Owen Hart Accident
"This is not part of the entertainment tonight.
This is as real as real can be here."
When Owen Hart was to challenge The Godfather for the WWF Intercontinental Champion's title, he was performing as the Blue Blazer. The character was a superhero gimmick that parodied various wrestlers. At Over the Edge, Hart was to emulate World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting's (Steve Borden) ring entrance by descending from the arena rafters into the ring. The entrance was successfully tested on the November 15, 1998, episode of Sunday Night Heat; however, during his descent at Over the Edge, a cable disengaged from the safety vest he wore, and he fell more than 70 feet (21 m) from the rafters into the ring. As he fell, his chest landed on one of the ring's padded turnbuckles. The accident was not viewed by television viewers. A pre-recorded interview video was shown at the start of Hart's descent, and when the broadcast returned live, the cameras quickly turned away from the ring to the audience. Soon afterward, Jim Ross, one of the commentators of the event, informed pay-per-view viewers that Hart had fallen from the rafters, that the incident was "not a part of the entertainment" and that it was "a real situation". EMTs came down to the ring and gave Hart CPR, but he showed no response to the treatment. Bringing Hart out on a gurney, the EMTs boarded the heavily injured wrestler into an ambulance and took him to a nearby hospital in Kansas City.
After the incident, the event was halted for 15 minutes, until Vince McMahon and other WWF Corporate officials made the decision to continue the event. Hart's coworkers, professional wrestlers and other miscellaneous workers, appeared somber after Hart's fall as they continued to do their jobs. An hour after the event restarted, Ross informed pay-per-view viewers that Hart had died at the age of 34 at a nearby hospital. The fans in attendance were not told any information about what had happened to Hart, and they did not hear the announcement of his death.
"Ladies and gentlemen, earlier tonight here in Kansas City, tragedy befell the World Wrestling Federation and all of us. Owen Hart was set to make an entrance from the ceiling, and he fell from the ceiling. I have the unfortunate responsibility to let everyone know that Owen Hart has died. Owen Hart has tragically died from that accident here tonight." —Jim Ross, play-by-play commentator for the event, informing viewers of Owen Hart's death.Read more about this topic: Over The Edge (1999)
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