‘How did Owen Hart die’ is a terrible question as his death at the ring was preceded by his retirement from it. Owen Hart was a Canadian professional wrestler, a member of the Hart wrestling dynasty, who won a one-time WWF European Champion and, among other honors like, the title of 1994 WWF King of the Ring. He was born to wrestling champions Stu and Helen Hart on the 7th of May, 1965. His fans called him by many names like The King of Harts, Owen James, and “The Rocket” Owen though the most popular was The Blue Blazer, otherwise called The Blue Angel. He headlined numerous pay-per-view dealings for the then WWF and is regarded by the world as one of the best in-ring performers of pro wrestling.
He was best known for his Stampede matches, at which he was trained by his father, but his heart was with his family. In an interview with Slam Wrestling, five months before the tragic incident stated his desire to retire from the ring forever after the contract with the company expires. He said he was financially set and wanted to devote time to his family of a wife and two children. He professed he had given wrestling enough years at about twelve and wanted a peaceful life boating and fishing. But as fate would have it, he met his end at the last act of his career.
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The Fall of The King of Harts
Hart earned ‘The Blue Blazer’ by his iconic stunt where he descends tens of feet from a rafter donning a superhero costume into the ring. The idea was the conception of Vince Russo, a WWE booker, who felt Hart was not exciting enough. The idea was disagreed with by Hart, as said by Jim Cornette, an author, and podcaster, but he went along anyway. The act had been done before with a full harness and a slow-release clip but was replaced with a nautical clip as it was taking too much time to disengage it after coming into the ring, which, according to Russo, made for bad television.
On the 23rd of May, 1999, Hart was scheduled to pit against The Godfather, Charles Wright, at “Over The Edge” for the Intercontinental Championship. Russo recommended that Hart descended in his ‘Blue Blazer’ costume in front of a Live audience at a pay-per-view event for theatricality and better PR, but the rigging malfunctioned, causing a 78-foot fall onto the ring’s top rope. Dwayne Johnson, in his book ‘The Rock says…’ noted that when he heard that Hart was hurt, he thought it was a joke since Owen was a well-known prankster but then saw the EMTs working on Hart, trying to revive him with CPR. The crowd was mum, and everyone was on the edges of their seats. Rock had helped the medical staff load the stretcher into the ambulance and sat with him until he was taken to the Trauma Medical Center in Kansas City. But Owen Hart died on that day due to internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma from when he hit the ground face down.
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What Did His Family Have To Say?
In her book “Broken Harts” Maratha Hart, Owen’s widow, mentioned that Hart had tried multiple other professions to find a good living outside of wrestling and resorted to it only because he could find no other. She claimed that her husband’s death was belittled by the WWE. She said Vince McMahon, an American media proprietor, and a former WWE promoter, had her husband’s body removed from the mat and had the matches continue after a 15-minute halt with the wrestlers wrestling on a ring with his blood on it. She felt it was unethical as the ring was a potential crime scene. Fans at Kemper Arena enjoyed the rest of the event while the pro-wrestler was on his death bed.ViceTV had made a documentary shedding on the young athlete’s death.
Maratha filed a wrongful death suit against WWE, then WWF, which was settled outside court for $18 million, which was used to build the Owen Hart Foundation that provides scholarships and sees to the needs of the less fortunate. In 2010, she filed another case which was also settled out of court. When WWE offered for Owen to be displayed in the Hall of Fame, Maratha despised the idea saying it was a publicity gimmick and did not want her husband’s name to be associated with the company ever again.
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