Fritz Von Erich inspired each of his sons to follow a wrestling career, a heritage delved into in The Iron Claw that unveils the heartfelt truth behind the death of Mike Von Erich.
Led by his father’s persistent desire to make the Von Erich family a household wrestling name, Mike Von Erich was forced to take on the wrestling profession. In The Iron Claw, it’s made clear that Mike didn’t share the same desire to become a professional wrestler like his brothers.
While being very supportive, his heart was somewhere else — music. But Fritz’s grip on his sons and his obsession led Mike down a dark path that interweaved itself with the family’s supposed curse of dying one after the other.
As one of the best movies of 2023, The Iron Claw tells a heart-breaking story that parallels real life but with some added changes. Here’s how Mike Von Erich died. Warning: Spoilers ahead!
How did Mike Von Erich die?
The Iron Claw details the real-life story of Mike Von Erich’s death being the cause of an overdose and dying by suicide.
In the movie, Mike never had a desire to become a wrestler and didn’t have the same athletic build as his brothers. He showed a greater love for music and wanted to do camerawork for his father’s wrestling company. Even his brothers knew he didn’t belong in the ring.
But after the death of David, dad Fritz pushed him to get in the ring with brothers Kerry and Kevin to continue the family legacy. Despite being trained by Kevin, Mike wasn’t a natural talent like his brothers. During what is presumed to be his first match, he gets injured.
Mike then goes in for a routine shoulder surgery when the surgeon comes to inform Fritz and Kevin that it hasn’t gone well. During the operation, Mike’s temperature wouldn’t drop from 107, falling into a coma. The Iron Claw fast-forwards to Mike’s recovery and an exact replica of his hospital press conference, telling the world that he would return to wrestling after his recovery.
It is revealed that Mike had damage to his brain from the fever, suffering from toxic shock syndrome.
From here, there’s some creative freedom leading up to his death. Mike feels the pressure from his father to have him return to the ring, even though Kevin discourages it. Some time passes, and Mike’s mental health deteriorates under the weight of trying to be like his brothers.
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As a way of coping, he takes an overdose of medication with beer. Mike sits on his bed until he grabs a blanket, finding a place to rest out in the field near the family home. He’s found the next day with a note saying he can’t be his brothers.
How did the family cope?
As expected, the Von Erich family didn’t take the news well, with more of Mike’s brothers dying by suicide after his death.
Mike’s death in The Iron Claw is very similar to the real story. However it shows Mike’s injury happening during a tour in Israel when he had already been wrestling for a while, when this is unclear in real life. His fever had appeared days after surgery leading to toxic shock syndrome. After some recovery, the real Mike did return to the ring.
The weight of continuing the family business spiraled him into depression and drug abuse. On April 12, 1987, Mike overdosed on the tranquilizer Placidyl. He was 23 years old and found with his sleeping bag in a heavily wooded area.
Speaking to The Guardian, Kevin said of Mike’s death “It was so much. It was like: ‘Oh God, not this again.’ Because I never thought Mike would do such a thing. He wasn’t healing, he was just wasting away.”
Kevin also claims not to believe in the family curse in the same interview.
The Iron Claw is available to watch digitally now. Read our review, find out whether there’s a post-credits scene in the movie, and find out how many brothers the Von Erich family had in real life.
Find even more amazing new movies and TV shows streaming this month, or dive into all the new true crime documentaries around right now. If that’s not enough, find out what’s in store this year for K-dramas coming to Netflix.
