The Iron Claw

So I was surfing around online yesterday and somehow stumbled upon the news that there is a movie coming called “The Iron Claw” that focuses on the legendary Von Erich wrestling family.

If you don’t know, the Von Erich family rose to prominence in wrestling in the early to mid-80s. The patriarch, Fritz, was a bad guy wrestler through the ’60s and ’70s before slowing down his schedule and buying the Dallas-based wrestling organization that he would rename World Class Championship Wrestling.

Fritz had several sons that, depending on who is telling the story, he pushed into the wrestling business. Most of them went on to become mega stars and in the process, turned the Dallas-based wrestling promotion into a money-making machine.

Before long though, a series of tragedies started befalling the family. First, the oldest son David died suddenly while on a wrestling tour of Japan. Then one of the younger sons Mike suffered a horrible injury that eventually led to him being unable to compete anymore, and he ended up taking his own line. Kerry suffered a horrendous motorcycle accident that led to the amputation of his foot. He would later go on to take his own life as well. The youngest son Chris joined his brothers in the same means as well, leaving only Kevin.

From the trailer, the story of the movie seems to revolve around Kevin, with Zac Effron playing the lead role. Everything in the trailer looks incredible, and I’m super excited that this movie is happening.

As I was growing up, I was a huge wrestling fan. Every afternoon ESPN aired a program called Legends of World Class Championship Wrestling, featuring the exploits of the Von Erich family from through the years. I was glued to the set every afternoon watching and gained such a deep appreciation for them in the wrestling world.

The eventual tragedies that brought the family down is a very sad tale and one that will likely come across very depressingly in the movie, but it’s certainly a tale worth telling, and I’m looking really forward to seeing the final product.

So I’ve said all of that to say this…when I stumbled across the trailer, I knew I wanted to share it, so here it is. Give it a watch and see what you think about the prospects of this movie.