HARTFORD, Conn., June 22 (UPI) -- The widow of former World Wrestling Entertainment star Owen Hart says she is suing former WWE head Linda McMahon, a U.S. Senate candidate in Connecticut.
Martha Hart contends in a lawsuit filed this week in Hartford, Conn., that McMahon and her husband, WWE founder and current Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon, illegally used Owen Hart's images and likenesses after his 1999 death, Politico reported Tuesday.
Owen Hart was killed in a stunt gone awry, falling nearly 80 feet to his death in an arena while thousands watched. A WWE video released in April titled "Hart and Soul: The Hart Family Anthology," is at the center of the complaint.
"From the moment of his death, they couldn't wait to scrape his dead body off of the wrestling mat," Martha Hart told Politico. "His blood was on that mat ... and they went on with that show so that they could make sure they didn't lose any money."
The suit comes as Linda McMahon is mounting a campaign for the Republican nomination for a Connecticut U.S. Senate seat.
WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt said the suit is politically motivated.
"Linda wasn't even with the WWE when the video of the Hart family anthology was put out," McDevitt said.
