Teddy Long has been one of the most entertaining on-screen figures in WWE history, as everyone remembers his run as the SmackDown General Manager. In addition to this, the veteran professional wrestling figure has also portrayed different roles in the company, and to talk about his journey, he recently made an appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast.
During his interview with the YouTube star, the 76-year-old legend talked about a variety of topics, and one of them was the tragic death of Owen Hart. While talking about the heartbreaking incident, Teddy revealed chilling backstage details after Owen Hart’s fall at Over the Edge 1999.
In his response to a question by Chris about what he remembers about the incident, as he served as a referee on the event, Long shared a detailed story. The veteran revealed that he, Owen, and Godfather had a lot of fun before the show began, but what transpired at the event when he was about to go out to serve as the referee, was truly shocking.
Teddy Long said, “When the fall happened I was standing there and I was getting ready to go out and I saw on they brought him back on this table and he had his whole body like he had just turned white like snow and I don’t know whether that he was dead there on not but it was just you know I never seen that color before but um yeah that was pretty rough.”
Looking at these comments from the WWE legend, it’s understandable how difficult it would have been for him to watch Owen like that. Moreover, from his revelation, it can also be understood how the tragic fall ended up taking the talented pro wrestler’s life and thus gave the industry a heartbreak for the ages.
Teddy Long talks about WWE not stopping the show after Owen Hart’s fall
While talking about what he witnessed backstage after Owen’s tragic fall at Over the Edge, Teddy also shared details about the most highly discussed topic around the incident. In his conversation with Chris Van Vliet, Teddy Long talked about WWE not stopping the show after Owen Hart’s fall.
As the YouTuber asked him, “Was there any talk at that point of we got to stop the show,” the veteran gave an interesting response. Long said, “Well, I don’t know because my position just a referee. yeah you know if any talk about that would have been between Kevin Dawn Vince and guys that are on headsets.”
Throughout this statement, the former SmackDown General Manager made it clear that he had no idea about it. In addition to this, he also revealed that the higher officials instructed him to just go out to referee the next match after the encounter in which Owen unexpectedly became the victim of a tragic fall.
Owen Hart’s wife fought for justice after the death of her husband
As the Stamford-based promotion continued the event even after the tragic fall of Owen Hart, The Hart Family saw it as a huge disrespect to the late pro wrestler. Due to the same reason, after the 1999 edition of Over The Edge PPV, issues started between Vince McMahon and Owen’s family, and they continued to grow.
Owen Hart’s wife, Dr. Martha Hart, decided to fight for justice after the death of her husband, as she claimed that Hart’s death was the result of negligence by the WWE. Amid this, she held the organization and its owner, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, responsible for the passing of her partner.
Due to this, she officially cut all ties with the promotion and started a journey towards justice by filing a lawsuit against WWF. After a long battle, the dispute was settled outside the court, and Owen’s widow received $18 million from the organization. Even though she got the money, she wasn’t able to get anyone behind bars, and that’s why there’s still a huge wall between her and the WWE.