In The Iron Claw, Kevin Von Erich lets go of his attachment to his abusive father and the WCCW (World Class Championship Wrestling) by selling the company after his brothers die. Kevin decides to “break the curse” that his father’s wrestling company casts on his family and focuses on spending time with his wife and raising his two young children. After Kevin’s brother, Kerry Von Erich, takes his own life after Kevin asks their father to look after him, Kevin decides the loss has been too much and no longer has his father’s shared passion for the WCCW business.

Though The Iron Claw received excellent reviews, there are many differences between the film’s story and what happened in real life, including regarding some of The Iron Claw‘s deaths. The timelines were jumbled, as Kerry Von Erich didn’t pass away until 1993 after the company went out of business. An entire Von Erich sibling was left out of the film. The WCCW went through some major changes before eventually being sold to Jerry Jarrett, and the entire process didn’t exactly happen in the way the movie portrays it. While changing these details may have worked for The Iron Claw‘s ending the real story goes deeper.

Fritz Von Erich Was The One Who Sold The WCCW To Jerry Jarrett In 1988

A Majority Of The Company Was Sold To Jarrett And A Minority To Kevin And Kerry

In truth, the WCCW was sold by the Von Erich patriarch, Fritz, and his fellow promoter and booker, Ken Mantell, to Jerry Jarrett in 1989. A majority of 60% was sold to Jarrett, while 40% went to Kevin and Kerry Von Erich. Kerry was more accepting of the transition to new ownership, while Kevin unsuccessfully sued the new owner. Jarrett split the promotion into two locations: one in Dallas, TX, and one in Memphis, TN. He used the wrestlers at each location to feud with one another, which ended up being successful for the WCCW after years of dwindling popularity.

Jarrett did this by merging other wrestling promotions with the WCCW, growing it exponentially. Kerry Von Erich continued to wrestle for the promotion, and it ended up having decently successful feuds with bigger organizations, like the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) and eventually the WWE (WWF, at the time). Several eventual big-name wrestlers were starting to make the rounds in these multi-promotional matches, including Jeff Jarrett and “Stunning” Steve Austin, who would later be the face of WWE as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. It seemed like, at least for the time being, the WCCW was in good hands.

Why The WCCW Changed To The World Class Wrestling Association

The WCCW Became Unaffiliated With The NWA In 1986

In 1986, the NWA, which was affiliated with the WCCW, wanted to pull their highest-profile wrestler and world champion at the time from having any matches in Texas. Being that Texas was the basis of WCCW’s biggest matches, the company decided to withdraw from its affiliation with NWA. When the WCCW pulled the NWA membership, it rebranded as the WCWA (World Class Wrestling Association). The NWA rebranded its title as the “World Title,” and wiped themselves clean of former winners and champions, including Kerry Von Erich. Rick Rude, who held the title, was seen as the first NWA world champion.

From there, the newly-coined WCWA made some rule changes to help differentiate itself from the NWA, including different ways to lose the championship belt, namely by disqualification. As the WCWA began to book matches, co-owner Ken Mantell left the company to start the Universal Wrestling Foundation and began to bring talent from the WCWA with him, causing attendance and profit drops for the WCWA. According to The Ringer, the WCWA began re-using old feuds that had already been done, as well as introduced a fraudulent “Von Erich cousin,” damaging the Von Erich family wrestling reputation.

Why The WCWA Went Out Of Business In 1990

Jarrett Pulled The Promotion Out Of Texas And It Was Dropped From Television

Jerry Jarrett eventually merged promotions with the USWA (United States Wrestling Association) and their owners, the Adkissons owned 40% of the entire business. Though the company began seeing decent financial returns for a year in 1990, other promotions were starting to use their original ideas, sound and tech designs, and marketing schematics. The WCWA was no longer seen as unique, and after Jarrett and the Adkissons couldn’t agree on finances, Jarrett essentially pulled the promotion out of Dallas, where it was the most popular and made the most money.

To add to the financial detriment, KTVT, the television station that ran WCWA’s matches on Saturday Night’s Championship Sports, canceled the show, dropping WCWA’s visibility to their audience. Kevin Von Erich would eventually step in and try to keep the company afloat, and he changed the name back to WCCW, but long-time stars would start to leave the promotion in favor of NWA, WWE, and others. The financial resources dried up quickly with Von Erich at the helm, and the audience numbers dipped, leading to the WCCW’s last match in November 1990.

While the WCCW only had a short lifespan of about seven years, it’s hard to argue with its permanent influence both on bigger promotions and on the wrestling entertainment industry as a whole. The story of the Von Erich family with selling the WCCW, its transition to WCWA and back, and its eventual disbanding in 1990 didn’t happen in the exact way that was shown in The Iron Claw. Naturally, business politics, television cancelations, and rivalries between wrestling promotions do not necessarily make for a good movie story, which is why the film made changes to the true story of the family.

Source: The Ringer