Jim Korderas joins Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw. Jim was in the ring when Owen fell and Mr Brisco was the one telling talent the decision to continue. Heartbreaking night.
@@Goremachine actually that blood was from the bloodbath earlier on Sunday Night Heat. That little patch of 'blood' was the print Matt Hardy left as he was finishing the segment.
Well, consider how many people in the crowd that would have to be detained and interviewed before that crime scene was fully processed. They're all witnesses. That's a lot of highly emotional people sitting there facing a ring they just saw a wrestler die in, getting more and more restless and agitated and belligerent and emotional, and waiting for their chance to give their account. They could have been there for days. That is a lot of logistics to consider. We may not like the decision, but when you look at all the factors (and have the luxury or taking your time to do so) they had to consider, you go with the option that gives you the most maneuvering room while you reevaluate. Not a position I want anyone to be in.
@@chadcovey1626 die. When players die. Don’t know why you are trying to downplay it. And yes, other sports have stopped under those circumstances. Owen’s blood is still on the ring, and you would have his devastated friends go out there and wrestle in it for your amusement.
Really the saddest moment of Pro Wrestling History. The industry truly lost a marvel of the business. The way it all happened makes it so sad and depressing. We will never forget you Owen. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This was heartbreaking to hear and terrifying to learn that there was almost a second tragedy. I appreciate how open and honest you gentlemen were with us when talking about what is understandably still a painful and difficult subject. Thank you for sharing.
Road Dogg's interview about this was heartbreaking, he was crying frantically to Billy backstage about how he didn't want to wrestle the match, apparently everything backstage was a mess. I don't know if this is true but it's just from hearsay. Needless to say, it was tragic and the show should have ENDED.
Such a tragic event. I can't imagine how you all went on with the show having just lost a dear friend, and in such a way. Owen seems to have been loved by everybody, friends, colleagues, and fans alike. One of the greatest losses to the industry. Thank you for being so candid in the interview. It cannot have been easy for any of you.
@@_flyinlion_8995 yeah people blame wwe obviously but the police could’ve stopped the show right there and vince wouldn’t have been able to say shit about it.
I don't know why some fan in the Aduience didn't call the cops. I know it was 1999 and people didn't have cellphones or I Phones didn't exist yet. But someone could have found a payphone near the area. Or in the area. And called the police. Than the Cops like like you said would have. Stopped the show
Poor Jimmy. Can absolute empathize with him about the whole feeling guilty part. To this very day, it's probably very difficult for him to feel relieved he's alive because of what happened that night. Which, as horrible as this may sound, is the only good thing to come out of Owen's death, at least nobody else was killed. Still, RIP to one of the greatest of all time. Was just checking his wiki when watching this, he would've been 40 in 2005! That's how young he was! Batista would've won the 05 Rumble before Owen had turned 40, just let that sink in.
I know it was a long time ago and times change, but I'm surprised when the EMT arrived that the Police didn't stop the show because of the active crime scene
This was a powerful episode gentleman. Im glad you three guys are well. We'll never forget Owen. He was a great man a loving caring man and a amazing wrestler. The next night raw is Owen was a great tribute. I hope one day Martha allows him to go in to the Hall of Fame. Maybe you Three can do a episode together talking about some of the best ribs you remember owen pulling on people. We've heard a few and its safe to say he had a great sense of humor.
Not long after this happened, someone posted a photo of Owen in the BB outfit walking the scaffolding or what ever it was. The photo was taken from underneath.
Owen put on a pair of coveralls, a cap, and glasses and walked through the arena out to the concession area. He walked right through the fans and they didn't know that it was him. He looked like a maintenance worker. When he got to the catwalk entrance he took them off, put on his mask, and proceeded to the site.
That's right. I remember seeing that photo and I have the link to the website where photos from before and after are uploaded. The fan who took the photo recognized Owen from his BB shoes. He was standing right above him (on a catwalk) and talking to the rigger.
I can understand that all the talent didn't know what to do. But just based on his decisions with things in the past, I feel like McMahon was always about making more money without any thought to anything else. Jimmy Snuka's example being the first thing that comes to my mind. But I feel for all of the other people that were there, and above all, for Martha and her children.
Vince was definitely all about money, especially during that time. As Bret once said on Off The Record (Canadian show), if it was Shane or Stephanie, show would've been cancelled.
I was in the audience that night and saw Owen fall. I've always told people that Owen "kicked the ref in the back of the head" as he 'bounced' off the turnbuckle. Hearing Jim recount that exact moment in such detail brings all of that horrible night back. I'm so sorry, Jim, and RIP Owen
@@user-ch7cs8xt8x if any footage exists at all, it's not public. This was all before everybody in the world had a video camera/phone in their pocket. I did take a single point-and-click photo of Owen lying in the ring that has never been put on the internet, but as for the fall itself? Nobody will ever see it except for the people who were there. As for audience reaction, we hoped against hope and stuck around waiting for official word about Owen, but that word never came. We all watched the rest of the matches, but, like the wrestlers themselves, we weren't into it anymore. Everyone was only thinking & talking about Owen. I asked a police officer if he knew anything as I was leaving the venue, and he told me he'd heard on his radio that Owen had been declared dead upon arrival at the hospital. If course, when I got home and turned on the news, it was the only story on TV. The whole thing messed me up for days, the visual of his fall was stuck in my head everywhere I went. At work, at home, trying to sleep... in my mind's eye, he 'fell' thousands of times that week.
One thing that I have heard was this: The Blue Blazer was to win the InterContinental Title from The Godfather that night and be portrayed as a nerdy heel in the Attitude Era. He would tell the young fans to say their prayers, drink their milk, take their vitamins, and stay in school like Hulk Hogan did. In other words, he would be another version of The Honky Tonk Man. Plus the fact that he would be up near the top of the ladder, maybe headlining the "B" shows. Then after dropping the belt, Owen Hart would show back up and get the biggest push of his career. Yes, he was Vince's first choice to be.....THE GAME!
I will never forget this night, sitting there a few rows behind JR, with my 2 boys, just 11 and 12... and having to lie to them telling them it was just part of the show when it wasnt. I feel so bad to this day.
@@morris619 Yes i did , ill never forget the smell of the sawdust that poppedup.... the turnbuckle snap in a way thats not normal. IT was horrible. EVerybody gave each other that look, and we were scared, heresa fun fact for you. We never knew Owen died, only you at home watching the PPV know
@@markl8893 I was in the audience that night and saw Own fall, too, although I was not as close as you were. The "smell of the sawdust" is a detail I haven't heard from anybody else who witnessed the fall, but I believe it 100%. I'm sorry for what you and your boys went though.
im a canadian this was hart braking love all of you who put your body's on the line to entertain us the fans side note my parents fell in love at a wrestling match in 1983 when wwe came to vancouver island bc canada
I understand the feeling he decribed so well. About feeling guilty for feeling fortunate while another family suffers because he survived a close call. I was in a car crash a few years back, ended up losing my leg, but my friend i was with died in the crash. Now here i am, crippled but alive and now i even have money so from a settlement so i even somewhat benifitted from it. It makes me feel sick to this day, and if i had the opportunity i would switch places in an instant.
Imagine what could have happened if they had just ended the PPV right then and there, or at the very least postpone the Austin Taker match until the next night on Raw or the next week or two weeks or, really anytime other than on that night would have been okay with the fans and everyone could have simply forgotten and ignored this PPV & act like the PPV never happened. However, it will forever be a part of WWE history as it's biggest title changed on the same just hours after the incident that made Over the Edge 1999 infamous & notorious.
A lot of people trash Vince speaking purely out of emotion. But looking at it objectively: It was unprecedented. It's not like he had time to prepare for this. Also you've got 15-20,000 people who have just seen something horrendous. But obviously with the nature of the business, you can never be absolutely sure what is a work and what isn't. Most people probably didn't actually see the fall as the lights were dimmed and his promo was playing on the titantron. Do you want to confirm to all those people they've just watched someone die in the ring? Or carry the the show on and try to take their attention away from what just happened Don't get at me all angry I'm offering a reasonable explanation. In terms of the wrestlers themselves they had the choice whether to carry on or not. Nobody forced them to. Yet all the anger is aimed at Vince
I’m not quite sure what you mean either like who do I blame for Owens death or what? I just meant if they did the stunt properly nobody would have died.
As a 14 year old wwf fan, the right answer was to cancel the show. I remember watching this, sitting on my living room floor, and when this happened I told my mom. I apologized to her for wasting her money, because I'm not going to watch the rest of this after what happened. I was so disgusted that they continued that I actually stopped getting pay per views from this point onward (much to my mom's delight), and shortly after stopped watching entirely, because all the missing context of pay per views was bothering me.
definitely should have stopped the show, investigation should have taken place immediately. clear out the whole crowd , staff etc, and proper investigation take place . the right thing to do was to cancel the show
I wonder if maybe doing CPR attributed to hastening his death since it was found out he had severed an aorta and bled to death internally. I know the medics couldn't have known that but I wonder, yknow?
The most sick thing was not only that Owen died... But the fact that the heads of the event decided to let the show go on... So I can more then understand why Martha does not want Owen in the WWE Hall or have any DVDs... I believe that Vince called him on his phone and told him to get back to the arena to do the stunt or he was fired... Being a family man... Owen did it for his family... Shame on Vince, The Hart family and BRET... Owen's daughter said that if her dad was not in wrestling that he would still be here... His wife and kids are firm in their decision to not have Owen in the hall or DVDs put out... He always gave back and his name is gong toward helping those in need... Shame on the riggers and WWE for what happened... PREVENTABLE.....
If there is a heaven or hell after death, make no doubt that Vince's name is on that list going to hell. Hopefully, there is, and he'll burn in it forever for all the lives he has ruined to make a profit.
which is truly unfortunate. I wholeheartedly understand their position, but man, Owen Hart really deserves to be honored. He was such a good worker and only made a single mistake his whole career.
Nobody knew what to do, but I wish somebody had just stepped up and said to Vince the show has got to end. It was immoral to continue the show, having wrestlers & Owen's friends wrestle on the same mat he had died on.
After an accident I AGREE the show must go on.........After being informed of his tragic passing the show HAS TO STOP. I just don't understand how it's that hard 😕. Rip Owen 🙏
You 18000 fans millions of PPV buys and hundreds of people depending on that show for a pay day Vince did the right thing. If you die in military service that doesn’t stop the military
@@ItsJustCastro You're forgetting the key reason your comparison is terrlbIe. *In times of war, dylng in the military while doing your job is expected. In wrestling it isn't. Ever.*
I was out of the loop wrestling wise at the time. I had no idea it had even happened until the day after and my best friend came into school and told me everything.
Many years I thought it was simply your damned if you do or your damned of you don't. But I heard someone say, if it was shane that fell, would they have stopped it? Hearing that changed my mind.
I didn’t know Owen but I can tell you what I would expect if something like that ever happened to me. The show goes on. It would have helped no one by stopping that show. Certainly not the wrestlers or the fans who had just witnessed this. It would have just added to the heartbreak. You guys going on was admirable and therapeutic in a sense and that doesn’t get mentioned enough. It is easy to armchair quarterback but that is what I would have wanted and I believe you all would have wanted if that had happened to you.
The wrong answer is saying there’s no right answer. If that happened today( the show would’ve been stopped. Or social media would’ve destroyed the company.
I think any sane person would have stopped the show but we are dealing with Vincent Kennedy McMahon here. The audience didn’t know how far he fell but I would have to imagine seeing that happen, they’d understand cancelling the show. I wonder if ANYTHING could have saved him like what if he fell on the referee? I don’t know what Owen’s weight was but would that have likely still killed him? I saw that he fell dangerously close to the turnbuckle and my heart aches at the thought of it. He likely died in the ring but I can imagine the turnbuckle being even more painful. The whole thing really makes you see how fragile life is. Owen and everyone went to Kansas City to do the show and leave. It’s not like it’s WrestleMania. It’s just a regular PPV. This happens to Owen one night and the other wrestlers have a show to do the very next night. Owen’s body is still sitting at the coroners in Kansas City…… Rest well Owen, you deserved much better.
as a fan... and 'knowing' Owen the way one can through a blinking monitor.. i want to think Owen saw he was gonna bump the ref and turned in mid air to avoid a greater tragedy. Something beautful, here, about wanting to die alone and not with a friend.
After watching dsotr, I don't know how the cops allowed the show to keep going, surely the whole area should have been shut down? Dont think vince should have continued but the decision wasn't his to make
Fuck..Bradshaws body language when Jimmy says he started feeling guilty broke me. John looks so helpless here and he's clearly reliving it. I'm so sorry
That was always a hard call. I think Vince got caught in the moment and struggled with giving the fans what they paid for as opposed to suddenly stopping the show and the fans getting outraged. Not so much outraged at the show stopping but the fact that Owen just fell to his death and everyone was sent home afterwards. That wouldn’t have been a way to end the show. Someone once said that the main reason the show continued is because Taker ended up beating Austin for the title and that story was important to get over. However at the end of the night it probably wasn’t worth it.
Logically the thing to do would have been to cancel the show, but when your in shock like obviously everyone was, it's hard to rationalize the proper response.
cancelling a PPV with almost 12000 people and telling the live audience that a wrestler died right in front of their eyes would've just raged out people out of emptions. You have no Idea how that would've gone.
@@sanmechrocker It was a crime scene. Police should have shut it down and investigated. Literal crime scene. But I know it’s hard to rationalize at the time. Police should have done their job
i would have said to the crowd and they people watching on tv that the percentage of the card that wasnt shown will be refunded and then ended the show
No there was a right answer the answer was not to keep f****** doing it it should have stopped the show I'm sorry they feel sad about it just following orders is complete and utter bulshit no was debating it should have knocked f******no one's debating
I was 4 years old when this happened, I shouldn't have any memories of it, but as a kid I loved wrestling, just didn't watch the PPV's cause I was a kid and wasn't about to ask my parents to pay for it until I was older lol I remember watching a tribute video/commercial or something. Very sad
The only reason why Vince went with the cheap rigger is because the rigger that they usually use got greedy and demanded more money! In a way the rigger and his shortsighted greed are too blame for all this.
@@justinwalker2928hey were the best riggers same guys who worked with sting disney that's bullshit right there watch dark side of the ring wasn't even planned till last minute the riggers called wwf.
In EVERY jurisdiction in North America unexplained deaths are subject to a police investigation that is supposed to include preserving the scene and interviewing witnesses. It has ALWAYS been my belief that Vince and/or WWE officials pressured the police and Kemper arena management into letting the show continue. What if the reason Owen fell was because he got into a scrap with the rigger and was pushed to his death? What if the harness had been sabotaged by someone? These would be crimes and the police would not have access to preserved scenes. NO ONE knew at that time why a man fell to his death and it's incredibly fishy that the cops didn't stop the show. I'm sure Vince told the cops and arena management that the WWE would never be able to come back to KC if they cancelled the show and the arena would lose revenue etc etc. Again, unexplained deaths are subject to an immediate police investigation in EVERY city in North America - why not in Kansas City that night?
@@johnfraleee The cameras did not catch ANYTHING up in the rafters on the catwalk when Owen began his fall therefore the reason for him falling was unknown. McMahon said as much during the press conference after the show. "We have no answers right now". Therefore it was still an unexplained death.
At the time he wasn't dead, they were loading him into the ambulance. So at that point it was an accident not a death. But I enjoy your conspiracy about Vince bribing or threatening the police conspiracy theory that someone had it out for Owen. Owen's wife has all the evidence from the trial, I believe it was on an episode of Darkside of the ring, and in her book. 🤷
@@freakshowfilmfestival3591 There was no "trial" slappy. They announced his death on air skidmark therefore the police knew he was killed in the ring while the show was running. They should have pulled the plug on the show as soon as they heard from the hospital. I never said that I believe someone had it out for Owen. I said it was a bloody theory the police would have to include as they began an investigation. "But I enjoy your conspiracy theory about Vince bribing or threatening the police conspiracy theory..." What are you failing miserably to say here dink holster?
@misterslats Cameras definitely caught the fall, multiple ones, just not for the TV audience. A rolling camera from high above that's always recording the ring and a handheld one by an employee on the ramp. That footage was given to Kansas City PD during their investigation. Also, footage was also given to Owen's family, but they destroyed it. WWE has the footage and has to keep it for legal reasons.
@@davec.3129 Vince McMahon is pure evil. I thought that long before these recent ‘allegations’ came out, and long before he portrayed the ‘character’ (yeah right) Mr.McMahon. Money can’t by class
no it shouldn't have fucking continued why didn't the wrestler just tell Vince where to go vince thinking of money as if the fans wanted to stay after that shocking and the wrestlers complaining they had to stay no they didn't they could of all walked out told Vince where to go
He fell because he was hooked to a snap shackle by order of McMahon, who wanted a quick release. The clip was not designed to hold a heavy load, much less a human, and it opened within 3 seconds of Owen stepping off the cat walk.
What a lowly act it was for the WWE to continue the pay per view show ,,,,NO CLASS ,,, they should have evacuated the entire audience , and had an immediate investigation of a crime scene
I hate every time when people say “oh we didn’t know what to do, if the show should’ve gone on or not” the show should’ve fucking ended. You don’t continue a show after someone has fucking died.
I don't think it was so much they decided to continue the show, but rather they didn't decide to end the show early. They didn't have protocol for the situation. And in such a chaotic situation, you're thoughts aren't, stopping the show. It's handling the situation at hand. The people who thought it should stop at the time thought they weren't in a position to stop. The people who were in a position to stop the show were handling other matters, ie notifying the family. I feel not having the protocol in place led the show to keep going as opposed to them making a willful decision to not end it. In hindsight, should it have stopped? I'm thinking yes, but can understand why some people believe it should continue. But in all the chaos at the time, and the fact the show was going on, there wasn't even an opportunity to think about whether or not they should stop it.
The ring was a crime scene, the show should have been stopped. This whole thing just goes to show how fucked up the wrestling business is. It never stops, in 2002 they knew Scott Hall was an alcoholic and Vince was there himself helping them film other wrestlers pour alcohol all over his face as part of an angle. Just incredible.
All Vince had to say "We're sorry to inform you that we won't continue the show due to an unfortunate incident, we will provide details at a later time." But nope he was like "This is tragic, okay next match!" Smh
Who ever thinks or thought it was a good idea to continue the event has a lost soul. When I think about real sports, the stop the event. Remember when Eriksson collapsed during the Euro 2021? The stopped the match, eventhough he made it. The continued the match the next day or so. A wrestler dies in a very terrible way, his blood is still in the ring and they continue like nothing happened. Like Bret Hart said, for Vince McMahon the wrestlers are just like toys. If he is bored with one, he throws is it away and get another one
None of the talent left the building, proving no one gives a crap about anyone but themselves Vince included. Shame on all of you! Whatever WWE made that night is the value of a Wrestlers Life.
This was a death, the matches should have stopped immediately and police should have come in to investigate his death. Greedy people more money more money.
