At WWE's Over the Edge Pay-per-view on May 23, 1999 at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, Owen Hart, as the Blue Blazer, was set to take on the Godfather.
As part of the Blue Blazers entrance, he was to be lowered from the rafters in a superhero like manor. The harness that held Owen was a new, quick-release type that would allow him to quickly remove himself from the harness once he entered the ring to prevent technicians from having to wait while he unhooked himself.
The Blue Blazer gimmick itself was punishment to Hart who refused to partake in an angle that would see him, his tag partner Jeff Jarret, and their valet, Debra, in a love triangle. Hart didn't want his family to see him do what he felt was adultery.
Instead, he was ordered to mock current WCW stars in the on-going Monday Night War fueds.
He told his "Little Blazer" fans to say their prayers and eat their vitamins, similar to the old Hulk Hogan of the late 80's and early 90's, but who was now WCW Champion. To parody another WCW star, Sting, the WWE started making Owen come down from the rafters on a cord.
The WWE had hired the man who would lower Sting from the ceiling at the various WCW shows. Before the event, they wanted Owen to do a few test runs.
Owen was highly against doing the stunt and wished to only do it once, on the air. Owen even went so far as to leave the arena and arrive shortly before the show went on the air in order to get out of it. This failed to work as they still had him do one test run. All went as planned and they were ready for the show.
Before the third match on the card, a hype video package was shown. After an interview from the Godfather, the camera cut to the crowd and focused there for several minutes.
It then cut to Jim Ross, who looked very distressed. Ross informed the viewer that Owen Hart was supposed to be lowered in, however, something went wrong and Hart fell from a very high distance and landed in the ring.
It is believed that as Owen was in the harness and waiting for his cue to be called, he was attempting to adjust the cape he was wearing as it had become caught in the harness.
While doing so he accidentally pulled the quick release on the harness which caused the fall.
As Owen was rushed to the hospital, the decision to continue the show as planned. A large pool of blood could be seen in the corner where Owen had landed.
It was then announced later in the show that Owen Hart had tragically passed away due to injuries resulted from the fall.
The following Monday Night Raw was dedicated to Owen Hart and it contained interviews from his friends and coworkers, as well as past memories and matches.
