Jeff Jarrett has reflected on the night Owen Hart died, recalling the emotional weight of having to perform shortly after the tragic incident.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jeff Jarrett discussed his memories of Over the Edge 1999, where Owen Hart died after falling during a planned entrance stunt. Jarrett said he had been backstage with Hart shortly before the accident and realised something was wrong when he was unexpectedly told that his own match was next.
“Matt Miller busted in and said, ‘You’re up.’ I’m like, ‘Owen’s up.’ He goes, No. I said, ‘Well, what happened?’ He said he fell. That stopped the match, not good. He fell. So then there was a T-shirt. Grab my T-shirt, run down there. I knew how to promo beforehand, and as I’m walking through the backstage area, that is the heaviness.
And I’ve processed this so many different times, I can live it, I have visualized it, I can visualize it. Kevin Kelly, we get in front, Deborah and me and have the interview, Owen’s being wheeled by 10 feet apart. Crazy emotions, hollering, and screaming, and you know 15-20 people following a gurney, and all this, and 3,2,1… Whatever I said, the heaviness was, which I had no idea, but it was on me.”
Jarrett said he noticed the top rope felt extremely loose when he entered the ring, but admitted he was not fully able to process what had happened in the moment.
Jeff Jarrett Shares His Experience On Dealing With The Grief Of Owen Hart’s Passing
The WWE Hall of Famer also explained that he did not properly grieve Owen Hart’s death at the time, as the company continued on the road immediately after the event. Jeff Jarrett said it was not until 2017 that he went through a deeper process of grieving and began to fully understand the impact of that night.
Hart died on May 23, 1999, during WWE’s Over the Edge pay-per-view in Kansas City, Missouri. His death remains one of the most tragic moments in professional wrestling history.
