10 Times WWE Bounced Back From Adversity

2. The Death Of Owen Hart

Vince Mcmahon Dawn Marie
WWE

May 23rd, 1999 was the day that Owen Hart died during a live WWE PPV. It was shocking, it was tragic, and it’s still so sad to this day to think back to Owen’s passing and how this could have so easily been avoided.

After an entrance from the rafters went horrifically wrong, Hart fell an approximate 80ft to the ring below and died of the subsequent injuries suffered.

In the aftermath of this, Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation were hit hard by the media, by fans, and by the Hart family. Many lambasted McMahon for making the scared-of-heights Owen perform such a stunt in the first place, whilst others slammed WWF for continuing with the rest of its Over the Edge PPV event.

Owen Hart’s wife Martha would sue the WWF for being responsible for her husband’s death, and she'd receive $18 million in damages. Money Martha would use to establish The Owen Hart Foundation.

The World Wrestling Federation dealt with this controversial and tragic moment by dedicating an episode of Monday Night War to Owen, and then the company did its best to try and get back to a sense of normality amongst a long-lasting backlash from those who saw the company culpable for the death of the highly talented youngest Hart sibling.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.