FRITZ VON ERICH
Real Name: Jack Barton Adkisson
Birth Date: August 16, 1929
Birth Place: Jewett, TX
Jack Barton Adkisson was born in his family home in Jewett, Texas.
He was over 15 lbs at birth and was always bigger than the rest of the kids his age.
He later moved to Dallas to attend Crozier Technical High School.
Crozier Tech was more of a trade school, but Jack found athletics to be his true calling.
He was a great discus thrower and also excelled at football. He received a scholarship to
Southern Methodist University in Dallas where he set discus records and was an offensive lineman
for the football team. He later lost his scholarship when he decided to marry his high school
sweetheart, Doris Smith. After college, Jack played a season of professional football for the
Dallas Texans. He had to give up the sport due to injuries. He decided to try wrestling and
soon found success when he took on the persona of Fritz Von Erich, a Nazi sympathizer.
Jack would be better known as Fritz Von Erich for the rest of his life and even his sons
would adopt the last name when they later joined him in the ring. Fritz's wrestling career
took his family all over the country. Tragedy first struck the Von Erichs when Fritz, Doris,
and their oldest son, Jack Jr., lived in Niagara Falls, NY. Jack Jr. (Jackie) was six years
old and decided to walk to a friend's house a few doors down. Another neighbor had been doing
work on his home and left some electrical wiring exposed. Jackie brushed against the wires
and was immediately knocked unconscious. Jackie fell face first into a puddle of melting
snow and drowned. Fritz felt a deep loss and became very angry. He took his anger out on
his opponents in the ring. Even the crowd felt his anger when they were brave enough to boo
his Nazi character. After his fourth son, Kerry, was born, Fritz became a kinder man and decided
to settle his family in one place. The family moved back to Dallas, where Fritz established
World Class Championship Wrestling. The promotion achieved great success when the Von Erich
boys joined Fritz in the ring. He retired from wrestling in the early 80s,
but maintained his ownership of WCCW. After the death of five of his six sons,
Fritz decided to leave the wrestling business altogether and retired to his Denton County, TX ranch.
He lived a quiet life out of the spotlight, maintaining his many real estate investments.
In 1997 cancer was discovered in Fritz's body. Within a month the cancer had spread to his brain and
he was given six weeks to live. He died peacefully, on his ranch, on September 10, 1997.
KEVIN VON ERICH
Real Name: Kevin Ross Adkisson
Birth Date: May 15, 1957
Birth Place: Belleville, IL
Kevin, like his brothers, excelled in many sports in college and high school.
He received a football scholarship to North Texas State University(now University of North Texas)and
played fullback until his junior season when he had to quit due to a knee injury.
He soon realized that his plan of playing in the NFL would never be realized and he decided to join
his father in the ring. Kevin wrestled for nearly 20 years.
He retired in 1993 to spend more time with his wife and four children.
Kevin and his family recently moved from the family ranch in Denton County, Texas, very close to the house where he and his
brothers were raised. Kevin's family now resides on the north shore of the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where they run the family investment business.
In his spare time he enjoys SCUBA diving, spearfishing and just spending
time at the beach with his family. Kevin has been married for over 25 years.
He has two daughters, Kristen and Jill, and two sons, Ross and Marshall. Kevin also has five grandchildren.
DAVID VON ERICH
Real Name: David Allen Adkisson
Birth Date: July 22, 1958
Birth Place: Dallas, TX
David Allen Adkisson was born July 22, 1958. David, as well as his brothers, had many fights
growing up because of his fathers occupation. Having a wrestler as a father made the boys a t
arget for bullies that wanted to say they beat up a wrestler's kid. This brought Kevin, David
and Kerry closer together than most brothers and also helped them to develop the fighting skills
that they would use in the ring later. David was always very tall for his age which did have its
advantages. David became a great basketball player for Lake Dallas High School. He followed in his
older brothers footsteps and received an athletic scholarship to North Texas State University for
football and basketball. Following Davids college career he joined Kevin in the ring wrestling with
his father in WCCW. Kerry soon joined them as well and they teamed up for many six man tag team matches.
The most notable was against their rival the Fabulous Freebirds - a tag team consisting of Michael Hayes,
Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts. David was very successful wrestling in one-on-one matches as well.
He had great interview skills and the fans quickly fell in love with the Yellow Rose of Texas.
Davids career took him all over the United States and Japan. In February of 1984, David traveled to
Japan for a three week tour. Before leaving, he complained to Kevin that his stomach had been hurting
and that hed been very tired lately. Kevin urged David not to go, but the fact that hed already committed
coupled with his love for authentic sushi persuaded him to make the trip. After his match, David returned
to his room where he later passed away in his sleep. The cause of death was severe gastroenteritis, which
can be serious when left uncured. Davids body was flown back to Texas where he was buried alongside his
brother Jackie and his uncle David, his namesake. The funeral procession at David's funeral stretched
five miles across Dallas. David will always be remembered by his family for his sense of humor and
redhead's temper. He was a wonderful brother, son, and uncle.
KERRY VON ERICH
Real Name: Kerry Gene Adkisson
Birth Date: February 3, 1960
Birth Place: Niagara Falls, NY
Kerry was the fourth son of Jack and Doris Adkisson.
He was born shortly after their first son, Jack Jr. (Jackie) was electrocuted in a tragic accident.
Kerry was a great football player and excelled at throwing the discus.
He broke records at many levels including his father's own junior world record.
He received a scholarship to the University of Houston where the Olympic coach would be his trainer.
Kerry qualified for the 1980 US Olympic team, but the games were boycotted that year.
He then decided to join his brothers in the ring. Kerry was very charismatic and a great performer.
In 1984, he became NWA World Heavyweight Champion and enjoyed years of success in the wrestling industry.
Outside of the ring, Kerry was the joker of the family. He loved making people laugh and had a daredevil personality.
Kerry lost his foot in a motorcycle accident in 1986. He returned to wrestling with a prosthetic foot, which was
unkown to many fans. Kerry became addicted to the drugs that were originally prescribed for the pain from the surgery.
In 1993, shortly after his marriage had ended, Kerry was arrested for possesing the painkillers without a prescription
and faced prison time.
Kerry committed suicide at the family ranch on February 18, 1993.
He left behind two loving daughters, Hollie and Lacey.
MIKE VON ERICH
Real Name: Michael Bret Adkisson
Birth Date: March 2, 1964
Birth Place: Dallas, TX
Mike was born in Dallas, TX after the family had settled in the North Texas area for good.
He was the fifth of six brothers, although 4 years younger than his next older brother.
Mike looked up to his older brother Kerry, much like David and Kerry looked up to Kevin.
Mike found some success in high school sports, but his real love was music.
He loved to play guitar and dreamed of a musical career. After high school he found it easier to enter
the wrestling profession with his brothers. After the death of his older brother David, the spotlight
was turned to Mike to become the next star. Mike found great success right away. His success took him
on a tour to Israel in 1985 where Mike suffered a severe shoulder injury. He had a seemingly succesful
surgery to repair his shoulder, but soon suffered from a fever that reached as high as 107 degrees.
Mike was diagnosed with Toxic Shock Syndrome. He suffered through treatment and came very close to death.
Miraculously Mike survived, but had lost most of his body mass. He tried to return to the ring but his body had
suffered too much from the illness. Sadly, Mike ended his own life on April 12, 1987.
CHRIS VON ERICH
Real Name: Christopher Barton Adkisson
Birth Date: September 30, 1969
Birth Place: Dallas, TX
At only five and a half feet tall, Chris was the smallest and youngest
of the Von Erich brothers. What he lacked in size he made up for in heart.
Chris was an animal lover and living on a large ranch in East Texas gave
him the opportunity to raise several types of animals including dogs,
flying squirrels, quail, sugar gliders and others. He also had a love
for art and Native American culture. He spent his days as a youth either
working out, raising and breeding animals, creating art or searhcing the
ranch for arrow heads and other Native American artifacts. Chris wanted
to wrestle more than any of the five and worked for
hours daily on his physique. Unfortunatley Chirs suffered from asthma
and was required to take medicine that inhibited his growth and made his
bones very brittle. By the time Chirs was old enough to enter the ring
WCCW was no more and interest in the independent wrestling circuit had
waned. He suffered from broken bones in the ring due to his medication
and was never able to enjoy the fame of his older brothers. Chris became
frustrated and depressed after losing his brothers and his failures in
the ring. He ended his own life on September 12, 1991 shortly before his
22nd birthday.
ROSS VON ERICH
Real Name: David Michael Ross Adkisson
Birth Date: June 1, 1988
Birth Place: Grand Prairie, TX
Endless hours in the gym and an exceptional work ethic are essential traits of all serious, young athletes, but Ross has also been blessed with agility, speed, and overall natural ability. Ross was a stand-out in track, football, and weight lifting throughout his adolescence. Ross is most commonly compared to Kerry, citing his stance, his graceful running form and his ability to build lean muscle easily. He won several fitness and weight lifting competitions as well as coach's awards and recognition for his performance throughout high school and college. Currently, Ross and his brother Marshall are training at the Pro Wrestling NOAH dojo in Tokyo.
MARSHALL VON ERICH
Real Name: Kevin Marshall Adkisson
Birth Date: November 11, 1992
Birth Place: Marshall, TX
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