Pro-Wrestling News Reports on Owen Hart's Death Page Pro-Wrestling News Reports on Owen Hart's Death Page
Last updated 21 April 2015
Mark Ferrante found all of this on the Internet.
Thousands witness accident; television audience does not
May 24, 1999 Web posted at: 7:33 p.m. EDT (2333 GMT)
In this story:
'Wrestlers were openly weeping'
What witnesses saw
WWF: 'We have no answers'
'We thought they were just playing with us'
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- A World Wrestling Federation tour was set to continue on Monday while an investigation looked for the cause of a fatal plunge by Owen Hart, a Canadian wrestler who went by the name "Blue Blazer."
Hart fell 50 feet, hit his head and died Sunday when a wire holding him in the air either broke or became disconnected while he was being lowered into the ring during a WWF match at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
There were more than 16,000 people in attendance but viewers watching the event on pay-per-view television did not see the fall, which occurred about 75 minutes into the show. Recorded highlights of Hart's career were being shown at the time.
'Wrestlers were openly weeping'
As Hart's fellow performers were boarding a plane in Kansas City on Monday for a cross-state flight to St. Louis, WWF President Vince McMahon Jr. said the death had provoked grief among the team.
"Wrestlers were openly weeping last night," McMahon said, his eyes filling with tears.
The WWF canceled the encore and replay Pay-Per-View program that was scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. The following live events were also canceled: Peoria, Illinois; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Hamilton, Ontario; Montreal; and Ottawa, Ontario.
What witnesses saw
Hart, 33, the younger brother of Bret (The Hitman) Hart, a star with rival World Championship Wrestling, fell as he was being lowered from the arena's ceiling as his match introduction was about to begin.
It was a stunt he had performed before.
Some witnesses said the cable snapped, while others said it appeared Hart was somehow disconnected from it.
They said his head snapped backward when he hit a turnbuckle, one of the padded pieces of metal that hold the ropes together in each corner of the ring.
Hart was given CPR inside the ring as the ring announcer haltingly told the audience that the incident was not scripted, as professional wrestling matches openly are.
The wrestler was pronounced dead at a hospital.
"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring," said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for Kansas City's ambulance service.
"It didn't get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on," she said.
WWF: 'We have no answers'
The World Wrestling Federation said it is investigating what went wrong.
"We at the WWF are saddened by the tragic accident that occurred here tonight," McMahon said Sunday. "We have no answers as to how this happened yet. We will shortly."
'We thought they were just playing with us'
Hart was known for his acrobatic stunts and some members of the audience thought his fall was part of an act.
"We thought it was a doll at first," said 15-year-old Robert McCome. "We thought they were just playing with us. We were really shocked when we found out that it was no joke."
"He was moving pretty fast (as he fell)," said Jesse McDonald, who was sitting near the ring. "His chin and neck hit the top rope."
The arena fell into silence.
"I didn't see it, but from what I can gather, somebody slipped up," Hart's 83-year-old father, former wrestler Stu Hart, said from the family home in Calgary, Alberta.
"You don't get up 60 or 70 feet in the air without being properly anchored down," he said. "I haven't talked to Vince McMahon yet, but somebody was careless or missed something or else Owen would still be here."
The WWF is one of the biggest draws on cable and pay-per-view TV. The WWF admits that its events are more entertainment then sport.
Hart's fall happened in the second part of an event called "Over the Edge." The first portion, called "Sunday Night Heat," was televised live on the USA cable network.
The TV audience was being shown a montage of Hart's clips when he fell and the camera panned through the crowd while paramedics worked on him. The show stopped for 15 minutes before Hart was taken away, and the matches resumed.
All seven of Stu Hart's sons entered professional wrestling, with Owen joining in 1989. He had recently told a magazine that he was planning to leave wrestling when his contract was up.
Survivors include his wife, Martha, and two young children.
His older brother Bret "The Hitman" Hart, the current heavyweight champ with the rival World Championship Wrestling, canceled a scheduled appearance on "The Tonight Show" Monday to fly home to be with his family in Canada.
The WCW issued a statement on Owen Hart's death:
"We are shocked and saddened by this terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bret Hart and the entire Hart family."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
May 24, 1999 Web posted at: 6:54 AM EDT (1054 GMT)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The World Wrestling Federation is investigating a deadly accident involving one of its own, a 33-year-old scion of a Canadian wrestling family who plunged 50 feet into the ring.
Owen Hart, who wrestled under the nickname "Blue Blazer," fell Sunday night as he was being lowered from the ceiling during a sold-out WWF event at Kansas City's Kemper Arena. The event was on pay-per-view national television, but the fall was not shown.
Hart was given CPR inside the ring as the announcer haltingly told the audience that the incident was not scripted. The wrestler was pronounced dead at a hospital.
"We at the WWF are saddened by the tragic accident that occurred here tonight," said Vince McMahon Jr., the president of WWF. "We have no answers as to how this happened yet. We will shortly."
Some witnesses said the cable snapped, while others said it appeared Hart was somehow disconnected from it. They said his head snapped backward when he hit a turnbuckle, one of the padded pieces of metal that hold the ropes together in each corner of the ring.
"We thought it was a doll at first," said 15-year-old Robert McCome. "We thought they were just playing with us. We were really shocked when we found out that it was no joke."
Hart, the younger brother of Bret (The Hitman) Hart, a star with rival World Championship Wrestling, fell as his match introduction was about to begin.
"He was moving pretty fast (as he fell)," said Jesse McDonald, who was sitting near the ring. "His chin and neck hit the top rope."
The arena fell into silence.
Commentator Jim Ross repeatedly told the 14,000 fans that Hart's fall was not scripted, as professional wrestling matches openly are. Hart was known for his acrobatic stunts.
"I didn't see it, but from what I can gather, somebody slipped up," Hart's 83-year-old father, former wrestler Stu Hart, said from the family home in Calgary, Alberta.
"You don't get up 60 or 70 feet in the air without being properly anchored down," he said. "I haven't talked to Vince McMahon yet, but somebody was careless or missed something or else Owen would still be here."
The WWF is one of the biggest draws on cable and pay-per-view TV, but critics say the matches often are sexist, homophobic and violent. The WWF admits that its events are more entertainment then sport.
Hart's fall happened in the second part of the event called "Over the Edge." The first part of the event, "Sunday Night Heat," was televised live on the USA cable network.
The TV audience was being shown a montage of Hart's clips when he fell and the camera panned through the crowd while paramedics worked him. The show stopped for 15 minutes before Hart was taken away, and the matches resumed.
All seven of Stu Hart's sons entered professional wrestling, with Owen joining in 1989. He had recently told a magazine that he was planning to leave wrestling when his contract was up.
Survivors include his wife, Martha, and two young children.
Thousands witness accident; television audience does not
May 24, 1999 Web posted at: 8:51 a.m. EDT (1251 GMT)
In this story:
What witnesses saw
WWF: 'We have no answers'
'We thought they were just playing with us'
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- Professional wrestler Owen Hart, a Canadian known as "Blue Blazer," fell 50 feet, hit his head and died when a wire holding him in the air either broke or became disconnected while he was being lowered into the ring.
Sunday's fatal accident occurred during a World Wrestling Federation match at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
There were more than 16,000 people in attendance but viewers watching the event on pay-per-view television did not see the fall, which occurred about 75 minutes into the show. Recorded highlights of Hart's career were being shown at the time.
Hart, 33, the younger brother of Bret (The Hitman) Hart, a star with rival World Championship Wrestling, fell as he was being lowered from the arena's ceiling as his match introduction was about to begin.
It was a stunt he had performed before.
What witnesses saw
Some witnesses said the cable snapped, while others said it appeared Hart was somehow disconnected from it.
They said his head snapped backward when he hit a turnbuckle, one of the padded pieces of metal that hold the ropes together in each corner of the ring.
Hart was given CPR inside the ring as the ring announcer haltingly told the audience that the incident was not scripted, as professional wrestling matches openly are.
The wrestler was pronounced dead at a hospital.
"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring," said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for Kansas City's ambulance service.
"It didn't get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on," she said.
WWF: 'We have no answers'
The World Wrestling Federation said it is investigating what went wrong.
"We at the WWF are saddened by the tragic accident that occurred here tonight," said Vince McMahon Jr., the president of WWF. "We have no answers as to how this happened yet. We will shortly."
'We thought they were just playing with us'
Hart was known for his acrobatic stunts and some members of the audience thought his fall was part of an act.
"We thought it was a doll at first," said 15-year-old Robert McCome. "We thought they were just playing with us. We were really shocked when we found out that it was no joke."
"He was moving pretty fast (as he fell)," said Jesse McDonald, who was sitting near the ring. "His chin and neck hit the top rope."
The arena fell into silence.
"I didn't see it, but from what I can gather, somebody slipped up," Hart's 83-year-old father, former wrestler Stu Hart, said from the family home in Calgary, Alberta.
"You don't get up 60 or 70 feet in the air without being properly anchored down," he said. "I haven't talked to Vince McMahon yet, but somebody was careless or missed something or else Owen would still be here."
The WWF is one of the biggest draws on cable and pay-per-view TV. The WWF admits that its events are more entertainment then sport.
Hart's fall happened in the second part of an event called "Over the Edge." The first portion, called "Sunday Night Heat," was televised live on the USA cable network.
The TV audience was being shown a montage of Hart's clips when he fell and the camera panned through the crowd while paramedics worked on him. The show stopped for 15 minutes before Hart was taken away, and the matches resumed.
All seven of Stu Hart's sons entered professional wrestling, with Owen joining in 1989. He had recently told a magazine that he was planning to leave wrestling when his contract was up.
Survivors include his wife, Martha, and two young children.
May 24, 1999 Web posted at: 1:00 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT)
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- A World Wrestling Federation wrestler died late Sunday at a televised wrestling event at the Kemper Arena, officials said.
According to World Wrestling Federation president Vince McMahon, wrestler Owen Hart was involved in an accident at the arena during the Over the Edge event on Sunday night.
Hart was making an entrance on a wire when he fell 50 feet to the floor, according to Kansas City police. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at Truman Medical Center, according to the Kansas City police.
More than 16,000 people were at the event, which was broadcast live on pay-per-view television.
McMahon said "right now, there are no answers" as to the cause of the accident, but that an investigation will be ongoing.
Hart, 33, was given CPR in the ring at the soldout event at Kemper Arena before being rushed to the hospital.
The horrified crowd at first thought the fall was a stunt, but it quickly became apparent that it was an accident.
"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring," said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for the city ambulance service.
"It didn't get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on. We gave him CPR in the ring. He was a trauma code," she said.
The accident happened during the second part of the event called "Over the Edge." The first part of the event, "Sunday Night Heat," had also been televised live.
According to the WWF, Hart was born in Calgary, in Alberta, Canada and joined the WWF in 1988. He is survived by his wife, Martha, and two young children.
May 23, 1999 Web posted at: 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT)
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) -- A World Wrestling Federation wrestler died late Sunday at a televised wrestling event at the Kemper Arena, officials said.
According to Kansas City police, the unnamed wrestler was making an entrance on a wire when he fell 50 feet into the ring as he was being lowered from the roof of the arena.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at Truman Medical Center.
The wrestler was given CPR in the ring at the soldout event at Kemper Arena before being rushed to the hospital.
The horrified crowd at first thought the fall was a stunt, but it quickly became apparent that it was an accident. The event was televised on pay-for-view and seen around the country.
"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring," said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for the city ambulance service.
"It didn't get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on. We gave him CPR in the ring. He was a trauma code."
The accident happened during the second part of the event called "Over the Edge." The first part of the event, "Sunday Night Heat," had been televised live on the USA network.