Martha Hart has commented on what Netflix got wrong in “Mr. McMahon.”
Owen Hart’s tragic death at WWF Over the Edge 1999 is covered in episode four of the docuseries, but Owen’s widow says Netflix never contacted her to take part. Martha says there was much that the show left out regarding WWE’s negligence.
She told Daily Hive:
“Netflix’s Mr. McMahon documentary series portrays the death of my husband, Owen Hart, as a mere accident. It also allows the disgraced former owner and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Vince McMahon, to claim that Owen’s death ‘wasn’t our fault.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.
“The real truth is that on May 23rd, 1999, out of a desire to cut costs and achieve a ‘quick release’ effect that a rigging expert specifically warned against, WWE hired unqualified riggers to arrange a stunt in which Owen was to rappel from the rafters during a wrestling event. As a result, the riggers used incorrect equipment that caused Owen to fall to his death. It was pure negligence that killed my husband.”
“What the documentary fails to mention is that the equipment used was never meant for a rappelling stunt,” she continued. “Instead, a harness meant for dragging stunt people behind cars on movie shoots was used with a sailboat clip meant to release on load with only six pounds of pressure. Had the WWE hired qualified riggers who followed proper protocol that included redundancy, as is typical practice, and used the correct equipment, Owen would not have died that night.”
“To be clear, no one involved in the making of this documentary attempted to contact me for comment or to obtain an accurate perspective. I continue to hold WWE and its then-management responsible for Owen’s death. I refuse to let Vince McMahon or anyone else rewrite that history.
Martha started The Owen Hart Foundation in 2000 in her husband’s memory. The charitable organization provides scholarships for High School students to receive post-secondary education. The OHF also has programs to help low-income families save for a down payment to purchase a home. More information about the foundation can be found here.
AEW and Martha Hart announced a partnership in September 2021 that saw the creation of the Owen Hart Cup. The promotion initially wanted to call the tournament “The King of Harts” in honor of Owen’s nickname after the 1994 King of the Ring but was blocked from using the name. AEW made multiple attempts at trademarking the term in 2021 but the application still shows as “pending.” A new application to trademark the name was filed by AEW earlier this week.