Twenty years ago, an iconic venue for North Texas wrestling fans, the Dallas Sportatorium, was torn down. But this month, it's coming back -- on the big screen in the movie Iron Claw.
The movie tells the story of the Von Erichs, a Texas wrestling family that got its start at the Sportatorium.
"There are buildings down in Mexico City that they use a bullfighting arena, la pista. I used to wrestle there and the crowd is – it's like you're like in a funnel and they're just right on top of you," Kevin Von Erich said. "And I think the Sportatorium kind of had that feel to it. It was just a great place. It was just a beautiful time."
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It's more than just the wrestlers and the matches that connected people to the venue, said Grey Pierson, who ran the Sportatorium's wrestling operation from 1992-94. It's also the storytelling.
"You go to a movie. What you see on the screen isn’t real, but it can involve you emotionally, notwithstanding the fact that clearly those people are actors. The audience can be very affected," Pierson said. "Done right, wrestling can do the same thing and has done the same thing. But it has to be done right."
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