DALLAS — "The Iron Claw" has been out for a number of weeks now, and has received widespread acclaim for its tragic tale of the fall of the Von Erichs, the world-famous wrestling family from North Texas.
However, despite its praise, the movie makes quite a few changes to the real story in order to fit into its 132-minute runtime. Here are some of the most egregious differences in the movie. It should go without saying that there will be spoilers for the movie beyond this point.
The biggest and most obvious change to the movie is that there was a whole other Von Erich brother left out of the film. Chris Von Erich, the youngest of the brothers, committed suicide by gunshot on Sept. 12, 1991, at 21 years old. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer, on the "Dark Side of the Ring" episode on the Von Erich family, said Kerry Von Erich would talk in glowing terms about his brothers' suicide and the guts that it took. Kerry Von Erich would end up committing suicide by gunshot on Feb. 18, 1993, at 33.
When the film begins showing Kevin Von Erich as a wrestler in 1979, he is seen wrestling barefoot. But this isn't accurate. Kevin Von Erich would wrestle in traditional wrestling boots until mid-1982, which is when he began wrestling barefoot.
Kevin Von Erich talks in the movie with his wife, Pam Adkisson, about the "Von Erich curse" soon after they meet in the movie, and how it was something dating back to his ancestors. But this wasn't the case. There was no talk about a "Von Erich curse" until after the tragedies with the Von Erich brothers began in the '80s.
Soon after David Von Erich dies in Japan, the movie shows Kevin Von Erich reading a letter from his late brother about how he had to come and wrestle in Japan, too. The thing is, Kevin had wrestled in Japan with his brother David Von Erich on multiple occasions for several years before David Von Erich's death -- as had Kerry Von Erich.
The film also shows Fritz Von Erich challenging one-time NWA President and St. Louis wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick to give his sons a shot at the NWA World Championship on an episode of World Class Championship Wrestling. Given the timeline of the movie, this would have had to have happened at some point in late 1982 or 1983. Not only did this never happen, but Muchnick was not even NWA President during the early '80s at the height of the Von Erich brothers. Muchnick had not been NWA President since 1975 and had promoted his last wrestling show on Jan. 1, 1982.
When Kerry Von Erich wins his first and only NWA World Championship in 1984 at the 1st Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions, the film chooses to focus on the matriarch of the Von Erich family, Doris Adkisson, who is watching the show from her television at home, with the ghost of her son David Von Erich in the background. However, Doris wasn't watching from home. She was in attendance. You can see her embrace her son in footage of Kerry Von Erich celebrating after defeating Ric Flair at the show. Also, the show was not aired live but replayed in portions on WCCW's weekly TV show.
The film also shows Kerry Von Erich drinking and then riding fast on his motorcycle that night following his world title win before a hard cut to show Kerry Von Erich on a later day missing his foot, which he lost in a motorcycle accident. But this wouldn't happen until June 4, 1986 -- two years after Kerry Von Erich won the championship. In reality, Kerry Von Erich would lose the title almost three weeks later, back to Flair in Yokosuka, Japan.
At the end of the film, Kevin Von Erich is shown with his sons, and when asked by them why he was crying, he tells them "I used to be a brother, but now I'm not anymore." This isn't what he said. What he actually said was, "I had five brothers, and now I'm not even a brother."
