The smallest and youngest of the Von Erich family, all Chris wanted to be was a wrestler. He was the youngest son of wrestler Fritz Von Erich. His brothers, Mike, David, Kerry and Kevin all had success as wrestlers. He grew up working cameras and doing other odd jobs backstage for WCCW.
He became a wrestler in 1990, but faced numerous issues. Aside from drug problems similar to his much older brothers, his asthma held him back and his bones were so brittle that he would often break them while performing simple wrestling maneuvers. He stayed with it as much as he could, and even had a small feud with Percy Pringle in the USWA. Chris tagged with both his brother Kevin and longtime ally Chris Adams in several tag team matches against Pringle and "Stunning" Steve Austin (later "Stone Cold" Steve Austin); however, he would face only Pringle whenever he was in the ring, and allow his more-experienced partner (Kevin or Adams) to battle Austin.
Chris though was involved in two angles years before: one involving Chris smashing Buddy Roberts across the back with a chair, and another well-known incident involved Chris tackling Gino Hernandez at the Cotton Bowl in 1985; while escaping from having his hair shaved off following a tag-team loss at the hands of the Von Erichs.
Death[]
Frustrated and depressed over the deaths of his brothers (especially the 1987 suicide of brother Mike), and the inability to make headway as a wrestler due to his physical build, Chris shot himself in the head on September 12, 1991, eighteen days before his 22nd birthday. His interment was located at Grove Hill Memorial Park in Dallas.
