How accurate is The Iron Claw movie? (2024)

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How much of The Iron Claw movie is true? ›

Although The Iron Claw is based on a true story, it is a dramatisation rather than a completely faithful retelling, and as well as the absence of Chris, there are various other historical inaccuracies and omissions in the film – including the fact that Fritz and his wife Doris actually split up in real life.

The Iron Claw is a work of fiction and, like plenty of good films, takes a few creative liberties, so it's inevitable that Von Erich would disagree with some of its conclusions. It's safe to assume that the truth probably lies somewhere in between. The Iron Claw is out in UK cinemas 9 February 2024.

In actuality, Kerry was released by the WWF in August 1992 due to his issues with substance abuse. The film depicts Kevin taking over from Fritz and running the business. This never happened as in real life Fritz had sold the company to Jerry Jarrett.

While Kevin Von Erich was supportive of the decision to not include Chris in The Iron Claw, he recently expressed on the Talk Is Jericho podcast that the film's depiction of his father, Fritz, is not accurate, and that he was an "honorable, good man."

The Iron Claw true story. As well as following the Von Erichs' rise to the top of the wrestling game, The Iron Claw documents the tragic death of every Von Erich son bar Kevin. David died in a hotel room in Japan in February 1987 before he was due to fight Ric Flair in a championship bout.

Chris was excluded from 'The Iron Claw' to keep the narrative tight. Durkin said in the production notes that aspects of the Von Erich story had to be omitted because of time constraints. "The reality is so much worse than what is in the movie," he said.

He died by suicide at the age of 21. Durkin tells EW that although he included Chris Von Erich in his original scripts, he ultimately decided to consolidate the brothers to four, purely for narrative reasons. "That was one of the toughest decisions I had to make," he says.

“One of the hardest decisions possible was cutting Chris,” the director explains. “And the reason why (is), Chris was in the script for a lot of years and I loved him and loved his character. But ultimately as a writer and filmmaker, I had to separate the real humans from the characters on the page at some point.”

Kevin had several close matches with NWA World Champ Ric Flair, including the main event of the 2nd David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium, but never won the title.

Durkin says that in removing Chris Von Erich's story, Mike Von Erich became a combination of the two brothers. According to a 1997 story by the Dallas Observer, Chris Von Erich had a smaller frame than his brothers and was weaker from his asthma and medication that stunted his growth and made his bones fragile.

What was left out of The Iron Claw movie? ›

In addition to Chris, and Kerry's family, other Von Erich family members The Iron Claw leaves out include David's (Harris Dickinson) deceased daughter and ex-wife.

He saw The Iron Claw and gave his approval

The wrestling great has already seen the movie and is a fan, telling 36-year-old Efron as much in a personal conversation prior to The Iron Claw's world premiere in November 2023.

While Von Erich gave his blessing to writer-director Sean Durkin to make the film, he addressed the creative liberties taken with his family's story in a recent interview for Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho podcast (per WrestlingInc).

Efron reflected on speaking with the real-life Kevin the night before its Dallas premiere. “I was very curious about what he thought of the movie,” he shared. “We went out to the patio, sat forehead to forehead, and talked about life for an hour and a half. And he told me that he did enjoy the movie.

In addition to Chris, and Kerry's family, other Von Erich family members The Iron Claw leaves out include David's (Harris Dickinson) deceased daughter and ex-wife.

A unique hold. The Mandible Claw is something of an odd submission-style maneuver, mainly because it is one of only a handful of moves that can legitimately be applied to one's self.