Ex-WWE Announcer Reflects On Owen Hart’s Tragic Death
A former longtime WWE employee has commented on his memories of the death of the late, great Owen Hart.
The wrestling world lost one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time on May 23rd, 1999 when Owen Hart fell to his death at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Owen was just 34 years old while leaving behind his wife Martha, son Oje and daughter Athena.
Owen Hart was dressed as the Blue Blazer as he propelled down from the rafters of the building, but the mechanism broke and Owen landed right there in the ring. While the medical team was there quickly, he was pronounced dead shortly after. It is one of the saddest and worst wrestling tragedies ever.
Tony Chimel worked for WWE for nearly 40 years from 1983 until his release in April 2020. Chimel worked for WWE in a variety of different roles including a ring technician and an announcer. Many fans know Chimel from his work as the main announcer on Smackdown when it started in 1999 and for the most part until 2007. His introduction of Edge is considered legendary as well.
During a recent episode of “Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda,” Chimel talked about where he was when Owen fell.
“I don’t know if I was taking jackets or maybe I was just out back there hanging out, but that’s where I was when it happened. And I just remember Jerry Lawler coming back and saying, ‘Guys, I think he’s dead, for serious.’ We were all like, ‘Oh my God, what happened?’ Then, we’re all just waiting and stuff, and then I saw when they wheeled him back and stuff, and [Owen] just looked purple to me. And it was such a sad, sad moment.”
Chimel also mentioned that a man named Tim Rogers was sweeping the ring with a broom while referee Jimmy Korderas was also clearing the ring because there was a Hardcore Match before The Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) match with The Godfather. When Owen fell from the rafter, he landed near both men.
Owen Hart was known as a beloved ribber in WWE as well and there’s a very funny story from Val Venis about one of Owen’s greatest pranks.