Kerry Von Erich - What If?

There are endless "what if?" stories in professional wrestling, but one I often wonder about is Kerry Von Erich's wreck. Of course, there are many what if's related to the Von Erich clan, but the topic today focuses on Kerry.

In 1986, Kerry was riding his motorcycle at a high rate of speed and crashed into the back of a police car. Kerry crushed his right foot. While the original plan was for foot surgery, which was a success, doctors were forced to pursue amputation after Kerry attempted to walk on the damaged foot while high on painkillers.

It also certainly didn’t help matters that he came back too soon.

From here on forward, Kerry would continue to actively compete using a prosthesis while keeping his handicap a secret until after his death. While Kerry was still actively competing, only a select few including Roddy Piper were aware of his prosthesis.

In his book, My Life In Wrestling: With A Little Help From My Friends, Gary Hart discussed how he learned about Kerry’s prosthetic foot along with the pain he was forced to endure.

Eventually, Kerry had his foot amputated, and it was a big secret. I figured something was up, because during a match, he kicked me on my forearm, and it hurt a lot – as if he had a loaded boot. As time went by, my suspicions were confirmed. My wife’s father was a doctor at All Saint’s Hospital, and he just so happened to be friends with the therapist who was fitting Kerry for a prosthetic foot. That’s how I found out that Kerry’s foot was amputated – through the Texas grapevine.

Kerry was like my nephew, and I never saw his stump. He came and went with his wrestling boots on. And if Uncle Gary didn’t see it - nobody saw it. Bill Apter wrote an article claiming that he saw Kerry’s feet - and that it was all scarred up and still there - but Bill wrote that because he wanted to protect Kerry, and God bless him for that.

When I became the booker, I used Kerry as cautiously and as carefully as I could. I also didn’t use him very much, and would always tell him to relax, because I knew that he was living under extremely difficult circumstances. Aside from the stress of just having one foot, can you imagine how painful it must have been for him? I’ll never understand how he wrestled on it. The absorption rate when a wrestler hits the mat with all his amenities together hurts as it is. I couldn’t imagine how it felt every time Kerry went slamming down on a foot that was no longer there. It’s not an excuse - but it is some insight as to why he developed a dependency on drugs. Kerry Von Erich had such great love for wrestling, and the only way he could wrestle was to have some type of medication to let him continue to do it.

Understandably, the injury really dramatically altered Kerry's quality of life which further led to a dependency on painkillers. One can only begin to imagine the agony Kerry lived with on a daily basis.

That said, Kerry was also a very lost soul. When he couldn’t find a doctor who would prescribe him drugs, he stole some prescription pads, which landed him in very hot water.

Dealing with an addiction that cost him his job with WWF, a marriage that collapsed along with potential jail time related to drugs, Kerry Von Erich would ultimately escape the nightmare that became his life with a single gunshot to the heart while on his father's ranch. This was using the same gun Kerry gifted his father Fritz for Christmas. A macabre sense of symbolism.

The Von Erichs were larger than life and rockstars within the world of professional wrestling, but they remain a cautionary tale.

What if Kerry Von Erich never wrecked his motorcycle?

What if Kerry had never been so dependent on painkillers in the first place?

What if Kerry put pride aside and sought help?

Would he still be here alongside Kevin and have broken the curse or was his premature demise inevitable?

What if.......