A statement from Martha Hart.
Towards the backend of September 2024, Netflix released its six-part docuseries about former WWE CEO, Vince McMahon. The series titled ‘Mr. McMahon’ covered a multitude of subjects having to do with McMahon such as the allegations that arose in 2022 that led to him stepping down from his role and the sex trafficking lawsuit that was filed against him in January 2024.
One of the subjects delved into was the death of Owen Hart at the 1999 Over the Edge pay-per-view. McMahon claims he had to make a decision whether to keep the show going or not and the audience had not seen what happened to Hart, so they continued on. He said, ‘These people came to see a show. They didn’t come to see somebody die.’
Owen’s widow, Martha Hart, released a statement about the docuseries (via Daily Hive). She noted that she was not contacted for it and continues to hold WWE and their then-management responsible for Owen’s death.
She added that she will not let anyone rewrite that history. Hart is focused on honoring Owen’s legacy through the Owen Hart Foundation and the AEW Owen Hart Foundation tournament.
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.
POST Wrestling’s John Pollock and Wai Ting reviewed the ‘Mr. McMahon’ episode that was centered around Owen Hart’s death. That can be found here.
There’s an audio documentary on the POST Wrestling YouTube channel that documents the day of Owen’s passing.
