Martha Hart: I continue to hold WWE responsible for Owen Hart’s death
In the wake of last week’s release of the ‘Mr. McMahon’ docuseries on Netflix, the widow of Owen Hart released a statement Thursday condemning Vince McMahon and WWE’s management at the time of her husband’s death, adding she was never contacted by the team putting the series together.
The circumstances around Hart’s tragic death in 1999 was profiled as part of the six-episode series where McMahon denied any wrongdoing and said he had a decision to make about keeping the show going. He claimed that since the audience didn’t see what happened to Hart that night due to it being dark in the arena at the time, Over The Edge continued as the fans “came to see a show. They didn’t come to see somebody die.”
A wrongful lawsuit between Martha Hart and WWE was settled in 2000 for nearly $18 million.
The full statement:
“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. 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.
“What the documentary fails to mention is that the equipment used was never meant for a rappelling stunt. 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.
“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 honouring Owen’s legacy through the charitable good work of the Owen Hart Foundation and via the AEW Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.”
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.