In speaking with Holt McCallany, I famous {that a} majority of wrestling followers view Fritz as nearly the satan incarnate. Nonetheless, when listening to how individuals who labored within the territories on the time speak about him — and particularly, how his son Kevin talks about him — there’s quite a lot of reverence for him. How does an individual even start to method enjoying a personality that the world views as an abusive bastard however that his personal son nonetheless speaks extremely about?
“It is actually an important query as a result of when you learn the so-called ‘Wrestling Specialists’ and also you hearken to the podcasts, and watch the documentaries, you hear folks say quite a lot of very disparaging issues about Fritz Von Erich,” McCallany tells me. “That he was controlling, that he exploited household tragedy for industrial achieve … it is nearly like an infinite litany of offenses.” However via his personal analysis, McCallany says he did not see Fritz as an entirely dangerous particular person. Sophisticated, sure, however not the cartoonish brute he is typically painted as.
This choice to play him as such has additionally been controversial for some viewers who really feel “The Iron Claw” may need been too sort to Fritz. “Look, a number of the choices that he made have been questionable, there is not any doubt about it, however by way of who’s the man at his essence, I didn’t see him as a villain in any respect,” McCallany says. “And neither does his son, Kevin Von Erich.”
The episode of “Darkish Facet of the Ring” centered on the Von Erichs echoes the sentiment. There is a nuance and a complexity that followers typically battle to simply accept. Fritz Von Erich was rumored to make use of a leather-based strap as a type of self-discipline on his sons, which via our 2023 lens sounds barbaric — however punitive, bodily punishment was tragically commonplace within the ’60s and ’70s. Is {that a} reflection of Fritz, or the poisonous tradition of masculinity that inspired this type of conduct … or each?
