Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 23, 2009

Owen Hart

Over the Edge was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation, which took place on May 23, 1999, at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The show's seven matches showcased prominent WWF wrestlers, who acted out the franchise's stories in and out of the ring; however, the wrestling industry mostly remembered the show for the accidental death of wrestler Owen Hart. In the main event, The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin in a singles match (with Shane McMahon as the guest referee) to win the WWF Championship. Owen Hart was scheduled to face The Godfather for the WWF Intercontinental Championship during the event. Hart was to make a superhero-like ring entrance, which would have seen him descend from the arena rafters into the ring. He was, however, released prematurely when the harness line malfunctioned, and fell more than 70 feet (21 m) into the ring and died. Criticism later arose over the WWF's decision to continue the show after Hart's accident. In court, the Hart family sued the organization, contending that poor planning of the dangerous stunt caused Owen's death. The WWF settled the case. (more...)

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