Jeff Jarrett has looked back on one of the darkest nights in wrestling history. He opened up about what it felt like to wrestle just after Owen Hart’s fatal fall at WWE Over the Edge 1999.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Jarrett reflected on the heartbreaking incident. He made a poignant admission as he said it took him many years to truly process what happened. He revealed that he had been backstage with Hart shortly before the accident. Jarrett revealed how everything changed in a matter of moments before he was unexpectedly told it was time for his own match.
Jeff Jarrett says he didn’t fully grieve Owen Hart until years later
During the interview, Chris Van Vliet pointed out that Jeff Jarrett had to wrestle right after Hart’s fatal accident. The host asked the WWE Hall of Famer what it felt like walking to the ring under those circumstances.
Jarrett said he was getting ready in the locker room while Hart went to prepare for his entrance. Everything felt normal until production suddenly called him much earlier than expected.
“We were dressing in kind of a makeup room connected to a bathroom, a little area. He had done the rehearsals, and I was after him, and they called him, ‘Owen, you got to go up, get up.’ So I’m in the dressing room by myself, doing what I always do, tape and getting stretched and all this. The screen came, ‘Jeff, you’re up now.’ I knew that wasn’t right. I’m just like, ‘Owen, there’s no way he’s even had time to get to the ring.’ I was right, and you know, I just knew. Matt Miller busted in and said, ‘You’re up.’ I’m like, ‘Owen’s up.’ He goes, No. I said, ‘Well, what happened?’ He said he fell, Jarrett said.
He quickly put on a T-shirt and headed to the interview area. There he and Deborah were supposed to film a backstage promo. As they got ready, Hart was wheeled past them on a stretcher.
“Owen’s being wheeled by 10 feet apart. I mean crazy emotions, hollering, and screaming, and you know 15-20 people following a gurney, and all this, and 3,2,1… Whatever I said, the heaviness was, which I had no idea, but it was on me, and then leave there, like the format process goes…” Jarrett added.
He also shared another memory from that night that has stayed with him. When he got into the ring, he noticed the top rope felt unusually loose. Looking back, he believes it had a connection to the accident, though he didn’t fully realize it at the time.
“I remember walking out, doing my stuff, and getting up the ring, feeling the top rope, and it was like super, super loose. At the time, again, none of that really processed, and then I walked through the ring, I’m like, damn, but I didn’t really understand that at the time,” Jarrett said.
After the match, he returned backstage and soon a police officer escorted him. During the drive, he kept asking about Hart’s condition.
“Went through the match, and came back through the curtain, Matt and a cop were there, and I said, Let’s go. The cop said, ‘You want to get your stuff?’ I said, ‘Give me 30 seconds.’ I literally threw my stuff, got in the car and the cop is driving really fast and he didn’t answer my questions two or three times. I said, ‘Officer, please can you let me know anything? ‘And he just kind of looked over his shoulder and said, ‘It’s not good, Jeff,'” Jarrett said.
Even then, the full emotional impact didn’t hit him. Jarrett explained that there wasn’t much time to grieve because the wrestling schedule continued.
“So again I’ve processed this, I didn’t grieve it at the time. In 2017 I went through a deep process to grieve it and really understanding what I went through then, because we went to the service in Calgary, stayed up all that night, went and did Raw the next day. It was go home, change your clothes, pack, go to Calgary, the service back at work,” Jarrett said.
He admitted that he pushed his emotions aside for years. It wasn’t until 2017 that he finally allowed himself to face the pain and properly mourn one of his closest friends.
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