All language subtitles for Biography WWE Legends s05e02 The Curse of the Von Erichs 2.eng

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[Fritz Von Erich] Each of these
boys

are gonna be World
Heavyweight Champions.

I'm dedicating
my life to it.

[Commentator] The most famous
family in the history

of professional wrestling,
the Von Erich boys.

[Commentator] Kevin, and David,
Kerry, and Mike Von Erich.

[JBL] There was two things that
were big in Texas,

football and the Von
Erichs.

[Kerry Von Erich] Today it's
Texas, tomorrow the world baby.

[Shawn Michaels] We didn't grow
up in Texas without hearing

about the Von Erichs.

[Presenter] Wherever the Von
Erichs go,

a crowd always follows.

[Kevin Von Erich] Everything was
fun, everybody was our friend.

[Michael Hayes] Everybody
thought

it was going to last forever.

It didn't work that way.

[Presenter] David Von Erich died
Friday, he was 25 years old.

[JBL] It was a shock.

Texas was in mourning.

[Fritz Von Erich] We're just
overwhelmed.

All of these people showing up
for the last appearance

David is ever going to make.

[David Manning] Kerry didn't
even have time to grieve.

[Kerry Von Erich] It's tough,
but we know it's a

responsibility that we have to
do.

[David Manning] He goes from
David's dead,

you're the main event.

[Commentator] Kerry Von Erich is
the new

World Heavyweight Champion.

[Hollie Chilton] There was an
image he had to hold up

and there's pressure to
keep that name alive.

[Kevin Von Erich] For a lot of
people, they need different

things, but for me, I need this.

Life throws a lot at you, but if
I can get out and into nature

with my family, it-it's just
the best in the world.

When I'm out here with my kids,
and then with my grandkids,

it's almost like I'm getting a
chance to be their dad again.

And in every one of my
grandkids, I see Dave.

I see Kerry.

I see Mike.

I even see Chris.

Take it with a grain of salt,
because I'm the guy

that lost family.

But to me, family is everything.

Everything.

Well, we have a lot of pictures.

You know, pictures are great.

They can be painful, too.

But my dad documented
everything.

Okay, I remember the exact
moment we did this.

There weren't any birds there,
but we were imagining it,

and we saw Dad's face,
he was looking.

So we got serious, too.

Or I did- See,
whatever he did, I did.

And look at Dave.

He's fierce.

Kerry cracked a joke, and
everyone's laughing.

I got two pictures of Dave
laughing.

Horse laughing.

[laughing]

Mike, too.

[Child] It's so cool how you
all got to wrestle together.

[Kevin Von Erich] Well, just
imagine you and Si, you know,

just playing outside,

but there's thousands of people
watching.

So that's what's going to
happen one day, it's like

playing with your brother
in front of a bunch of people.

I want to show you something.

This is a pizza commercial we
did.

And it was like all night long,
we took it to do that.

It was- Kerry kept cracking
everybody up, you know.

Kerry was always playing tricks.

[Cameraman] Okay, you all set?

[Kevin Von Erich] Oh, it was a
great day, though.

[Cameraman] Happy Mike.

[Mike Von Erich] Okay.

Okay.

[Cameraman]
Here we go.

Ready, and walk, guys.

Action.

[Mike Von Erich] My brothers
taught me about wrestling,

but I taught them about eating.

[Kevin Von Erich] So he brought
us to Pizza Inn's

all you can eat buffet.

[laughing]

[Cameraman] Okay,
gentlemen, lots of energy.

[Mike Von Erich] But I taught
them about pizza.

[Kerry Von Erich] I'm hungry
again now.

[Von Erich Brothers] For pizza
out, it's Pizza Inn.

[laughing]

[Kerry Von Erich]
What are you pointing at me for?

[Mike Von Erich]
You're ridiculous.

[Kevin Von Erich] You guys
forgot the words, man.

[Mike Von Erich] We got to keep
going, man.

[Cameraman] Listen up, listen
up.

Ready?

[Von Erich Brothers] Yeah, yeah,
yeah.

[Kevin Von Erich] I cannot say
that I was ripped off because

my brothers died too young.

[Doris Von Erich] And there's
our four babies all together.

[Kevin Von Erich] Because the
truth is,

we had a hell of a lot of fun.

A lot of fun.

We did everything.

[Commentator] The Von Erichs
have won the hearts of wrestling

fans with their style and flair.

They're the most popular
wrestling family in the world.

[Scott Murray] As a sports
anchor,

I had a chance to-to cover
the Von Erichs.

A remarkable family from Father
Fritz right down to sons Kerry,

Kevin, and Mike.

[Timmy Newsome] They were
constantly in the media.

[Doug Cosbie] So the Von Erichs
are going to be watching this.

[laughing]

[David Manning] I had a knock on
the door one night

and a policeman came and got me
and said,

"Hey, there's a big
guy at the door."

And I went and I'm looking up at
this guy.

He literally reached out, shook
hands and he said,

"My name is Karl Malone.

Trying out for the Mavericks.

Do you think I could meet the
Von Erichs?"

[laughing]

[Karl Malone] Von Erichs.

That was our splurge every six
months to go see these guys.

And I remember how nice they
were.

Every one of them.

[Fritz Von Erich] They're just
good boys.

The world just needs heroes
today, that's all.

[Kevin Von Erich] I'm just a
regular guy, you know.

The Lord has given us all this
popularity

and we're lucky to have it.

[David Shoemaker] If you're
watching the Von Erichs

like I was on cable,

there's something very authentic
about them.

They're just like the family
down the road.

[Fritz Von Erich] Come
see me and the boys

at the sporting goods store
that does have it all.

[David Shoemaker] In a sense,
the Von Erichs family just,

like, wrapped its arms around
all of Texas.

[Presenter] Kevin Von Erich
recently visited the Dallas

Society for Crippled Children.

[Scott Murray] They were making
a difference in this world

with those that needed a helping
hand.

[Presenter] The Von Erichs
donated their time, their energy

and their money so that
youngsters may learn

to walk in this world of ours.

[Cathy Murray] Being a part of
the community

was super important.

Their faith was when you tithe,
then you will receive.

And a part of their tithing was
giving of themselves.

And they did take the
responsibility of the image

that they had very seriously.

You've got to be on all the time
in front of your fans.

And so, for Kerry, the use of
drugs got a little stronger,

even more stronger.

I can't imagine what that was
like for all of them.

[Mike Von Erich] I was so young
coming in, out of high school

and getting into it and-and
everybody recognizing you,

you know, wherever you go, it's
hard.

[Kristen Nikolas] My Uncle Chris
really idolized Uncle Mike

and Uncle Kerry.

I think it was really hard for
Uncle Chris when Uncle Mike

left home to go wrestle
because he was just home

with Meme and granddad.

Being home alone, watching them
be successful.

[Commentator] Mike, Kerry and
Kevin Von Erich.

[David Shoemaker] The reach of
the Von Erichs,

and of world class more broadly,
was pretty incredible.

They were hugely popular in
Israel of all places.

[Kevin Von Erich] Well, we were
wrestling in Israel,

and we had a lot of shows there.

And Mike dislocated his
shoulder in a match.

It just popped out.

So, we flew him back to America
to have surgery.

A few days after that, his wife
Shani called me and she said,

"Kevin, Mike is acting really
funny."

Hauled ass over there.

And sure enough, his fever was
so high.

So, I just picked him up and put
him over my shoulder.

I couldn't wait in traffic, so
I'm driving in the median,

and a cop sees me, recognizes
me, pulls in front of us and we

drove down the median all the
way to that little hospital.

And we got Mike there.

I thought he was going to die.

[Scott Murray] To start things
off, uh, a little on the

downside tonight as far as
sports goes.

I got a call about 20 minutes
ago from Fritz Von Erich.

And he said a lot of people are
a little concerned about the

younger boy, Mike, who has not
been wrestling

for the last four or five weeks.

He had some shoulder surgery
done.

Apparently, he suffered some
type of toxic poisoning.

[Kevin Von Erich] Mike was in a
bad way.

The incision in the shoulder,
evidently, that got infected.

[Reporter] Doctors say the
wrestler has toxic shock

syndrome, a type of staph
infection which sends potent

toxins circulating through the
bloodstream.

It causes damage to major organs
and even death.

[Kevin Von Erich] And my mother,
been through all this,

and she's looking at,
"I may face this again.

I may lose another baby."

[David Manning] Luckily, they
got Dr. Bill Sutker,

who made the diagnosis.

He was the head infectious
disease doctor, really,

anywhere in the country.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] It's just
this par-

one particular kind of bacteria
that can be so virulent.

I practiced for 40 years.

Mike is one of the sickest
patients I saw

in my entire career.

?

[Steve Bosh] One of the Dallas
area's most celebrated

wrestlers is now fighting for
his life

at Baylor University
Medical Center.

[Reporter] The youngest Von
Erich suffered kidney failure

and temperatures in excess of
106 degrees.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] You can't
sustain a temperature

of over 105 or 106 very long.

And we would ice him down when
his fever would go up to try

and help bring the
temperature down.

He developed kidney failure

as well as other
multi-organ failure.

[Phone Operator 1] Baylor
Medical Center.

[Reporter] The Baylor Hospital
switchboard is receiving 100

calls an hour from Von Erich
fans.

[Phone Operator 1] Baylor
Medical Center.

We're having to transfer Von
Erich calls to public relations.

One moment, please.

[David Manning] During that
whole week that Mike was

in the hospital, people were
calling,

offering to donate
organs.

[Phone Operator 1] In fact,
several people have called

several times so they can donate
their organs.

[David Manning] What does he
need?

I'm here.

Take my number.

[Reporter] More than 100 fans
gathered in the parking lot

of the Sportatorium to
hear news of Mike.

[Fan 1] It's a sad situation.

[Fan 2] I look at him like I
would my own kids.

[Fan 3] I just pray that he
would pull out of this.

[Reporter] Kevin and Kerry Von
Erich say they'll wrestle Monday

night and dedicate the match to
their brother.

[Kerry Von Erich] It's a family
business out there, and, uh,

somebody had to mind the shop.

[Announcer 1] Everybody in
Chicago wishing the very best

for your brother, Michael.

[crowd cheers]

[Dr. Bill Sutker] My son said to
me, "If Mike Von Erich dies,

the whole world is
gonna hate you."

[Reporter] Doctors say they
can't predict when Von Erich

will be out of danger, but
they say that someone physically

weaker would be dead.

[David Shoemaker] Mike's whole
situation, you know, zooming

out, it's like the word curse
feels, like, wholly inadequate,

and also, it captures the
ominous unknowableness in a way

that we don't really have
another word for.

It's impossible to wrap your
head around what one family

had to go through.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] There
was quite a while where

he didn't seem to be responding,

and I was not optimistic that he
was gonna be able

to make it through the
illness.

I had gone down to tell them
there was a good chance

he wasn't going to survive.

[Fritz Von Erich] He said,
"We've done all we can do."

He said, Kevin says, "Doctor,
how long?"

He said, "Kevin, maybe 20
minutes."

[Kerry Von Erich] The doctor
gave us the bad news,

but-but we all got down with all
our good friends

and prayed that the Lord
would work through their hands.

[Cathy Murray] We said we're not
gonna say goodbye,

so we all formed a circle and
held hands, and our preacher

started these prayers.

[David Manning] Gary Holder was
there, the evangelist.

Gary Holder took that Bible, and
he said- he said,

"God, here's your word.

In it, you say, if we believe,
if we pray, you will deliver."

And then he slammed it down on
the table.

And he said, "There's your word,
deliver."

And it wasn't 30 seconds till
the door swung open.

It was just Bill Sutker, and he
came out, and he said,

"Well, I don't know what's
happened,

but his vitals
are back to normal."

[Kevin Von Erich] Last night was
really scary,

and I mean scary to the point
where it was almost hopeless.

Folks, let me tell you, a
miracle took place last night,

just-just that we have Mike with
us today.

[Reporter 1] Well, professional
wrestler Mike Von Erich remains

in critical but stable condition

at Baylor University
Medical Center.

[Reporter 2] The best sign of
all is that Von Erich's

temperature has fallen from a
high of 107 to normal.

We'll update you on his
condition again tomorrow.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] Things started
to plateau,

and then eventually
started to improve.

?

[Fritz Von Erich] He's still
very, very sick.

There's no question about that.

But that boy is gonna be fine,

thanks be to the
Almighty himself.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] I think he was
in the hospital about a month.

I think the fact that he was a
professional athlete and that

his body was in such good shape
was the reason

that he was able to survive.

[Mike Von Erich] The main thing
that I'm looking forward

to is-is getting back
in the ring again.

Whenever I get home, you know, I
have to start slow.

But whenever they say it's okay
to start working out, well,

I'm gonna be in
there working hard.

Bye.

[David Manning] You go from
deathbed to literally six weeks,

seven weeks, whatever it was
before we brought him out

for the Cotton Bowl.

[Announcer] I'm pleased to
present to you a living miracle.

Welcome to the Cotton Bowl, Mike
Von Erich.

[crowd cheers]

[Dr. Bill Sutker] They
brought him out in a car

for all the fans to cheer.

The crowd was just crazy.

[Mike Von Erich] I'd like to
thank everybody here

for being here today.

I would like to thank all the
doctors and nurses

for helping me.

And I'd like to thank all of you
for your prayers

and your support.

Thank you for coming and thank
you very much.

It's great to be back.

[David Shoemaker] When Mike Von
Erich got sick,

they were down a
Von Erich, right?

So, Fritz brought in a fake Von
Erich, Lance Von Erich,

who was billed as a cousin of
the Von Erich family.

[Announcer] Lance, welcome to
World Class.

Great to have you with us.

[Lance Von Erich] Thank you.

It's great to be here.

I feel right at home here.

[Kevin Von Erich] My dad figured
that he needed extra help.

Man, I hated that idea.

He's the- he's the closest you
can get to a brother, and hey,

we need a brother right now,

[laughing]

and, uh, I'm sure he's gonna
surprise a lot of people.

[David Shoemaker] World Class
was doing everything

it could to compete.

They were still very successful,
but in the background,

the script is totally flipped
for World Class, right?

It's like they were so recently,
like, the biggest promotion in

the country, but now WWE had
this national TV deal with NBC.

They had the rock and roll
connection on MTV,

a Saturday morning cartoon.

They were finding whole new
plateaus of success.

Fritz did what he thought was
best to sort of band-aid

the whole thing together.

[David Manning] Life was still
good.

We were still drawing, and then
the phone rang,

and I picked it up.

It was Fritz, and he said,
"Kerry's been in an accident."

And I'm like, "How bad?"

He said, "His leg looks like an
alligator chewed on it."

[ambulance siren]

[Brian Adias] You know, before
I even say anything,

everybody back then,
you drank,

and you smoked weed and
stuff like that.

A lot of times, even if you did
get pulled over,

unless-unless you were
doing something really bad,

the Von Erichs were so popular,
the cops would let them go.

That day, Kerry was out at Lake
Dallas.

He had a boat.

I guess he had been drinking.

And he had on flip-flops and a
tank top and shorts,

and he's on his motorcycle.

[motorcycle engine]

[crash]

[Brian Adias]
He ran into a cop car

that was sitting at a red light,
hit it from behind,

going like 50 miles an hour, and
went over the top of it.

[Cathy Murray] I was pregnant
with Lacey.

When I got the call, I knew.

I was like, "Our world is
crumbling."

He's really, really getting bad.

[Doctor] The fractured ankle is
fairly serious.

Uh, it's an open wound to the
ankle, and, uh,

that's the reason for, uh,
necessitating surgery tonight.

[Brian Adias] I actually saw him
in the emergency room.

The yellow paint from the paint
on the stripes was right here on

top of his foot, where his foot
had grinded out and had some

yellow paint on his bone.

Lucky it didn't kill him.

[sighs]

[Kevin Von Erich] That was a
miracle,

no doubt about it.

That was his only injuries.

He had no other injuries at all.

[Doctor] His foot was in really
pretty pathetic shape

when he came in, and we were all
worried that he really had

a very good chance of
losing his foot.

However, with a surgical team,
they have saved Kerry's foot.

[Kerry Von Erich] Thank you for
all your support.

Thank you for your prayers.

A lot of big things have
happened

since I've come
into the hospital.

One of the greatest things,
again, thanks to Dr. Sutker,

Mike, my brother, we'll be back
July 4th.

[crowd cheers]

[Announcer] Ladies and
gentlemen,

a living miracle,
Mike Von Erich.

[David Shoemaker] There's a lot
of Greek mythology built

into pro wrestling.

It's the tragedy and the triumph
and overcoming the odds.

I think that's the real power of
the Von Erich story.

It's not just the tragic part,

their ability to triumph
over it at times.

[Announcer] Mike Von Erich with
a triumphant return to the ring.

[David Manning] There was a big
push for him to get back in the

ring, and the people were like,
"Come on, Mike, you can do it."

[Kevin Von Erich] When the fans
really love you, you love them

too, you know, and you feel a
responsibility.

You feel like you owe it to them
to be what they expect you

to be, you know, and he's just
doing what he's got to do.

[David Manning] Fritz's opinion
was, when he's ready,

he'll know he's ready.

But he wasn't pushed to come
back.

Mike wanted to get back.

[Brian Adias] Mike was never the
same after he came back

from the toxic shock.

He had a look in his eyes where

he was just like he was way out
in la-la land.

[Mike Von Erich] I'll tell you
what, Brian Adias,

I want you to know,

I want a country whippin' match
with you- with you.

Country witch- whippin' match
is what it's called.

[David Manning] I don't think he
was ever ready.

I give Kevin credit.

Gosh, he stepped up.

[Announcer] Kevin Von Erich.

[crowd cheers]

[Announcer] Listen
to the fans cheer.

[Kevin Von Erich] It's a family
business.

It wasn't fun, it was work.

And it was hard work.

We were still trying to run
three towns a day,

but the people were not
showing up to watch Mike.

Kerry's in bed, he's got his
foot cut off,

so I've got to try to keep it
going, and it was just,

"God, I'd do anything
for a little bit of relief."

[Kristen Nikolas] You're
pressured to be on

all of the time.

An image that they all want to
uphold, to make each other

proud, and to not let each other
down, that is pressure.

[crowd chants "Go, Kevin, go"]

[Kristen Nikolas] We
want you to be

somebody that we can idolize.

[Announcer] And the crowd picks
it up for Kevin.

[Kevin Von Erich] Those were
really tough days.

Some real hard days.

I was working two or three times
a day.

If one of us were hurt,

people would want
their money back.

[crowd cheers]

[David Manning] 2,000, 3,000,
5,000, 10,000,

20,000, however many people,
they bought a ticket,

they're expecting to
see a Von Erich.

And they wanna see you, whether
you're grieving

[laughing]

or hurt a lot with Kerry.

[Kerry Von Erich] I've been out
now for four or five months,

and I miss the people, and I
miss wrestling more than

anything I've ever missed
in my whole life.

[Cathy Murray] Kerry felt a big
responsibility in that

he took care of his fans.

[Kerry Von Erich] I had, you
know, doubts.

It was a bad wreck.

Thank the Lord I'm still alive.

[Cathy Murray] It was really
hard,

all those m- all those months
that he was down.

I had to keep a smile through
all of it and tell him,

it'll be all right.

[Reporter] Even though Kerry's
ankle was crippled,

almost to the point
of amputation,

he refused to believe that he
was through.

For Kerry Von Erich, he could
either give up or go to the gym.

[Cathy Murray] He worked really
hard, and he had that work ethic

just to make sure that he
maintained the proper image.

[Kerry Von Erich] Life deals you
lemons, you make lemonade.

You keep on training, a-and you
never give up.

[Bill Colville] Supposedly, if
he had followed up on the

therapy and rehabilitation,
it would have come back,

and he would have been fine.

But he wanted to get back, he
wanted to get in front of the

fans, he wanted to get back to
being Kerry Von Erich.

[David Manning] He came back,
but the leg wasn't ready.

[Bill Colville] He went too
early and it cost him.

[David Manning] The big
thing I remember about Kerry's

motorcycle wreck was, he was
working hard in the gym.

He wanted to come back, but he
just wasn't ready.

'Cause he came back, and the leg
wasn't getting

good blood circulation.

And so we had these steps at the
Sportatorium

where you could go up and
watch the matches.

He was coming down those steps,
and it broke.

It was crazy.

[Brian Adias] They had tried to
save his foot.

They did several operations, but
it just wouldn't take.

It was damaged so badly that
they couldn't get

the blood supply to it.

[Cathy Murray] It just wasn't
healing like they hoped.

They decided they needed to
amputate the foot,

whi-whi-which was really
hard on Kerry, emotionally.

?

[Dr. Bill Sutker] But he didn't
want anybody to know about it,

and he was fitted with
a prosthesis

he could wear under his boot.

And so, for years, uh, nobody
actually knew

that he didn't have a foot.

[Cathy Murray] Why hide it?

The image, the Von Erich image.

[Cathy Murray] No, it was his
dad's decision.

But Kerry did agree to that.

To me, it would have been better
to let the family talk about

that, instead of just trying to
keep it a secret, like,

"No, he's still strong.

No, but look how strong he is in
his disability."

Like, people could have learned
from that, I think.

[Bruce Prichard] Why'd you hide
it, Fritz?

Why didn't you just come out and
say, "Yeah, he lost his foot"?

He didn't, because he didn't
wanna lose his company,

because Kerry was
his biggest star.

He needed Kerry whole.

People aren't gonna come out and
see a one-legged guy wrestle.

[David Manning] You know what
the worst thing

about the leg was?

Through all the pain and stuff,
guess what?

They're giving him drip, so
they're feeding him

the addiction he has.

[Cathy Murray] I had now two
very young babies,

and a husband who needed
rehabilitation,

and he was in a
lot of pain.

And then the pain meds led to
other horrible drugs,

like cocaine.

I asked Mr. Adkisson for help
with him, and we did a family

intervention, and he went to
kind of a rehab.

But then I got a phone call from
Mr. Adkisson about three

or four days into it,
and it's like,

"The press is gonna get
a hold of this.

I'm gonna have to take him out."

And my world crashed.

[Kristen Nikolas] Granddad,
he loved his boys so much

that he almost enabled them.

Granddad bailed Uncle Kerry out
of jail multiple times, and if

anybody came to granddad and
said, "I'm really worried about

Kerry," or, "I'm really worried
about Mike," granddad's response

was like, "He's okay, I talked
to him, he's okay."

He loved them so much that he
didn't want them to suffer,

and if that meant going to
rehab or going to jail,

he wouldn't let that happen.

He wouldn't have let any of his
sons suffer.

[Cathy Murray] I'm sure it was a
struggle for Mr. Adkisson in so

many ways, running a company

as well as taking care
of your boys.

[David Shoemaker] The World
Class is just doing

all they can to tread water.

And at the same time, the WWE is
staging WrestleMania III,

breaking the attendance record
that Fritz

and World Class had
previously held.

And Fritz is trying to sort of
balance these two things,

the business and his family.

[Bruce Prichard] It became
whisperings of the domineering

influence that Fritz had.

[Cathy Murray] All the boys
looked up to their dad,

but to Mike, he felt like he was
gonna be a failure by not

becoming a really
great Von Erich.

[Announcer] I tell you, I
watched Mike last week.

His timing's been a little bit
off.

You know, you can just see the
determination in Mike's eyes.

?

[Cathy Murray] I saw a lot of
depression

in him because of
that.

[Kevin Von Erich] Mike was in a
bad way.

He was going through these
things of, uh, rage.

He got out of his car and
attacked this traffic light.

?

[Kevin Von Erich] And when you
told him about it,

he was so embarrassed.

He hated that.

He was not that way.

The brain is so complicated
and how it dealt with heat.

[Mike Von Erich] Where's, uh,
Mom at?

[Fritz Von Erich] She's in the
house.

Where else?

[Mike Von Erich] In here?

[Fritz Von Erich] Yeah.

[Mike Von Erich] I guess not in
this car.

[laughing]

[Dr. Bill Sutker] He had gone
through so much to get

where he was and was making
improvements as time went on.

I-I don't know i-if he ever
realized how sick he really was,

even though all of us told him
that.

I don't know that he saw the
light at the end of the tunnel.

[Brian Adias] He was doing some
of the pharmaceutical stuff and

had a deal where he wrecked
several cars in a row.

?

[Brian Adias] And Fritz had
actually told him, he said,

"Look, it's bad on our business.

It's bad on our name.

Don't come back to me with this
anymore."

He said, "You're a grown man."

[Kevin Von Erich] We had decided
to start a company

called Von Erich
Bright Incorporated.

We were gonna have sponsors on
world tours.

Things were looking really good.

But that was when Mike got
caught with that joint.

And in Mike's mind, he has just
ruined my whole deal.

He thought that he just- He
loved me so much,

but he thought he'd
really let me down.

He felt so bad he, uh,

shamed us.

[Reporter 1] Dozens of
searchers had been scouring

Lake Lewisville by ground and
air since Wednesday night.

[Reporter 2] After finding Von
Erich's abandoned car yesterday

in the same park, a family
attorney had reported

the wrestler missing on Monday,
two days after Von Erich's

arrest on drunk driving
and drug charges.

Inside the car, investigators
found

an unsigned handwritten note.

It said, "Mom and Dad, I'm in a
better place.

I'll be watching."

?

[Brian Adias] I remember all
that just like

it was
yesterday.

They found him over on the other
side of the lake at, um,

what's called Pilot Knoll Park.

He just wrote a note, took a
bunch of Placidyls,

and zipped himself up
in a sleeping bag.

[Reporter 2] Von Erich's mother,
Doris Adkisson, was at the park

this morning when her
23-year-old son was found.

Older brothers, Kevin and Kerry,
arrived a short time later.

[Kevin Von Erich] It's really
tough, and so-

We're gonna be fine.

Our family's- our family's had
tough times before,

and we're gonna be all right.

Man, he was such a-a good guy,
but, I mean, he just-

[sighs]

I-I guess drugs, I didn't know
Mike was really into drugs,

but I-I guess he was.

So, it had to be that, because
he had such good sense.

He was too smart to kill
himself.

It was just that's not Mike.

[Fritz Von Erich] The medication
was my prescription, by the way,

and-and, uh, he just took too
much of it at one time,

and apparently, it
was deliberate.

But just so no one
misunderstands about that,

Mike was sick.

He had never recovered from the
toxic shock.

[Dr. Bill Sutker] It was
just a big shock to me.

I was devastated.

You know, again, after an
illness like this,

I don't know that he fully
recovered,

you know,
psychologically.

[Fritz Von Erich] Mike loved
people.

He was so considerate, loving,
polite.

He was for real.

He was- I just can't believe
he's gone.

[Kevin Von Erich] My dad, he was
strong, and he kept the family

together, even though my mother-

my mother started to
fall apart by then.

She loved so deep and so hard

that it took something
out of her.

It crushed her.

[Jillian Caneda] Meme and
granddad were going

through a lot.

They both had their ways of
dealing with the grief,

my Meme and my granddad,

and she really wanted to stay in
control.

[Cathy Murray] Mike and I had
been together since third grade,

and, uh, you know, I loved him
like a brother.

Another devastating moment for
Kerry, where you just see it

getting deeper and deeper and
darker for him.

But Kerry pushed through
anything that was difficult.

Keeping up with the image that
was so important

to the Von Erichs.

[Kerry Von Erich] Because we
have Jesus Christ,

it makes us strong, and it makes
us able to withstand things

that people who aren't

Christians can normally, uh,
not take.

They don't know where to turn.

We know where to turn, and we
know it's in the Lord's plan

for these things to happen, and,
uh, the Von Erichs are strong.

[Kristen Nikolas] Uncle Mike was
very generous.

After Uncle Mike died, multiple
people reached out and said,

"I'm so sorry for your loss, but
by the way,

Mike had been paying my rent."

Like, "Do you think you guys can
still help with that?"

[laughing]

He loved people.

[Gary Holder] Good guys hurt
worse.

And Mike was disappointed with
himself.

[Cathy Murray] There was a bond
between Chris and Mike

that was just undeniable.

And with Mike taking his life, I
saw Chris just going downhill.

?

[Reporter] Those who followed
Von Erich in the ring

say his death at age 23 is a
shock, but it's said his death

reminds fans that even heroes
are human.

[Kristen Nikolas] Right after
Uncle Mike passed away,

just literally two months
after he passed away,

we had our own traumatic event.

[laughing]

[Kristen Nikolas] Let's go.

Come on, Jules, come on.

Right after Uncle Mike passed
away, I was six.

My sister was two.

And my dad was coming back from
a show.

We said, "Can we go say hi to
daddy?"

And we ran outside.

My dad pulled into the garage.

I was holding Jill's' hand, and
I remember her pulling her hand

right out of mine and
walking behind the car.

She wanted to get to the
driver's door

and see my dad first.

And in the instant that she got
behind the car,

my dad backed up just two
or three feet.

[Kevin Von Erich] As I backed
out,

Jill had come around
behind the car.

And that Lincoln Continental
went right up

on her little liver.

[sighs]

And Kristen said, "Daddy, you've
run over Jill."

And I put it into gear and
pushed the gas

and spun out on her.

[sighs]

[Kristen Nikolas] And he said,
"Oh, Jesus, oh, Jesus."

And he pulled forward, picked
her up,

and there was this tire
track on her nightgown

that I just, like, burned
into my memory.

Like, literally a black tire
mark across her nightgown.

And I remember him trying to
stand her on the counter,

saying, "You're okay, baby,
you're okay, you're okay."

[Kevin Von Erich] She looked
gray, that gray look Dave had.

And I-I, like, apologized to
Pam.

I said, "She's okay, she's gonna
live, she's okay."

And Pam said- she put her hand
on me and said,

"She's gonna be all right."

And I said, "No, she's not."

[sighs]

Jill's' liver was ruptured,
but the-the lining

that holds it intact was the
only thing holding it intact.

[Kristen Nikolas] There was no
long-term damage other than

that, which is just
unbelievable.

And I genuinely believe that was
prayer, you know,

in that instant.

'Cause it was just my mom
praying her whole heart out.

And my dad just-

his prayers
are just so real.

[Jillian Caneda] I do remember
bits and pieces of that.

I remember the hospital visits.

My dad just not eating at all,
never leaving my side.

And I just can't imagine him
going through that after

everything that he's been
through.

[David Shoemaker] It's hard to
look at him now.

Like, how much can one man
handle?

You can only imagine how that
sort of could wreck

a person, right?

How that could, like, change the
way that somebody

thinks about life.

[Kevin Von Erich] I lost 35
pounds that month.

It was hard for me, but I was so
grateful that, you know,

my kids were healthy, that
I was, um, I said,

"God, thank you for all this.

I hate the devil.

Uh, let me fight him.

All that grief, all that stress,
groaning and being miserable.

Let me fight the devil.

I wanna fight him."

And I said, "I hate you, devil.

I wanna fight you."

Inside, I thought that I
shouldn't have said that,

you know.

And then I thought, "Well,
what's gonna happen?"

The very next day, I was washing
my dog down at the lake.

I smelled blood and gunpowder.

I felt weird inside.

I felt like I was being watched.

And I saw movement up on the
shoreline.

I saw these black things coming
toward me.

And Pam didn't see them.

And I said, "Get in the car, get
in the car."

And so, I bent down and got into
a crouching position,

and I was ready to fight.

And the next thing I know I'm
waking up from a seizure.

And there's blood

all over my feet where I've been
kicking and fighting.

It's terrible.

And I know that I went way too
far.

I'm a man.

But these demons, Satan is so
much smarter than we are.

Can trick us, can make fools of
us.

So, my relationship with God is
just one of intense,

super gratitude.

[David Shoemaker] The Von Erich
story is really

just a sort of
mythological tragedy.

It's not just the tragic part, I
guess, but also their ability

to triumph over it.

Kevin's daughter probably should
have died

when she was really young.

Mike probably should have died
when he was diagnosed

with toxic shock.

Then Kerry probably should have
died when he got into the wreck.

You know, was God testing them
in those moments?

Maybe those are actually moments
of good fortune, that they,

like, didn't die in those
moments after all this family

had been through, that they got
lucky in a weird way.

Kerry had this catastrophic
injury, and somehow tightened up

his boots and got back into the
ring.

[Fritz Von Erich] This is
Thursday night,

September the 10th, 1987.

Just like the old Kerry.

[Female Speaker] Wonderful.

[Fritz Von Erich] It really is,
son.

[Female Speaker] Great.

That was great.

[Fritz Von Erich] Kerry, I wish
you wouldn't get too

carried away this
first time, son.

[Fritz Von Erich] No, son.

Come on.

Don't overdo this thing, now.

[Kerry Von Erich] It's nothing
different.

[Fritz Von Erich] It's a miracle
already.

Don't expect a bigger miracle
than you already got.

[Kerry Von Erich] Folks,
I feel great.

It's been a long time, a year
and a half.

You know, my dad and I were just
talking, uh,

way back about a year ago.

He told me not to go in that
ring.

Well, I guess we all go through
times when we don't listen to

mommy and daddy.

And I didn't listen to my dad
that night,

and I went to the ring,
and sure, it set us back.

[Fritz Von Erich] It set him way
back.

It really did, folks.

Now he's listening.

[Kerry Von Erich] And I'll tell
you, folks, I've been,

I guess, pushing my dad
harder than anyone.

I think this time even my dad
feels that I'm ready.

[Announcer] The greatest
comeback in athletic history.

For tonight, we have the return

of "The Modern Day Warrior"
Kerry Von Erich.

[crowd cheers]

[Brian Adias] His first night
back was Thanksgiving in 1987,

and he and I wrestled
at Reunion Arena.

And it was packed.

People were ready to see him
again.

[Announcer] Fans have come from
all over this great nation

to witness this historic event.

Kerry Von Erich looking as good
as new.

Kerry Von Erich with the win.

[Michael Hayes] He came back and
started wrestling.

I don't know how he did that.

I wrestled with him.

You couldn't tell that he didn't
have half a foot.

We did the same old [bleep]
we did, and it worked.

[Announcer] Kerry Von Erich
wants to use that Iron Claw.

[Kerry Von Erich] I'd rather die
than let you folks down.

[crowd cheers]

[Michael Hayes] I think deep
down,

Fritz would have loved
to have all his boys

in a power position.

Taking over was always the plan.

But it already had.

David's gone, Mike's gone.

The glory days, they were over
by that time.

Fritz was weaning off of it.

[Fritz Von Erich] When I lost
Mike in, uh, '87,

that was my third son to lose.

Um, something died with Mike
that year,

and I went out of wrestling.

Uh, not that I blame wrestling
for it, but, uh,

I just wanted loose.

And by the end of '87, I was
out.

Sold everything I had.

[Cathy Murray] It was super
devastating to Kerry when his

dad sold it, and they didn't get
to have a part of that because

they helped build the dynasty.

[Hulk Hogan] It's just so hard
to believe that a family with so

much control of their destiny
and of this company that had

greatness right at the
apex would go

the opposite way completely.

[Kevin Von Erich] I hated to see
what we'd built all just passed

over and passed up and sold.

But, I mean, God bless our fans.

They'd suffered so much, but the
Von Erichs were kind of,

"Gotten to be a sad story."

?

[Kevin Von Erich] We're
entertainers, you know?

We don't wanna bum you out.

And so, it was the end.

World Class was over, as we knew
it.

[Kristen Nikolas] This is-

[Jillian Caneda]
Quality family time.

[Kristen Nikolas] Yeah, just
family time.

It's like the- that makes the
best memory for the kids,

and we used to do this
when we were little with-

[Jillian Caneda] Yeah.

[Kristen Nikolas] -Meme and
granddad and all of our uncles

and cousins, and it's a great
memory.

??

[Fritz Von Erich] We're now
getting pictures

from a Von Erich roller rink.

I'm gonna stay on you 'cause
you're gonna take

the biggest bump, I think.

[Kevin Von Erich]
I don't- not anymore.

[Kristen Nikolas] It was just a
really happy family,

and it was just such a fun
way to grow up.

When I was small, wrestling had
really taken off,

and my dad was having
a lot of success,

my uncles were having
a lot of success.

We built a beautiful home,

and we just had a really
comfortable life.

Some trees that Kevin planted,
he planted this pine tree,

peach tree, and that's a swing
that Kevin built for Kristen,

look how neat.

We had sort of idyllic, you
know, upper-class childhood.

[screams]

But then, as his brothers
started to pass away,

World Class wasn't as
successful.

[Kevin Von Erich] With the
deaths, World Class was,

you know, going down fast.

I think the fans got tired of
being sad.

Our attendance really started
dropping off big.

[Kristen Nikolas] Wrestling sort
of lost favor with its audience.

It became really apparent in our
home life.

Our water had been cut off
'cause we couldn't pay the bill.

There was a Christmas that we
were on the angel tree,

my siblings and I, so people had
to, you know,

pick our names off of
a tree and buy-

I-I think I got a coat, and a
set of jacks,

and a bike from
Meme and granddad.

Meme.

[laughing]

[Kristen Nikolas] At that point,

we had our house foreclosed on.

And Uncle Kerry lived two doors
down,

and their house was being
foreclosed on as well.

And we had to move back to my
grandparents' property,

and were living in their little
guest house trailer

on the property.

When we moved there, Uncle Chris
had to move out.

He had to move back into my
grandparents' house,

which was also on the property.

So, I feel like that was really
humbling for him, and, um,

he was kind of upset
deeply about that.

?

[Jillian Caneda] But
when we were all together,

you'd never think that he wasn't
happy.

My Uncle Chris was like
a big kid, you know,

'cause he was so young.

He was always working out with
daddy.

They worked out a lot together
in the barn,

and he wanted to be
just like my dad.

He wanted to be a wrestler just
like Daddy.

I just remember him being really
protective of us kids.

Hello, Grandad.

[Fritz Von Erich] Hello, Hollie.

[Lacey Von Erich] Our family is
very close,

and we look after each other,
and we take care of each other.

[Kerry Von Erich] Wave Lacey.

Wave to the camera.

[Fritz Von Erich] Look at me.

[Jillian Caneda] Around that
time, my brother Ross was born.

[Fritz Von Erich] Here's the dad
responsible for all of it.

[laughing]

[Jillian Caneda] We
were struggling,

so I can't imagine having
another child

whenever you're going through
something like that.

[crowd cheers]

[Kristen Nikolas] My dad's still
signing

autographs for people.

People still know who he is.

People still recognize him.

But fame doesn't put food on the
table.

[laughing]

[crowd chants "Go, Kevin, go"]

[Announcer] Big splash by Kevin.

One, two, and the kick out.

[Kevin Von Erich] I could go
other places,

but I'd had injuries, too.

I'd had a lot of injuries, and I
was waking up

so sore in the morning.

Uh, I couldn't get
in the ring and just keep going.

I'm groaning all the time.

And I'm not gonna do that with
the pain pills,

so I had to quit.

I kind of scrambled, you know,
to just make it all happen.

I sold real estate.

I also sold insurance and, um, a
lot of prayer.

Dear Lord, thank you for all of
us being together and help us

to be a little bit more worthy.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

[All] Amen.

[Kevin Von Erich] There's a lot
of worry out there, you know.

A lot of times, I've looked down
and seen my woman asleep

and my children asleep in
my bed,

and you look at her little
face and think,

"She has all the faith in the
world

that I'm gonna pull this
out.

She knows I'm gonna do it.

She knows I'm gonna save them,
even though I don't know how

the heck I'm going to do that.

[Jillian Caneda] We went through
hard times,

but maybe I'm ob-oblivious, but
I only remember good things.

I mean, my dad was just, uh,
very consistent, so if we were

going through anything like
that, I never experienced it.

[Jillian Caneda] Dinner on the
table every night, go to school

the next day, we had everything
we needed.

We never went without.

We were always taken care of.

[Kevin Von Erich] That's the
motive right there.

They love you.

They need you.

And so you keep
making it happen.

Don't give up.

It kept me going.

[Kristen Nikolas] That was
really hard on my dad.

I can't imagine the pressure
that they felt as dads

with kids, my dad and
Uncle Kerry especially.

[Male Speaker] What are you
doing?

[Female Speaker] Lacey, come
here.

[Hollie Chilton] It was hard,
and he did want

the best for our family.

?

[Hollie Chilton] He always took
time

for Lacey and I, like,
to play with us.

[laughing]

[Kerry Von Erich] Ah, hey.

Look at you putting dirt on me.

[Hollie Chilton] He loved being
outside.

He loved riding horses.

He loved photography.

[Kerry Von Erich] Well, I guess
my weakness

is this camera right here.

I take pictures of everything.

Everything they did, I was kind
of like a-a camera buff.

[Hollie Chilton] He could have
done so many other things,

but he was so great wrestling.

[Commentator] Kerry knows this
crowd is behind him.

[Hollie Chilton] It was a lot of
fun seeing daddy.

We were at the matches a ton.

Get to play in the ring.

I mean, a little girl should not
have been up that late,

but that was my special
time with my dad.

[TV Presenter 1] And who is this
gorgeous young lady

you got with you?

[Kerry Von Erich] Well, this is
my little girl, Hollie,

but you know, I-I have such high
expectations.

[Hollie Chilton] I think he
loved wrestling.

I just think it got to a point
with all of the other things,

with losing your brothers, that
it became less of something he

probably loved and more of like
a job, maybe.

[Cathy Murray] And that's
basically, I believe, when Kerry

started to make the transition
over to, uh, WWE, which was

really hard for him because, you
know, he wanted to be

with the family, but it
was more money.

[Vince McMahon]
Right now,

here he comes
in his debut,

his very first appearance in
the World Wrestling -.

They call him "The Texas
Tornado" Kerry Von Erich.

[Hulk Hogan] When he came
to the WWE, the name,

along with the look, the
girls loved him.

I mean, he had a great fan
following.

The kids loved him, you know,
and he had that little spin

and the punch.

[Commentator] Oh, no.

Well, here it comes right now.

Spinning.

Lands with a big, hard right to
the side of the head.

[Hulk Hogan] And he was a
good worker in the ring.

His potential was unlimited.

You know, if he could have
walked the straight and narrow,

I think he would have been a
great champion for the WWE.

[Cathy Murray] He was great for
a few months, but again,

something just grabs him that
took him back down another

rabbit hole.

[Fritz Von Erich] There's a
totem pole.

Come on out, Chris, do a little,
maybe a little rain dance.

We sure need some rain.

[Chris Von Erich] I'll come out
and flex for you.

That'll be good.

[laughing]

[Chris Von Erich]
My place, church.

[Fritz Von Erich] This is
Chris's hill.

And he and Mike built most of
this stuff up here.

[Jillian Caneda] My uncle Chris
had a hill.

It was such a special place to
him.

He was up there all the time.

That was his space.

It was a very sacred place to
him.

You know, he was so loving, and
he did love nature.

He always had a pet.

[Fritz Von Erich] A little baby
rabbit's been born

inside the teepee.

[Chris Von Erich] Yeah, opened
their eyes about, uh,

two days ago.

Just opened their eyes.

Here they are down in here.

One little male.

[Fritz Von Erich] Oh, you know
whether they're girls or boys

yet already, huh?

[Chris Von Erich] Yes sir,
they're two males.

[Jillian Caneda] He was secluded
a lot.

He seemed sad.

[Kristen Nikolas] He was just
kind of disappointed

in life in general.

I always had a sympathy for
Uncle Chris because

he just was obviously not
like my other uncles,

and he definitely felt it, but
he was determined to be

as much like his big brothers
as possible.

[Kerry Von Erich] Flex.

Show your muscles
to the camera.

There you go.

[Kerry Von Erich] See,
someday you'll be happy

that you did that.

[laughing]

[Chris Von Erich] I'm already
happy I did that.

[Kerry Von Erich] Happy.

[laughing]

[Chris Von Erich] I'm happy
every time I do it.

[laughing]

[Cathy Murray] Chris was very
sick with asthma.

And unfortunately, what
prednisone did to Chris

was stunted his growth,
and so in that,

he was never going to be
the size of his brothers.

There were times when his dad
would explain that to him.

You know, "Son, you're just not
built the way you need to be

built to be in the ring, but,
you know,

if you wanna try, you can try."

[Kevin Von Erich] He worked
hard.

He worked as hard as Kerry did,
but Kerry got the results,

and Chris didn't.

And I'll tell you, too, as being
his big brother,

it was hard for me 'cause I'm
telling him all this time,

"Chris, if you put your
whole heart into it,

you'll get as big as Kerry."

But it just didn't seem like it
was a fair game to Chris.

[Fritz Von Erich] Are you going
to pose for me?

[Kevin Von Erich] He'd been
taking this medicine

since he was 12 years old.

[Kristen Nikolas] But it really
changed whenever

he had to take the higher dose
of prednisone.

It changed his moods, and he
definitely became more withdrawn

and more self-focused.

[Jillian Caneda] The younger
brother wanted to wrestle

and I think he was fixated.

That was everything to him.

[Chris Von Erich] The best
gimmick I have is my brothers

being who they are.

I mean, I'm just-just following
behind.

I'll just have this- I'll
probably get a little bit of

what Kev has in him, a little
bit of what Kerry has in him,

a little bit of what Mike has in
him, a little bit of what Dave

has in him, just mix it all
together, and see what we got.

[Michael Hayes] I think he tried
really hard to be a wrestler.

[Commentator] Chris Von Erich
into the ring.

He grabs Percy and nails him.

[Chris Von Erich] Listen, my
brother gave you a shot,

he gave you the world,
he gave you the Texas title,

gave you a shot at
the world title,

and I might add, you were beaten
in record-

[Commentator] Hey.

Hey, Matt, please.

Wait a minute.

[Michael Hayes] His body wasn't
made for it.

His bones were brittle and
they'd break easily.

You know, this is not made for
people with brittle bones.

[David Manning] Chris worked so
hard, then he breaks his arm,

and it's almost like start over.

He couldn't deal with it.

[Kristen Nikolas] You could
really see a difference in,

you know, his zeal
for life after that.

I mean, even as, uh, a
10-year-old,

I was so hyper aware of
depression, and of just-

I didn't want the grown-ups
around me to ever get too sad.

I just felt like, "If they-"
you know, "If they get really

sad, they're gonna commit
suicide."

It-it was just constantly on my
mind.

It felt like such a realistic
possibility,

especially with Uncle Chris,

because I-I knew how he felt
like he had been

treated by the world.

[Fritz Von Erich] The doctor
told him he just might never be

able to go back into wrestling,
and it just destroyed Chris.

[TV Presenter 2] Chris
went into the woods behind

his family ranch, and
just like his brother,

Mike, he took his life.

[Kevin Von Erich] Went up there,
and he had just done it,

it had just happened, and
so when I get there,

he's laying on the ground
like this, and he's going,

[gasps]

so I thought,

"Maybe he's choking on some
pills or something."

So, I put- I put my arm around
his arm and this hand under his

head to lean him up, sit up with
me,

and my thumb went in the spot,

and that hot blood told me
right off it was-

I told mom he shot himself.

?

[David Shoemaker] I think to
myself like,

"Why does this keep
happening to this family?

Was it the pressure of the
wrestling business,

the pressure of family, the
pressure of the fans?

Was it just, like, uh, an issue
of mental health struggles, or

was it just as simple as
sometimes bad things happen to

otherwise good people?"

[Kevin Von Erich] That hit her
so hard

that my mother kind of changed.

She loved so deep and so hard
that it took something

out of her it crushed her.

Her priorities changed.

[Kristen Nikolas] I walked over
to my grandparents' house,

and Meme was outside leaning
against the column,

and she just put her arm
out, and she said,

"I'm gonna divorce
your-your granddad.

I'm going to go find happiness
for myself."

You know, "I'm sick of all this
grief and trauma,

and I'm gonna go be happy."

[Fritz Von Erich] Hey, Kevin.

Get your shot here.

[Kevin Von Erich] My mom
flat-out blamed him.

I mean, right out, "You did it,
you know, with your, you know,

pressure on football,
pressure-"

[Fritz Von Erich] Each of these
big boys are,

and this little one,

are gonna be world
Heavyweight Champions.

[Kevin Von Erich] My dad never
pushed us into anything,

really, like that, but my
mother blamed him and, uh,

blamed him for
not being home.

He's always on the road,

but my dad knew that she
was not herself,

and dad would just take it.

He just let her say anything.

And, uh, I was so- Uh, it
shouldn't have been like that,

but she hated him.

All she could think is getting
us back.

All she could think is, "This
world hates me, and I hate it."

It was just like, uh, so
unbecoming

of what she really was.

And I've never told a soul this
story.

In the Bible, it says, honor our
father and mother.

So, I sure don't like telling
that, but, uh,

I want you to know that my dad
was a good man,

and don't blame him
for this stuff.

My mom was weak.

God bless her.

[Vince McMahon] From one of the
greatest wrestling families

in the history of wrestling,
Kerry Von Erich.

[Shawn Michaels] He looked like
he was cut out of granite

and looked like he
was a superhero.

[Undertaker] He was the
quintessential athlete

for that era in WWE.

[Gorilla Monsoon] Tremendous
physique.

Tremendous agility.

Tremendous ability.

[Brian Adias] He was making more
money up there

than he had ever made.

And his popularity, I mean, they
used him real well.

He was the Intercontinental
Champion.

[Roddy Piper] Oh, wow.

What a punch.

[Vince McMahon] One, two, three.

[Roddy Piper] He got it.

[bell rings]

[Roddy Piper] We
have a new champion.

[crowd cheers]

[Hollie Chilton] I loved seeing
Daddy on TV.

I loved it.

When I got to go with him, it
was thrilling.

We had so much fun together,
like on the airplanes.

He always had a Walkman.

Daddy loved music.

And, like, we'd share it, listen
to songs together.

There was a song called Skyline
Pigeon by Elton John.

And it was about this caged
bird.

And, um-

Oh, gosh, sorry.

I shouldn't have mentioned that
one.

Sorry.

I shouldn't have talked about
it.

Sorry.

There's this bird that just
longs to be free.

So, to me, I feel like daddy may
have felt caged at that time to

his- maybe his career, um, or
maybe to his addiction.

Maybe he just, you know, wanted
to be free of this thing

that held him captive.

And then to also be separated
from your kids and your wife,

being on the road, doing your
job.

These are my most prized
possession.

My notes and my postcards from
my dad.

There's lots of little bits of
advice in here.

Like, this one says, "Hey, Holl,
I know things are tough

sometimes, but sometimes life
ain't easy.

And for things in
life to be easy,

something's
got to be hard.

But one thing's for sure, your
mom and dad will always

love you more than anything.

[laughing]

Remember, I'll be
home soon.

This showbiz stuff is for the
birds.

[laughing]

And I feel like one
cheep cheep.

I sure do miss you.

I'm still fighting-fighting to
get home to you."

[Hollie Chilton] He had to be on
the road.

You have to provide.

There's an image he had to hold
up,

and then there's pressure
to keep that name alive.

Daddy was kind of alone at WWE.

[Kevin Von Erich] Grief works
when you're alone,

but when you're all together,

it's easy to be happy and
jovial.

And Kerry was all about fun and
loving each other

and cracking you up.

All he wanted to do was make you
laugh.

But I know that it hurt so bad
when he'd step on his bad leg.

He said it was like a flash of
light.

[JBL] Kerry was in a lot of
pain.

I mean, a lot of pain.

And he would go out there and
wrestle for however long you

wanted him to.

I mean, you talk about an
athlete.

I mean, he's a peg-legged guy
out there.

[crowd cheers]

[Gorilla Monsoon] Look out.

The Whirling Dervish Spinning
Tornado.

It's all over.

Made it look easy.

[Shawn Michaels] He
continued to go out there

and perform the
way that he did.

It's nothing short of amazing.

[JBL] That was crazy
what he was doing,

but Kerry was in a lot of pain.

[Cathy Murray] He was hurt, not
only physically,

but emotionally as well.

[Bruce Prichard] Kerry was very
particular in hiding it

and protecting it.

Kerry dressed separately from
everybody else.

And if you didn't know, you
didn't know.

Vince wanted to see it.

And in seeing it, in seeing how
well he moved and everything

that he did, it was like,
"My God, you're a miracle.

Let's tell this story."

And Kerry, I believe, was
originally on board with that.

And his father did not want that
to happen.

Kerry succumbed to his father's
wishes and kept it a secret.

[Hulk Hogan] We went to Japan a
lot together.

We were coming back from Japan.

We decided to stop in Hawaii for
a couple of days.

He wanted to go diving with me.

So, we go with the company, and
we went out and rented all

the gear we needed.

We get ready to go in.

He had his jeans on.

You can't go diving with a pair
of jeans on and, you know,

your boots on.

You need flippers to move
around.

And, you know, "I-I just don't
wanna take my jeans off.

I'm embarrassed."

[Brian Adias] Having that great
of a body to be imperfect from

his mind, not having that foot,
not being a whole person again,

or, I mean, it can weigh on you
mentally, you know.

[Cathy Murray] He saw it as a
sign of weakness.

And so I think to avoid the
scariness of all of that,

he would take some pills

to try and help him feel
better through it.

[Michael Hayes] You talk
yourself into so much stuff when

you're making excuses of why
you're getting high

and why you're getting drunk.

And they all work.

"I have to take this or I can't
perform.

If I can't perform, I don't get
paid.

If I don't get paid, we don't
pay our bills.

We don't have a house.

We don't have a car.

How's the kids gonna get this or
that?"

[Lacey Von Erich] Unfortunately,
I do remember times

where he wasn't exactly sober.

Like, my mom, we were late to
pick her up from

the hairdressers, so we drove on
the sidewalk all the way there

'cause there was traffic, so
he'd just go on the sidewalk.

Things like that that were very
dangerous, let us drive in his

lap on a highway going over 100
miles an hour.

I remember when I was an adult,
just looking back like,

"Oh, yeah, you weren't sober.

Got it."

[Hollie Chilton] Daddy was
visiting a friend that

was a wrestler, and the police
came and raided his car,

and then took him to jail, and
then put me and Lacey in a-

in a different police car.

That was pretty terrible.

At one point, he was digging in
his arms, looking for spiders,

and be like, "Baby girl, do you
see it moving?"

And, of course, I'd play into it
and be like,

"Yeah, daddy, I see
it," you know?

Um, yeah.

[Cathy Murray] As a mom, when
she comes home and tells me

that, I'm like, "You were where?

In a hotel room with your daddy,
and he thought he had spiders?"

They were so young, they didn't
know that that's really not a

good place for your children to
be.

Kerry threatened me with things
like, um, I'm gonna plant drugs

on you and make you look
like an unfit mom

if you try to divorce me."

And so there was that fear of,
I'm gonna look like

the bad guy and be the bad mom
'cause he's a Von Erich.

So even the police would side
with him if there

was a domestic dispute.

It's actually the first time
I've ever spoken about my

relationship with Kerry on
camera, so it's very hard.

I did try to get him back into
rehab again.

I had talking to Kevin, and we
did another intervention,

but it just wasn't going to
happen again

in our time
together.

I had to leave the marriage, and
not because I didn't love him.

It was hard for me to leave the
marriage

because of my faith as well.

Of all the things I could
handle,

adultery was not one of them.

And that was super hard on me.

Um, and I know he loved me.

I know he did.

He just wanted to have both
lives.

When he was working as Texas
Tornado with WWE,

I know they wanted him to go to
Betty Ford, and he did.

He went.

I could see the struggle with
Kerry really trying to come out

of what he's already done
to himself and to come back

to Kerry Adkisson, but it
was just so far gone.

[Bruce Prichard] People
wanted to help Kerry.

Everybody liked him so much.

He was one of the most lovable,
just, God, man,

the-the soul of Kerry Von Erich
was just pure.

So, you-you wanted to help him,
and it just became a problem,

and that was ultimately what led
to his demise

was the substance abuse.

So, WWE let Kerry go.

[Kevin Von Erich] When I talk
about Kerry's life,

he was 32 years old, and 30 of
those years he was a great guy,

just drugs did that to him.

I thought if I could get him
away from the drugs,

we'd go up to the north-west
territory, up near Alaska,

figured there are no drug
dealers out there,

and we're gonna go bear hunting,

you know, and, uh, we
didn't ever make it.

As a matter of fact, Kerry had
a-another arrest

and was gonna go to
prison this time.

[Brian Adias] He was already on
felony probation when

that happened, when he got
busted for the cocaine there.

I think it started going through
his head, he's like,

"Man, I'm gonna go to
prison, and I'm gonna have my-

have half my foot and
everything."

[Cathy Murray] He asked me to go
to lunch with him.

He looked so broken when I saw
him, and I could tell he had

been on a binge because he just
had that look, you know,

and he asked me to put our
family back together that day.

We were already divorced.

Ultimately, I reminded him of
everything that we had been

through, and his reaction was,

"Today, I will walk with-

today I will walk with
my brothers in heaven."

I'd heard him say little things
like that before,

and I reminded him of our
girls, and I said,

"You know, they need you."

And the last thing he said to me
was,

"They're gonna be better
off without me."

And I got up and went back to
work,

and within an hour I got a
call from Mr. Adkisson

that he had done it, that he had
taken his life.

?

[crying]

[News Reporter] News of Kerry's
death seemed

more than family members could
take.

Those close to him knew he had
been despondent.

[Fritz Von Erich] He'd had some
real problems, which is no

secret, and they just piled up
to the point

where he couldn't take it
anymore.

And he came out here about, uh,
1:30 this afternoon,

and he said, "Dad, I'd like to
take the Jeep, and, um,

I'll just go back to a quiet
spot for a while,"

and I should have
realized then that-

what he had in mind.

[Kevin Von Erich] He shot
himself in the heart

with that 44 Magnum, in
the heart, um.

[Cathy Murray] It's just in the
family dynamic,

it's almost like, if
one commits suicide,

it's almost like giving
permission for the next one,

and the next one,

it's was just almost like I
don't wanna say

a need, but, like, well,

my brother did it, so-so can I,
or so should I, I don't know.

It was just- it was really
hard.

[Bruce Prichard] You see all the
tragicness around their lives,

and your heart hurts, and people
started pointing fingers.

Only those who know will ever
know, but when you add it all up

and you look at it as a whole,
you start to think,

could they have done
something different?

[Jillian Caneda] It's just a lot
of heartache,

and my mom was really close to
my Uncle Kerry too,

it was like her best friend.

[Kevin Von Erich] Everybody
loved him.

And he was so good inside, but
that weak mind, drugs.

[Jillian Caneda] Around that
time, my brother, Marshall,

was born, that was the
hardest time

that I saw in our lives was, um,
when my Uncle Kerry died.

[Hollie Chilton] He had a deep,
a deep love.

I'm gonna say it's selfless, and
it- and it was, and-and I s-

I have to- I'm telling you this
right now because I know when

I say daddy had a selfless love
for us, then you think,

"Well, then why did he
kill himself

and take himself away from you?"

But I- that was the drugs, and
the mental health disease,

but I always knew his heart, and
that he loved us deeply.

Looks like you guys were
having so much fun.

I'll never find another
one like her.

[Lacey Von Erich] Aw, see.

[Hollie Chilton]
That was so cute.

[Lacey Von Erich He loved
you so much.

[Lacey Von Erich]
Look how pretty y'all are.

You'd be like, "Let me stare off
into the distance for this one."

[Hollie Chilton] They're both
so, like, photogenic.

I know.

[Lacey Von Erich]
What a pretty couple.

[Hollie Chilton]
I like this one.

Ain't we sweet?

[Hollie Chilton] How do you feel
looking back on this?

[Cathy Murray] I-I feel good
about it.

This was- this was the sweet
daddy time,

look how sweet he is.

[Lacey Von Erich] Aw, I know.

I remember those hands and how
gentle they were.

[Cathy Murray] Yeah.

[Lacey Von Erich] I was in
denial for so long.

It was really a hard thing to
deal with when you're so little,

and you love your dad so much.

I couldn't hear his name, I
couldn't smell his cologne, um,

but then I became the pro
wrestler when I got older.

[laughing]

[Cathy Murray] She was six when
her daddy passed,

and she really wanted to
understand his world.

And no better way to understand
the world than to get in it,

and she didn't stay
with it long.

[Lacey Von Erich] I got the
healing and closure

that I needed, but at the time,

I went to Uncle Kevin and
Aunt Pam's house for that.

My cousins, Kristen, and Ross,
and Marshall,

and Jill were our best friends,
and they were the only ones

that understood the life
that we lived.

[Jillian Caneda] We were like
sisters, and I just remember

beautiful memories together with
my cousins.

And we had really good memories
with my granddad, um, and then,

you know, his health started to
decline.

[Kristen Nikolas] They told him
that he had really aggressive

lung cancer and that it spread
and become brain cancer,

and he had a very short
time to live.

[screams]

[laughing]

[screams]

[laughing]

[Hollie Chilton] Wee.

[Lacey Von Erich] Ready?

Okay.

[screams]

[Hollie Chilton] Ah, there's the
tree.

[laughing]

[Cathy Murray] Be careful.

[screams]

[Lacey Von Erich] I saved you.

[Hollie Chilton] This is
our childhood to a tee.

I was just thinking
about some of my favorite

memories of daddy, and,
actually,

whenever I went to buy this lake
house and I walked out here,

like the sound of
it and the smell of it

reminded me of like being at
Meme and granddad's.

[Lacey Von Erich] Oh.

[Cathy Murray] Mm-hmm.

[Hollie Chilton] Like all those
great memories with our cousins.

[Fritz Von Erich] Well, that's
great.

[Lacey Von Erich] I have a lot
of good memories with granddad.

[Fritz Von Erich] Look at me.

[shrieks]

[Hollie Chilton] I'm a witch.

[Lacey Von Erich] I think that
having us was like having

his kids back, and I think
it was his happy place

if the grandkids were around.

[Fritz Von Erich] Lacey, look
at your granddaddy.

[Jillian Caneda] He was like
my best friend.

I mean, I could not spend enough
time with him.

[Fritz Von Erich] Alright,
look up everybody.

[Speaker] Okay, hold on.

[Jillian Caneda] We had really
good memories

with my granddad.

[Fritz Von Erich] Oh, my
goodness.

[Jillian Caneda] And then, you
know,

his health started to decline.

[Kristen Nikolas] When I was 17,
granddad started

kind of losing his words.

He would go out on the tractor
for hours and just dig holes for

no reason, and when he went to
the doctor,

they told him that he had really
aggressive lung cancer

that had spread and
become brain cancer,

and he had a very short time to
live.

[Jillian Caneda] When my
granddad passed,

that was hard for all of us,
because that was just-

that was the last really,
really hard hit.

[Kevin Von Erich] I loved him so
much, I really did,

but I gotta tell you,
when he died,

that day he died, I was glad.

I was glad it was over, his
suffering.

Go to Jesus where the reward is.

I just know the horns are
honking and people are cheering

when he got into heaven,
because I'm telling you,

he was a good man,
he really was.

[Jillian Caneda] After my
granddad died, though, uh,

my-my dad, he was okay,
you know, he had grieved,

but he had Ross and Marshall.

[Kevin Von Erich] There's
nothing like being a dad

to two sons, especially
these boys of mine.

[Jillian Caneda] They wanted to
play football, and so for my

dad, it was like, "Oh, good, I
got my brothers back."

[Kevin Von Erich] It's just
like, uh,

my life recycled
itself, you know.

Now I've got all I had,

and anything I did with these
boys is just-

whether we were
fishing or hunting,

it's just great.

[Jillian Caneda] And we were all
a big reason for my dad to keep

going, but being in Texas was
really hard,

and he did it as
long as he could.

[Kevin Von Erich] It was
everywhere I went,

everything I saw, even
the fields

and the church bells and school
bells

reminded me of my
brothers, you know,

uh, everything.

And, you know, I loved it, but
Texas had gotten to be quite

a bit of a tight spot.

[Kristen Nikolas] It was a
constant, constant reminder

of what he didn't have
anymore, and Meme too.

Meme was still alive at the time
and just so sad inside.

We decided to move to Hawaii.

We all felt like she just
deserved this beautiful,

peaceful place to live out her
days.

[Kevin Von Erich] For the time,
it was perfect for me.

[Jillian Caneda] He always
talked about moving to Hawaii.

He's always loved the ocean, and
it was like slow-paced,

so that was, like, a
perfect place for him.

[Kristen Nikolas] It was a fresh
start in a lot of ways.

We got to start over without
that cloud of pity that people

sort of look at you with.

[Kevin Von Erich] We were there
20 years,

and we came back to Texas just
because from-

what I needed from
Hawaii, I got.

This is kind of the end of the
dream, you know.

I-I wanted a rock house by a
river,

and I figured I could have that.

I earned that, and now here is
where I need to be, in Texas,

in my Guadalupe River.

I could not be happier.

Boom.

Anybody ready for a good skip?

[Speaker] Yeah.

[Colt] Hey, granddad.

[Kevin Von Erich] Yeah.

[Colt] Watch this.

[laughing]

[Kevin Von Erich] Here you go,
Colt.

[Colt] Oh, my gosh.

I want to do the skip.

[Kevin Von Erich] Hold
your arms straight out

like this where you go, "Mm."

Okay?

Straight arm.

Attaboy.

Look, you did it.

Ready, you guys?

Let's launch.

One, two, three, go.

[Kevin Von Erich] Watch this
one, y'all.

Mom, watch this rock.

[Kerry Von Erich] Oh, wow.

?

[Kevin Von Erich] A lot of
people feel sorry for me.

I'd like them to know how happy
I am.

Oh.

Good one.

I like that one.

Oh.

Especially after watching that
movie.

[Kevin Von Erich's
character] Ever since I was a

child, people said my family was
cursed.

Bad things kept happening.

[Kristen Nikolas] It was a big
surprise

when the movie came out.

[Hollie Chilton] If you say it's
based on a true story about the

Von Erichs, then people are
gonna think that's the story,

and that's where I had
a problem with it,

because my dad's character, and
granddad, my goodness,

were just not the people I knew.

[Fritz Von Erich's character]
You gotta take it and get up.

[Kristen Nikolas] It was a
really well-done movie.

I think it was a beautiful
movie.

Well, that doesn't mean that it
was accurate.

And my dad had a good point.

He just said, "Maybe someone
will see this movie and become

curious and look us up, and
they'll see that really

what got me through is my faith.

[Kevin Von Erich] Thanks for
your prayers,

because I think they
did hold me up.

I know a lot of my fans prayed,
and I thank all of you for it,

because here I am, and I know I
wouldn't have been here

without His hand.

So thank you.

[Kevin Von Erich] Oh, okay.

Well, it's like I wanna be, um,
open when I talk.

But, uh, it's been a long time,
and I think down inside

some parts of my story,

I've built little walls
around, you know.

I kind of feel safe like this
and that.

I don't know.

Probably a survival instinct.

I don't know.

I'm not so tough, though, I'll
tell you that.

If there was a weak way,
I'd have probably taken it.

I just didn't find it.

[laughing]

So, but here I am,
and I did struggle,

and I suffered.

But I'm not the only one.

We've all been like that.

But I'll say this, though.

Life is good, and I don't want
anyone to feel sorry for me,

because I'm as happy as I could
be.

It's just a great life, you
know.

[David Von Erich] There's
something magical when Kevin

and I are in that ring together.

[Undertaker] It was a family of
superheroes.

[Commentator] The roof is being
blown off the Sportatorium

by this crowd.

[JBL] I grew up idolizing those
guys.

I got to become friends with
those guys.

These are some of the best guys

I've ever been around
with in my life.

[Kevin Von Erich] Everybody
who's behind us,

it's not just our win, it's
all of our win.

[Michael Hayes] They just always
liked to have fun.

[Kerry Von Erich] And this stuff
right here,

I think I got it down.

[Cathy Murray] The boys had a
really close bond together,

and it was infectious.

[Fritz Von Erich] Kerry, blow
your good daddy a kiss?

[laughing]

[Fritz Von Erich] Starting all
over, the one thing

I'd like to do is raise those
kids again.

Most fun I've ever had in my
life.

[Kristen Nikolas] My granddad
was so joyful in those moments,

and to see my dad get to have
that now is so fulfilling.

[Kristen Nikolas] Now we
have this ranch here,

and Hollie brings her kids, and
Lacey brings her kids,

and Jill brings her kids,
and all the-

everybody can play, and they
can have a similar childhood

experience to what
we had with each other.

[Lacey Von Erich] I just love my
family,

and I think that we're all
still a very strong unit.

I think whenever
tragedy hits a family,

the people that are
still in the family get closer.

[Jillian Caneda] He's surrounded
by love.

And instead of it making him
bitter for what he went through,

it made him gentle and
compassionate,

and he values family more than
anybody I've ever met,

because he's had it
and he's lost it.

And then to have it all again,
all of his grandkids, um,

is such a blessing.

[Kevin Von Erich] The only thing
that lasts is love

your family
and Almighty God.

I'm just so grateful.

?

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