The Iron ClawMy life as a wrestling fan was admittedly pretty short. I came in just before the beginning of the Attitude Era. Was there for the ascension of Stone Cold, the emergence of The Rock, the chaos of D-Generation X. Trish Stratus (yum) and Lita (double yum), the Hardy Boys, Kane, Undertaker, the Dudleys, Rashiki, Christian, Godfather, Val Venis, Ken Shamrock, Stephanie McMahon (yum yet again), Big Show, Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and more than any other Mankind/Mick Foley.
When those guys started to vanish, so too did my interest. I didn't care about Randy Orton (at all). Batista didn't interest me. No fan of Lesner, or Nash, or Flair, or Van Dam, or Steiner. Even Cena did nothing for me. The product changed and I moved on mentally. I don't remember choosing to stop watching, I just did.
I didn't know anything about this family - the Von Erichs - profiled in this film. Maybe I should have, but I just didn't. Never heard of them before.
Lots of supposed talent on display. Bulked up (and ridiculous looking, honestly) Zac Efron. Bulked up Jeremy Allen 'Shameless Bear' White. Old-looking Maura Tierney (wasted in this). Snarling "you've seen him before but probably can't remember where" Holt McCallany, and Lily "Trying too hard with the accent" James.
The wrestling family tried to claw their way to the top of the ring world. Daddy (McCallany) came close but never made it even though he had a signature "Claw" move. He pushed his sons to get there. They kind of did. One of them beat Ric Flair once for some kind of title.
The family was plagued by stupid decisions and multiple suicides.
I never saw the point of this film. What was the arc? They suffered from bad luck, apparent mental weakness, and the single-minded obsession of the dad, who lived vicariously through the accomplishments of his kids. There was nobody to root for, no real hero. They were all flawed, stupid, weak, and obsessed over something completely inconsequential. And then most of them stupidly killed themselves.
Not every life is a story worthy of being immortalized on film. This is one, to me, that really didn't have anything worthwhile to say - unless you're just interested in being mired in depression and nothingness.
Since the movie was soda pressing, here's a photo of Trish and Lita, 25 years after they rocked the ring and looked spectacular doing it....