Earl Hebner was more than an extra or prop inside the WWE ring, Hebner was more of a confidant and close aid to WWE former owner Vince McMahon. It was Hebner who rang the bell in the Montreal Screwjob, it was Hebner who counted 1-2-3- when Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI, and it was Hebner who thousands of times was the man in the middle.
Now in a tell all interview with Wrestling News, the IMPACT Wrestling referee is promoting his new book, Earl Hebner: The Official Story, the 74-year-old shed some light on some of Wrestling’s darkest and most iconic moments.
One of those moments was Vince McMahon’s reaction when ill-fated wrestler Owen Hart fell from the ceiling of the Hy-Vee Arena, previously known as Kemper Arena, at Over the Edge 1999, landing in the ring and later at the hospital dying from the fall.
Earl Hebner opens up on Owen Hart’s death
In the interview Hebner states, “(Vince McMahon) is sitting right where (Hart) was. When it all happened, he saw it and he never moved. He stayed right there. When they brought Owen through the gorilla, he was in that same chair. He might have stood up, I can’t remember, but he never made a way to get closer like everybody else was.”
One of the most highly criticized decisions McMahon ever took in his life was after it was confirmed that Hart had died, he forced his staff and performers to finish the show, later citing he didn’t want “incite a riot or panic”.
For Hebner the decision of McMahon’s actions were clear, “Anytime there’s a death in any sport, I think it should be stopped and cut off. There’s always tomorrow. You can always go back tomorrow. If you had a big thunderstorm or power outages, you wouldn’t have the show, right? Okay, so what’s the big deal? A man lost his life and you’re still gonna have the show? It’s horrible. It’s called money.”
