The Von Erichs were a family of professional wrestlers who were originally from Texas. Their actual surname was Adkisson, but they all went by Von Erich in the ring. Fritz, the family's patriarch, took the surname as part of his wrestling persona. He originally portrayed a Nazi heel in the ring.

By the time Fritz died in 1997, five of his six sons had already died.

The first son to die was Jack Jr., Fritz's firstborn, who was just 6 years old when he was accidentally shocked and then drowned in a puddle.

David Von Erich, the third-born son, died of enteritis in Tokyo in 1984. Although enteritis is his official cause of death, most people think that David died from a drug overdose.

Fritz's second-born son is still alive, and had a long career as a wrestler.

Fritz's other three sons all died by suicide. Kerry shot himself on his father's ranch in 1993. Mike injured his shoulder wrestling and had to have surgery, leading to toxic shock syndrome. He took a fatal dose of tranquilizers in 1987. Chris shot himself in 1991 after several years of failing to break into the wrestling business, which were combined with his depression over the death of his brother.