Vince McMahon Defends Decision to Continue Show After Owen Hart's Tragic Death

Vince McMahon has addressed his decision to continue the show after the tragic death of Owen Hart during a WWE pay-per-view.

On May 23rd, 1999, Owen Hart, performing as The Blue Blazer, tragically died during the Over The Edge pay-per-view after falling from the rafters of the Kemper Arena in Kansas City due to a harness malfunction. Despite the horrific incident, with Hart’s blood still visible on the ring, McMahon controversially decided not to stop the show—a decision that has shadowed him ever since.

In the new Netflix documentary about him, Vince McMahon reflected on that fateful night and his reasoning:

"The decision that I had to make was basically whether or not the show goes on. The live audience didn’t really see what happened because Owen’s fall happened during a 'blackout.' Had they seen it, no question, you shut the show down."

WWE executive Bruce Prichard noted that while TV viewers were informed of Owen’s death, it wasn’t announced to those in attendance, as McMahon didn’t feel it "was the right thing to do." McMahon explained further:

"Those people came to see a show, they didn’t come to see somebody die. And as a businessman, it’s like, ‘Ok, let’s continue the show.’ […] There were a lot of negative comments as to whether or not the show should continue."

McMahon also responded to Bret Hart’s criticism at the time, when Bret questioned whether the show would have gone on had McMahon’s son Shane fallen instead:

"Naturally, Bret’s gonna feel like a brother should. He had every right to say anything negative about our company. Had it been me, not just my son, had it been me who ‘splatted on the mat’ like Bret 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."

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