The Scariest Night In WWE History | Tales From Backstage

The worst possible thing to ever happen in a WWE ring has just happened, and in avoidable, disastrous and devastating fashion. What next? What of those in the moment, closest to it, working for the company as well. What now?

Jim Ross' handling of an unimaginably difficult broadcasting responsibility was admirable, if there was anything from the night to admire at all. The cameras shot the crowd as medics tended to Owen Hart in the ring, and with Jerry Lawler part of the crew surrounding the dire scene, Ross was left alone to try and explain the seriousness of the situation with repeated assurances that there was no storyline or angle going on here, folks. In the aforementioned John Pollock documentary and then in subsequent contributions to other work that's been produced on Over The Edge 1999, Ross has also explained how he got the news that Owen had passed and how long he had to prepare some words for an on-camera with Lawler. In his own words "in the chaos, the folks in the back that were supposed to tell me at the Gorilla Position what was going were off headset doing other stuff, which I understand, but we didn't have the information. So he told me, 'he's dead, and you're back in 10, 9...". Ross wore more hats than the black Resistol one. As Executive Vice President Of Talent Relations, genuinely and deeply beloved voice of the show and colleague and friend of Owen, Ross' delivery of the news was as dignified as something so unnecessarily undignified could be.

The show infamously went on, of course. It went on after the fall. It went on after the announcement of Hart's death. Clips aired of Triple H smashing a coffin with a sledgehammer and the pay-per-view featured Steve Austin getting screwed out of the WWE Title, forcing JR to drop back in and dial up the indignation and rage, as if anything could have possibly mattered less. The show went on.

Vince McMahon was interviewed Off The Record's Michael Landsberg in July 1999 regarding the ight, with longstanding Live Audio Wrestling host Jeff Marek drafted in to help prepare questions. Landsberg was something of Canadian institution, famed for a no-nonsense interview style that did more to legitimise wrestlers than other traditionally more respected sports stars. As the host of weekly wrestling show Live Audio Wrestling out of Toronto, Marek was as vital a cog in his wheel and Landsberg was in his. Pretty much from the moment Owen fell, voices far and wide had angrily lambasted WWE and specifically McMahon for making the call to continue the show. This was clearly to be the fulcrum of the discussion, but ultimately McMahon held firm on his reasoning and rationale. McMahon noted a complete lack of precedent, and how "for better or worse....we couldn't imagine not continuing...none of us...as performers it is ingrained in us that the show must go on". Marek recalled how, on the flight home, he realised he should have asked Landsberg to ask if this would have been the mindset if Shane McMahon was the one in the Blazer costume. Eventually, he got his answer - or an answer - when it came up on Netflix's Mr McMahon docu-series. Per the former Chairman; "...had it been me, not just my son, had it been me who was 'splatted on the mat' as Bret [Hart] said, I would want the show to go on. So get me out of there, you know, and let the show go on. I'd do it with me, and to this day I would".

Of course, there's a certain fortuitous arrogance to his assessment. As noted by many with some of the smoke had cleared, the choice shouldn't have been McMahon's to make. The incident was potentially a crime scene, but said scene had been instantly compromised as soon aa the call had been made. More on the outcome of the long legal case later, but as Martha Hart discussed extensively in her Broken Harts book and Dark Side Of The Ring special, the use of the "quick release snap shackle" instead of the locking carabiner was something the company wanted, despite experienced rigger Joe Branam (the man contracted for Shawn Michaels' WrestleMania XII entrance, and various Undertaker stunts) "vehemently refusing to lower a human with it". He was no longer WWE's go-to guy a fortnight before Over The Edge, when his $5000 quote for a similar stunt on the May 10th Raw was considered too expensive. They went in a different direction. The show went on.

On the Hart Family specifically, Marek noted; "Some really condemned Vince McMahon, and some pointedly did not, and you could already see a rift forming in the family there and then". Davey Boy Smith was back in the Fed fold by August. Ellie, Diana and Bruce were the siblings most attached to idea of trying to forgive WWE, but the prevailing sense that they craved McMahon's financial support rather than his anger was keenly felt by the other side of the family. At Owen's funeral (more on that elsewhere), an emotional but bravely defiant Martha spoke of "a day of reckoning", and it was telling how many felt as though the words might have been aimed at them. Again from the Netflix documentary, McMahon added "The live audience didn't really see what happened. Had they seen, there was 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". The reckoning Martha spoke of was even more necessary than she might have realised.

Meanwhile, again, the show went on. Sunday turned to Monday. Over The Edge to Monday Night Raw.

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