User Reviews

By far the most touching, gut wrenching episode of them all. Seeing Kevin, the last of the Von Erich brothers, talking about his family's tragedy, getting emotional about it once again, was so very moving.

This episode would have definitely benefited from being spread over 4 if not 5 episodes. Now it feels very rushed. They barely touched on the family's first tragedy, the death of the oldest brother Jack in 1959.

Much respect to Kevin Adkisson. After all the tragedies he's gone through, he's still standing and found happiness...

There's probably no other family in the world of professional wrestling that has endured more pain and sorrow than the Von Erichs of Texas. You might actually extend that dubious distinction to just about any family anywhere. Patriarch Fritz Von Erich (real name John 'Jack' Adkisson) was a big name star during the Fifties and Sixties, feared for his famous signature finishing move, 'The Iron Claw'. Five of his sons followed his footsteps into a wrestling career with varying degrees of success, or lack thereof. The only one left alive is Kevin, who at a young age, was never explained the death of his six year old brother Jackie, the first of the Von Erich children to die an unnatural death by electrocution shock and drowning.

This episode of 'Dark Side of the Ring' utilizes Kevin Von Erich as it's principal on screen chronicler of the tragedies that beset the Von Erich family. Other familiar faces for wrestling fans that appear are former referee and booker David Manning, former promoter and manager Jim Cornette, and pro wrestling writer and scholar Dave Meltzer. Kevin takes the viewer through the circumstances surrounding the death of each of his brothers, and it's a grim picture. One needs to have been a follower of the sport back in the Eighties and Nineties to really understand the devastating impact the deaths of each of the Von Erichs had on the wrestling community. For example, David Von Erich, who died in Japan from a bout of severe gastroenteritis, had a funeral that drew nearly five thousand mourners to his Texas hometown. If one concedes that his passing was due to natural causes, then his was the only one compared to the suicide deaths of his three siblings, Mike, Chris and Kerry. Kerry was probably the biggest wrestling star in the family, having captured a version of the world championship in 1983 from Ric Flair, shortly after David's death. Rather than engage in the individual tragedies of each of the Von Erich brothers, I'll leave it up to the interested viewer to watch the episode. Father Fritz Von Erich died in 1997 of brain and lung cancer.

Seeing Kevin Von Erich today is somewhat shocking for anyone who was a fan back in the day to witness his terrific physique and natural athletic ability. He's a gaunt and almost frail looking individual with a subdued and composed manner when speaking about his father and brothers. Part of that is almost certainly attributable to the use of steroids that many of the top stars used to maintain their bulk. He currently resides in Hawaii with his wife and grown sons who may have a pro wrestling career in their future, though for Kevin's sake, one would hope they exercise extreme caution and good judgment if they take up a life in the ring.

This episode of "Dark Side of the Ring" called "The Last of the Von Erichs" is one emotional and touching one really sad as it tells the tragic family story of one wrestling family dynasty. Told by the surviving brother Kevin he tells of his memories early of his brother who all past from David, Chris, and yes sadly even the most popular Kerry highlighted is the early start thru the classic Texas "World Class" years. And wrestling historians and ex managers like Jim Cornette give their takes as he compared the family to the Kennedy's yet believed a curse rained across all involved. Overall good in depth episode that looks at the legendary family who had tragedy after tragedy.

I only knew of Kerry Von Erich, the Texas Tornado when he fought in the then WWF and became the Intercontinental Champion. At that time he was talked about a potential challenger to The Ultimate Warrior.

Although the public did not know at the time that Kerry had a prosthetic foot after a motorcycle accident. His fame was short lived in the WWF and by 1993 he had committed suicide.

Kerry was one of six sons of famous Texan wrestler Fritz Von Erich who had his own successful wrestling franchise in Texas. Five of his children predeceased him and three died by suicide.

This documentary features Kevin Von Erich is the last surviving son. He too was a wrestler although at 62 years of age he looks fragile. In his own words he tells how he had five brothers and now he is not even a brother.

The Von Erich's were a famous wrestling family and famous in Texas. They had pioneered a lot of glamour and pzazz with their wrestling promotions. However their tragedy if often presented a cautionary tale on the dark side of wrestling.

I have no doubt that steroid use did not help as well as Fritz pusing some of his sons into wrestling when they were not suited to it. It was all to protect the franchise and keep it as a family business.

David Von Erich died in a Tokyo hotel from enteritis in 1984 where he went to wrestle. This meant there was pressure on the other sons to step into his shoes. Mike Von Erich suffered a shoulder injury while wrestling in Israel. After the surgery on the shoulder he suffered from Toxic shock syndrome and his organs began to fail. He made a miraculous recovery but his wrestling days were over. He committed suicide in 1987. Chris Von Erich did not even have the build of a wrestler being only 5 ft 4 inches. He committed suicide in 1991 after failing in the wrestling business.

Fritz Von Erich died of cancer in 1997, by which time his wife had divorced him, blaming him for the tragedy that befell their children.

The documentary was breezy and slight. I expected more depth and analysis although Jim Cornette was a good spiky contributor. As for Kevin, he now lives in Hawaii where he has found some peace. It was sad at times to see him struggling to speak about his family.

This story goes from Kerry winning the NWA belt to Lance(a 3 year gap) and then they never talk about Lance. More Vice garbage.