Over The Edge (1999) - Aftermath

Aftermath

After the event, in response to Owen Hart's death, the WWF canceled the encore presentation of Over the Edge via pay-per-view, and they also canceled four live events in Canada and one in Illinois. Information about Over the Edge from the WWF (now named the WWE) is sparse because the event was never released on VHS or DVD due to Hart's death. On May 24, 1999, the day following this event, a tribute to Hart was held on Raw is War in St. Louis, which the WWF called Raw is Owen. For this show, all storylines and rivalries were stopped, and wrestlers were given the option to wrestle or not. The show also featured interviews and testimonies from his coworkers and highlights of his professional wrestling career. Hart's funeral service was held on May 31, 1999, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and it was attended by family members, friends, and over 300 wrestlers who were acquainted with him. Following the funeral, Hart was buried in Calgary's Queens Park Cemetery later that day. Three weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF for causing Owen's death with a poorly planned stunt; they claimed that the harness system was defective. After the court case had extended one-and-a-half years, a settlement was reached on November 2, 2000, when the WWF agreed to pay the Hart family US$18 million. The manufacturer of the harness system had also been named as a defendant in the case but was dismissed from the case after the settlement was reached.

After Over the Edge, The Rock was scripted into a feud with The Undertaker over his WWF Championship. The evolving feud culminated into a standard match at King of the Ring, the WWF's June pay-per-view event, after The Rock defeated The Undertaker and Triple H in a standard match involving three wrestlers (also called a triple threat match), to earn a WWF Championship match against The Undertaker. At King of the Ring, The Undertaker defeated The Rock to retain his title. After Steve Austin lost his WWF Title, he engaged in a rivalry with Vince and Shane McMahon in retaliation for their interference during his match at Over the Edge. Intending to humiliate Austin, Vince and Shane scheduled Austin in a standard match against The Undertaker for his title on June 28, however, Austin won the match and the title. Eventually, the WWF developed a feud with Austin, Mankind, and Triple H over the WWF title, which led to a match at SummerSlam, the WWF's August pay-per-view event. There, Mankind won the WWF title.