The Von Erich Curse
Photo credit: KnightNephrite
The world of pro wrestling has had its fair share of tragedies. Aside from the usual high number of injuries—the cause of which is readily apparent—we often hear about sad incidents of wrestlers and their untimely deaths, the most recent being Eddie Guerrero’s collapse inside a hotel room due to heart failure, and Chris Benoit’s double murder/suicide of his wife and son. Yet even these depressing cases pale in comparison to the so-called curse of theVon Erich wrestling family.
Dubbed the Kennedys of the wrestling world in the 1980s, the Von Erichs and their patriarch Fritz (real name Jack Adkisson) experienced their first loss when the eldest of the six male children—six-year-old Jack Jr.—was accidentally electrocuted and drowned in a puddle of wet snow near their home. Afterwards, a chain of disasters befell the family. Fritz’s third child, David, died from a serious case of gastroenteritis, while Kerry (fourth), Michael (fifth), and Chris (sixth) committed suicide via drug overdose.
Only Fritz’s second son Kevin lived on to continue wrestling before retiring in 1993. Now with the third generation of Von Erichs (Kevin’s two sons and Kerry’s daughter) currently following their grandfather’s footsteps, we can only hope that they avoid the curse that almost destroyed their bloodline.
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