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Investigation of wrestler's fatal fall focuses on harness By RUTH E. IGOE and LYNN HORSLEY - Kansas City Star Date: 05/24/99 23:06 Owen Hart had performed the stunt before. At Sunday night's World Wrestling Federation show at Kemper Arena, the 34-year-old professional wrestler got ready again. Cables strung from a catwalk beneath the roof seemed taut. A harness was snug. But about 10 minutes before Hart, nicknamed the "Blue Blazer," was scheduled to descend into the ring suspended from the cable, he suddenly plunged nearly 90 feet to his death. Police investigators said Monday it appeared that Hart had lost his balance, a misstep that started a still-unclear chain of events leading to the only known performance-related death at the arena. Investigators are zeroing in on the wrestler's body harness attached to the cable, which did not break. The harness had a quick-release device that Hart could use to free himself from the cable. Police think that somehow, the quick release was accidentally activated as Hart lost his balance, sending him crashing to the ring below. "Anytime you are up there on a catwalk with ropes everywhere, in the dark, 92 feet above the floor, things can happen," said Kansas City Police Capt. Jerry Gallagher. "When you are dealing with triggers that can drop you from your harness, anything can happen. Anything can fail." An autopsy Monday revealed that Hart had bled to death internally from blunt chest trauma, said Jackson County Medical Examiner Thomas Young. As Hart prepared to descend, the attention of the crowd had been directed to a large video screen where a taped interview with Hart -- dressed as the Blue Blazer -- focused on his upcoming match with The Godfather. As the interview neared its conclusion, heads turned toward the ring, where Hart landed in one corner with an echoing boom. Some fans thought a mannequin had been dropped from the catwalk as part of the WWF's script, which some wrestlers said calls for increasingly risky stunts. But the crowd's mood quickly changed. Hart struggled to lift his head. His arms rose slowly, about a foot off the mat, then he collapsed onto the canvas. Within seconds, paramedics rushed into the ring, unraveling Hart's navy Blue Blazer mask and unsuccessfully trying to resuscitate him. Hart's descent was supposed to be an added attraction for 16,340 attending the event -- called "Over the Edge" -- and hundreds of thousands of fans watching on pay-per-view. Mark Yeaton, an event operations coordinator for the WWF's Kansas City show, said the federation does about 300 shows a year. Such stunts are an "extra, extra addition," done about once a month, mostly for pay-per-view shows. World Wrestling Federation officials at their Stamford, Conn., headquarters on Monday were conducting their own investigation into the accident. WWF officials said they did not know how many times Hart had performed the routine and did not say whether they were reviewing discontinuing such stunts. "We are all devastated," said spokeswoman Susan Warner. "He had a wonderful career. We are concentrating on his family." The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into whether it has jurisdiction to investigate, said Lodama Delinger, the Kansas City area director. An OSHA inquiry would take several months. OSHA's regional office has not, to Delinger's knowledge, investigated the WWF or Kemper Arena before. City policy allows "proven professionals (using their own equipment) to rappel from the Kemper catwalk," said Alan Schmelzle, the arena's general manager. Schmelzle said that three men were on the catwalk at the time of the accident, but that no city employees were involved in rigging the stunt. Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 31 were hired by WWF for the show, said union steward Jay Lewis. They joined WWF personnel already familiar with the equipment and stunts. Police interviewed the crew involved with the stunt, said Sgt. Floyd Mitchell. A final report is pending. Schmelzle said city officials would review their stunt policy at Kemper, but he doubted there would be any changes. A prohibition on rappelling would eliminate such events as circus acrobat acts at Kemper. "In a situation like this, we want to make sure nothing like this ever happens again," Schmelzle said. "To the best of my knowledge, we have never had an incident like this..." Schmelzle praised the quick response of the ambulance workers and police who tried to save Hart's life. He said it was standard practice for the city to provide emergency rescue crews at events such as the wrestling match. But MAST spokesman Don Pickard said records show that Sunday was the first time the Metropolitan Ambulance Services Trust had been asked to attend a WWF event. With the extensive preparations and choreography of each scene, there's rarely a need for ambulance personnel, Pickard said. Pickard said Kemper arena officials had requested that a MAST crew stand by at the event Sunday to participate in a staged injury with Vincent McMahon, the WWF chairman. The scene was filmed away from the main stage. After the two-man ambulance crew had finished the filming, Hart fell, and they were summoned to assist him. When the crew arrived, two police officers were performing CPR. MAST crews then spent about 15 minutes attempting to resuscitate Hart before taking him to Truman Medical Center. Former heavyweight wrestling champion Harley Race, who lives in Kansas City and had known Hart since he was a child, was the first to arrive. "Fifteen seconds hadn't gone by before the doctor came out and asked me how to get in touch with Owen's wife," Race said. "He told me Owen was dead." John Sharp, executive director of MAST, said he thinks ambulances should always be on standby at wrestling matches. "Whenever the city has an event that has an element of danger, the city should require the promoter to require ambulances be there," Sharp said. "That would apply to everything from boxing matches to monster trucks." Schmelzle defended the wrestling federation's decision to continue the show after Hart's fall. He said Hart's colleagues were deeply saddened but their attitude was, "The show must go on." The WWF is scheduled to hold another event at Kemper in August, and Schmelzle said they are welcome. "They are extremely popular," he said. |