Wrestling icon in Israel
Kevin Von Erich arrives in Israel for cameo appearance on local soap opera
TEL AVIV - (VIDEO) The 1980s are officially back. Vice Premier Shimon Peres is running for Labor Party chairman, and the recent Live 8 rock extravaganza was nothing more than Live Aid with Paul Young disguised as Robbie Williams.
And if all this is not enough of a flashback for you, Kevin Von Erich, the last remnant of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, has landed in Israel.
See exclusive Ynet interview with Kevin Von Erich:
Von Erich (originally Kevin Adkisson) is a wreck.
During his storied and extremely tragic career he has suffered nine major concussions (as well as a few minor ones), dozens of severe back injuries and four knee surgeries. He has also dislocated his shoulders on a number of occasions and has broken his nose dozens of times; at times he has to resort to nasal spray just so he may be able breathe. Not easy.
Von Erick is a born-again Christian, just like his Texas neighbor, U.S. President George W. Bush.
Like meeting a lost brother
When he was only two years old, Kevin’s brother Jack, then seven years old, died of electrocution. Twenty years later, his brother, David, died of a drug overdose in a Tokyo hotel; brothers Mike and Chris committed suicide in 1987 and 1991, respectively.
Kerry Von Erich, the family’s biggest wrestling star along with Kevin, lost his foot in a motorcycle accident but continued to perform with a prosthetic leg. Later he became addicted to painkillers and drugs, and also killed himself.
Eight years ago, Kevin’s father, Fritz, the man who started it all, died of cancer at age 68.
Kevin came to Israel to appear in the final episode of the hit soap opera, “Telenovela Ltd.”
The soap opera’s head writer and wrestling aficionado Dror Novelman came up with the idea of asking the former sports entertainment phenom to make a cameo appearance on the TV show.
“I picked him up from the airport, it was like meeting a lost brother hadn’t seen in 40 years,” Novelman says. “Suddenly my childhood hero was standing right in front of me.”
Video footage courtesy of Shai Rosenzweig
