The Iron Claw: How Many Von Erich Brothers There Were In Real Life

Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Iron Claw and mentions suicide and depression.

A24’s The Iron Claw is loosely based on the real-life events of one of wrestling’s most prolific yet tragic families: the Von Erich family. While the film depicts the trials and tribulations of parents Fritz and Doris Von Erich — as well as their sons Kevin, Kerry, David, and Michael — there are other members of the Von Erich family who received little to no screen time. Set between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, The Iron Claw follows the second-oldest Von Erich, Kevin, as he struggles to keep his family and himself afloat through the Von Erichs’ struggles to become the greatest wrestling family of all time.

While liberties are taken with the Von Erich story, the filmmakers strike a balance when it comes to the facts and inaccuracies in The Iron Claw by highlighting the most important elements of the true story while downplaying or omitting superfluous information for the sake of a consistent narrative and average runtime. However, among one of The Iron Claw‘s more questionable decisions is its handling of the Von Erich brothers, as the film only depicts Kevin, Kerry, David, and Michael to any significant extent. Despite The Iron Claw‘s depiction, the real Fritz Von Erich had more than four sons.

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2 Fritz Von Erich Had Six Sons In Real Life

The Iron Claw Only Focuses On Four Of Them

The Iron Claw focuses on Fritz Von Erich’s more famous sons: Kevin, Kerry, David, and Michael. However, Fritz Von Erich actually had a total of six sons in real life, the additional two being Jack Jr., the eldest, and Chris, the youngest. During a scene where Kevin tells his future wife, Pam, about his family, he mentions that Jack Jr. passed away when he was a boy in a tragic family accident. He further explains that he believes the death was the result of the Von Erich family curse, a curse they supposedly inherited after Fritz changed the family’s last name from Adkisson to Von Erich.

The Iron Claw does depict Jack Jr., but it is only briefly during the climax, when he, Kerry, David, and Michael reunite in the afterlife. However, the sixth and youngest member of the Von Erich family, Chris, is missing from the film entirely. Based on the real-life account of Chris’ life, he grew to be 5’5,” and weighed no more than 175 pounds. His small stature and inability to establish himself as a major wrestler, combined with Mike’s suicide, contributed to Chris’ severe depression. He committed suicide in 1991. Writer-director Sean Durkin felt The Iron Claw needed to omit Chris’ story to better serve the already-long narrative.

1 Are Any Von Erich Family Members Still Wrestling?

Although The Iron Claw depicts the struggles that the Von Erich family endured, the film ends on a hopeful and optimistic note. The Iron Claw‘s ending sees Kevin and Pam starting their own large family, highlighting Kevin’s resilience and ability to overcome insurmountable odds. After the events of The Iron Claw, Ross and Marshall Von Erich, Kevin and Pam’s sons, followed in their father’s footsteps and became successful wrestlers in their own right. Kerry’s daughter, Lacey Dawn Adkisson, who is now retired, wrestled between 2007 and 2010 as Lacey Von Erich, thus briefly continuing her father’s legacy outlined in The Iron Claw as well.