Like any sudden human tragedy, ripples fanned out in many directions and reverberated through society in unexpected ways. There was stunned disbelief at how the incident was managed. As Sports Illustrated reports, rather unbelievably, the show continued. The night’s wrestling went ahead where Hart had died only minutes earlier, the mat allegedly still stained with his blood. This led family and friends to level accusations at the WWF that its response had been callous and profit-driven. There were recriminations, too. Owen’s wife claimed the stunt had been practiced differently, and that the rigging had been criminally bungled. The family won an $18 million out of court settlement for a wrongful death lawsuit. And finally, Owen Hart seems to have been at the center of a fight over his symbolic legacy. When the WWF made moves to induct Hart into the WWE Hall of Fame, his family flatly refused. Instead, they established the Owen Hart Foundation, an organization aimed at providing opportunities for “hard-working people who have limited resources and unlimited potential.”

Looking back on this whole incident from the perspective of a social media drenched society, so many of the details around Hart’s death are hard to fathom. How could a stunt with such high stakes not have been practiced endlessly? Why would a multi-million dollar entity like WWF not see the huge optics downside of carrying on as though nothing happened? And how odd is it that just over two decades ago, something like this could happen in front of over 16,000 people and not end up as a dank meme in a corner of Reddit? RIP, Blue Blazer.