Summary
- Kevin Von Erich found peace and happiness with his family after a tragic wrestling career chronicled in T
he Iron Claw
. - The movie received Kevin’s endorsement and portrays his life struggles, career successes, and family life accurately.
- Kevin’s sons, Marshall and Ross, continue the wrestling legacy, proving that love has held the Von Erich family together.
A24’s biographical drama The Iron Claw tells the tragic story of the famous Von Erich wrestling family, and stars Zac Efron as real-life wrestler Kevin Von Erich. The gut-wrenching misfortunes of the Von Erich family are chronicled in detail in The Iron Claw, which received a crucial endorsement from Kevin Von Erich himself, but audiences are left with a glimmer of hope in the ongoing life story of Kevin Von Erich that appears on the screen before the credits roll.
Despite the tragedy that surrounded him for most of his younger life, the now-retired wrestler eventually found peace and comfort in his own growing family. Kevin Von Erich had a long and successful wrestling career, much of which is covered in The Iron Claw. His most noteworthy feud was against the legendary WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair when Flair was the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) World Champ in the late 1980s. As The Iron Claw‘s ending explained, Kevin’s story continued down a far less tragic path outside the wrestling ring.
Related
Why The Iron Claw Leaves One Von Erich Brother Out (& What Happened To Him)
The Iron Claw follows the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers who rose to fame in the ’80s, but the film omits one Von Erich brother entirely.
Kevin Von Erich Retired From Wrestling in 1995 & Briefly Returned in 2017
Kevin Von Erich appeared in a wrestling ring as recently as 2023.
Beginning in 1976, most of Kevin’s career took place within his father’s promotion, World Class Championship Wrestling. However, his wrestling career didn’t end when the promotion folded in 1989. Around that time, Kevin worked with the legendary “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to improve his wrestling skills. Kevin went on to wrestle a single match in the WWF in 1991, and competed in Mexico and in a number of other American promotions between 1991 and 1995. He formally retired from in-ring competition in 1995.
The Iron Claw
is now streaming on Max.
Kevin Von Erich did make other appearances in the wrestling world in the subsequent years, including an appearance on WWE Raw in 2005 alongside a number of WWE Hall of Famers. Kevin represented the entire Von Erich wrestling family when they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. He actually made an in-ring comeback in 2017 at the age of 60, wrestling alongside his sons at a special event in Tel Aviv, Israel. His most recent appearances came in December 2023 in episodes of All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite and Rampage shows.
Kevin Von Erich’s Family Life & Move To Hawaii After Wrestling Explained
Kevin Von Erich’s family continued to grow.
As is outlined at the end of The Iron Claw, Kevin is still married to his wife Pam, who was portrayed by Lily James in the movie. The couple has been married for 43 years, and they lived in Hawaii for many years, running a family investment company together. Kevin and Pam have four children together, and eleven grandchildren. While The Iron Claw showed Kevin and Pam with two sons, that was mostly due to story-telling reasons; in reality, their first two children were their daughters, Kristen and Jillian.
Another change that Kevin has called out since the movie’s release is that the movie shows his wife Pam pursuing him, when in reality, the opposite happened.
Per the Dallas Morning News, Kevin and Pam purchased a ranch back in Kevin’s beloved Texas, just outside of San Antonio. As the ending of The Iron Claw noted, all of Kevin Von Erich’s extended family lived with him on his ranch in Hawaii, and the entire family apparently followed him and Pam onto the Texas ranch. Despite the deep heartache that the Von Erich family experienced in Texas, Kevin was ready to move back to the area that he loved.
What Kevin Von Erich Has Said About The Iron Claw Movie
Efron’s portrayal had the real Kevin Von Erich’s endorsement
Given the deeply personal nature of The Iron Claw, it was important that it received the blessing of the only surviving Von Erich brother. Zac Efron was fortunate enough to get to speak with Kevin Von Erich in person and hear exactly what he thought about the movie. In an interview with Variety, Efron provided some insight on how their one-on-one conversation went.
We went out to the patio, sat forehead to forehead, and talked about life for an hour and a half. And he told me that he did enjoy the movie. I can’t really put into words how that feels. It’s far and away the most important review to me on so many levels. It meant the world, and everything just came full circle.
Von Erich provided further insight at the movie’s premiere, singling out Efron’s performance along with other specific aspects. Per FOX 4 News, Von Erich stated that he thought Holt McCallany’s portrayal of his tough-love father was particularly accurate, and that he hoped that the takeaway from the movie was that the Von Erich family was held together by love, despite the crushing tragedy that plagued them for years.
Two Of Kevin Von Erich’s Sons Became Professional Wrestlers
Kevin Von Erich’s sons Marshall and Ross followed in their father’s footsteps.
The two sons that were shown in The Iron Claw were Marshall and Ross Adkisson, better known by their wrestling names, Marshall and Ross Von Erich. Both wrestlers have been vocal about not believing in the supposed Von Erich curse, and proudly use the Von Erich name. The two brothers have wrestled across the globe since 2012, and have made noteworthy stops at the famous wrestling promotions Total Nonstop Action and Major League Wrestling. In 2019 the two brothers won the MLW World Tag Team Champions, following in their family’s footsteps as titleholders.
The two are currently signed to the massively popular promotion All Elite Wrestling and its sister promotion, Ring of Honor, and recently made their in-ring debut in December 2023. The two brothers fittingly wrestled in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, which was one of the venues frequented by their legendary father, grandfather and uncles. While the tragedy shown in The Iron Claw that Kevin Von Erich faced during his life is hard to fathom, his life after wrestling has been far happier.
Where Is Kevin Von Erich Now
Von Erich still lives with his family in Texas
Per TexasHighways.com, Kevin Von Erich (real last name Adkisson) and his wife Pam still live on the ranch in Boerne, Texas, which includes a barn that they rent out for weddings. They are still surrounded by family, as their four children and 13 grandchildren are close at hand; the 67-year-old wrestler says that his focus is entirely on his family now. Since the release of The Iron Claw, he has done some speaking engagements, during which he provides further details about the events of his life, and personal stories about his brothers and father, and of course about his own career.
Source: Dallas Morning News, Variety, TexasHighways.com
