Many professional wrestlers are billed from Texas, but only the best wrestlers were born and raised in the great state of Texas. Dusty Rhodes, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, Barry Orton, and Tito Santana are all from Texas. When talking about Texan wrestlers it is hard not to immediately bring up the Von Erich Family. The father of the family Fritz Von Erich, wrestled for many years with the National Wreslting Alliance (NWA) where he gained popularity. Later Fritz joined the St. Louis based World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), in which he became president of when the organization moved to Dallas, Texas. Fritz had six children, four of which became successful wrestlers, Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike. Kerry the most popular of the family wrestled under the name “Texas Tornado” during his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), but he was actually born in Niagara Falls, New York. Two of Fritz’s wrestling sons were born in Texas, “The Yellow Rose of Texas” David and the “Inspirational Warrior” Mike. Born into a wrestling family the Von Erich’s had natural talent. Their most notable wrestling move is The Claw, a move in which the temples of the opponents head are squeezed until they pass out or tap out. The family became widely loved in Texas due to their wholesome values and good looks, but underneath the Von Erich’s had many troubles. Eventually all members of the families except for Kevin the oldest son, either died of natural causes or committed suicide. Their impact on the history of wrestling is certainly significant.

The Von Erich Family http://www.wrestlehut.org/index.php/Von_Erich_Family

Another significant Texan wrestler is Jake the Snake Roberts. Born in Gainesville, Texas, Roberts was also born into a wrestling family. His father Aurelian “Grizzly” Smith was a successful NWA wrestler. Jake had a difficult childhood. With his father always traveling and living at home with an abusive step mother, gave him many personal demons. Roberts decided to wrestle to impress his father, but his father always cut him down and told him he would never amount to anything. Jake continued to wrestle and joined the WWF in March of 1986. Partnered with his pet snake Damien, skyrocketed Roberts to one of the most hated heels of all time. Jake invented the DDT, a devastating maneuver which dropped his opponent on their head keeping them down for the count. Roberts would wrestle for many years until retiring in 2007. Jake slowly started to spiral into his drug and alcohol addiction and lost touch with himself. In 2012 Diamond Dallas Page helped Roberts get back on his feet and get healthy. In 2014 Jake Roberts was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and his legend image was restored. Roberts revolutionized the wrestling world with his fantastic heel work and in his chilling promos.

Jake the Snake Roberts https://milwaukeerecord.com/sports/jake-the-snake-roberts-talks-career-addiction-stone-cold-steve-austin-dirty-details-tour/

One of the most well known wrestlers of all time, The Undertaker is also from Texas. Born in Houston, this phenom started wrestling with the WWF in 1990. Just one year later he won the title becoming the youngest WWF Champion at the time. Still wrestling to this day with the WWE, Undertaker has won the title multiple times, and keep up his 21–0 Wrestlemania undefeated streak until losing to Brock Lesnar in 2014. Entertaining wrestling fans for multiple decades Undertaker is an unforgettable legend from Texas.

The Undertaker https://www.ewrestlingnews.com/articles/vintage-vhs-tape-review-2-the-undertakers-gravest-matches

Finally, Stone Cold Steve Austin is another fantastic wrestler from Texas. Quite possibly the biggest wrestler to come out of Texas, or maybe even the world Austin is an icon of wrestling. Starting off as “Stunning” Steve Austin in WCW, Austin was quite successful winning the Television Championship and the US Heavyweight Championship twice. Steve left WCW and joined ECW for one year before leaving for WWF in 1996. Austin rose to stardom later that year at the King of the Ring pay-per-view after winning the tournament in the final round against Jake Roberts. The promo that Austin cut after the match calling out Roberts about his new religious gimmick saying, “Talk about your psalms, talk about John 3:16… Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”, made Austin an instant fan favorite. He would go on to have iconic feuds with Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, The Rock, and Triple H. Austin helped revive wrestling and sent the WWF to new levels of popularity never before seen. Austin retired from wrestling 2003, but came back as general manager of Raw in 2004. Stone Cold was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Steve Austin changed the face of wrestling forever.

Stone Cold Steve Austin https://shop.wwe.com/steve-austin/

Everything is bigger in Texas, and that is true for wrestlers born in Texas. Many legends of the business have come from the Lone Star State and changed the world. Texas has many great accomplishments, but one of the greatest is its ability to produce fabled wrestlers.