Canadian wrestler Owen Hart, well known by his stage as The Blue Blazer, died off-camera on May 23, 1999, at a pay-per-view event in Kansas City, Missouri, while getting ready to make a stunt entrance from the Kemper Arena’s rafters. The next evening, wrestling fans turned into an atypically gloomy, subdued episode of Raw is War.
Rather than being greeted with WWE’s (then WWF) typical in-your-face fireworks and high-energy violence, spectators witnessed practically the entire roster of WWE wrestlers in sadness, gathering together on the entry ramp for a 10-bell salute. The night of Owen Hart’s death they were changed wrestling forever.
According to Sports Illustrated, announcer Jim Ross addressed the audience directly, promising ten matches for the evening as well as “the candid and very, very real sentiments” of the WWE performers who wrestled alongside Owen Hart.
The customary bombast of professional wrestling had, for a time, gone away, revealing that beneath the makeup and expensive costumes, the people executing spectacular stunts on television were still very much human. This is the story of Owen Hart, his heartbreaking death, and the impact he left behind.
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Owen Hart’s Cause of Death
Owen Hart, a Canadian wrestler known by his stage moniker “The Blue Blazer,” was a rising WWE superstar throughout the 1990s. He hailed from the legendary Hart wrestling family, which has a lengthy history in the wrestling world. Born on May 7, 1965, to Stu and Helen Hart, Owen was the youngest of their 12 children, eight of whom later became professional wrestlers.
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Over the years, Owen evolved from hero to villain and back again, participating in many storylines and factions within the WWE. By 1999, he opted to relaunch The Blue Blazer persona despite changes in the wrestling environment. Tragically, during a WWE pay-per-view event on May 23, 1999, at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, Owen Hart plummeted nearly 78 feet from the arena rafters to the ring during a stunt entrance.
He banged his head, and the crowd initially thought it was part of the performance until he recognized the severity of the situation. Medics rushed to the ring to provide CPR, but Owen Hart was pronounced dead upon arrival at Truman Medical Center. He was 34 years old at the time of his death.
An inquiry into the accident showed that a slight movement might have prompted the quick-release harness to unhitch. Regardless of the cause, Owen Hart’s death considerably shook the wrestling world and fans, leaving a vacuum in the industry.
Owen Hart’s legacy survives as one of the WWE’s all-time best wrestlers and performers. His tragic death came to light the human side of the larger-than-life personalities in professional wrestling, reminding viewers that these artists, despite their reputations, were still real people beneath the glitz and glamor.
Owen Hart Autopsy Report
Hart’s cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the chest as a consequence of a terrible incident that occurred during a Kemper Arena stunt. The event happened when he was repelling from the ceiling in his Blue Blazer character, falling from a height of 78 feet. Regrettably, Hart’s aorta was severed upon impact with the ring, leading to his early demise.
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Despite the gravity of the situation, it was fortunate that no additional individuals were harmed throughout the incident. Initially, the idea involved having Max Mini tied to Hart for the stunt, but this arrangement was called off earlier in the day. On May 23rd, before that night’s ‘Over the Edge’ event, a 250-pound sandbag stood in for Hart throughout a number of tests.
Bobby Talbert, the rigger, and Matt Allmen, the helper, conducted tests; Allmen descended once, and Hart practiced in the afternoon. After the incident, the show’s producers dug into Hart’s habits to determine if drugs or alcohol had affected his judgment. The tests showed that Hart did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system.
His wife, Martha, said he rarely drank alcohol, and there was no sign of steroid use, which makes sense given that WWE did not routinely test talent at the time unless there was reason to suspect a problem. The death of Eddy Guerrero in November 2005 inspired the WWE to adopt its Wellness Policy six years later.
Diazepam and Alprazolam, medications used to treat anxiety and sleeplessness, were found in Hart’s hotel room, but neither drug was identified in his system during the autopsy. Therefore, they were not considered contributing elements in his decision-making. The probe mainly focused on head rigger BobbyTalbert’ss rigging decisions.
After negotiations with Joe Branam, who had previously conducted such stunts, including one with Hart the year prior, failed, the WWF decided on Talbert. According to Martha’s bMartha’s WWF was warned by Brannam of the risks involved with asking for a faster release.
A metal carabiner with secondary safety latches would typically be used for an act of this nature. On the other hand, the WWF attempted to do away with the post-landing unhooking delay observed with talents like Sting in the WCW. A Lewmar Inc. snap shackle, available from Amspec Inc., provided the necessary answer. This choice, unfortunately, played a role in the fatal outcome.
