Kerry Von Erich: Overrated or Underrated?

[It's...Baylariat!]

Kerry Von Erich. One thing comes to mind when I think of the Texas Tornado: Potential. Von Erich had the potential to be a great wrestler and borderline legend outside of Texas, but his demons got the best of him. In WCCW, he was THE top draw. He even went over Ric Flair in the early 80's for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title. The only names I can come up with that ever beat Flair for the belt back in that time were names like Race and Rhodes, and Von Erich was in that elite company. His potential to be a great star was there, but he was also very limited and depended on his look more than anything else. When your finisher is a Discus Punch, you really need to have something else good going for you to be a draw anywhere else except Texas.

As the Texas Tornado in the WWF, he was the Intercontinental Champion, facing wrestlers like Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart, two legends. So Von Erich could hold his own as a great athlete, but in the end, his drug abuse got the best of him. Some say he was great when he was around, some say he had wasted potential. I compare him to Magnum TA, minus the NWA title reign and him committing suicide.

So.. Kerry Von Erich. Overrated or underrated?

 

[WRESTLING_GENIUS]

Damn The WRESTLING_GENIUS is da first to touch on this and im so happy cuz i am from TEXAS and Kerry Von Eric was a (forgive me LORD) a Wrestling GOD in TEXAS for the late 70's and early 80's... This man is forever a Legend and I think he was underrated because In the WWF/E he only won the Intercontential Championship and held it for like 2 months and lost it to Mr.Perfect and after that he fell off BUT he did have a fan following and had some good feuds with Undertaker,Ted Dibease,Mr.Perfect, and yes Shawn Michaels befor he turned crazy and commited suicide jus think if he jus went to jail by now he be out and Lord knows what he couldve done after that BUT the Von Erich cursed followed him and when they were done it hit the Hart Family and anyone associated thru the Dungeon tsk tsk........OH YES I KNOW I AM A GENIUS.....

 

[byrnside]

WRESTLING_GENIUS, was that a response or did you just cut a promo?

The Texas Tornado, unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to seeing any of his NWA work. But I personally was a big fan of his in the WWF back in the early 90s. The only feud I remember him working was with one of my personal favorites in Mr. Perfect for the IC strap. But they had some good matches. I'm pretty sure at one point the WWF was grooming him to be the Ultimate Warrior's predecessor. And as the Genius before said, the drugs did get the best of him, leading to his arrest and suicide. His theme music is still something I can hum and will get stuck in my head to this day. It truly was a shame we didn't get to see more of him, as I'm sure he would've been a legend in the making. All that being said, I don't know if I can fairly rate The Tornado one way or the other. I just haven't seen enough of him to really bring much to the table. But what I did see, I can say I liked.

 

[dansaun77]

Kerry Von Erich had a great look, was pretty good on the mic and an exceptional; talent in the ring. The only reson he was given the NWA Title(for 18 days), was in recognition of David Von Erich, who was the biggest star of the Von Erich's, and next in line for the NWA Title. When he died, they held the massive show in Texas in May 1984, and to make the event so much more emotional and memorable, they had Kerry win. He dropped the title back in Japan to Flair, it was only ever a publicity stunt, there was never any thought of Kerry being the main man in NWA. Now in WWE, unfortunately for him, The Ultimate Warrior was just hitting his straps. Listen to there theme music, exactly the same theme, just played differently. Same beat chords, the lot. He had his personal issues, drug issues, and of course one leg, from the knee down which would have made being a main eventer borderline impossible. If Kerry Von Erich could have got clean and had his body to back his skill, he would have become a WWE Champion without doubt. But we will never know, and its a shame. To answer the question, he certainly wasn't over rated, but for his limitations, he was very, very good

 

[NDN Souljaa]

overrated.
yes the guy had the look, but had his name not been Von Erich, would he have gotten as far as he did? Or just been another version of Paul Roma or something?
David was the real wrestler of the group. Kerry was the sex symbol for the lack of a better term. I think he was fun to watch because of WHO he was. I personally think Kerry was inferior to David in every facet except for muscle tone. I think he was pretty bad with the stick (not the worst mind you, but for an NWA champion/future WWE champion..yes). But no one knows for sure how much drugs took a toll on the guy, in terms of wrestling ability.
Difference between him and Warrior was that Warrior really energized the crowd, regardless if you were a fan of his or not. Kerry didnt, unless you liked Tom Sawyer by Rush.

Basically his name made him great. Kind of like Ted Kennedy, but i digress...

 

[jmt225]

Highly underrated.

Had this guy not have such a drug problem, I really believe he could have ended up as big as Hulk Hogan. That's how highly I think of Kerry Von Erich. Had Kerry Von Erich been clean and still in the WWF when Hogan left, I strongly believe Vince would have decided to hand Kerry the ball and let him run with it, and there's no doubt in my mind Kerry would have led the WWF to some awesome, awesome numbers.

The guy just had it all. The perfect look, charisma out this World, was decent enough on the mic, and in the ring he was athletic and knew how to work the crowd as good as anyone. He's honestly one of the most naturally gifted wrestlers in the history of the business, if you ask me. You watch his work in WCCW, and I'm sure you'll see thing that I saw, and that was absolutely incredible wrestler who the fans adored. Shit, just watch him in the WWF. He hardly did anything while there, yet he still got as big of pops as ANYONE when he came through that curtain. There was just something about the guy that made you love him, and not many throughout the history of professional wrestling can claim to have that kind of presence. Kerry had it, and that makes him very, very special. And I don't think a lot of fans today realize just how special Kerry was, and that's what makes him underrated.

 

[PEP3]

While Kerry Von Erich was immensely popular, and more than capable in the ring on his "good days," most of his career was spent in a drug-induced haze that prevented him from living up to his potential. Even still, because of his good looks and family name, people booked him as if he was significantly better than he actually was. Booking someone based on "potential" only goes so far. It's like dating someone for their "potential." Maybe they could be something, if they really tried, but all you really wind up with is what they are.

The sad reality for Von Erich is he was a performer racked with drug addiction. His demons caused him an abbreviated run with the NWA World title, likely cost him his foot, and eventually took his life. Von Erich certainly had the potential, but it went wasted. Still, when people talk about him, his fans act as if he's the best thing to ever come out of Texas. Sadly, though he's the most accomplished, he wasn't even the best thing to come out of his own family.

Over-rated.

 

[why bother]

It's very diffucult for me to imagine anyone calling Kerry overrated! Take it from someone who actually watched him as it was happening, and not parroting opinions with the luxury of years to pick the poor bastard to pieces. Yes he had problems but he drew$ and lots of it! No it wasn't because of his name!!! It was because he looked like a rock star with Conan the Barbarians body whose work was good enough(wrestling is a work there are legions of wrestlers who are technically sound who have never been paid more than 50$ to work) to get by. Remember that by the time he came to WWF he was working without a portion of his leg (a fact that most seem to completely dismiss WTF!). History has painted Kerry as sort of a nice guy who was a fuck up, perhaps not in that order. I think he falls on that next rung of the ladder down from greatness but certainly not overrated!

 

[Dre Guevara]

UNDERRATED
B4 Hulkamania even showed up on my radar, there was Kerry Von Erich. I guess U can say he WAS the Total Package B4 Lex Luger came along. I have 2 agree with most of U guys on his personal demons, as I also feel they got the best of him, but it's also like the Late Rick James said...."cocaine is a hell of a drug" who know where Kerry's career would be had he manned up & did his time in prison. someone compared his popularity 2 that of Magnum TA & 2 some extent I can agree with that except that Magnum never won the NWA title & what happened 2 him in regards 2 his career was more tragic IMO.

The Von Erich Family=The Kennedys of Pro Wrestling.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I like this post. As soon as I saw this, I said to myself, this guy was super overrated. I still hold true to that belief. The reason why is because like the poster said, he was THE man in Texas, but that was about it. But looking deeper let's consider the fact that if he were truly the man in Texas, his job was to make sure his promotion got over elsewhere, something he failed at. I know he had that motorcycle accident that derailed his career, that's one thing. But David Von Eric was always the best of the rest of the brothers, and even Kevin was better than Kerry.

Kerry had a look, that was about it. That damn iron claw made me sick to my stomach and he only went over on Flair because David was supposed to have been the choosen one but he died suddenly. From various sources (including Lawler), Kerry had the possibility to be wasted before matches, which means he not only put himself but also his opponent at risk.

His old man was the driving force behind his push, obviously since he was the boss' son. And also, he was only good as his foes, which were the Freebirds, but when the Birds went to the NWA, they won the tag titles. What did Kerry do? Well, we all know what happened. I guess you could say that winning the IC title back then was a big accomplishment because almost everyone at that time with the exception of a very few (The Bulldog, Piper, The Mountine, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect & Kerry) all went on to win the WWE title.

My point: Had it not be for his brothers, Kerry would have been just another wrestler with a million dollar body and two dollar ability.

 

[NSL]

Von Erich was definitely under-rated. You can say what you want about his finisher, but the guy was wrestling on one foot. Yes...He had a prosthetic. What did you expect him to do? Flying dropkicks?

He was good in the ring, and fought a good style for what he could. His promos were never trailblazers, but they were good enough. At least they didn't sound like coke-fueled binges like Hogan, Warrior, Savage, or any other main eventer of the day.

 

[NOD_FAN]

He was definitely underrated. Some of you are to young to recall. He had some battles with Jerry Lawler back in the day that were amazing to me at the time. I recall when he and Lawler squared off for the belts. Jerry was champ and von was champ. Jerry beat Von with a pile driver but was disqualified cause it was illegal to use in that territory. I think the WWE missed used him and I hated the Texas tornado gimmick. He was a legend and could have been one of the best if his demons didn’t get to him.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I know everyone says "he could have been this or that if it had not been for his demons" but I still believe that he demons were only a small portion of the bigger picture. I understand that wrestling in the 80s were almost night and day compared to present-day wrestling (and even the Attitude era) but Kerry was still overrated. Sure, he stayed in Texas and to a certain degree he had to, I mean, by 1986 WCCW was pretty much on its last leg, but even when he moved on he was still pretty stale. Okay, so the man had one foot, everyone knows that, and perhaps I'm asking too much of Kerry's career overall to NOT call him overrated, but I'm comparing him to others within the Texas area who were WAYYYY better than him (those included are, but not limited to, Gino Hernandez, Chris Adams, The Freebirds, etc etc). Kerry got his massive push (and the NWA belt) because his father was the booker, owner and played politics back in the day.

And as far as having great matches with Lawler, Lawler can have a great match with anyone. He's Jerry "freakin" Lawler. The man never lost to Hogan AND Flair. If Lawler chose to, he could come out of retirement RIGHT NOW and have a five star classic on Raw next week. He's just that damn good! Just saying folks, Kerry was overrated on so many levels. A good guy with demons, but overrated still.

 

[K_VonFong]

Underrated. Of course, I might be a little bias and i'm dating myself here as well, but Kerry Von Erich was one of my favorite wrestlers as a kid and the reason that my nickname is Von Fong. I've used the Von Fong moniker for over a decade now and its my "character" when i used to wrestle backyard-matches and on my fire pro wrestling edits as well.

Kerry Von Erich was the man back in the day. I can understand how people would vote for overrated, perhaps becuase he didn't live up to his potential or becuase of his lack of in-ring skill. But wrestling isn't all about "in-ring abilities" - sorry to break it to all you elitist smarky snobs. The industry is about a lot more than that and Kerry brought many of the intangibles that you just can't teach. He had the "look" and a lot of charisma, maybe not the greatest on the stick, but like people have said before he wasn't by any means horrible. In terms of his ringwork, he wasn't technically sound, but he was missing a foot..come on, and he brought a lot of energy and excitement when he performed. Those are things that are hard to teach. Kerry von Erich is a true legend, a tragic story for sure, but certainly a wrestler that will be remembered.

 

[K_VonFong]

This is an interesting topic to discuss, but i think it all depends on how you choose to define under or overrated. Either way I'm glad the Von Erich's are getting some burn here. I like whoever compared them to the Kennedys....another sad wrestling story.....

 

[T2KFreeker]

I can say for a fact that Kerry was awesome. I watched the guy for a long time in hiw WCCW days. When he went to WWF, I was so happy. I think he is right on par with wgere he needs to be in terms of his legacy. Kevin is the one that is underated though. He was much better in the ring than people give him credit for and had he had the look that Kerry had, he could have been greater.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For me, I'd have to say that Kerry Von Erich is pretty much properly rated. Overall, he wasn't a bad pro wrestler at all but I'll never be able to think of him as an all time great or anything like that.

On the surface, it'd be easy to say that Kerry became a star because he spent most of his career working in WCCW and was pushed by his father. Kerry had what it took to be a big star in pro wrestling, his father couldn't give him that. He had a great look and was pretty damn good overall in the ring. His mic work was pretty weak, I wasn't all that thrilled with it, but I still enjoyed watching the guy. Kerry Von Erich could have probably gone to work for any other territory in America at that time and become a big star for that company. Like I said, he had the look and the in-ring ability. He did have some great matches over the years, particularly with Ric Flair and against various members of the Fabulous Freebirds. I think if Kerry had decided to leave WCCW circa 1984-1985, things could have been different.

Ultimately, I think Kerry did have some untapped potential that he wasn't able to bring about because of some of the choices he made. Kerry's drug use and being an unreliable worker are well known in wrestling. I think that if Kerry had, perhaps, had someone that was really able to look out for him, maybe drugs wouldn't have had such a hold on him. Drug use was rampant in WCCW during the 80s and Fritz Von Erich was well known to turn a blind eye to it as long as it didn't interfere with the company. I think, somewhere along the line, Fritz stopped seeing his boys as his sons and more along the lines of an important part of the product.

After Kerry had his foot amputated after his motorcycle accident, he just wasn't the same. He could still go pretty well in the ring, but he was nowhere near what he once was. By the time he finally went to the WWF, Kerry was basically an emotional and physical burn out. His drug use had really gotten out of control, he was on the verge of going to prison and just..well just figured suicide was the only way out.

I definitely can't call him underrated because Fritz Von Erich did all he could to help make Kerry the real centerpiece of WCCW. I can't really call him overrated because I think he could have been even better than he was if he had made some different choices in his life.

 

[Tastycles]

I think underrated. He was very entertaining back in the day, and he had a charisma that was very unusual for someone as low down in the WWF as he was. I'm sure his name helped him, but he managed to thrive in an organisation his father had no input into to. Watch the old rumbles, and you'l see the Tornado is in the top 5 for crowd reaction just about every time.

Kerry Von Erich was by far the most talented of that family, and demons aside could have made a big name for himself in the early nineties when stars were few and far between. As it was, he was just anohter wrestling tragedy.