Bret Hart’s Tribute To Owen Hart On The 19th Anniversary Of His Brother’s Death

Owen Hart

Wednesday marked 19 years since the tragic in-ring death of Owen Hart during a World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event. On Thursday, Bret Hart took to Twitter to pay tribute to his younger brother.

“I miss you every day Owen, and I vow to keep your memory alive despite the efforts to let you fade away,” Hart tweeted.

Here are more Owen tributes from those who knew and met him.

On May 23, 1999, Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event. Hart was in the process of being lowered via harness and grapple line into the ring from the rafters of Kemper Arena for an Intercontinental Championship Match against The Godfather. In keeping with the Blazer’s new “buffoonish superhero” character, he was to begin a dramatic entrance, being lowered to just above ring level, at which time he would act “entangled,” then release himself from the safety harness and fall flat on his face for comedic effect — this necessitated the use of a quick release mechanism. It was an elaboration on a Blue Blazer stunt done previously on the Sunday Night Heat before Survivor Series in 1998. While being lowered into the ring, Hart fell 78 feet (24 m), landing chest-first on the top rope (approximately a foot from the nearest turnbuckle), throwing him into the ring.