[BlandyBoreton83]

I mean this dude had it all.
Looks
Physique
Women and men loved him.
Good in the ring.
Excellent pedigree and reputation.
Cool factor

Why wasn't he a bigger deal in WWF? He came in and won the I.C Title right away from Mr Perfect but then dropped it 3 months later. Then he floated round the midcard jobbing to whoever WWF were needing to be over.
Was he a druggy or something?
I just think he had all the tools to be WWF Champion.

 

[december_blue]

Drugs.

 

[BlandyBoreton83]

But then Shawn Michaels was a massive pillhead?? And he got away with murder in the WWF

 

[777]

Drugs were a big part of it. Many issues all around for the Von Erichs. Shame, I was a big fan growing up.

 

[YouAlreadyKnow]

But then Shawn Michaels was a massive pillhead?? And he got away with murder in the WWF

Michaels was in a tag team from 1988-91, and then was a midcarder from 92-94....he didn't become a top guy until he won the royal rumble in '95. He worked his way up, and it took him 7-8 years to get there.

Kerry Von Erich got the IC title push, but he was only around for what, 2-3 years? And then he killed himself. Sounds like his issues were quite a bit worse than Shawn's. If he had been able to keep himself together a little better and had stuck around longer, who knows what he would've accomplished in those 1993-97 years.

 

[reDREDD]

Shawn was fucked up but he never let it interfere with his professional life

its the same reason he was far more successful than marty janetty

now kerry was good, no doubt, but even ignoring his problems in his personal life, he still wasnt quite as good as the oldest brother, David, who passed away

 

[Jupiter Jack Daniels]

Drugs, mainly, but also that, IMO, he was past his prime.

So, in a sense, the headache wasn't worth it. The drug problem is always there but when your father is your boss, it's swept under the rug. Now, if he would've came to WWE in the early 80s, at his peak (popularity wise), I wouldn't doubt that Vince would have dealt with that headache.


Key thing to remember, he lost his foot in '87. He was an addict long before then. So, the fact that he came back so early (when he wasn't even supposed to wrestle at all) took that drug habit to a completely different level. So, '87 was the cut off point for Kerry's career. His glory days were gone.


So, by the time he got to WWE, he had the reputation of being an unreliable, drug addict. Remember, he was supposed to go to WCW in '90 and no showed. Along with that, there's a shitload of arrests that never really made news, for reasons that are pretty obvious.


I think it was, what, '83-'84 Vince wanted the Von Erich's? If they (particularly Kerry) would have left then, Kerry would have at least have been a strong mid card hand, possibly ally of Hogan.


Obviously drugs and in a sense, bad timing. He left his shot back in the 80s.

 

[StingGirl]

as a kid i just thought he looked like a lesser ultimate warrior in his texas tornado stage lol

 

[Oh Lymping Hero!]

As others have said he was off his face most of the time, plus he wasn't an original McMahon creation so that was another ceiling for him. I always liked the guy tbh.

 

[Dudechi]

He was a drunk And a drug addict and his foot fell off.

 

[Ghost Lantern]

I disagree with the original post....Kerry did not in fact have it all.

He did not have a good reputation, nor was he good on the stick.

He was also not dependable at all (of course due to drugs). This is the main reason according to Flair that the NWA title was swapped back so fast.

Lawler is on record as saying Kerry was so screwed up before their match at SuperClash 3 that Kerry cut his arm horribly, stumbling around. They worked the cut into the match story.

I watched World Class every week in the 80's and found myself thinking that if Kevin had just a tad more body mass, he would have been the star of the family. He was more articulate (but not much), better in the ring, and had a more babyface vibe.

Really, David would have been a big deal for sure because he truly did have it all.

Kerry just had that Luger/HHH kind of look, but could not take it to the next level. Kerry was very charismatic in the ring, but not outside.


IMO one of the most over-rated talents in history. For all the hype, legacy and potential he fell short of what could have been. Not meaning to speak ill of the dead, just my opinion.

I mean the Von Erich's (except Fritz)tend to get rated together as a group in rankings that I see. To me the reason is that it is very hard to put any of them in any list of the top 50-100 wrestlers of all time, but as group they can break in.

 

[Rick Sanchez]

Drugs.

 

[Jupiter Jack Daniels]

Another thing to remember is that, excluding battle royals/Royal Rumble, Kerry had 55 TV/PPV matches in his WWE career.

And he only lost TWICE, not counting Survivor Series eliminations.


So, I don't know where this idea that Kerry was jobbing to everyone comes from. Sounds like something from Wikipedia.



The only guys he ever lost to on TV were Mr. Perfect & Undertaker. On the other hand, aside from Mr. Perfect here, Survivor Series there and a few other "names", he mainly worked jobbers.



But, he only lost 2 televised singles matches in his entire WWE run.

 

[WOTF19]

Kerry should have been a bigger deal I agree but there were many factors that came into play we all know about his demons and his fake foot however one thing no one brings up is how Kerry took so long to go out on his own by the time he made it to WWE his buzz was not as big as it was if he came in the mid to late 80s. Yes we knew he was a big deal which is why he got the belt but if he was to come around and pretty much take ultimate warriors place which is why Vince made helwig the ultimate warrior..


Sent from Verticalsports.com Free App

 

[Aguda]

It was the end of his career. He wasn't into wrestling that much anymore like he was during his peak.

 

[LilOlMe]

Drugs.

Wasn't he hotshotted pretty high up, when he first came to the WWE? I think he got the IC title super quickly, which was kind of unusual in those days. And this was back when the IC title actually meant something significant.

Yes, I just checked and he debuted in the WWE in July of 1990, and won the IC title one month later.

So I'm pretty sure that Vince had big plans for him, and he got over with the WWE crowds pretty quickly. However, according to an old article I read, he started missing shows and stuff, so it's obvious that his drug problems reared their ugly head pretty quickly. This probably deterred Vince.

I do agree that if he had went to the WWE in the early/mid '80s when they were courting him then, he would have been far more massive in the WWE.

 

[Jupiter Jack Daniels]

You know, a part of me wants to say that the only reason Vince even signed him was to help him better himself.


Because, maybe Vince remembered that 23 year old kid he wanted to bring to WWE in '83 but remained loyal to his father. And the fact that Vince obviously respected the Von Erich's so much in the 80s that he would feature them in his magazine.


Because you hear all the stories of how high they were at all times but the one thing you probably never hear is that Vince was the first one to see the problem and act on it by sending Kerry to rehab. No matter how many times Kerry got busted with drugs or how many times he passed out driving, nobody in Dallas cared. It took that sick bastard in Stamford to care. And at this time, the steroid scandal was heating up and Kerry had just got busted for forging prescriptions. And Kerry obviously completed rehab because he was back on the road with WWE. But then again, he obviously didn't change his ways because he was fired shortly after.


Pretty much, you can't help somebody who won't help themselves. And Kerry wasn't trying to help himself because he had a good 10 years in the business where he could get away with anything. His dad was naive and didn't think there was a problem. He was such a celebrity in Dallas that nobody would step in and say you shouldn't be doing this. And old habits are hard to break. And the only way he was going to be bigger in WWE was if he broke those habits. And WWE tried to break them. Didn't work.

 

[LilOlMe]

I agree with your overall take about Kerry not taking it seriously for years, and also about him being enabled.

However, I do want to point out that he did go to rehab in 1987, and he said that it was due to his family. That's why he said it was unsuccessful, because he wasn't really doing it for himself.

So we do know of at least one time where his family stepped in, and tried (successfully!) to get him into rehab.


I do think that there was some level of denial going on, but even moreso about SUICIDE. I can't count how many people have said that Kerry talked constantly about suicide (everyone from Bret Hart to Ultimate Warrior to Kerry's own brothers), but it seems like everyone was just resigned to accept it. Though I guess that no one really knew how to deal with that sort of thing, especially when dealing with an adult male who probably was very stubborn.


His brother, Kevin, said this in a shoot interview in 2003:

He never thought that Mike would do something like that [commit suicide] because he always seemed to be the most together of the family, although he thought Chris might do that. He never thought Kerry would do that either but drugs and a great deal of shame were involved. Kerry had actually called him up six hours before that and talked about how he was going to commit suicide, but Kevin thought he’d talked him out of it.

More about drugs and the suicide:

The charges Kerry was facing at the time of his death- Because of the attorney Kerry had, there was no way he was going to go to jail. However, Kerry couldn’t live with his name being dragged through the mud daily due to the charges. He thinks Kerry would have actually loved jail if he’d gone because he’d have been able to sleep, lift weights all day, and eat three meals.

Did he know how big Kerry’s drug problem was? No, he was never good at spotting it although his dad supposedly was. The only times he ever noticed anything wrong was when Kerry would do coke, as he’d get a certain wolf-like look in his eyes. Kerry wasn’t addicted to anything, though… he just loved doing all kinds of drugs. He feels that the reason he never spotted anything was that Kerry was doing so many different drugs that there would be different symptoms for each one.

Kerry’s foot- The doctors did somewhere between fifteen and twenty five hours of surgery to save his foot then Kerry just walked down the hall to get a cheeseburger and undid all that work, meaning they had to amputate it. That’s what got him seriously into painkillers.

 

[Jupiter Jack Daniels]

I do remember reading that, after the indictment in, I think January of 1993 on the cocaine charge, Kerry would randomly show up at his friends houses, for no reason, other than to hug them, say "I love you" and leave.

His P.O. says that, during their regular visit, Kerry kept talking about how he missed his brothers and couldn't go on.




And then, there's always the story that Fritz pushed them into wrestling. Now, I can't speak for all of them but in Kerry's case, that could be true. At least post 1986.


Doctors said Kerry would never wrestle again. A month after the accident, Fritz was promoting his return for the month after. Then the month after. Then the month after. As to not kill the territory. Finally, Kerry comes out on Thanksgiving '86, just to wave and take a few steps. Three months later, he wrestles his first match in 8 months. Because 8 months prior, he was lucky to survive.


It's really hard to say who's decision it was for him to come back but it's not hard to say who's decision it should have been to tell him no. And they didn't do that. So, what is the point of sending him to rehab to fix his problems while you're allowing a guy, who should have been nowhere near a ring, wrestle? You can't help those who won't help themselves but you shouldn't contribute to it, either.

 

[LilOlMe]

I think that Kerry probably came back too soon out of a sense of loyalty and responsibility. My guess is that his dad probably half-heartedly said "no" out of obligation, and that was it. Who really knows, though. Both Kerry and Kevin fervently defended Fitz from allegations that he pushed them too hard.

On a side-note, it's amazing how everyone only has great things to say about Kerry as a person, aside from the drug issue. I remember Warrior saying that Kerry was a great guy who had a really big heart, and Bret saying that Kerry would give you the shirt off of his back, and that Kerry was the wrestler who was there for him most when Bret's brother, Dean, died, etc., etc.

It's just sad that a person who seemed to have so much to contribute, and a person who seemed so genuinely nice, had so many demons that he couldn't overcome.

I read about this story as well:
While Kerry was with the WWF, he worked a show in New York, and witnessed a man rob a woman's purse...When the guy ran towards him, Kerry short arm clotheslined him and returned the purse to the victim..


Someone who used to work out at the same gym as Kerry, wrote this on their random blog. So eerie that Kerry seemed to be in a good spirits, just a week before his death:

Kerry Von Erich


Around 1992, Kerry Adkisson a.k.a .Kerry Von Erich started training at “The Gym”. The Von Erich family was one of the biggest names in professional wrestling and one of the saddest stories you will ever hear. Every family member who went into professional wrestling used the ring name "Von Erich" after their father's ring name Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson Sr.). Jack and his wife Doris had six sons. Five of the boy would die before Jack Sr.. The oldest son Jack Jr was accidentally electrocuted by a downed power line which led to his drowning in a puddle of water when he was only six.


Kerry knew the manager of “The Gym” at the time from college, where Kerry played football at North Texas State University. Kerry was always very friendly to everyone at “The Gym” I didn't know him outside of “The Gym” but I think he was for the most part a friendly person and didn't let his fame go to his head. I already knew about a funny experience that one of my friend's had with Kerry before I had met him. My friend’s name was Vernon and he grew up a few houses down from me when we were young. Vernon was waiting tables at Dave and Busters one day when Kerry and his wife came in to eat, Kerry ordered the fajitas and when Vernon brought out their order to them he dumped a rock in Kerry's lap. A rock is the bowl with the guacamole, pico di gallo, sour cream, etc. Vernon said he thought to himself, "Oh my God, I just dumped a rock in "The Modern Day Warrior's" lap". He said Kerry immediately started joking about it and made sure Vernon knew he was not mad. He even joked with him about it. That's how Kerry was when he would come workout and tan at “The Gym” He was always respectful to everyone. More times than not he would have his two young daughters in tow when he came in to workout. They were probably around eight or nine years old at the time and only a year or two apart. They were a handful to say the least. Kerry was constantly having to ask them to settle down during his workouts and when he would go into tan that was their signal Dad was not around and they would raise even more Hell. One of them now wrestles as Lacey Von Erich. I have not seen her since she was a little girl so seeing her in the ring as professional wrestler is almost impossible to relate the wrestler to the little girl. The last time I saw Kerry at “The Gym” was less than a week before his death. In my memory it was the day before his death but I can't say that for sure. I do know it was within the final week. I had been meaning to ask him if he would make an appearance at a fundraiser we were doing. The manager of “The Gym” at the time was Brian Crull. Brian knew Kerry from North Texas State University and was the reason Kerry came to “The Gym” Brian was giving Kerry a free membership and tanning and “The Gym” got the free publicity and notoriety. It was a common thing for gyms to give professional athletes free memberships. Brian had also put the fundraiser together. It was for an elderly woman named "Birdie Jackson" who took in homeless kids and she had no real income. When I asked I remember he said "Anything I can do for you guys let me know."


I know Kerry had some demons and was not an angel but at his core he seemed to have a good heart. He didn't seem nervous or agitated at all. I remember he seemed happy. He went back to the shoulder lateral raise and continued his workout. I remember he did that machine every time he worked out. He loved it. It was a Cybex seated lateral machine made in the early 90's. Like I said earlier it seems like it was the next day. Maybe it was two or three days. I remember I was in my car and the DJ said Kerry Von Erich had been found dead of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the heart. I remember thinking how it did not make sense because I had just seen him happy and working out at “The Gym”. I found out later Kerry was facing a probable lengthy prison sentence for a second drug arrest. I had heard he had been in some trouble before. I had no idea to what extent. I guess the thought of an extended time in prison was too much. I think its obvious depression ran in the Adkisson (Von Erich) family. Three of the six boys committed suicide and David's was a possible drug overdose. Some believed it was Jack's (Fritz's) overbearing pressure he put on his sons. Some people familiar with the family believe that to be true. It's certain that Kerry and his three brothers who died as adults were tortured. Tortured by something so dark they most likely all died self inflicted early deaths.