The Iron Claw and Professional Wrestling’s Lasting Masculine Ideal

Professional wrestling, more than other sports, has always been a family business. For generations, families like the Anoa’is, Harts, and McMahons have seemingly pumped out talents made for the squared circle, equipped with freak athleticism and suave skills on the mic.  Many of the sport’s greatest—The Rock, Randy Orton, Dusty Rhodes, etc.—are born from these legacies and pave the way for those who will follow. The Hall of Fame Von Erich family is no exception. Fritz Von Erich, whose real name was Jack Adkisson, wrestled for 30 years; he had 6 kids during that stretch: Jack Jr., who died in a freak accident at the age of 6, Kevin, David, Kerry, Mike, and Chris. Each of his sons went on to wrestle professionally, and while Mike and Chris’ careers never quite took off, Kevin, David, and Kerry were huge names in the American wrestling scene. Under the Von Erichs’ fairytale success, however, lies a dark story about family pressure, loneliness, and masculinity gone too far.

At the beginning of The Iron Claw, Fritz Von Erich surprises his wife, Doris, and two oldest sons with a fancy car that he can’t afford. As Doris panics at the prospect of paying for her husband’s irresponsible splurge, he assures her of two things: he will be NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and once he is, he will be untouchable. Not rich, not famous; untouchable. To Fritz, that belt meant a lot more than glory–it meant that nothing and no one could ever hurt his family again; that he could defend them from the forces that seemed to haunt his bloodline. Being the World Heavyweight Champion would void the curse that was said to have followed the Von Erichs for generations.

This curse, and by association, the belt, looms over the Von Erich brothers throughout this film. The family’s patriarch makes it very clear that sport is, and will always be, his priority, which is why Kerry is his favorite son, followed by Kevin, David, and Mike, who preferred cinematography and music to wrestling (Chris is left out of the screenplay). Kerry, played by resident white boy of the year Jeremy Allen White, starts off away from home, training to throw discus in the 1980 Olympics–he is eventually robbed of this opportunity when the US decides to boycott in protest of Russia's invasion of Afghanistan–, while Zac Efron’s Kevin is home in Texas, fighting for his life every weekend for a shot at professional wrestling’s biggest title. He fights barefoot in simple tight trunks, as if to say that his talent speaks for itself. He, and this movie as a whole, is classically patriotic in the way wrestlers have always been; they fight for something bigger than themselves. They capture arenas and kiss babies, embodying the fighting spirit of a true American. They are classically built, and are always proud of being homegrown. In Kevin’s case, though, it’s clear that, although he is the pinnacle of easygoing masculinity in the ring, he lacks confidence. He stumbles over his words recording a promo backstage, and freezes on the mic after being shorted by champion Harley Race in front of the Sportatorium’s crowd. His face is one of never ending melancholy, and even in his triumphs, he, like his father, seems to have more to prove. 

Speaking of Efron’s in-ring presence, it is clear that the actual wrestling scenes in The Iron Claw were made with care. It would’ve been easy to reduce the action in this film to a vessel for the underlying plot, but director Sean Durkin dives in headfirst. The costumes were extravagant, the rings were beautifully highlighted, and the live events had an air of authenticity that made me nostalgic for a time I wasn’t alive to witness. I commend him, and the actors themselves—seriously, I wonder how long it took them to train—for staying true to the American wrestling tradition. As the Von Erich boys become a powerful faction and David, played by Harris Dickinson, shoots into the spotlight over his older brother, it’s clear that each actor took time to study the WWF and its predecessors; the cocky charm Dickinson took on was reminiscent of watching the likes of Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, and the team of him, Efron, and White looked ring ready.

Kevin marries Pam, a self-assured country girl who works overtime to keep him from the complete grasp of his father. Their wedding is a rare spot of joy in this film, and directly juxtaposes the funeral that occurs no more than two weeks later. As the film goes on and loss continues to permeate the Von Erich family, it becomes clear that whether you believe in supernatural forces or not, the Von Erich curse is real. Fritz maintains a victim complex that is driven by the belief that he was robbed of a belt that was rightfully his, and his boys inherit it. They come to believe that wrestling is the only way to gain control of the world around them, but the opposite is true. The Von Erich boys are devastated by the prospect of helplessness, and slowly realize that no belt can supplement their father’s love. They train late into the night and fight over their father’s attention, but there’s no pleasing a man running from the failure he already sees himself as. Their mom, while less inclined to rank her sons by ability, doesn’t offer much but prayers, and we only start to see the effect her misfortune has on her once it’s too late to prevent. Every member of the Adkisson family is paralyzed by tragedies they cannot escape or predict; they see their losses as inevitable and their wins as fleeting. The curse is a self-fulfilling prophecy—people who know they are doomed from birth often doom themselves to death.

Fritz's signature Iron Claw, which we see Kevin, David, and Kerry adopt throughout their wrestling careers, was a devastating, Boa Constrictor-like grip on the head that slowly and convincingly crushes one’s skull. It is unmatched in its cruelty and effectiveness, and makes crowds gasp in the kind of horror that stops you from looking away. This movie is the story of one man applying that deathly grip to his sons for decades, and, without the option to tap out, they are crushed beyond recognition.