25 Years Later: The In-Ring Death Of WWE Superstar Owen Hart
It was 25 years ago this week that WWE superstar Owen Hart tragically died after falling over 75 feet from the rafters into the ring during a live pay-per-view event. Owen had been wrestling under the ‘Blue Blazer’ persona, in which he was supposed to make a ‘superhero’ like entrance from the rafters when something went wrong with the harness, causing him to fall and slice his aorta on the top rope in front of a live audience.
The tragedy was unlike anything one had ever seen before as both EMTs rushed to the ring to attend to Hart - while wrestlers, crew and a sold-out crowd at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri looked on in shock. The chaotic situation resulted in the tragic death of Owen Hart - who was a member of the Hart family dynasty that included his older brother and Hall of Famer Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, his cousins ‘The British Bulldog’ and Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart as well as his wrestling legend father Stu Hart.
VINCE MCMAHON WENT FORWARD WITH THE LIVE EVENT DESPITE OWEN'S DEATH
Even 25 years later, Owen's death is still one of extreme sadness but also controversy regarding what many believe was one of the worst decisions to be made, when WWE CEO Vince McMahon decided to continue on with the live wrestling event despite what Owen's friends, family, fellow coworkers, wrestlers and fans had just witnessed in front of them.
Fortunately, PPV viewers at home were being shown a vignette at the time and did not witness the fall live. When the broadcast came back live, cameras remained on the crowd rather than showing the medical procedures being done in the ring. Meanwhile, WWE commentator Jim Ross had to inform viewers what was going on - an extremely difficult predicament not only because of what just happened with Owen, but also to try and alert fans that this was not part of the "entertainment" part of wrestling, as some fans believed it was somehow fake what happened. To this day, the way Jim Ross handled it is seen as one of the best broadcast moments in a live sports environment.
You can see how Ross handled it as well as the chaotic situation that was going on. This clip fast forwards an hour later when Jim Ross had to then inform the audience that Owen had passed away - something JR says he and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler found out less than 10 seconds before they were live again, as the producer wrongly assumed that Vince McMahon had informed them already.
WHY DID VINCE MCMAHON ALLOW THE NIGHT TO CONTINUE?
About 15 minutes after Owen Hart fell the 70+ feet and was attended to and rushed to the local hospital, Vince McMahon decided to continue on with the WWE Over The Edge pay-per-view. He would later say that he believed it was "what Owen would have wanted." The entire night is one of the most uncomfortable and depressing things that wrestling fans will ever experience.
Later, Owen's wife Martha would come to say that she was repulsed by McMahon's decision to continue to allow the wrestling to take place. "After he lost his fight for life, they just scooped him up and ordered the next match out. Where's humanity? Would he have wanted the show to go on? Absolutely not," she told a Canadian news outlet.
What made Owen Hart's death so tragic was that he was just 34-years-old and was really loved by all. Even as a heel character, Owen, simply being a member of the Hart family, had the respect of the wrestling community and fans. McMahon has since faced criticism for putting Owen into the Blue Blazer gimmick - with older brother Bret Hart saying that if he was still in the WWE, he wouldn't have allowed Owen to be made a mockery of in the character.
25 YEARS LATER
In the aftermath of Owen's passing, wrestling fans still feel very uneasy about what happened that night. Wrestlers have since come out saying that they still have almost PTSD-like reactions based on everything that happened. Owen's family would sue the WWE for not following safety guidelines, to which the WWE would eventually settle to an $18 million agreement with Hart's family. It's believed that while Owen was being positioned in the harness with his caped costume, it triggered the safety harness and released him.
Every year, WWE fans are adamant that they want Owen Hart inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame like so many of his other family members. However, Martha Hart refuses to allow it - which, although some view as frustrating because of how many people were fans of Owen, is her right to do so as his wife.
You can watch what some of those who were there first hand when Owen fell to the ring have to say about that incident, including The Rock - who helped administer CPR and drove in the ambulance to the hospital.