Von Erich family

The Von Erich family is an American professional wrestling family. Originally from Texas, their actual surname is Adkisson, but every member working in wrestling has used the ring name "Von Erich" after family patriarch Fritz Von Erich (real name Jack Adkisson), who used his mother's maiden name (Erich), adding the "von". In total, ten members of the family have been professional wrestlers since Fritz' debut in 1953, with two still active today. In the 20th century, the family primarily wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and in their own World Class Championship Wrestling (WCWA) promotion, the latter featuring them as central heroic characters.

Fritz and his wife Doris had six children between 1952 and 1969, all sons. Their firstborn Jack Jr., died at age six; all their surviving sons grew up to become professional wrestlers. By the time Fritz died of cancer in 1997 at age 68, five of his sons had predeceased him: In addition to Jack Jr., who drowned in a freak accident in 1959, David died from enteritis in 1984 at age 25, and Mike, Chris, and Kerry all died by suicide, respectively in 1987 at age 23, 1991 at age 21, and 1993 at age 33. Kevin, Fritz's only surviving son, retired from wrestling in 1995. The Von Erichs' involvement in wrestling is now in its third generation: Kerry's daughter Lacey wrestled from 2007 until 2010, and Kevin's sons Marshall and Ross have been wrestling since 2012, at times as a tag team named "The Von Erichs". Several unrelated wrestlers have also been presented on-screen as members of the Von Erich family.