. they had the athletic ability.

14. They were superheroes in the ri.

15. But then, there was constant ba.

16. The von erichs could have two l.

17. They could have the legacy of bf

18. the biggest attractions, wrestl.

19. Or they could have the legacy a.

20. Von erich is dead... Von.

21. Von erich was seriously injured-

22. he just couldn't take it anymor.

23. I loved the wrestling business,

24. but it's not that important.

25. Some people say, well, it's jus.

26. Other celebrities have been una.

27. who knew we were gonna have, yo,

28. 4 major deaths over the next 3.

29. During their brief reign, the vy

30. ascended to wrestling superstar,

31. but just as quickly suffered re.

32. In this episode, the last survir

33. reflects on his unimaginable jo.

34. you know, I wanted to get away.

35. I wanted to get out. I wanted t.

36. And they say the pacific ocean.

37. Well, here I am in the smack da.

38. No, this is it.

39. It's the, the love, and the pea,

40. and the harmony. That's—

41. you can't put a price on that,

42. I think I'm the richest man in.

43. My childhood? Well, I was an ol,

44. and so, it was a lot of fightin.

45. I could overdo that power of be.

46. So, I learned not to.

47. But, man, they adored me, and I.

48. There was this us against the w.

49. Please, don't think I'm in a ba,

50. that I've suffered.

51. I consider myself the luckiest.

52. These are some hunting pictures-

53. we always hunted with our dad,

54. these were when we were real yo.

55. This, we lived in a little, thi,

56. and this little shack; that's h,

57. out in the country, when dad wa.

58. And then, here's a shot just abt

59. is this farm, and this is where.

60. my dad always said, "whatever yo

61. something is what you get out o"

62. he was a really good wrestler,

63. There's no way I can be objecti:

64. I think he was the best of all.

65. But he was a vicious wrestler.

66. Ah, my father...

67. you know, wanted something diff.

68. If you want to be a bad guy, be.

69. And so, as far as my dad was co,

70. a nazi was about the most despi,

71. and he became— he was a nazi.

72. Fritz von erich from.

73. Here we go.

74. He could create a lot of heat js

75. the german hitting the ring thaa

76. beat up all the americans.

77. My connection with the von eric,

78. I was fritz's right-hand man.

79. Fritz was the main event.

80. He was a huge star in the 50s a,

81. all over the country.

82. If you're wondering what qualifa

83. pro wrestling expert, it's simp:

84. Almost 50 years of obsessive co,

85. hoarding, and research.

86. So, fritz had gotten the reputas

87. the toughest guy in texas.

88. As little kids, our dad being t,

89. we didn't see it that way.

90. So, watching wrestling, to us,

91. You know, when the crowd was ch,

92. we knew that was bad because wi,

93. he was the most hated villain o,

94. and so, one brother would have e

95. other brothers would cover our,

96. and you know, and wouldn't look.

97. And the other, other brother'd,

98. "dad's winning!"

99. so, we'd start watching again,

100. We were so into it.

101. fritz also developed the, the I.

102. A blast through the!

103. Applies it as only he can.

104. The claw's a hold that my dad I.

105. The crazy thing about it is, ths

106. of doing the claw,

107. you get scary, crazy good at it.

108. You just grab and you do this,

109. squeeze the guy in the temples.

110. You just... That's it.

111. My name is dave meltzer, and I'e

112. wrestling observer newsletter s,

113. so it's been pretty much my ent.

114. Fritz von erich was actually wag

115. and raise his family, and do a.

116. It was always the goal of wresto

117. buy a territory, become a promo;

118. that's where the real money was.

119. Fritz had a big office, and he',

120. and he's the promoter with worl,

121. but he was also a very strong b.

122. Almost every wrestler that beca,

123. you wanted your sons to be grean

124. be the stars of the next genera.

125. I don't know that even if he res

126. they were gonna be.

127. We got into wrestling because wd

128. to be like our dad.

129. I was born into wrestling.

130. One good thing about being brot,

131. we knew exactly what was going.

132. It was beautiful.

133. Almost should be illegal, what d

134. we had on other teams...

135. Because you know exactly what t.

136. It was a perfect storm.

137. The young von erich boys had de,

138. had gotten a couple years' expe.

139. They looked great, people knew,

140. and all of a sudden, now they'rn

141. this new-looking program.

142. They were household names: Ever.

143. All of a sudden, we're the #1 st

144. 9 o'clock in the morning on sun.

145. They said, well, let's cover th.

146. They would have the cameraman ad

147. they would have the sound guy,

148. you know, during the tapings. A,

149. like, what's he doing in the ri?

150. 'cause no other company would e.

151. We literally set the stage of w.

152. They came up with a comic book s

153. that are trying to take over thd

154. they need the von erichs becaus.

155. So that was just, we just clean,

156. you know, just the riff raff. (.

157. The girls just went nuts.

158. there's no telling what magazin.

159. They were teenage heart throbs.

160. They were teen idols - kevin, k.

161. going to the ring would be like.

162. The girls'd grab at us, you kno,

163. and of course, you gotta keep g.

164. And so, pretty soon your should,

165. you know, scratched all up and.

166. The place would just go electri.

167. I mean, your ears ring when you,

168. from that shrill scream. That w.

169. We wanted that feeling, that ino

170. stay that way until it was over.

171. Kerry was the star.

172. Kerry had the movie star looks,

173. had the physique.

174. He had great personality, just.

175. I've never seen anybody that ha.

176. David was the best performer in,

177. all around: Psychology, movemen.

178. David used to go to the ring wid

179. he was considered the yellow ro.

180. Dave was a technician.

181. There was not a hold you could.

182. Kevin, I think, was the athlete.

183. He was just insane, the things.

184. He was probably by far the best.

185. Then, mike.

186. Mike didn't have the size of th.

187. He was real close with his litt.

188. Chris, funny, funny guy. Just l.

189. The von erichs epitomized god,

190. They're heroes.

191. Completely more popular than mo,

192. and more accessible.

193. From the time the kids were you,

194. if they won an award in school,

195. it was talked about on the tele.

196. And they were in wrestling maga,

197. out hunting or fishing out in ls

198. with their famous father.

199. They grew up in the public eye.

200. They grew up on television; tha.

201. I'd like to say that it was, yo,

202. clean cut guys, but I think peo.

203. But, you can guarantee us that,

204. and we had good motives, and mas

205. something real about us, that wd

206. we did love each other and cares

207. as people and not tickets.

208. And so, to their fans,

209. they were more members of the f.

210. There is something about those,

211. every one of 'em, that everyone,

212. and I love 'em.

213. So, literally, it was almost li,

214. everyone felt like they were thd

215. they had watched these kids gro.

216. They were busy on the road 'cau,

217. it's a 365-day job.

218. In other words, these guys were,

219. sometimes 2 times a day.

220. the talks were already out there

221. one of the top prospects to be t

222. world heavyweight champion.

223. David was the worker. Everybody.

224. He would've been the guy the nw.

225. Even before dave went to japan,

226. he was sitting with my mother ad

227. I said, "dave..." I just had th.

228. I was sitting there looking at.

229. Ah, was looking more and more p.

230. I got a phone call, and was asl.

231. To this day, I can't stand a ph.

232. It just tears me up.

233. This voice says, "david manning?

234. Joe higuchi, all japan pro wres.

235. David von erich dead."

236. and here, is after my first kne.

237. After my third knee surgery, my,

238. and I had to give up football.

239. I guess dave was comic relief.

240. My parents, they knew how much,

241. they said, "dave, be careful wh.

242. He just got the worst news of h.

243. He can't play football." and da,

244. "so, I heard you're a quitter.".

245. When dave died, I never got up.

246. It hit me like no other one did.

247. I say I was the oldest brother,

248. but I was the second son.

249. Our oldest brother was jackie.

250. They lived in a trailer park be,

251. since they were always on the r,

252. they had a house trailer that te

253. from place to place.

254. You know, jack was actually comd

255. it had snowed.

256. I think he was 6 years old, ando

257. step over the tongue or go arou,

258. he touched it. Somehow it elect,

259. and he fell in the snow face-fi.

260. I was looking for him, you know,

261. a little 3-year-old kid, and...

262. Looking for him, and...

263. I knew something was bad and I,

264. watching my parents. They were.

265. And, jackie had been electrocut.

266. came in and saw my dad punch a,

267. just shattered it.

268. He came out of that different.

269. He was still an honorable man o,

270. but I think inside he wanted to.

271. He was suffering.

272. He thought, "what have I done t"

273. he was at war with the world.

274. He wanted to make everyone suff.

275. It was the first of unimaginablt

276. that one family had to go throu.

277. When it came to david von erich,

278. just you know, getting the news,

279. it was about...

280. 2 in the morning.

281. And the phone rang and I pickedd

282. this voice says, "david von eri.

283. And I said, "so, what happened?"

284. "we find in room dead."

285. it's 2:30 in the morning and

286. I'm trying to decide, how do I.

287. Back then there weren't cellpho.

288. And so, I got in my car, and —

289. it was just coming daylight, an,

290. I could see fritz in front of t.

291. And I got out of the car, and I,

292. and he opened the door to the md

293. he looked at me and he said, "w"

294. so, I think he knew, for me to,

295. it's something very, very serio.

296. I said, "fritz, they just calle.

297. David's dead."

298. my mother, she'd been told, andt

299. running off into the woods. It.

300. My dad just... Walked outside a.

301. I went a little crazy.

302. I didn't want to see anybody.

303. I had to be in the woods and I.

304. Fritz said, "you go to town, yo.

305. You find out what happened to m"

306. I managed to get a hold of brod,

307. who was also a, you know, legen,

308. popular in japan.

309. Brody said that when they opene,

310. the way he was laying, it lookee

311. he was trying to get to the pho.

312. I knew brody always to be so toa

313. strong good man, but when he wa,

314. he was like ... He.

315. He's crying inside. I never saw.

316. And he goes I said.

317. Don't think about it, frank!"

318. and he goes, "he's dead"

319. and I went, "frank!" god, it wa.

320. The next day, after dave had di,

321. you know, going to the mall in,

322. and you see like these like tee,

323. and they're all crying, and the.

324. It was a big fricking deal in t.

325. It was almost like the fans had.

326. I mean, it was emotional on 2 ce

327. japanese fans were so hung up it

328. when a big name foreign wrestle,

329. I mean, there was memorials and.

330. I remember that airplane coming.

331. No one would look us in the eye.

332. We hurt so bad. And people hurt.

333. The funeral was just insane.

334. It was like one of those old fuf

335. the silent movie stars.

336. There was a lot of wrestlers ri.

337. When they went to the funeral,

338. the tears flowed. It was, it wa.

339. And so, we estimated probably 4,

340. showed up for this service.

341. It was just beautiful, expressi.

342. The schools let out.

343. The texas legislature convened.

344. It was like... Texas got hurt t.

345. You couldn't get anybody else I.

346. They literally had to put a scr,

347. and speakers outside for the the

348. that were there.

349. I didn't know that we were that.

350. Inside the business, we heard ty

351. in his hotel room in japan;

352. that generally only means one t.

353. There's all this word out that,

354. but there's no doubt that he di.

355. One of the biggest rumors out tt

356. when brody found him, brody thr.

357. And we waited to hear that auto.

358. Fritz was adamant, "I want to k,

359. and whatever it says,

360. that's what we're gonna have to"

361. and, it came back, acute enteri.

362. His intestines, basically from,

363. swole up to the point they rupt.

364. His body filled up with blood ae

365. about 2 days or a day before he,

366. he was throwing up.

367. Fritz was very stern about,

368. you make the shows you're booke.

369. So, he left and went over there.

370. No, I'm telling you what really.

371. We're not big shots that told tn

372. to falsify those documents, you.

373. I'm a wrestler. You're not gonn.

374. No one's gonna listen to me for.

375. It was gastro enteritis, a terr.

376. and we lost him.

377. every man's gonna die...

378. But we do our best...

379. we do our best 'til that day co.

380. We had a guy named gle.

381. And he had wrote, "heaven needs"

382. and he literally put a song of,t

383. taking place in heaven and god t

384. david von erich there to be the"

385. david von erich, as a person an,

386. was a true champion.

387. He had a great gift and he knew,

388. to its fullest.

389. After david's funeral, fritz woe

390. parade of champions event in hi,

391. which at the time, attracted tho

392. watch a wrestling event in the.

393. There will be a new world's hean

394. crowned on that afternoon.

395. The brother of david von erich -

396. was going to challenge "nature r

397. for the nwa world championship d

398. the von erich family, and this,

399. "I'm gonna win it for david."

400. we were adamant. With the nwa -

401. national wrestling alliance - w.

402. I think that's where we saw fri.

403. The dream of my brother is now.

404. Leading up to that match, we kn;

405. we didn't know how big.

406. But all of a sudden, you got 42e

407. at texas stadium, and they're t.

408. That title change.

409. Your referee is david manning.

410. Here I knew I was gonna go down:

411. The title was changing that nig.

412. I was super happy for kerry.

413. I thought he'd make a great cha.

414. Here we go!

415. It was incredible.

416. It's the iron claw!

417. You can feel the pinching.

418. And when, whenever that 1, 2...

419. the whole place just went nuts.

420. And then you got kevin hitting,

421. you got fritz hitting the ring.

422. You can see doris in the backgr.

423. I'm presenting the belt, the me.

424. We had all the radio stations t.

425. The yellow rose...

426. In honor of brother david.

427. It was a great night, and not b.

428. Sweet-sweet.

429. That was probably a bigger deals

430. than it was to fritz, himself,

431. With kerry's championship win ad

432. a strong emotional bond with fa,

433. world class championship wrestl.

434. But with david gone, there was.

435. Fritz wanted to replace david be

436. we were missing a piece of the,

437. and we decided to look for anot.

438. Whenever I saw lance, he was th.

439. He was chiseled.

440. He looked like he could be a vo.

441. It was a terrible idea. It was—

442. we had never lied to our people.

443. It really hurt their image and,

444. the downward spiral of going a.

445. They knew he wasn't a real von.

446. They're lying to us.

447. Lance.

448. growing up, of course, we wante.

449. He's like real-life tarzan. You.

450. Any river he sees, he gets out.

451. He'll dive in it, didn't care w.

452. We saw that fearlessness in eve,

453. not only in the ring, but in li.

454. You know, that's what we wanted-

455. we're just grateful to god that,

456. that we can follow in the footsd

457. doors are opening in wrestling.

458. And, you know, and we get to, y,

459. pick up where the von erichs le.

460. Kevin and I talk. You know, I g.

461. He's got 2 great boys now, mars.

462. Gosh, they're so talented.

463. And when I look at them, I see.

464. Thanks, son.

465. Can you tell us the story about?

466. Yeah. Ah...

467. Kerry and I were dead set again.

468. Of all of the angles that happes

469. of world class wrestling, lance.

470. They needed another von erich.

471. Overall, it did a lot more dama,

472. than it did good.

473. And then, when they got on the d

474. tried to disown him, the fans j,

475. "well, you're the ones that bro"

476. that's where, I think, people l.

477. I have to say, kevin was dead s.

478. He felt it could get exposed ane

479. to step up and take the role.

480. People shouldn't say that mike e

481. because he sure was.

482. Mike was an incredible athlete.

483. The 4th von erich is getting re.

484. Mike got involved in wrestling d

485. to have the size as the other b,

486. and he worked out hard.

487. You know, he had the drive, he,

488. so it was hard for mike.

489. Mike was a great guy,

490. but he wasn't cut out to be a w.

491. Mike had to walk in there and b,

492. and be a main event wrestler at,

493. and he wasn't a great athlete.

494. The only thing he had going fort

495. he was called mike von erich.

496. I mean, he just didn't look lik,

497. and he's in there with like rice

498. big great wrestlers who are jusm

499. in these matches that are just.

500. The injuries did bother him, yo.

501. He was wrestling in tel aviv, a.

502. Against gino hernandez.

503. Gino pulled just when he wasn't.

504. This time it tore a lot of liga.

505. Only a year after david's death,

506. mike dislocates his shoulder ing

507. and is rushed to an israeli hos.

508. They perform emergency surgery,

509. and soon after, mike is flown b.

510. They literally took him home,

511. and all of a sudden, his temper.

512. The fever hitting, went over 10,

513. is what did the damage, I think.

514. I put him over my shoulder and s

515. with him, put him in the car an.

516. Mike von erich hospitalized for,

517. sustained a staph infection thad

518. into toxic shock syndrome.

519. It was toxic shock syndrome, wh.

520. And the doctor comes out, and h,

521. "his blood pressure has plummetd

522. his organs are starting to shut"

523. he said, "we've done everything"

524. he said, "I don't think mike's t

525. through the night."

526. and they told us, "say goodbye "

527. the hospital was getting like 2r

528. where they had to hire extra st.

529. People had been offering to done

530. their liver and their kidneys.

531. We were in the room and gary ho,

532. who was considered the chaplain,

533. was there in the room.

534. Gary holder said, "god, you sta.

535. You said anything we ask in jes,

536. 'I will do it'."

537. that's when I didn't even look.

538. I thought, that's disrespectful.

539. You went too far.

540. He took the bible and he slamme.

541. And he said, "god, there is you"

542. "so, keep your word, god."

543. and, it was less than 30 secondr

544. gary finished praying, the door.

545. Bill sutger came in the room wi,

546. and his exact words were,

547. "I'm not sure what happened, bu.

548. His temperature has dropped, so"

549. they couldn't believe it, but h.

550. And I want to thank everyone ou,

551. all my good neighbors, for your.

552. One week later, we rolled mike.

553. He might have rushed it a littl.

554. He was so anxious to get back.

555. And so, we did a big press conf.

556. I, I, I know I'll be back.

557. I can't wait 'til the cotton bo.

558. Do you have a message for your?

559. Yeah, be at cotton bowl if they,

560. my very first time.

561. I saw on tv, well, "mike's gonn-

562. and they were milking to it ando

563. get people interested in it.

564. I just didn't see how it was go.

565. And when he first came back, it,

566. "god, I don't know if he should"

567. he probably shouldn't have wres.

568. He looked really gaunt and holl.

569. I wondered if there was some br.

570. And that's when he attacked a s.

571. Attacked a parked car one time..

572. Rages, you know. Nobody in the.

573. But, they always wanted a feel-,

574. and it always worked when it wa.

575. But when it was real life and t.

576. It didn't work.

577. You gotta realize, when mike ca,

578. the, the brothers were supersta.

579. So, all of a sudden, you had bi.

580. And I think that was a lot of p.

581. And early Saturday morning, vonn

582. suspicion of drunken driving an.

583. The von erich family attorney ae

584. during his release from jail.

585. He would be the last person to.

586. Mike missed an event.

587. If you were a von erich, you di.

588. I remember that night,

589. wondering where mike was, what.

590. They had a bulletin out everywh,

591. had all the police looking.

592. And, it was, I want to say, 2 d,

593. before they found mike.

594. The news of another tragic deaty

595. has hit hard.

596. Mike had not been seen since sa,

597. was depressed about being arres.

598. As his mother and brother looke,

599. the family's worst fears were c.

600. Professional wrestler mike von,

601. the apparent victim of suicide.

602. He overdosed. So sad.

603. Everybody was just so sad. Dave.

604. you know, I didn't know this wa.

605. Maybe I got— I'm tired.

606. These are 3 big things, I guess.

607. You guys... Um...

608. Could I take another break for?

609. - Oh yeah, of course. - That wa.

610. And once again, another von erir

611. is called upon to step into the.

612. Chris von erich was the worst pg

613. because he had had health probl.

614. I'm sure he wanted to be like he

615. his brothers were his heroes.

616. Kevin was actually helping chri.

617. He had to work 10 times harder.

618. His body wasn't built like his.

619. He wanted to be a wrestler so b.

620. He just, it's not gonna happen.

621. The von erichs were believable s

622. to thousands of fans.

623. But continual misfortune chippe,

624. and they would have one last de.

625. my brothers taught me about wre,

626. but I taught them about eating.

627. Mike was really something speci.

628. - I thought you were full? - Th!

629. And we did a few tv commercials,

630. shot it all night.

631. For a joke, kerry puts all thes.

632. I didn't even notice it.

633. This is a gift from a fan, out.

634. Really old picture.

635. We loved our fans, and to this,

636. the most loyal people in the wo.

637. We wanted to be like good

638. and be good examples to kids.

639. And, you know, after dave's dea,

640. you feel like you're letting ev.

641. It's, it's really hard.

642. With this being the third death,

643. and being such a strong christi,

644. I think the first thing everyboo

645. is question, "well, if they're,

646. why is all this happening to 'e"

647. I'm not saying that the boys did

648. weren't religious. They just sos

649. didn't do things outside the ri.

650. And I don't mean they were terr.

651. They were damaging themselves m.

652. But, because they were so closes

653. not only being texas all-americ,

654. but god fearing texas all-ameri,

655. when things came out about car,

656. or... Is there drugs involved I,

657. or whatever, every move was cov.

658. The dallas times herald, the lo,

659. and you could tell when you wat,

660. you're seeing more empty seats.

661. You know, like, look - they wer,

662. and by '88, '89 they were, they.

663. After so much tragedy, and withy

664. in jeopardy, fritz's youngest s,

665. steps into the ring, attemptingp

666. where his brothers left off.

667. I think chris felt bad.

668. He wanted to try to fill the sh,

669. that it was almost impossible t.

670. The first I remember of chris w,

671. him just being like a little ce.

672. The goal was to hopefully find s

673. involved into the matches.

674. If he was gonna wrestle, I wantm

675. a really good ground game.

676. You know, all the escapes and c,

677. and to be a technician.

678. Physically, in no way, should hn

679. involved in wrestling.

680. Because of his size, I think he.

681. He had brittle bones because ofn

682. that he took.

683. It was really hard for him.

684. Wanted have the big muscles and,

685. but muscles are just looks.

686. You've got to have agility, exp,

687. all these things that just didn.

688. And then, all of a sudden, chri.

689. He couldn't work out. It was a.

690. Kevin was down there.

691. They were down at the house in,

692. and chris was just all upset an,

693. and this and that.

694. He'd loaned me his vcr, and so,

695. he called me at like 12:30 that.

696. "I want my vcr back right now."

697. I said, "chris, come on. Wait f?

698. I'll give it to you in the morn"

699. and, I hear his 4-wheeler drivee

700. a couple times and took off.

701. I knew he had a spot up on the,

702. so I drove up there, you know.

703. He was sitting there by himself,

704. "chris, what are you doing up h"

705. he said, "well, did you read my"

706. I said, "oh, what are you gonna?

707. Kill yourself or something, chr"

708. I said, "chris, don't do anythi"

709. he said, "I won't, kev. I promi"

710. I believed it, you know.

711. Went back to my parent's house.

712. And, I said, "does chris ever w"

713. dad said, "I think you better g"

714. so, I did get back up there.

715. Wish I had never left because ie

716. right after it must have happen.

717. I saw him laying there on the g.

718. choking.

719. I said, "chris, what did, what "

720. I thought he might have took so.

721. Reached, hooked his arm and putd

722. to lift him up and my thumb,

723. you know, found the hole.

724. That's when I realized that he.

725. Mm... Yeah.

726. It was tough.

727. with the last vestiges of the v,

728. kerry accepts an offer to go ma.

729. It's another chance in the spot.

730. You know what; when the crowd s,

731. kerry was getting big offers,

732. would he come up and work for v?

733. Would he make some appearances?

734. Kerry, he took a, took a good od

735. he went up there.

736. After enduring several tragedief

737. his family's wrestling promotio,

738. kerry takes the von erich legac.

739. However, no one knew he was wreg

740. with an unthinkable secret.

741. there's a school picture. What.

742. Were you guys, like,

743. Like, were you really active an?

744. Kerry and I just showed off forr

745. all day long, I think. We just,

746. we took a chance a day, it was.

747. Yeah.

748. A lucrative offer made to kerryf

749. was an opportunity to revive th.

750. However, a secret from his past.

751. Kerry was supposed to be wrestl.

752. I want to say austin, or somewh.

753. I get the phone call, kerry's b.

754. It's not life threatening, but.

755. Kerry was riding his motorcycleo

756. the back of a parked police car.

757. I remember rick hazzard, I saw,

758. and he said, "holy cow," he sai,

759. "his ankle looks like an alliga"

760. when they made the decision to,

761. I would have never, ever though.

762. I guess fritz thought, they dide

763. kerry look weak, especially aft.

764. So, they tried to hide the fact.

765. He wanted me to promise to hide,

766. and we all promised.

767. Anything we said to each other,

768. if we gave our word, that's an.

769. We weren't gonna let kerry downe

770. he was ashamed of it.

771. In kerry's mind, "I'm a fake."

772. you know, the injury done on th.

773. What about it, now?

774. Before, it was, it was almost t.

775. I almost had to have my leg amp.

776. Now my leg is back, it's coming.

777. Everyone was sworn to secrecy fr

778. about a 5-year period there.

779. He would do everything that a pn

780. with both limbs would do.

781. I think that would 'a just been.

782. And I was proud of kerry.

783. To do, to come back like that a,

784. not only just compete, but to I.

785. They could've presented it like,

786. and maybe he would've been a li,

787. maybe it'd have made him feel b.

788. But instead, it was another thi,

789. and it was another thing that wy

790. weighing on him mentally.

791. "now I'll never be as good as I.

792. I'll never make my dad proud," .

793. With his transition to wrestlin,

794. kerry found himself a small fis.

795. But with a new identity,

796. it was a chance to reboot his c.

797. Vince brings in kerry von erich,

798. the modern-day warrior.

799. You know, he's one of the bigges

800. of that period. I mean, it was,

801. he still had the physique, but m

802. at that stage of the game to a,

803. when he was physically limited..

804. He just wasn't the same.

805. And he quickly drops the von er,

806. tells him you can't do the claw.

807. His name's the texas tornado,

808. and they just call him the texa.

809. They didn't even call him kerry.

810. All he had going for him is tha.

811. The texas tornado!

812. When he was there, things were,

813. and it was not a secret things.

814. He had, you know, a series of d.

815. He was not happy at all.

816. Kerry didn't handle the fame we.

817. You've seen the, you know, he wt

818. with rock 'n' roll people and a.

819. And I was more of a family man.

820. It's probably what saved me. I.

821. Kerry was, was... Doing drugs.

822. You just knew it.

823. Once he went through the accide,

824. they immediately fill him up wi.

825. They got the pain killers in ya,

826. they got the pills they're givi.

827. That was not a good path for hi.

828. Because of the drugs, he was on,

829. and then he got arrested again.

830. And... You know,

831. he was afraid because of the prn

832. that he was gonna go to jail th.

833. I remember he went to his wife,

834. "I'll go to jail if you promise,

835. you'll take me back," and she w.

836. He talked about what chris did,

837. "can you imagine the guts it to"

838. you know, it's like, that's prey

839. when you hear people saying tha.

840. He told me he was gonna kill hi.

841. I said, "kerry, you couldn't do"

842. he said, "kev, well, what are w"

843. I said, "we'll do something,

844. but we sure as hell ain't gonna"

845. I said, "I'll tell ya what, ker,

846. let's go to alaska. Let's take s

847. and let's just get charged by a.

848. We got 6 tries.

849. I thought it'll be good for me y

850. and there's no drug dealers up,

851. so it'll be great.

852. I wish we'd 'a gone up there wi.

853. On the morning of February, the,

854. the same day kerry was schedulee

855. indicted on drug charges,

856. he took a drive out to his fath.

857. Called dad and he said, "can't "

858. well, he was pouring a driveway,

859. and I was gonna tell him kerry',

860. he's headed out to your place ae

861. 'til I get there. I called, trid

862. a couple times and could not ge.

863. Fritz was continuing pouring co.

864. Kerry came, walked up, gave him,

865. "dad, I love you. I really, rea"

866. kerry got in the jeep and took.

867. And so, dad's sitting in the hoy

868. kerry's been out in the field s.

869. He said he went and looked and.

870. The.44 he'd given dad for fath.

871. And, when he went down, there wa

872. down there and he saw the jeep.

873. With one glove laying on the se.

874. So, he knew then what was happe,

875. he had taken the glove.

876. The shooting hand.

877. Fritz said he walked back, ther.

878. And there kerry was.

879. He had...

880. he was dead.

881. Shot his self in the heart.

882. Brothers begin to pile up,

883. and he just couldn't take it an.

884. Dad found him and he said he'd h

885. a peaceful look on kerry's face.

886. Must 'a hit him just right.

887. Kevin said one thing one time,

888. He said, "I used to have 5 brot,

889. and now, I'm not even a brother"

890. over all of that, fritz and dor.

891. I thought my dad was taking it.

892. My mom was really getting hit t,

893. and she blamed him. It was bad.

894. the last 10 years of his life we

895. of what I would call health. Het

896. that he would've outlived 5 of.

897. Yeah, when he got older he had.

898. You know, he was not making sen,

899. some of the things he said. He.

900. Well, he got that gun out and hd

901. he said, "you'd kill yourself t"

902. I said, "dad, it takes guts to "

903. and he pointed the gun at me, s,

904. "you're afraid, aren't you?" an"

905. you gotta remember, there's bra.

906. And I didn't know if he was gon.

907. I said, "dad, quit pointing the"

908. I said, "quit pointing the gun "

909. and then I jumped out the door,

910. I can see he's thinking.

911. I'm not gonna let cancer decide.

912. You know what; I was glad he di.

913. I wanted him to quit suffering.

914. Yeah, I'd seen him suffer too m,

915. what a good man he was.

916. Well, he deserved better than t.

917. What a good man.

918. The immortal fritz von erich!

919. not only have I lost a brother.

920. I lost all of them.

921. And, there is talk about there g

922. a curse on the family, you know.

923. It's so ridiculous, you know, a.

924. What happened is just terrible,

925. just a terrible thing. But no c.

926. So, what happened with you afte?

927. I mean, obviously, you went thrh

928. a really difficult period, your?

929. I thought I was doing my best,

930. I was mad and...

931. And there was a time I thought,

932. that I wanted to die, you know,

933. I wanted to be dead.

934. And I knew I wasn't gonna kill,

935. but I just wanted to fight anyw,

936. and prison felt like the perfec.

937. I was gonna steal a gun 'cause w

938. how much people hate guns.

939. If I stole one; that's prison.

940. Lo and behold, I tried it in a e

941. with a bunch of good old texas.

942. I went to steal that gun, and tt

943. owned the store was looking rig.

944. I put it down my pants and

945. I stiff-legged walked out of th.

946. I stopped and looked at him lik,

947. "you got something to say?"

948. that's when he just looked at m,

949. didn't say anything for a long,

950. just looked at me.

951. And I looked right into his eye,

952. and he said, "love you, kev."

953. oh, man.

954. I said, "thank you, sir."

955. and I went out to my car, and it

956. the magnitude of what just happ.

957. And I came back in that store,

958. gave him his rifle and hugged h.

959. I said, "I love you too, sir."

960. and all those other men were in.

961. Man, it was a great day for tex.

962. Great day for von erich. I need.

963. I wanted life to get as bad as.

964. anyway, I'm so glad it's over.

965. Saved me.

966. y'all want to see this tree I w?

967. Yeah.

968. this is my desk, my office.

969. - That's your office? - Yeah.

970. My lazy boy lounger here.

971. How often are you here? Every d?

972. Ah... Try to.

973. Not as— if I can, I get here e.

974. I try... I do try to do that.

975. I wouldn't trade it for anythin.

976. A peace I've never had before.

977. the more alone you get, the mor.

978. To god. It seems like to me.

979. If I'm scuba diving at night on,

980. I love to turn my light off and.

981. I feel like...

982. You think you're far away, you,

983. you're never far.

984. God is right with you, and I ca.

985. And I just, I do love it.

986. hey, baby! Hey, you.

987. kevin's kids, I've met 'em all.

988. And they have beautiful kids no.

989. What I sought for all my life w,

990. and here I am.

991. And I thank you, lord.

992. I've never been so happy and pe.

993. There's always kids playing her.

994. It's highest and best use for t.

995. He's been through so much chaos,

996. and so, for him to end up in tht

997. peaceful environment, you know,

998. the animals and everything, he'e

999. and just so, you know, he loves.

1000. I'm lucky the way that I found e

1001. only thing that lasts is family.

1002. You see ross and you see a litt.

1003. And you see marshall and you se,

1004. and you see that big body of da.

1005. and then in both of them, you s.

1006. The von erich.

1007. And so, hey, who knows. Maybe t.

1008. Kevin officially retired on jul.

1009. Wrestling his last match

1010. alongside his two sons in israe,

1011. where the von erich family name

1012. is celebrated to this day.

1013. you know, I've seen huge crowds.

1014. I've been the guest of honor.

1015. I've been, you know, a celebrit.

1016. I've been what everybody thinks.

1017. I've had all that.

1018. And it's not satisfying because.

1019. What is satisfying is dinner wi,

1020. children laughing.

1021. Real joy, that's the truth.