Wrestling Drama ‘The Iron Claw’ Called “Heart-Wrenching’’ And ‘’Inaccurate’’ By Daughter Of The Late Kerry Von Erich Not Depicted In The A24 Film
Hollywood is well-documented for taking liberties with the truth, but sometimes, they come so close that their depictions can pass the test of scrutiny with a C average. Take the 2023 drama The Iron Claw, which tells the tragic story of the Von Erichs, the First Family of the defunct Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling.
Aside from a few details and the condensed timeline, most of the film accurately portrays the history of the promotion and the family as it’s been recounted down through the years. However, it’s not considered a faithful retelling by every member of the Von Erich clan.
One of the most glaring omissions was the real-life wife and daughters of Kerry Von Erich (played by Jeremy Allen White), the heir apparent of the dynasty after his victory over Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title.
The film depicted Kerry’s tragic motorcycle accident, the loss of his foot, and his untimely death by suicide, but rewrote his home life for whatever reason.
Kerry’s daughter Lacey took part in an Investigation Discovery docu-series, Hollywood Demons, when it recently covered her famous family’s story, and criticized Iron Claw in the episode for leaving her out.
“My sister and I were not in the movie as my dad’s children, and he didn’t have a wife or anything. And that was a really big part of my dad,” said the retired wrestler and promoter, Lacey Von Erich, via The Independent. “So how he was portrayed in the movie is so inaccurate that it was heart-wrenching.”
Her uncle Kevin, the last surviving Von Erich brother, appears in The Iron Claw’s end credits in photographs and attended the premiere, but admits what his niece says: that the film got parts of his brother’s life wrong. “Kerry in the movie was not a family man, but in real life he was,” Kevin said in the ID documentary.
Though Kevin “endorsed” the movie, Lacey tells Discovery her family was not consulted, and she had to find out about it on social media when it was already in production.
Lacey Von Erich tried to carry on her family legacy in the late 2000s, leading to a stint in TNA Wrestling as a member of The Beautiful People stable. She disappeared from the scene for years until she resurfaced a few years ago to try her hand at running a promotion in Texas.
The company she was associated with, SWE: Fury, folded pretty quickly, but they attracted notable, even legendary, names during their brief run including WWE’s Boogeyman, AEW’s Big Bill, former WWE tag team champion Charlie Haas, and The World’s Strongest Man and WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry.
The episode of HollywoodDemons covering the Von Erichs (“The Real Iron Claw”) is now streaming on Max and YouTube TV.
