Vince McMahon Addresses Death Of Owen Hart & Decision To Continue The Show

WWE

Vince McMahon has addressed the death of Owen Hart and his decision to continue with the show after finding out the news.

Hart passed away during Over The Edge on May 23, 1999 as the equipment being used to lower him into the ring from the rafters malfunctioned and he fell to his death.

After the incident and even the confirmation that Hart had died, the show continued.

During the new ‘Mr McMahon’ docuseries on Netflix, Vince McMahon commented on the situation and his decision not to end the show. He said:

“Owen was to fly, so to speak, as we’ve done before, from the rafters of the building.

“Thank god, for the audience, that we were in a blackout, so they didn’t really see it. Thank god. When the lights came up, they saw Owen in the ring, and medical personnel were working on him. We wondered whether or not, ‘Could Owen be alive? Truly he could be’.

“The decision that basically I had to make (after finding out Owen had been pronounced dead) was whether or not the show goes on. The live audience didn’t really see what happened. Had they seen, there’s no question about it, you have to shut the show down.

“Those people came to see a show. They didn’t come to see somebody die. And me as a businessman, it’s like, ‘Okay, let’s continue on. Let’s continue the show’.

“There were a lot of negative comments actually as to whether or not the show should have continued. “Naturally, Bret’s gonna feel like a brother should. He had every right to say anything negative about our company.

“Had it been me, not just my son, had it been me who was ‘splattered on the mat’ as Bret said, I would want the show to go on. ‘Get me out of there, and let the show go on’. I’d do it with me. To this day I would.

“In terms of Owen, we settled a lawsuit basically with his wife. And then we find out, which we thought all along, it wasn’t our fault. Unfortunately, the apparatus they were using was defective, and the manufacturer knew it was defective, and then we sued the manufacturer.”

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