- Submitted By ZH of WrestleNews.net:
By M.L. Curly -- Detroit News
Friday, June 18, 1999
In his own story line, WWF owner Vince McMahon has the luxury of writing his own script to decide who will have 100-percent story-line control of the WWF when Vince teams up with his son, Shane, against Stone Cold Steve Austin in a handicap ladder match at King of the Ring on June 27.
But in real life, Vince's financial fate will be up to a jury in Kansas City in the wrongful-death suit filed by the family of Owen Hart, who fell to his death at Kemper Arena on May 23 at Over The Edge.
Owen died after the quick-release mechanism on his harness was activated. The Hart family, including his wife, Martha, and his father, Stu, contends the WWF was negligent in not providing the proper equipment for the stunt, for which Owen might not have been sufficiently trained. Because Missouri law does not allow the naming of a specific dollar amount in such suits, the jury, if it decides in favor of the Harts, will determine the amount of the award.
On April 29, 1994, a jury awarded wrestler Charles Austin (no relation to Steve) $26.7 million after Austin was paralyzed for life after taking a Rocker Dropper from Marty Jannetty. The amount was eventually reduced to $11 million, and was covered by the WWF's insurance. A wrongful-death suit could result in a judgment that would be devastating to the WWF.
Hart Family Sues WWF
or
The Unwrapped Undertaker
