6 Controversies WWE wants you to forget

#2 Owen Hart falling to his own death

Hart's death was extremely tragic

Owen Hart died in 1999 when a stunt went horribly wrong during a WWE pay-per-view event. Hooked to a harness in the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, Hart was supposed to have been lowered into the ring, but he was released from the harness prematurely and fell to his death. He was 34 and the father of two small children.

The WWF management controversially chose to continue the event. Later, Jim Ross announced the death of Hart to the home viewers during the pay-per-view, but not to the crowd in the arena.

In the weeks that followed Hart's death, the harness that Hart used on that fateful night gathered much attention, especially on the "quick release" trigger and safety latches. When someone is lowered from the rafters in a harness, there are backup latches that must be latched for safety purposes.

Four weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF over how dangerous and poorly planned the stunt was, and that the harness system was defective and reached a settlement after over a year later, on November 2, 2000, which saw the WWF give the Hart family US$18 million.

The manufacturer of the harness system was also a defendant against the Hart family, but they were dismissed from the case after the settlement was reached.