9 Biggest Von Erich Family Members The Iron Claw Leaves Out (Not Just Chris)

Several members of the Von Erich family were excluded from Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, including spouses, children, and the youngest Von Erich brother. The Iron Claw tells the true story of the Von Erich brothers, a family of pro wrestlers whose lineage was thought to be “cursed” due to the immense tragedy they faced. The film focuses on the family patriarch, Fritz Von Erich (whose real name was Jack Adkisson), his wife, Doris Adkisson, and their sons Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike Von Erich.

The Iron Clawchanges the true story of the Von Erichs in a number of ways. Most notably, The Iron Claw excludes one of the Von Erich brothers, but he isn’t the only member of the Von Erich family who does not appear in The Iron Claw. Most of the other Von Erich brothers’ spouses and children are also missing from The Iron Claw.

9 Chris Von Erich

Youngest Von Erich Brother

The Iron Claw centers on Kevin Von Erich, the only surviving Von Erich brother today, and his three younger brothers. However, there were actually six Von Erich brothers in real life. Fritz’ and Doris’ eldest son, Jack Jr., died at age six prior to the events of the film. Kevin explains the story of Jack Jr.’s tragic death and his absence is acknowledged throughout The Iron Claw. He even appears in a scene toward the end of The Iron Claw in which the deceased Von Erich brothers reunite in the afterlife. However, The Iron Claw omits the youngest Von Erich brother, Chris, entirely.

Like his older brothers, Chris Von Erich wrestled professionally. However, he suffered from several health issues like asthma and brittle bones, which prevented him from succeeding as a pro wrestler. As a result, Chris struggled with depression, and in 1991, he died by suicide at the young age of 21.

Durkin explained why Chris Von Erich was excluded from The Iron Claw, noting that Chris was featured in the original script. However, in the end, Durkin removed Chris from The Iron Claw because his suicide “was one more tragedy that the film couldn’t really withstand.“ Durkin worried that The Iron Claw wouldn’t work if he also tried to capture Chris’ life on top of everything else. As a result, Chris does not exist in The Iron Claw.

8 Kristen Adkisson

Kevin Von Erich’s Daughter

In The Iron Claw, Kevin’s first two kids with his wife, Pam Adkisson, are both boys. The real-life couple do have two sons named Ross (born June 1, 1988, and named David Michael Ross after his late uncle who died four years prior), and Marshall (born November 10, 1992, and named Kevin Marshall after his father), both of whom became wrestlers, too. However, in reality, the boys were their third and fourth children. Kevin and Pam’s first child was actually a girl named Kristen Adkisson, who was born in 1981.

The Iron Claw most likely changed the order in which Kevin’s kids were born and had his two sons be born first to create a thematic parallel to Kevin and his brothers, which led to the heartwarming “we’ll be your brothers, dad” moment at the end of the movie. Had Kristen been born first in The Iron Claw, it wouldn’t have had the same effect. As the epilogue in The Iron Claw explains, all four of Kevin’s children, including Kristen, and all eleven of his grandchildren live with him and Pam on the Von Erich ranch in Texas. Kristen has at least three children: a daughter, Adeline, and twin boys, Eli and Rush (via vonerich.com).

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7 Jillian Adkisson

Kevin Von Erich’s Daughter

Like her older sister Kristen, Jillian Adkisson was also excluded from her father’s life story in The Iron Claw. Jillian is Kevin and Pam’s second child, born in 1985. Based on the epilogue, Jillian also lives on the Von Erich ranch with her parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews.

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6 Candy McLeod

David Von Erich’s First Wife

David was the first of the Von Erich brothers to pass away as an adult, which is accurately rendered in The Iron Claw. However, very little of David’s personal life is portrayed The Iron Claw, including his two marriages. While Kevin and Pam’s wedding on August 1, 1980, is a major event in the film, neither of David’s weddings occurs in The Iron Claw, even though his first happened before Kevin and Pam’s.

Just shy of 20 years old, David married Candy McLeod on June 26, 1978. A few months later, they welcomed their daughter, Natosha Zoeanna Adkisson, on October 19, 1978. Sadly, Natosha died of SIDS at just 13 weeks old on December 29, 1978. The couple separated shortly after Natosha’s death. Their divorce was made official on July 12, 1979, ten days before David’s 21st birthday.

It’s likely that Candy wasn’t featured in The Iron Claw because her marriage to David was so short-lived and colored by tragedy. Given that she was already pregnant by the time they got married, they may have had a “shotgun wedding,” and since it didn’t last, Durkin may have felt it wasn’t worth delving into. Natosha’s sudden death was likely excluded from The Iron Claw for similar reasons as Chris’s existence. Durkin may have wanted to avoid the subject altogether because the film couldn’t withstand that much heartbreak.

5 Patricia “Trisha” Matter

David Von Erich’s Second Wife

Three years after his divorce from Candy was finalized, David married his second wife, Patricia Matter, who goes by Trisha. Their wedding took place on June 8, 1982, less than two years before David’s death on February 10, 1984, at just 25 years old. The couple were still together at the time of his death, which occurred in Tokyo as a result of acute enteritis, as The Iron Claw depicts.

It’s a little bizarre that Trisha is not portrayed in The Iron Claw since she was still married to David when he died, and the film depicts his funeral and the aftermath. It seems Durkin wanted to crop out David’s personal life altogether for the sake of streamlining the narrative and Trisha was just one of the film’s storytelling casualties. Omitting Trisha’s existence meant Durkin was able to avoid working their wedding into the script and showing their relationship onscreen. Plus, if David’s marriage to Trisha was included, it would’ve been harder to avoid mentioning Candy and Natosha, which would’ve invited a whole slew of problems.

4 Catherine Murray

Kerry Von Erich’s Ex-Wife

Kerry Von Erich was also married for years prior to his death, which The Iron Claw glosses over. Kerry married Catherine Murray on June 18, 1983, when he was 23 years old. They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Hollie Brooke Adkisson, on September 19, 1984. Their second child, another daughter named Lacey Dawn Adkisson (who later adopted the Von Erich moniker) was born on July 17, 1986. Kerry and Catherine were married for almost a decade before divorcing on April 22, 1992, less than a year before Kerry died by suicide on February 18, 1993, shortly after turning 33.

Catherine is one of the most egregious omissions in The Iron Claw, considering the couple was married for almost ten years and had two children together. Durkin may have excluded her to avoid distracting the audience with subsidiary plots and keep the focus on Kerry’s role in the central Von Erich family. Still, Kerry brings a possibly fictional girlfriend home for Christmas but makes no mention of his ex-wife and kids. Given the shape Kerry was in before taking his life in The Iron Claw, it seems relevant that in real life, his marriage ended not long before that and he was leaving two kids behind.

3 Hollie Adkisson

Kerry Von Erich’s Daughter

Hollie is Kerry’s first-born child with his ex-wife, Catherine. She was born the same year that her Uncle David died, but her birth is not depicted in The Iron Claw. Like Candy and Natosha, Hollie’s mother’s omission from the story in The Iron Claw explains her omission, as well, especially since Catherine and Kerry were still married for the majority of the remaining years of his life after Hollie’s birth. Hollie and her sister couldn’t have been included in The Iron Claw without Catherine, so Durkin left them all out.

2 Lacey Von Erich

Kerry Von Erich’s Daughter

Lacey is Kerry’s second child, who was born a little over a month after Kerry Von Erich lost his leg in a motorcycle accident as seen in The Iron Claw. Kerry continues wrestling with his prosthetic foot in the movie, but neither of his young daughters are present in the film during this time, nor are they present at Christmas when Kerry visits his childhood home a few months before his death.

Lacey’s complete exclusion from The Iron Claw is only marginally more surprising than her sister Hollie’s simply because in real life, Lacey ended up following in her father’s footsteps by becoming a professional wrestler in 2007. She was best known by her ring name, Lacey Von Erich, and competedfor three years before retiring in 2010. The following year, she married her husband, Grant Blindbury, with whom she has two sons and one daughter.

1 Shani Garza

Mike Von Erich’s Wife

Mike, the youngest Von Erich brother in The Iron Claw (though not the youngest in real life), was also married at the time of his death. Mike married Shani Garza on Valentine’s Day in 1985, only a few months before he suffered an injury that would alter the trajectory of his short life. As shown in The Iron Claw, Mike developed toxic shock syndrome after getting surgery for a shoulder injury, leaving him with severe brain damage. He ended up taking his life on April 12, 1987.

Despite the overlap in the film’s timeline and her marriage to Mike, Shani is not featured in The Iron Claw. Like the other Von Erich brothers’ wives, Shani was likely excluded from The Iron Claw to make room to focus on Mike’s journey as an aspiring musician pressured into wrestling by his father, which ultimately led to his demise. Very little is known about Shani or her marriage to Mike in general, which might have also contributed to her absence in The Iron Claw.

Sources: vonerich.com