- A fascinating documentary that shows the rise and fall of WCCW. World Class Championship Wrestling, based in Texas. It also documents the very sad story of the Von Erich family. A wrestling dynasty of Texas, with the brothers all dying below the age of 35 with only Kevin Von Erich surviving.—chris oakley
- Jack Adkisson was best known as professional wrestler "Fritz Von Erich," a famed wrestling heel who was one of many who used the Nazi shtick as part of his wrestling persona. After falling out with some existing wrestling promotions, he decided to start his own wrestling promotion which would later become known as World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW, not to be confused with the WCW), covering a region in Texas and based in the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas. The promotion began aiming at younger up and coming professional wrestlers rather than the old veterans that were filling the cards at the other promotions. Among those rising young stars were Adkisson's own sons who used the "Von Erich" name though, unlike their father, the handsome and athletically talented boys were baby-faces who were quickly risen to the stars of the promotion. They filled the 4,500 seat Sportatorium and venues on other cities. When they moved their television operations to a larger and better equipped television station, it reportedly became the first wrestling promotion to use the new portable video cameras that allowed the cameramen to get closer to the action, even from inside the ring. With the improvement in production values of their television presentations, the decision was made to go beyond their territory through syndication to television stations and cable outlets. It became such a big success that their markets extended overseas to areas as far away as Japan and the Middle East. They even provided programming to a cable network then known as the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and quickly became the top-rated show on that network as well as one of the leading syndication programs in the country. David Von Erich became the breakout star who was on the fast track to the championship. While in Japan to appear on All Japan Wrestling, he was found dead in his hotel room. The official cause of death was attributed to acute enteritis, an easily curable stomach ailment. Many still believe that the death was the result of a drug overdose. In the following years, a number of performers on WCCW's roster would die at young ages due to drug overdoses and heart failures. Two of the Von Erich brothers would take their own lives. Jack Adkisson (Fritz Von Erich) would be diagnosed with brain cancer. Like the WCCW, the Sportatorium would go through a period of decline. Abandoned, falling into disrepair, and damaged by fire, the building was finally condemned. In a touching sequence, the sole surviving Von Erich brother, Kevin, would take us on tour of the building as the demolition crew were in the first phases of their work. In a well-executed dissolve, the image would go from the Sportatorium in its final days to the empty lot where it once stood. Kevin Von Erich would leave professional wrestling and move his family to a ranch in Hawaii. This documentary, running almost 2 hours and 40 minutes, traces the spectacular rise and fall of World Class Championship Wrestling and weaves in the spectacular rise and incredibly tragic fall of the family known to the public as the Von Erichs.
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