Unfortunately for the Von Erichs, tragedy did not end with David's death. Next it was Mike, who died in 1987 at the age of 23.[1] The fifth son of the Von Erichs, Mike had never wanted to wrestle. He was essentially pushed into the business upon David's death. Never a great wrestler to begin with, and quite sickly, Mike's brand new and already-floundering career took a turn for the even worse following surgery on an injured shoulder following a match in Israel. Hitting a fever of 107 four days after the surgery, Mike went into toxic shock, resulting in brain damage and harming his career even more. Slurred speech followed, further impairing his abilities to issue a strong promo (interview), not helped by a growing substance abuse problem. His dependence on alcohol resulted in rages, particularly one incident where he was accused of assaulting an emergency room physician. [2]

            The tragedies didn't end there for Mike Von Erich though … a car accident in 1986 caused even more damage. Reports of Mike bragging about his exploits with underage girls abounded, and it was less than surprising when he was arrested on charges of drug possession and DUI. Days later, at the age of 23, Mike Von Erich had died of an intentional overdose of Placidyl, a tranquilizer on April 12, 1987.[3]

THE VON ERICHS

            To discuss wrestling tragedy, one must unfortunately start with the Adkisson family of Texas – better known as the Von Erichs. Texas' answer to Calgary's Hart family, the Von Erichs dominated Texas wrestling for decades. Patriarch Fritz Von Erich had wrestled for years as a heel with an evil Nazi gimmick. By the time his sons had grown up and were old enough to be in the wrestling business, however, he was a born-again Christian living in Texas, promoting his own territory, World Class Championship Wrestling.[1]

            The Von Erich sons, however, were to achieve fame amongst the wrestling community all right – but not in the way anyone would have imagined in the early 1980s. From very early on, well before wrestling, tragedy struck the first time when firstborn son Jack died at the age of seven in an electrocution accident. While the other boys would grow up to see adulthood, only one – David – would live to see the age of 35. Following the death of patriarch Fritz in 1997, David is, in fact, the only remaining Von Erich.

            Controversy has swirled around the Von Erich's for years – particularly about the extent to which they wanted to be in the business, vs. the extent to which Fritz forced them in.[2] What is not controversial, is this: that most of the sons – and certainly the younger ones – suffered from asthma, and amongst the Von Erich boys who grew up, substance abuse became a major problem for all of them.[3]

            David, for example, was the second oldest of the Von Erich sons to survive into adulthood. The breakout star of the family, he even struck out on his own in 1981, going to Florida to wrestle as a heel. Upon his return to World Class, he won the WCCW championship on Independence Day, 1983. This set up a feud with NWA champion Ric Flair, who David was supposed to defeat for the world title in April 2004. As Ric himself says in his autobiography, To Be the Man, "I expected David to be part of my life for years, but on February 10, 1984, he was found dead in his hotel room in Japan."[4] The cause of death in David Von Erich's case remains in dispute. While the official story is that he died of enteritis (intestinal inflammation caused by a kick administered in a match the night before), most wrestlers concur that Von Erich actually died of a drug overdose and was found in his room by wrestler Bruiser Brody, who subsequently flushed his stash of pills down' the toilet.[5]

[1] Ric Flair, To Be the Man (New York: Pocketbooks, 2004), 174.

[2] Jim Schutze, "Von Erichs wrestled with controversy," Houston Chronical (Sept. 12, 1993): A1.

• Emergency, 24-hour safe shelter (including meals and basic personal items) for abused women, with or without children.
• 24-hour crisis line to provide confidential support, information about and referrals to various community services and government agencies for legal, housing, financial concerns.
• Housing support program.
• Children's programs to address the effects of children exposed to domestic violence.
• Individual and / or group support sessions for women who have been or are presently in an abusive relationship.
• Safe Steps - Steps towards a brighter future. Groups for children who have been exposed to abuse, and their Moms.
• Public education presentations for schools, community and service groups, churches, and employee groups.
• Interpreters available.