Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart Book

On May 23, 1999, Martha Hart's husband, Owen Hart, plummeted to his death in an eight-story free-fall from the top of Kansas City's sold-out Kemper Arena into the wrestling ring below.

The riggers, with whom the WWF's highly-touted international star had trusted his life, hooked him up for a 78-foot descent using a $68 nautical clip designed expressly for the quick release of sailboat masts. A reluctant star who would have traded in all his wealth and fame for a job as a fireman or teacher, Owen Hart was a member of wrestling's most famous family dynasty and recognized as one of the best technical wrestlers of his time. New York City shock jock, Howard Stern, called Owen Hart's death the first real thing ever to happen in professional wrestling. Martha Hart calls it the worst day of her life.

Witnessed by more than 16,000 spectators and millions more on TV, the tragic incident occured just five weeks before the Harts' tenth wedding anniversary. It sparked an ugly seventeen-month legal battle with the WWF (now the WWE) over responsibility for the tragedy—a battle that, through Martha's deep sense of grief and struggle for justice, concluded with her founding of the Owen Hart Foundation.

In Broken Harts, Martha Hart tells the story of her life with Owen, from their days as highschool sweethearts to his rise to fame in the WWF, and chronicles the repercussions of her famous husband's death on those who knew and loved him and on the world of professional wrestling. She speaks poignantly and defeiantly of her husband's life, their deep love, their family's loss and her personal anguish.