The Iron Claw meets the Iron Dome: Wrestler Kevin Von Erich comes to Tel Aviv

The Von Erich family from the movie and real life

Legendary American wrestler, Kevin Von Erich, whose family is the subject of the new movie, The Iron Claw, which opened in theaters around Israel on Thursday, is not about to let a little thing like a couple of missiles, let alone missiles fired by Hamas aimed at terrifying Israeli civilians, get him down.

Von Erich, sipping a cool glass of milk on a rainy Tel Aviv morning at the Savoy Hotel the day after he arrived in Israel, just laughed when one of the trip organizers mentioned to him where to run in case the noise of a siren, which has become unpleasantly familiar to locals since October 7, rang out.

“I’m not worried about that,” said the soft-spoken retired wrestling champion, whose eyes, as much as his words, reveal the depth of his affection for Israel, a country where he has performed in wrestling matches in the past, including a post-retirement match about six years ago. Von Erich is the scion of the Von Erich dynasty, known for the Iron Claw move pioneered by his father, Fritz Von Erich, and Von Erich was set to attend the Israeli premiere of The Iron Claw on Thursday night. But while he said he was happy to show up for this event, he has a deeper and more pressing reason for this trip: to show his support for the hostages and their families, as well as for the families of those who lost loved ones in the October 7 massacre.

Emphasizing that his wrestler sons, Ross and Marshall, very much wanted to accompany him on this trip, but were prevented by passport renewal problems during the holiday season, he spoke of his deep love of Israel. “It was the least I could do,” said Von Erich, when asked why he agreed to visit when he invited by the company that runs Dizengoff Center, where the family’s wrestling championship belt is on display, and the Lev Cinemas chain. “I don’t want to speak out like I’m someone who knows something. All these people are suffering. I know I have a following here and I thought if I could come here and just hurt with them. I don’t know that there’s anything I could say, but I could just hurt with them.”

Yarden Bibas’s cousin, Eylon Keshet, with Kevin Von Erich. (credit: courtesy of the Hostage Families Forum)

Yarden Bibas’s cousin, Eylon Keshet, with Kevin Von Erich. (credit: courtesy of the Hostage Families Forum)

Meeting the victims, providing support

And hurt with them he did, immediately after his arrival. In spite of jet lag – he is based in Texas and also has a home in Hawaii – and in spite of lost luggage, as soon as his plane touched down at Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday, he headed to Hostage Square in Tel Aviv for a meeting with the hostage families. Von Erich had an especially emotional meeting with the father of Idan Shtivi ,who was badly injured at the Nova Music Festival when he was shot by Hamas terrorists when he tried to rescue other festivalgoers, and then was kidnapped.  “His son is wounded and he doesn’t know where he is or how he’s doing. And I could feel his pain, I have sons, too, and they’re my heart. I just can’t imagine what he’s going through. You know I’ve lost brothers,” he said, noting he is the sole survivor of his family, after his five brothers died. “And to not know what has happened. Many of the families have been split up, and people have been raped, and Hamas has done this. They would fire their missiles from playgrounds and apartment buildings and hospitals. . . I have Jewish fans, and I have Arab fans, and I love them. And I want them to know that I don’t think that all of them are like Hamas, the Hamas members are hate filled and without any regard for decency or humanity.”

He also spoke about meeting Eylon Keshet, a cousin of Yarden Bibas, who was kidnapped into Gaza with his wife Shiri, along with his toddler son, Ariel, and their baby, Kfir, who will turn one in captivity next week. In a particularly cruel and upsetting hostage video, Yarden was told by his captors that this family had been killed, although there was no evidence presented that they are dead. “I told him I would do everything I can to support the hostage families,” said Von Erich.

Even a day later, Von Erich was still emotional about this meeting. “Israel wants to be so fair. I think Israelis have the nature of Jesus. Jesus is a Jew, he was by nature filled with love and mercy.” When Von Erich heard about Hamas cruelty, he said he thought about how his impulse would be to torture them in return, if his family had been caught or killed by Hamas. “I salute the people of Israel for having compassion and love and for wanting peace so bad. Hello and goodbye here is ‘peace.’ Shalom. They want to just live together in harmony. I guess Iran put people up to this, but how could you give an order to commit these horrible crimes? It doesn’t make sense unless good is fighting evil. And you’re the chosen people. I love God, that’s why I love Israel . . . Good is fighting evil, you’re God’s people.”

He has a full schedule planned for rest of this trip, including meetings with soldiers and evacuees, a visit to the remains of Kibbutz Be’eri, where some of the worst and cruelest ravages of the Hamas killing spree took place, and then a meeting with President Isaac Herzog early next week. He will also take part in the commemoration ceremony on Sunday to mark 100 days since the hostages were taken captive, in which bills will be rung.

Kevin Von Erich at Dizengoff Center with his family’s world championship belt on display. (credit: ALEX KAPLAN)

Kevin Von Erich at Dizengoff Center with his family’s world championship belt on display. (credit: ALEX KAPLAN)

While he is more enthusiastic when talking about his love for the country and his anger at Hamas, he understands that the new big budget movie about his family’s life, The Iron Claw, is of great interest to his fans, as well as to the general moviegoing public. Surprisingly, he said he was not consulted by the filmmakers and he wishes he had been. The behind-the-scenes story of the Von Erich family is far more dramatic than anything that went on in the ring. His father, Fritz, played by Holt McCallany, is the wrestler and promoter who came up with the famed Iron Claw move. In the film, he is portrayed as a strict taskmaster, who drove his sons to excel, but also pushed so hard that they broke down at times. Kevin’s older brother, Jack, died as a child. Later on, his brother David (Harris Dickinson) was found dead in his hotel room while in Japan, the result of complications from injuries, while he was preparing to fight the world champion. Another brother, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White, best known for The Bear), committed suicide after losing his foot following a motorcycle accident, and his brother, Mike (Stanley Simon) also took his own life after he suffered brain damage from complications after shoulder surgery. There was yet another brother, Chris, who also died, but who is not portrayed in the movie.

While he doesn’t mind some changes that were made in terms of condensing timelines, Von Erich is concerned that audiences may judge his father harshly. “My dad wasn’t mean, that’s not true. He pushed us, he was a strict disciplinarian. He whupped us, that’s what they did then. But my brothers didn’t kill themselves because of him, it was because of drugs.”

The trauma of losing his brothers has left Von Erich with what a psychologist would call survivor guilt. “I’ve asked myself, ‘Why am I alive?’ when they are all dead?” he said. He then explained that he had an epiphany of sorts that helped him move forward when he looked at a persimmon tree – he has a ranch where his children and grandchildren live and work – and he saw that most of the fruit had fallen to the ground, but there was one persimmon clinging to a branch. “It just hung on,” he said, still sounding amazed by it as he spoke.

Von Erich wants to help Israel hang on, and he will do what he can while he is here. “I love Texas and I love Israel,” he said, before heading off to start his very full day.