That is very spot-on from what I know, as well; and the part about Vince is quite insightful.
Do you think the old man brought Kerry to the Fed and pushed him because of his (then) current performance, was it based on Kerry's past work, or in hopes that he would improve?
Do you believe that Kerry was as over during his WWF run as he was down South?
In The von erichs prime during during WCCW they had a hard time even getting to the ring because of the mob that surrounded them on their entrance. Especially so with Kerry. The list of all time wrestlers that had the fans behind him as much as he did during WCCW is really short. With that being said, I think his transition to WWF was incredibly smooth and he was very much over there from day one. He had the crossover appeal of the women being crazy about his look plus all the other male fans who already knew about him.
It's been said by many different people on forums and said to have been quoted by a few writers that Vince Jr wanted Kerry from almost the very get go. Of course one name, Fritz von erich, made this an impossibility. By the late 80's Fritz was out of the business and I'm certain fritz gave kerry his blessing to head to the northeast. In Kevin's own words Fritz would sit up and watch Raw and other WWF shows so the old man probably got a kick seeing his son on the big stage.
I don't really know now much faith Vince had in Kerry to make a splash but there has to be something behind his fast rise to beating Hennig for the IC belt but almost just as fast jobbing for mid carders and up and comers like The Undertaker. I remember him also jobbing for Sid Vicious towards the end at WCCW/USWA (or whatever it was at the time) That just leads me to spectulate it had to be based on drugs or unreliability.
I think Kerry was just tailor made for Vince. The bodybuilder type look that Vince always has sought after, a proven popular commodity with a succesful track record of being popular plus on the sentimental/emotional aspect, the fact that Kerry and Kevin originally worked for Vince Sr. when Jr. was ringside commentator and worked that old school "Pre Hogan" wrestling style then that we've discussed where the matches had such a sporty, "legit" look to them, more strict rules, straightforward commentary with all the moves being announced....mixing it up with all the old school ham and egger heels. Who knows how far back Vince Sr and Fritz went back? Or what conversations Vince Sr and Jr had about the Von Erich boys? I think Vince would have given him all the opportunity in the world but it's like Kevin also said "my brother wasn't shady or anything like that he was just a guy who really liked to do drugs. It was his thing"