Val Venis Recalls Wrestling After Owen Hart’s Death
Val Venis shared what was going through his mind when Owen Hart fell and was wheeled past him.
Over The Edge 1999 has become known as the show in which Owen Hart died following a catastrophic accident. He was supposed to descend to the ring via a harness but a mechanical error caused the harness to break and Owen fell from very high up, hit the top rope, and died in the ring.
It was a dark and difficult moment, both for fans in attendance and for Owen’s fellow wrestlers. But instead of canceling the show then and there, Vince McMahon decided to continue the PPV event, which included the next scheduled match: Jeff Jarrett vs. Val Venis.
In an exclusive interview with WSI – Wrestling Shoot Interviews, Val Venis explained that he noticed tons of panic backstage when Owen’s fall happened. His initial thought at the chaos was that some fan had climbed up to the rafters and had fallen. But when Owen’s name was said, things took on a much more terrifying turn. Venis was part of a mixed tag team match at Over The Edge 1999 as he teamed with Nicole Bass against Jeff Jarrett & Debra. Venis recalled what it felt like going to the ring.
“Walking down to the ring, other than as I was walking down, you can hear the fans but you can really register them because as I’m looking down I’m just looking up going ‘oh my god, this is real, this is really happening.”
Val Venis also discussed seeing Owen being wheeled past him on a gurney with EMT’s surrounding and covering him.
“When we got in the ring, it was kinda a blur from there. Basically, we just came to the conclusion that, ‘hey, lets just work through this, and find out what happened with Owen after the fact.’ We did the match, I don’t really remember much of the match, man everything was about Owen at that point.”