Kevin Von Erich’s wrestling career is regarded by many as legendary, but one of the things that always stood out was how he competed barefoot for most of his tenure in the industry. According to the veteran himself on “Talk is Jericho,” the true story isn’t as interesting as the tales that have been spun over the years.

A popular story about the origins of Von Erich’s barefoot wrestling was that his boots were hidden as a prank one night and that he simply went out and competed regardless. However, according to Von Erich, it was due to knee surgeries. “Well, there are a lot of stories out there, but the truth is I had so many knee surgeries before I even started wrestling, in football.” He continued, explaining how the leather boots would become heavy over the course of matches and even recalled how Kerry Von Erich also did it on occasion. “The leather boots, they get heavy and I took ’em off one time — Kerry used to do it too, and we loved it because you feel like you can fly taking that weight off your feet.”

Von Erich’s sons, Marshall and Ross, also followed the family tradition, but only Marshall wrestles without boots like his father, and in the same interview he explained that he simply just enjoys it. “Now I can’t wrestle with shoes on! It’s a shoot, we’ve always been barefoot our whole lives.” Ross, on the other hand, wrestles with his boots on, but Marshall quickly added that his brother’s feet are as “gross” as his. “We have nasty feet because they look like hooves. We’ve been walking around barefoot everywhere, it’s just natural.” On the topic, Ross claimed he doesn’t do the same because his brother already “stole” the gimmick.

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