The Scariest Night In WWE History | Tales From Backstage
The "Raw Is Owen" show 24 hours removed from Over The Edge drew one of the biggest ratings in the show's history, and - in the absence of really being able to do anything else other than not run the show at all - was a mostly-very-earnest tribute. A ten-bell saluted opened the night, with the entire roster filling the ramp, McMahon family font and centre. Wrestlers were invited to speak if they wanted, to wrestle if they wanted, or to do absolutely nothing if they wanted, and though the language didn't really exist within wrestling at the time, the whole thing felt a little bit like therapy. Jeff Jarrett, Dustin Rhodes, Faarooq, Edge, Mick Foley, Triple H, Chyna, Hardcore Holly, Bruce Prichard, Mark Henry, Test, X-Pac, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Paul Bearer, Bradshaw, Droz, Dave Hebner and others offered their thoughts, condolences and memories in talking heads, Road Dogg and Godfather elected not to fight but to head backstage to share Owen stories, and Stone Cold Steve Austin silently toasted his image on the TitanTron to close the show. All quite of-the-time, but all quite dignified too considering the state of shock everybody was in. The broadcast was utterly heartbreaking, not least because the testimonials barely needed to mention how he was one of the best to ever step between the ropes. It was all about the man, the husband, the father, the brother, the road comedian, the prankster, the good egg. An important reminder of what really been lost, and just how unnecessary the loss was.
Across subsequent broadcasts, WWE gave the address of the Albert Children's Hospital in Calgary as a place for people to send donations to should they wish to pay tribute, noting that it was his "favourite" charity. Everything was so, pardon the pun, raw, that it was hard to gauge exactly what was going to follow as the story developed. On the May 29th edition of Shotgun Saturday Night (pre-taped from May 24th, the night of the Owen tribute show), commentator Kevin Kelly touched briefly on the situation, saying through obvious pain "Many WWF Superstars expressed their true feelings about Owen Hart, who we lost tragically last Sunday in a horrible accident. It's been a real tough week for everybody but we're trying our best to move on here, as a matter of fact Owen Hart's wife Martha would like to extend her gratitude to all of Owen's friends and fans for their overwhelming support and sympathy during this trying time. Everybody was touched Owen, he was a great guy, great family man. He will be missed".
Name-checking Martha, trying to find collectivism in the pain. That was understandable. Amenable, even? Maybe? Doing so before adding "we're trying our best to move on" though? Kelly perhaps didn't quite find the right words he was fumbling around for. Or did he?
The show went on. Was Vince McMahon quickly starting to realising how important that was for the optics of choosing to do the same on May 23rd? "Over The Edge" was never used again by the company and phased out as early as the following Sunday, when the May 30th edition of Heat opened with highlights labelled as "pay per view". This was to be the episode of the USA weekend show that attempted to move the promotion on from the incident narratively. Loaded with King Of The Ring qualifiers and a promo segment featuring the ex-WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin, there was a sense that this was the show Raw would have been had it not been dedicated to Owen. The WWE wheel never stops turning, but even in the shadow of the darkest of tragedies, this was confirmation it would pause for precisely one broadcast.
If Kelly's phrasing had been slightly unfortunate and but justifiable given how soon he was expected to go out and do his duties, Michael Cole's on Heat made it seem as though the whole company was on message. The show's opening bout saw Test and Tori take on Meat and PMS' Jacqueline in a typically frivolous offering, and the trivial nature of everything served as a jarring contrast to the very real trauma so many were experiencing. Or not, if you were to believe the B and C-string announce team. Parroting Kelly's message with almost none of the sentiment and a defiant sternness, he said "We here in the WWF and everyone in the world [are] saddened with the tragic accident that cost Owen Hart his life last week, but as Owen Hart would've wished, we are moving on". Kelly softens the stance, and again reiterates Martha's gratitude for their messages of sympathy. Even accepting the context of the times and the lack of appropriate treatment that should have been offered to any and every person even loosely associated with the company in the aftermath, this was an unreasonable level of stoicism and insistence on stiff-upper-lipping their way through things. It couldn't get worse, but WWE weren't about to try that hard to make things better.
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Perhaps it was too much to expect the company - approaching an all-time commercial and critical peak - to slow down and look inwards, but it was neither the time nor the place. If the May 30th Heat was an attempt to gently return things back to a state of normality, the Raw eight days later may as well have happened ten years later. With fans still holding signs paying tribute to Owen, WWE presented Vince McMahon as the biggest babyface in the entire company - the owner took a beating from The Undertaker in a fashion so vicious that 'The Deadman' was disqualified for knocking over the referee mid-fury. The stakes? McMahon was bravely fighting to earn Stone Cold Steve Austin another shot at the WWE Championship. He couldn't have done more to remain onside with his audience, despite the most disastrous of all tragedies taking place under his watch just a week earlier.
Elsewhere in the very same universe as that, Beaver Cleavage picked up a win, Mick Foley's latest effort to elevate Triple H resulted in 'The Game' scoring a win in a hardcore match between the two, and Jeff Jarrett defeated The Godfather for the Intercontinental Title, ending a reign that would have concluded against Owen at Over The Edge. In wrapping up his character's business, they rather coldly put paid to everything else, save for airing footage of people arriving for his funeral against Martha Hart's wishes.
It began a series of public, private and in some cases legal arguments between WWE and Martha, which created yet more ructions and ruptures in the family. Bret took Martha's side during subsequent legal proceedings, and eventually, she separated herself from the warring Hart family entirely in the post-script. The mood soured with 'The Hitman' when she justifiably made efforts to stop WWE's celebration (or, specifically, profiteering off) of his work in the years that followed. Hart wanted his younger brother immortalised in footage, but Martha felt otherwise, and strongly too. Amidst so much hurt and pain, Martha filed a lawsuit against WWE, with the case ending in an $18 million settlement in November 2000. Astonishingly, this wasn't the end of the two sides doing battle in court. Martha brought another lawsuit against WWE in 2010, alleging that they'd failed to pay her royalties and violated a contract restricting the use of Owen Hart's name and likeness. The details of the settlement were not disclosed, though it wasn't without a battle from the WWE side beforehand. From the original case, she put the money to good use, setting up the Owen Hart Foundation. The charity provides university and college scholarships for children in need, as well as housing for low income families. It also supports a number of other worthwhile charities in the Calgary community. You can donate here.
It is this - as opposed to anything rubber-stamped by WWE in the aftermath - that stands as a true monument to his legacy. Hart's relationship with All Elite Wrestling has added the Owen Hart Cup to the promotion's annual schedule, with Tony Khan backing the charity to the hilt thanks to multiple donations and the stature-enhancing position of the brand. It's the very best of what remains of the very worst of situations, but has at least seemingly provided some peace for Owen's family in the industry he only really stayed in in order to support them. Time will never heal all the wounds and nor should they, but through this and an incredibly brave contribution to the Dark Side Of The Ring special on her late husband, Martha has taken the fear, the sadness, the anger and the loss and turned it into something more than an ill-advised video package. 'The King Of Harts' was real, so too now is his assured legacy.