Ross and Marshall Von Erich are the current Tag Team Champions in MLW and even though they have a great family dynasty to uphold, they are far from the only names in MLW with an outstanding pedigree.
Speaking with Spencer Love, Ross and Marshall Von Erich open up about what it’s like to be in an organization with second-generation names like Brian Pillman Jr., Jacob Fatu, and Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Credit to Spencer Love for passing along the following quotes.
Working with fellow legacy wrestlers like Brian Pillman Jr, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Jacob Fatu:
Marshall Von Erich: “It’s just so awesome, because a lot of the guys, you know, in our life, it’s hard to meet somebody with a lot of common ground, and these guys have the same upbringing we had. You know, they had – their dads were wrestlers, their grandpas were wrestlers, so it’s been, like, the only thing they know as well. And it really is the only thing we know. We grew up in locker rooms, wrestling has been a part of our lives our entire lives, and so to meet other men like that, and to be doing what our fathers and grandfathers were doing is – everyone’s extremely happy with where they’re at. You know, like, if my dad was a blacksmith, we’d probably be blacksmiths. It doesn’t matter. When you’re a kid you want to be like your dad, and that’s why I got a lot of love for men without fathers because having a good dad has been nothing but a huge blessing in our lives and stuff. To meet guys with their head on straight with not having that fatherly figure growing up, it amazes me. Like Pillman Jr, there’s a lot about that guy that – he’s just, he’s just a good guy all around, and my dad loved his dad and the fact that we can, you know, that a Pillman and a Von Erich (can be) on the end on the same card again, or a Hart and a Von Erich are on the same card again. Fatu, it really is just – even if we have differences in the ring or the storylines, all that stuff, we’re still always going to be brothers.”
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Hearing stories about their family:
Marshall Von Erich: “No, that is awesome. And hearing people – like, whenever it gets old, sometimes fans feel like they could be annoying us or whatever, by telling us stories about how they met my dad, or my uncle’s, or my grandfather, but that stuff never gets old because it’s just confirmation of why we’re here and the impact that wrestling can make on, you know, a kid, (or) an adult, or whatever.”
Ross Von Erich: “Yeah. We hear countless stories of, you know, a guy saying, ‘you know, I was eight years old and I was just one of the kids in line you know, trying to get an autograph, or shake his hand, or something and-“
Marshall Von Erich: “’And your uncle grabbed my shoulder and encouraged me,’ and he’s like, ‘I’ll never forget that.'”
Ross Von Erich: “Yeah, you know and so it just it kind of puts everything in perspective for us, because there’s a lot of kids at our shows and we’re just like ‘let’s make it let’s make a good positive impact, as much as we’re able to.”
Marshall Von Erich: “These are moments that some people will never forget.”
Ross Von Erich: “You never know.”
Marshall Von Erich: “My dad – one thing my dad’s always said, coming from a life of, you know, a lot of trials and tribulations, losing his brothers -because he was really close to his brothers. I got one and I’m real close, I couldn’t imagine being closer – but the fact that my dad had five and lost them, he really appreciates life. He tells everyone he loves them before they leave the house. He lives life in moments, and something we’ve got from his life was that, and it’s to take advantage of every moment with any of the fans. You don’t know their stories, or what their background is, or where they’re coming from, and so every now and then a hug or shake your hand in encouragement-”
Ross Von Erich: “And we get to do such a cool thing, you know, we’re brothers, we get to travel the world, we’re with each other all the time when we’re traveling and stuff and so we kind of keep each other accountable, like, ‘look around, let’s – enjoy every aspect of wrestling. Going out to find good food, we both love good food, and we love traveling, and it’s just like, we are living the dream right now. We get to share these stories with my dad and stuff we really are living.”
Marshall Von Erich: “We’ve had other jobs. We were roofers for a while. We worked in a shipping logistics business. Ross owned a macadamia nut business when we first came to Hawaii. We tried everything, and we are so happy we get to be wrestlers. We’re so grateful that we get to do this for a living.”
Finding their places in professional wrestling:
Marshall Von Erich: “That is so true. I’m not gonna lie, in the beginning, it was rough. Going to Japan, and we were young, and so we didn’t know that the opportunity we had in front of us was such a big deal and what a blessing it was to start in Japan, because (in) Japan they pound the fundamentals in you and we just got a whole new respect for wrestling. But, those opportunities, getting those opportunities solely because we were Von Erichs – being a Von Erich is nothing but a blessing, and it’s nothing that we earned. It was something that was given, and so when we’re out there, we know that if we’re not doing our best-”
Ross Von Erich: “We’re not honoring the family names.”
Marshall Von Erich: “We’re not honoring the family names. We hold each other accountable to that as well. I think our whole careers have been, you know, when you start feeling down, ‘Am I doing the right thing? Am I in the right place?’ Then, I think that, like, God will give you some confirmation. We have a story: in Japan, we were going to Japan for three months where we wrestled – we didn’t wrestle, we just went for training for three months, and then we came home for a few weeks, and had to go back for three months. And so we were a little homesick, you know, we were tired. Tired from the road, and you know, you have a lot of those thoughts, like, ‘am I doing the right thing? Is this good for me? Am I in the right place? I mean I wish I could have played college football, I could have done this, could have done that.’ We were in line, going through the Japanese airport, (and) we had to go through customs. My first name is Kevin, Ross’ first name is David, and the guy at the counter said ‘I remember, 20, or 35 years ago, Kevin and David came through these doors, and I was like ‘oh, yeah those are – that’s my uncle, that’s my dad.’ And the guy started crying. We were just like ‘Woah-‘”
Ross Von Erich: “We couldn’t have felt further from home at the time, you know and I feel like it was just the confirmation we needed at that time. ‘Okay, we’re where we’re supposed to be right now. Let’s just put our heads down and do what we got to do.”
Marshall Von Erich: “And there’s so many of those stories where, as soon as we start feeling down or whatever, there’s confirmation you’re where you’re supposed to be. We’ve tried so many different things. This is the only door that hadn’t shut, so we know where we’re supposed to be.”
You can check out the full interview at the link embedded above.
