During the quarantine period of COVID I got pretty scared. I'll always remember lying in bed at night and feeling a tickle in the back of my throat, making me positive that I was going to start struggling to breathe by the morning. Every day it was some new aspect of fear that would creep into my studio apartment, living with me like a roommate that's always gone when you're awake but home when you're asleep.
I needed something to take my mind off of that fear. Something to watch that could engage my brain and allow me to ignore my fatalist leanings. Something fun that could supply me with enough hours of entertainment that I could spend a month or two indoors just writing and watching something purely delightful. That's when I discovered for around $10 a month I could stream the last 60+ years of professional wrestling. Chronologically.
I watched WWF (the World Wrestling Federation) when I was 7-12 years old, long before it became the WWE, in what is now considered to be the Golden Age of Wrestling. Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, the Bushwackers and very briefly, The Texas Tornado, were the first heroes I can remember having. As I got older, it became less cool and then I quit watching it completely when I discovered "The Simpsons" and "The X-Files."
Wrestlers seemed invincible to me as a kid and I really wanted some of that strength to rub off on my immuno-compromised self. So, in March of 2020, I started watching professional wrestling recorded back in the '50s, at first ironically until I got into the '80s, and then I just outright fell in love with it. I got that it was goofy and sometimes incredibly stupid, but watching it in order got me hooked on the soap opera aspect of the storylines. Imagine if every once in a while on General Hospital when two people got in an argument, one of them would get thrown through a table or drop kicked in the face.
During this time, I discovered the Von Erich family of wrestlers, Fritz and his sons David, Kerry, Kevin, Chris and Mike. Watching David, Kerry and Kevin wrestle was truly electrifying as it almost seemed like they could read each other's minds in the ring. Flying from the top rope, backflips across the ring and their legendary finishing move that they inherited from their father... the Iron Claw.
The new film "The Iron Claw" tells the story of the Von Erich family and the supposed curse that brought them down, one after the other. Their story is a heartbreaking one and I won't spoil it here since not everyone grew up with it like I did. I've been excited for the film since it was announced a few years ago, especially with Sean ("Martha, Marcy May, Marlene") Durkin attached to direct, let's just say my expectations were gigantuous.
With Holt ("Mindhunters") McCallany as Fritz Von Erich, Zac Efron as Kevin, Jeremy Allen White ("The Bear") as Kerry and Harris ("Triangle of Sadness") Dickenson as David, I was instantly pulled into this reimagining of the story. In fact, the true-life story is so tragic and heartbreaking that Durkin left out a brother, Chris, because he felt like the audience wouldn't have gone along with a story that depressing. As much as I didn't like the changes made to the story, Durkin was right. People would have thought it was too dramatic.
I never thought I would say this in a thousand years but here we are: expect Zac Efron to get nominated for an Oscar this year. As Kevin von Erich, the central brother who continues to survive all the tragedy in his family, he's incredible. He's so swole he looks like he could pull my head off, but he finds such a centered warmth to the gentle giant that he carries the movie effortlessly. He's that good. If I'm Ef-wrong about his Oscar nomination, then I don't wanna be right.
"The Iron Claw" is electrifying and mesmerizing, just like it was watching the real Von Erich brothers wrestle back in the day. Even if you think wrestling is fake and stupid (like most grown-ups), you'll still be enthralled by the performances, deeply humane filmmaking and heart-rending true story. Even though most people know that the fights are loosely scripted and the punches are being somewhat pulled, the life of a professional wrestler is a hard one, with injuries stacking one on top of the next and drugs and alcohol becoming a way of life to numb the pain. They're professional athletes whether you want to admit it or not.
After a few months of watching wrestling, it hit me that I wasn't lying awake at night thinking about COVID as much anymore, but it wasn't because of the wrestlers' seeming invincibility rubbing off on me like I had anticipated. It was their vulnerability that helped me. These men and women, the Von Erichs very much included, would walk out into the squared circle like giants, like demigods come down to Earth to entertain us mere mortals. In doing so, they would destroy themselves, breaking down their bodies and their minds until so many of them died tragically and entirely too young.
Watching wrestling didn't instill me with invincibility, it helped me embrace mortality. Andre the Giant, Macho Man Randy Savage, Owen Hart, Mr. Perfect, Kerry and David Von Erich and so many, many more wrestlers weren't invincible, but are immortal as we still watch them in the ring. So yeah, I started watching wrestling because it's a big dumb soap opera with backflips, but I think I'll keep watching it because of the flawed and aching humanity on display. "The Iron Claw" probably won't make general audiences start watching professional wrestling, but it might make them respect it just a little bit, and that's a good place to start.
