Today, May 23, 2025, 26 years have passed since Owen Hart's tragic death. He died during the transmission of the PPV Over The Edge 1999, after his harness will be released while making the entrance of his character Blue Blazerwhich simulated being a superhero. Owen fell from several meters high, and hit the corner directly, an impact that caused his death.
Owen had already tried a variation of that descent on previous dates. He did it with the complete harness, which made it take a long time to let go, something that did not look good on television. For the PPV a nautical knot was used, a system that is used to quickly release a mooring of the male of a sailboat. Several coordinators were asked to try it and all one denied one, they considered it crazy.
Without a doubt, it was a death that marked a before and after in professional wrestling, in many ways. WWF had to interrupt its broadcast momentarily and commentators Jim Ross, by the American table, and the duo formed by Carlos Cabrera and Hugo Savinovich had to explain what was happening without being able to show images. Jerry Lawler, another commentators who was narrating the event, left his post to help Owen Hart, although he couldn't do anything.
In a controversial way, WWF staff decided to continue the event. Subsequently, Jim Ross, pressed by the then executive producer Kevin Dunn, announced Hart's death to the spectators looking at the PPV on television, but not the public in the sand. While the event continued, it was never commercially launched by WWF in Home Video.
In 2014fifteen years after his death, WWE Network launched the event for the first time. A small tribute photo is shown before the start informing the fans that Hart died during the original transmission. The entire Hart recording was edited and eliminated from the event.
