10 Most Notorious Bret Hart Urban Legends

4. He Would Have Never Let His Brother Owen Attempt The Stunt That Killed Owen

Story: Bret's brother Owen died on May 23, 1999 at age 34 because he was attempting an unnecessary stunt that led to him falling from the rafters in that building in Kansas City. The harness he used wasn't safe. When he tried to unclip, it didn't work like it was supposed to. His body went crashing into the ring. He died soon after. Bret was in WCW at that time and likely had no idea what Owen was planning to do that night. Bret was on a plane heading to Los Angeles to do the Tonight Show when he was called by WCW's Eric Bischoff, who told him what happened. It took a long time for Bret to come to terms with happened. He returned to WWE to accept a Hall of Fame induction, but didn't appear in storylines until 11 years after Owen's death. One of the things that Bret said repeatedly after Owen died is that he would have prevented Owen from doing the stunt if he was still in WWE. From those that were involved in WWE at the time, Owen didn't have a problem with the stunt and was okay with it. Why People Believe It: Bret was a top guy in WWE, so if he didn't want it to happen then maybe he would have prevented it. Owen was a nice guy that probably didn't want to upset anybody, so he did what he was told. Should We Believe It: Yes. He likely would have spoken up and stopped it from happening. There really was no point to the stunt other than doing something silly for Owen's "Blue Blazer" character. It's not like people would have really cared one way or another to see him repel down to the ring from the rafters. Owen's death was completely unnecessary and it was a stunt that wasn't going to really make a difference. Too bad Bret wasn't there to stop it.