Kevin Nash says Sting’s famous WCW rafter entrance used a different harness system from the one involved in Owen Hart’s fatal fall.
Nash addressed the subject during the Ask Nash portion of his Kliq This podcast after a listener asked whether Sting ever became nervous about being lowered from arena ceilings. Nash initially struggled to remember whether WCW continued using Sting’s entrance after Hart’s death. He said they may have done it a few more times, but he was not completely certain.
“I think we still did it a couple of times. I might be wrong. We might have, out of respect to Owen, not done it again.”
Sean Oliver questioned why anyone would agree to another rafter stunt after what happened to Hart. Nash said WCW’s equipment was built differently and did not use the same type of release mechanism.
“It was different rigging. You couldn’t do to our apparatus what happened to Owen’s.”
Oliver pointed out that another unexpected failure could still happen, even with different equipment. Nash then explained what he believed was the biggest difference between the two systems.
“They had a quick release. We didn’t have a quick release. You could not release the harness until your feet were on the ground. It had to give the slack.”
According to Nash, Sting could not be removed from the WCW harness while he was still hanging in the air. His feet had to touch the ground and create enough slack before the equipment could be released. Nash did not claim that lowering Sting from the rafters was completely without danger. His point was that WCW’s setup did not include the same quick-release feature tied to Hart’s entrance.
Do you think WCW should have stopped Sting’s rafter entrance immediately after Owen Hart’s death, even with different equipment? Leave your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
