Owen Hart's widow sounds off at Netflix's "Mr. McMahon" WWE documentary
Netflix’s Mr. McMahon documentary is attempting to rewrite history concerning Owen Hart’s tragic death, according to his widow.
The Calgary-born pro wrestler died during a WWE show in 1999 when a dramatic entrance from the arena rafters in Kansas City went horribly wrong.
Hart fell to his death.
The topic was discussed in the Netflix documentary about WWE mogul Vince McMahon, which included commentary from Owen’s brother, Bret “The Hitman” Hart.
But Martha Hart, Owen’s widow, does not agree with how the terrible tragedy was portrayed in the docuseries. In a statement released on Thursday, Martha fired back at the claim that the WWE wasn’t to blame.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
McMahon said that Owen’s harness was “defective” and pointed blame squarely at the manufacturer.
But there’s much more to the story, according to Martha.
“What the documentary fails to mention is that the equipment used was never meant for a rappelling stunt,” she added. “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.”
Martha said the WWE actually sued her following Owen’s death for breach of contract as “retaliation” for her wrongful death lawsuit. She adds that the WWE continued to sell Owen Hart merchandise for “many years” without paying his estate.
“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.”