my mistake about the incident being shown on the PPV...
anyway, a zipline is a cable where a carriage is put on for someone
to grab onto and come down on.. sort of like the "flying fox" thing
in NS...
here's the 1Wrestling.com Q&A on the incident:
Q: Having only been a WWF fan for about a year, I'd like to
know more about the tragic passing of Owen Hart. What show did this
happen at? Who was his scheduled opponent? In terms of the
storyline, why was he rappelling from the ceiling anyways? And,
should he have survived, what do you think would be of him
today?
A: It happened at the WWF's "Over The Edge" Pay-per-view on Mat 23,
1999 in Kansas City, MO at the Kemper Arena. Owen was scheduled to
wrestle The Godfather in his "Blue Blazer" persona. The Blue
Blazer, a superhero gimmick that Owen had used in his initial WWF
run, was brought back as a comedy gimmick, not that much unlike the
Hurricane gimmick of today. At the PPV, Owen was to make a
"superhero-like" entrance by being lowered into the ring on a
cable. His tragic fall was not seen on the PPV broadcast, since a
pre-taped interview was being shown at the time. Sadly, we'll never
know what Owen would have done in his career had it continued. He
might have remained a solid hand in the WWF, or he may have
eventually jumped to WCW, or perhaps he would have just retired.
We'll never know.
