Don G. Smith - Fritz Von Erich: Triumph and Tragedy

To read most accounts of Fritz Von Erichs career as professional wrestler, one would think that his legacy is that of fathering six sons, five of whom followed in his footsteps as pro wrestlers, all but one of whom died tragically. Of those five, three committed suicide. This book is dedicated to preserving Fritz legacy as a great professional wrestler and outstanding wrestling promoter in his own right. I will address Fritz sons as they were a big part of his life, but I leave it to others to detail their lives. This book focuses on Fritz in what I truly believe will be the last book written about him. Everything factual that has been printed about Fritz along with much new material is seen here for the first time. This book also features the most comprehensive record of Fritz wrestling match results ever compiled in one place. Some readers are uninterested in match results because the bouts were all pre-arranged. To me, to leave out a pro wrestlers record is like writing a book on an actor and not listing or discussing his movies. While the results of matches were pre-arranged, a listing of those results allows the reader to judge how other promoters used Fritz as a performer and how he used himself, both as promoter and wrestler, thus throwing light on the trajectory of his career.

To date, two books cover Fritz as a pro wrestler, father and promoter. The first was a 1987 book titled The Von Erichs Family Album by Kirk Dooley. Dooley, commissioned by the Von Erichs to write the book, presents an overly positive account of the famous family. The family album portrays the Von Erichs as a virtuous Christian family that has successfully overcome tragedy on the foundation of their faith. There is both truth and falsehood in this portrayal. Input from members of the Von Erich family is heavy in Dooleys book, but the final result nevertheless contains numerous errors corrected here. The Family Album is now long out of print and sells for hefty sums on eBay.

The second book was The Secret of the Iron Claw by Ron Mullinax, who was a close friend of Fritz during the wrestlers final year. Except for an account of Fritz last months, Mullinax repeats much that is available in Dooleys album, errors and all. Still Mullinaxs book is a labor of love, and it is worth reading for the personal aspect he contributes.

Both of the books mentioned above devote much if not most of their space to an account of Fritz sons. My book is largely focused on Fritz, but I address his children since they were such a big part of his life. I delve as deeply as possible into what made the Von Erich family both great and dysfunctional.

My book obviously relies heavily on factual information gleaned from Dooley and Mullinax. Some reported events are highly controversial, and I have studied them in detail from a variety of sources in order to provide what I believe is most accurate.

In this book quotes coming from Dooley and Mullinax are identified. In the case of Mullinax, the Trafford first edition, is the source used. The hype surrounding Fritz matches and career as they appeared in souvenir programs and wrestling magazines of the time is also discussed. When speaking of pre-match hype or simply hype, I am referring to bulletins and souvenir programs mailed out before the matches and sold on the night of the event. In examining this material, I attempt to separate fact from fiction and give a flavor of how wrestling matches were promoted and how wrestling magazines covered the sports/entertainment spectacle during Fritz active years (1953-1983). I also rely on interviews that I have done since the publication of the Dooley and the Mullinax books, and to some extent, I try to place Fritz life into the context of broader historical events. In addition, I relate what the underground wrestling sheets said about Fritz and his family, most of which was, in my opinion, overly negative.