Fritz Von Erich channeled his despair at the death of his oldest son into wrestling, and became so notorious for taking his aggression out on his fellow wrestlers that many refused to get into the ring with him, according to Texas Monthly. However, Fritz continued to tour America as a wrestler, and he and his wife Doris eventually had five more children together.
The next tragedy to befall the Von Erichs happened when the family was on tour in Japan in 1984, when David was found dead in his hotel room at the age of 25. Though official records reported his cause of death simply as enteritis, many in the wrestling community have since claimed that it was the result of an accidental overdose of painkillers.
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The death shook the family deeply. From 1987 and in the space of just six years, Von Erichs brothers Mike, Chris, and Kerry, each died by suicide at the age of 23, 22, and 33 respectively. The deaths were so frequent and so devastating for the family that the wrestling community began to speak of the “Von Erich curse,” which some said was the result of Fritz’s willingness to make light of wartime atrocities in his early career with his Nazi persona.
