Martha Hart: The Fighter Who Took On Vince McMahon Alone
Widow of a wrestler Owen Hart decided to come face-to-face with Vince McMahon. Martha blamed Vince for Owen’s tragic death
It was May 23, 1999, the day that turned Martha Hart’s life upside down. Her husband, wrestler Owen Hart, tragically died in the ring while performing a stunt during WWF’S Over the Edge pay-per-view event in Kemper arena, Kansas City. The stunt went horribly wrong and Owen fell straight into the ring chest first from the 70-meter height. He passed away while being taken to the hospital. The paramedic’s team tried their best to revive him but it seemed that Owen died on the spot. Leaving behind his wife, Martha Hart, and children Oje & Athena.
The tragic death of Owen left his family devastated. Especially, his wife Martha was the most to suffer. She lost her husband and father to her two kids on that fateful day.
Owen and Martha were together for 18 years. They married in July 1989 after 8 years of courtship. Their son Oje was born in 1992 and their daughter Athena in 1995. Due to the nature of his job, Owen had to travel a lot and that’s why he was away from the family most days. But when he was at home, he made sure he spent some quality time with his wife and kids. He was a loving husband and a devoted father. He hated his job and wished he could spend all his time with his family. He was about to quit wrestling after the end of his contract and thought of taking a teacher’s job.
Owen and Martha also bought a new home and were about to shift there in a few days. Unfortunately, this could not be possible due to Owen’s untimely death.
WFF was moving towards a violent and dramatic form of entertainment, which Owen disliked. He found it difficult to adjust to this new nature of WWF. He believed wrestling was about entertaining people with moves performed in the ring. The unnecessary drama, weird gimmicks and all the lurid storylines that took place away from the ring were nothing but disgusting to Owen.
He felt WWF didn’t utilize his talent and potential. He thought he deserved better. This propelled him to think about retiring from wrestling. He was ready to hang his boots after the end of his contract. He even asked Vince McMahon to release him, but he put down his request and forced him to complete his contract.
To give a fresh lease to Owen Hart’s wrestling career, WWF reintroduced his Blue Blazer superhero gimmick that he debuted at WWF with. The Blue Blazer was a masked superhero with a high flying style.
During those days, WCW was WWF’S rival. The competition was stiff in both promotions. It was a war for TRP. WWF’S Raw is War & WCW’s Monday Nitro was telecasted at the same time. Both promotions tried various gimmicks and storylines to bag maximum TRP & ticket sales.
WCW wrestler sting’s character was similar to Owen’s Blue Blazer. Sting was performing flying stunts that were received with thunderous applause from the audience. Vince too wanted Owen to perform a similar stunt, keeping the trp game in mind. He was in no mood to allow WCW to dominate WWF in any way. This could even mean putting a wrestler’s life on the line by including deadly stunts in the storylines.
Although Owen did perform some stunts before, he was really uncomfortable performing it during May 23, 1999, Over the Edge pay-per-view event. This was revealed by Martha Hart in her book “Broken Hart: The Life and Death of Owen Hart”.
Owen had no other option than to perform the stunt. He thought risking his life was better than risking his job. He rejected a few storylines earlier. Hence, rejecting this stunt might mean angering boss Vince.
Owen agreed to perform the stunt despite rehearsing it once just before the live event. He was confident that he could pull off such a stunt as he did earlier. He had full faith in him as well in the stunt coordinating team.
But Destiny had other plans. Death was waiting for him that day. The stunt ended his life in a few moments.
While Owen breathed his last, his wife Martha & Kids were having a normal day in Calgary, Canada, far away from the venue. Expecting Owen to return after the event. As the event was telecasted on T.V. Owen’s death was announced live on T.V. by commentator Jim Ross. Martha wasn’t watching the event so she wasn’t aware of his death. She only found out when Vince called & informed him about the tragic accident. Though he didn’t let her know that Owen had passed away. A doctor later called her to inform her about Owen’s sudden death. As revealed by Martha in her book, “Broken Harts: The Life & Death of Owen Hart.”
She didn’t believe it at first. No one could have. A pal of gloom descended Martha’s home. Loneliness gripped her soul entirely. She wasn’t ready to believe that her husband Owen was no more. But came to terms soon after and accepted the ugly reality.
She firmly believed that there was negligence involved and held WWF and its owner Vince McMahon responsible for Owen’s Death. She was ready to take on Vince.
Martha was a fighter. She was ready to take on Vince, not in the ring but in the court of law. She filed a lawsuit against WWF, which was eventually settled out of court. Martha was paid $18 million by WWF. Martha still wasn’t happy. She filed a lawsuit to put those responsible behind bars. Her fight wasn’t for money, but for justice. Her legal team tried everything but she couldn’t stand up against a financially superior and powerful man like Vince McMahon.
McMahon’s legal team made every effort to delay the trial. McMahon even lured Owen’s siblings and parents to be on his side in exchange for favors. Martha had to fight the battle all alone. Only Bret Hart was on his side. Rest of Owen’s siblings were neutral or sided with McMahon. They even passed on the secret documents to McMahon’s legal team. Martha was firm on continuing her fight for justice. She wasn’t ready to compromise. As no amount could compensate for the loss of Owen. She wasn’t interested in money. For her, the fight was for Owen and not for her. She wanted the world to know that her husband Owen died due to the negligence of WWF. She wanted the world to know that her husband was sacrificed in the name of entertainment.
It was impossible for Martha to continue the legal battle, keeping in mind the financial cost of it. The legal process would cost her both money and time.
After being persuaded by her legal team, she gave in and offered to settle this out of court. Which was the only option left for her. An out-of-court settlement was reached and Martha was paid $18 million for the damages.
She never thought that this legal battle would end in such a way. She wanted justice for Owen, not the money. Settling for money made her more depressed. She felt guilty & money only increased her pain further. She isolated herself for days. After reflecting, she found a purpose. A purpose that would keep Owen’s legacy alive. Martha started the Owen Hart Foundation in the memory of Owen, dedicated to helping underprivileged people.
It has been 23 years since Owen died but he continues to remain in the heart of fans. And Martha’s commitment and sincerity toward the Owen Hart Foundation have made sure, that Owen Hart would be remembered for generations to come.
