Owen Hart tragically passed away at WWE Over The Edge 1999 when a stunt went wrong and Owen, who was going to repel from the top of the arena as The Blue Blazer, fell to his death.
The show was briefly paused, but continued with Jeff Jarrett coming to ring for his mixed tag team match. Jarrett and Owen were longtime friends and teaming together on television.
Appearing on The Bobby Bones Jones, Jarrett was asked if he was surprised that the show continued.
"Not at the time. That was the one thing when I went into recovery that I never processed at all. I hate to say it, but it was work. I've talked to his widow Martha and extensive conversations, but we were in a place where his match was on before me, the backstage stage manager came and said, 'Hey, Owen is going to the ring, you're up next.' I had in my mind 15-18 minutes. Three minutes later, they came and said, 'You're on now.' I went, did a promo, and all that stuff was going around. They wheeled his body right beside me. I went to the ring, did that, came back, I said, 'I want to go to the hospital right now.' It was, I hate to say this, but it was the reality...caught up to me. It was, unfortunately, in my mind, another day at work with a tragic accident," said Jarrett.
He continued his reflection on the tragic incident by saying, "I got in the ring, and to this day I haven't watched that match back, for a number of reasons. I felt the top rope was very very loose, and I went over in the corner where his body had fallen, and there was a -- I can talk about it now, for years I wouldn't talk about it -- there was a dip in the ring. There was no blood. It was where his body had fallen. I just had a sense of, 'Okay.' In my gut, I didn't process it or intellectually think it through, but in my gut, I was like, 'Okay, this is bad.'"
Owen was pronounced dead during the show, with Jim Ross informing viewers.
AEW honors Owen Hart with the annual Owen Hart Foundation Memorial Tournament, which is held with the blessing of Owen's widow Martha Hart. Jarrett competed in the 2024 Owen Hart Memorial Foundation Tournament.
Fans can learn more about the Owen Hart Foundation by clicking here.
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