Fritz Von Erich

[NotJayTabb]

I know that Fritz Von Erich is a guy with a terrible reputation outside the ring, but I've never heard much of an opinion given of his work inside the ring. I watched some of his work in Japan a year or so back, and I was really pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed his matches with Baba and Jumbo. He just seemed like a big nasty bastard, who was happy to bust people open, take cheapshots and knows he's got one special weapon (the Claw) that is really easy to apply, and will just try and wear guys down with it. The only match of his I've seen in the US is the retirement match against Bundy, which I also enjoyed, and just wondered what the consensus on him is as a worker?

Just to copy in what I wrote about the Baba/Jumbo matches when I watched them:
Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba
It's 1966, it's 2/3 falls and it's in glorious black and white. Fritz attacks early, including a vicious punt to Baba's upper chest, and the bell hasn't even sounded. Fritz batters Baba, and goes for the claw early, but Baba moves and starts working over Fritz with some good looking blows of his own. A big chop gives Baba the first fall early, but Fritz grabs him in the claw from the mat as he tries to climb off. As this is between falls, Fritz feels no need to release the hold, leaving a barely standing Baba prone at the start of the next fall. Fritz goes for the claw right away, but Baba fights with all his might to keep it off. I love the way Fritz will interject with a boot to take Baba's focus off the claw before attempting to reapply it. Baba gets rammed into the ringpost, and is left bleeding and beaten on the floor as Fritz goes back on the attack. The result of this is that the crowd goes mad everytime Fritz misses a blow or Baba gets on offence. Baba comes back to life and starts stalking Fritz around the ring, but Von Erich cheap shots and regains control. Back inside, Fritz gets the claw in the centre of the ring to win the second fall.

We cut to the third fall to see Fritz throwing someone outside the ring, but Baba takes over on him and throws him over the top rope, causing Fritz to retreat into the crowd. God, I love this match so far. Fritz is awesome at cowering off when Baba is on offence. They brawl on the floor, and Baba gives a chair to the claw hand to neutralise that threat. Von Erich retruns the favour by leathering Baba in the head with the chair, at which point the referee gives the fall to Baba by DQ. That doesn't seem to make sense, seeing as how Baba used the chair first, but that appears to be the decision. Great match.

Fritz Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Fast forward 9 years to 1975, and Fritz still hates Baba. We know this as he gets into a brawl with him at ringside, and spends most of the prematch yelling at him. Indeed, this actually works against him right away. You know that terrible spot you get almost weekly on Raw, where a wrestler will allow himself to be distracted by a rival, leading to him being rolled-up for the loss? We essentially get that end to the first fall, only better as rather than roll Fritz up, Jumbo just decides to beat him up for two minutes and pin him, which gives the fall to Jumbo's power rather than the element of surprise.

This, of course, riles up Fritz before the second fall, and he focuses his attack....on Baba at ringside again. Eventually, he decides to focus on his opponent. Fritz is wise enough to know he can get a great reaction by just threatening the claw, so goes for it early and often, eventually locking in a stomach claw before Jumbo makes the ropes. Fritz repeatedly wears Jumbo down with the claw in the ropes, which means that, when he gets it mid-ring, Jumbo is unable to escape it, and this evens up the falls.

Jumbo is now split open from this assault, so Fritz zones in on the cut like a shark. Jumbo is weakened with bloodloss, so starts getting escorted back to the locker-room, but he ain't going out like that, breaking free and going back into the ring. Of course, he's still no match for a fit Fritz, and he ends up getting battered again before a load of trainees and Baba himself come to his rescue. Not a great match, but great wrestling that really sets up the Fritz/Baba match nicely...

Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba
...and here is is from one week later. They've even brought in two refs, one Japanese and one American for this, which appears to be last man standing. Typically, Fritz assaults Baba before the bell. They trade blows outside the ring, before a bloodied Fritz claws Baba and pulls him into the ring. I love the image of Fritz, blood pouring down his face, clutching Baba by the face. A few solid chops by Baba eventually frees him. Baba stomps the claw hand and then rams it into the ringpost, and suddenly Fritz has to beg off from the assault of Baba. Fritz just about survives being counted to the mat, and applies a stomach claw to Baba. The count stops on 9 when Fritz is just about sat up, which really feels like it should be a loss to me. Fritz re-claws him, but Baba slips to ringside to escape it. Baba survives being rammed into a table, and a missed Fritz blow allows him to go back on the offensive, chopping away at Von Erich. Fritz gets chopped from the apron to the floor, and these ten counts are getting closer and closer. Fritz gets sent to the floor one last time and that's it, as he fails to beat the count. Being a gracious loser, he sneaks in one final stomach claw before leaving. Really fun match, they built up the tension mastefully with the falls.

[Guest si oem]

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[Wade Garrett]

I think he's head and shoulders above his boys as a worker. Only Kerry coulda (shoulda) topped him.

[ohtani's jacket]

Fritz vs. Baba was a fun match, but I don't think any of Fritz' kids had the look and build to be a heel the way Fritz was, and it as far easier to get over as a German heel in the 60s than it was the 80s. The exception was David, who was the overly aggressive as a babyface and would have made a great heel. Incidentally, does Fritz have the most gravelly voice ever? It sounds like he swallowed a cement mixer. I swear they used after effects on it.

[Al]

Watching the Von Erich/Baba '75 match, you get the feeling that Fritz would be a kinder, gentler human being if he were actually a Nazi.

[ohtani's jacket]

That Baba vs. Fritz match from '75 may be the most minimalist bout I've seen. It's built entirely around Baba's chop vs. Fritz' claw, and features two refs at ringside doing synchronized counting, one in red and the other in blue, which is odd enough in itself. But it's a pretty good bout, especially due to Fritz' cut, which leads to a lot of blood smeared chops. Fritz took a fair old beating. I wasn't expecting him to actually stay down, but he did, and Baba was declared the winner. Or outlasted him, as the case may be. Would have liked to have seen the stomach claw applied on Baba during the bout instead of post-match. That would have made for the one dramatic note the bout needed to make it less conceptual, but it was an interesting bout nonetheless.

[ohtani's jacket]

I've been trying to watch as much 50s and 60s Von Erich as I can find.

 

Highlights include a wild brawl with "Whipper" Billy Watson where Von Erich stooges for referee Rocky Marciano, and Gene Kiniski and a bunch of security guards get involved; film of a great looking fight between Kiniski and Von Erich where Fritz brutalises Kiniski before the bell; Fritz popping commentator Joe Blanchard with a right hand in the post-match interview, and clips of heated bout between the two; and a battle of the big boys with Yukon Eric.

[El-P]

Fritz vs. Baba was a fun match, but I don't think any of Fritz' kids had the look and build to be a heel the way Fritz was, and it as far easier to get over as a German heel in the 60s than it was the 80s. The exception was David, who was the overly aggressive as a babyface and would have made a great heel.

 

Agreed. And from watching that 66 Fritz vs Baba match, two things : Fritz was probably better than any of his sons, and Baba was indeed one damn good worker.