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Owen Hart fell to his death at WWE Over The Edge 1999, as his entrance, in which he rappelled down from the ceiling, went wrong. His death was highlighted in “Mr. McMahon”, the Netflix docuseries about the former WWE Chairman.
The series features interviews with McMahon, and when asked about Hart’s death, he denied any wrongdoing on his part or that of WWE. He also commented on his decision to keep the event going, noting that fans came to see a show.
Speaking with Daily Hive, Owen Hart’s widow Martha Hart discussed the docuseries and its portrayal of Owen’s death.
“Netflix’s Mr. McMahon documentary series portrays the death of my husband, Owen Hart, as a mere accident. It also allows the disgraced former owner and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Vince McMahon, to claim that Owen’s death ‘wasn’t our fault.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said.
“The real truth is that on May 23rd, 1999, out of a desire to cut costs and achieve a ‘quick release’ effect that a rigging expert specifically warned against, WWE hired unqualified riggers to arrange a stunt in which Owen was to rappel from the rafters during a wrestling event. As a result, the riggers used incorrect equipment that caused Owen to fall to his death. It was pure negligence that killed my husband.”
Martha Hart On Owen Hart’s Death
As seen in the documentary, McMahon claimed that Owen Hart’s harness was defective. However, Martha Hart stated that the documentary did not mention how the equipment was not meant to be used for a rappelling stunt in the first place.
“What the documentary fails to mention is that the equipment used was never meant for a rappelling stunt,” she said. “Instead, a harness meant for dragging stunt people behind cars on movie shoots was used with a sailboat clip meant to release on load with only six pounds of pressure. Had the WWE hired qualified riggers who followed proper protocol that included redundancy, as is typical practice, and used the correct equipment, Owen would not have died that night.”
Martha Hart stated that WWE sued her for breach of contract as “retaliation” for her wrongful death lawsuit after Owen Hart passed away. Furthermore, she said that she was not contacted for comment or involvement with the docuseries.
“To be clear, no one involved in the making of this documentary attempted to contact me for comment or to obtain an accurate perspective. I continue to hold WWE and its then-management responsible for Owen’s death. I refuse to let Vince McMahon or anyone else rewrite that history.
“Instead, I remain focused on honoring Owen’s legacy through the charitable good work of the Owen Hart Foundation and via the AEW Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.”
In 2000, Martha Hart and WWE settled for $18 million in the wrongful death lawsuit.
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