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Kevin Von Erich To Make Rare Return To North Texas To Introduce His Sons To A National Audience

Posted: Jun 1st 2014 By: Robert Wilonsky

The man born Kevin Ross Adkisson on May 15, 1957, has not been back to this part of the world in almost a decade. He now spends all of time in Kauai, on a 27-acre spread dotted with houses filled with family. Over the phone Friday morning, he compares it to ?a village from 3,000 years ago, just all of us in the valley.? As he speaks, roosters crow in the background. It?s still early there, but he rises before the sun. ?I don?t know why,? says the man better known as Kevin Von Erich.

Kevin Adkisson as he looks these days ... (Kristen Nikolas/Special contributor)

But soon, very soon, you will be able to see Kevin in the flesh, once again standing inside the squared circle: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (or TNA) has convinced Fritz Von Erich?s son to come home for its pay-per-view Slammiversary XII, scheduled to take place June 15 in College Park Center on the University of Texas at Arlington campus. Kevin?s coming for just one reason: Sons Marshall and Ross are on the bill, and their father wanted to be there. Because, after all, it?s Father?s Day.

?I now understand how my father felt when my brothers and I entered the ring,? Kevin says in the TNA press release. On the phone, he?s even more direct: ?It?s my boys.?

?You?d have to come up and see us [in Hawaii], but believe it or not, my family now is closer than the one I lost,? he says. Those who know his story know what he?s referring to ? the litany of tragedies that left him as the sole surviving member of the wrestling clan beloved around the world, but especially here. Once upon a very long time ago, Kevin and his brothers ? David, Mike, Chris and Kerry ? lived with Mom and Dad on 137 acres in Denton County. In Hawaii, he?s recreated the Adkisson family?s paradise lost.

... and, with Kerry, the Kevin Von Erich many of us remember from our childhoods. (File photo)

?It?s heaven on earth,? he says. ?I can?t explain it. We?re so close. I couldn?t miss my boys wrestling in Texas, in Dallas.?

Two years ago we chronicled Ross and Marshall?s rise through the wrestling ranks. Kevin sent his sons to Japan, to toil in Pro-Wrestling NOAH?s dojo. He says now he didn?t want anyone to ever accuse his sons of having their wrestling careers gifted to them by their legendary father, son of the Iron Claw.

?I knew how the young wrestlers were when we started, and I didn?t want everyone to say, ?You had it given to you because of your dad,?? Kevin says. ?So I sent them to Japan. They sweep up the building. They bow to everyone. They built a wing. They carry the luggage. They did all these calisthenics to an insane degree and wrestled all day. They live in the dojo. They eat in the dojo. But I wanted them to come up respecting the business.?

Come Father?s Day they will officially be part of it: The TNA event marks Ross and Marshall?s broadcast debut. The pay-per-view spectacle is far removed from those old Channel 39 broadcasts featuring the Von Erich boys grappling with the Freebirds or Ric Flair. But there is another local tie: The president of TNA is Dixie Carter, a 1982 graduate of The Hockaday School.

?Growing up in Dallas, my brother and I watched the Von Erichs,? Carter says in a statement, ?and I am honored to be part of bringing fans the next crop of this renowned wrestling family.?

Von Erich says he didn?t even know about the event until a week ago. And, he stresses, the trip back to Texas won?t be an easy one: He has a bad back. Has for years. It was once so bad he couldn?t get on a plane to Israel for a high-paying gig. But for this, he?s willing to put up with a little suffering. He just doesn?t plan to make a habit of it.

?I don?t see myself ever leaving Kauai,? he says. ?I don?t see myself ever wearing shoes again. That may be a problem when I have to get on the plane.?