Canadian wrestler killed in front of horrified fans [Canadian Press]

Canadian wrestler killed in front of horrified fans
From The Canadian Press
Monday, May 24, 1999

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - At first there was some confusion over whether Owen Hart�s fall into the ring was just part of the scripted action. Even when ringside commentator Jim Ross assured the pay-per-view audience that what they were seeing was real - a dubious claim in the world of professional wrestling - there was still uncertainty.

But it soon became horribly clear that Hart had died performing a stunt in a form of entertainment often derided as fake.

"I�ve been doing this for more years than I would like to admit, and this, well, is one of the most shocking things I have ever seen," Ross told viewers. "This is not your typical wrestling story line, this is a real situation."

The Calgary-born Hart was to be lowered to the wrestling ring on a wire but fell 18 metres, hitting his head on a turnbuckle at the start of a World Wrestling Federation match on a show broadcast live on pay-per-view TV Sunday.

"He was supposed to be lowered down into the ring," said Michelle Hindorff, a paramedic and dispatcher for the city ambulance service. "It didn�t get hooked on to him. He thought it was hooked on."

Said fan Bill Tucker: "Hart fell into the ring ropes, his head hit the ring itself and his legs flipped on his body."

Hart�s fall was not shown, nor were the frantic efforts of the paramedics to revive him before thousands of fans in Kemper Arena.

The 33-year-old Hart, who occasionally wrestled under the name of The Blue Blazer, is the younger brother of Bret (The Hitman) Hart, a star with World Championship Wrestling.

Edmonton native Chris Benoit, who wrestles in the WCW and trained with Hart and his father Stu, was stunned by the tragedy.

"I�m broken-hearted right now," a sombre Benoit told The Law, a wrestling show broadcast live on The Fan radio station in Toronto late Sunday night.

"Owen was an outstanding person. Set aside wrestling and what his athletic ability was, and as a human being he was a very caring and good person, and that�s the way I�ll remember him.

Winnipeg native Chris Jericho, another WCW star who met Hart on several occasions and cited him as a formative influence on his wrestling style, was also saddened by the news.

"What happened kind of was really a mirror image to a circus going wrong, with someone falling off the high wire, or falling off the trapeze," Jericho told The Law. "That�s the way you can sum up what we do. We�re almost a live-action circus act. And tonight one of our guys fell off the high wire, and the net didn�t catch him."

The accident occurred about 40 minutes into the sold-out show, which took place before an announced crowd of 18,244.

As the introduction for the Hart bout was about to begin, the show went to a planned promo tape featuring Hart as The Blue Blazer.

Before the tape ended, Ross - his voice halting - was heard to say: "We�ve got big problems out here."

When the taped interview ended, the show returned to Ross.

Hart was being attended to in the ring by emergency officials, Ross said. The cameras did not show the ring, instead aiming at the crowd, which appeared unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

"This is not part of the entertainment tonight," Ross told the TV audience. "This is as real as real can be here.

"This is not a wrestling angle - this is real life."

Hart was then carried away on a stretcher as the show continued.

About one hour after the accident, following another match, Ross told viewers that Hart had not survived the fall.

"Owen Hart was set to make an entrance from the ceiling and he fell from the ceiling," Ross said. "And I have the unfortunate responsibility to let everyone know that Owen Hart has died. Owen Hart has tragically died from that accident here tonight."

The official WWF Web site (www.wwf.com) posted a tribute to Hart shortly afterward.

"We at the WWF are saddened by the tragic accident that occurred here tonight," WWF chairman Vince McMahon said at a news conference. "We don�t have any answer as to why this happened. There is an ongoing investigation."