ENTERTAINMENT
Wrestling's heartbreaker
11/03/1999
The Toronto Star

Copyright (c) 1999 The Toronto Star
It's ghoulish to say this but, the truth is, the misfortunes of Calgary's wrestling Hart dynasty have been a boon to Toronto's High Road Productions.
Consider: A couple of years ago, producer Paul Jay set out to tell the whacked out story of pro wrestling through superstar Bret "Hitman" Hart only to end up capturing the climactic moment of his career, the breathtaking contractual double cross by World Wrestling Federation chief Vince McMahon.
The result was the pin-you-to-the-sofa Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows, which has already won top documentary honours at the Banff TV Fest and is up for four Gemini Awards this weekend.
Then in May, in a Kansas City arena, tragedy struck the Harts when 33-year-old Owen, the baby of the family, plunged 21 metres to his death in a stupid stunt McMahon insisted he do to boost the WWF's pay-per-view ratings.
A month later, Owen's widow, Martha, sued. Although she held a news conference, she didn't give interviews. But she did talk to Jay, who not only had footage of Owen but also the confidence of the Harts.
The wrenching result is The Life And Death Of Owen Hart, which airs tonight at 10 on TVO and on A&E Nov. 16.
Now, in journalism, other people's bad news often means good news for the reporters who are waiting for an assignment when planes crash, subway trains collide or disgruntled workers shoot up their office mates. We're professional witnesses to horror. Which is why, in this business, good news is no news.
The Life And Death Of Owen Hart is a prime example, exploiting not only the newsworthiness of the story and the controversy surrounding professional wrestling but also outtakes and interviews from the original documentary.
Of course, the true tragedy is how Owen was a reluctant pro wrestler, a guy who opted to follow a different path from his father and brothers but who could not, would not, escape the ring. Every time he tried, something yanked him back.
Owen called it "the curse of wrestling," not knowing how prescient he was.
The Life And Death Of Owen Hart is a heartbreaker, and you don't have to know a thing about wrestling to appreciate it.