1: Owen Hart died
-That happened during the Attitude Era, and I think people understood it was a freak accident. Because it did not seem to cause a loss in ratings or merch/ticket sales.
2: Chris Benoit murder by Kevin Sullivan
-Definitely hurt wrestling, but other professional sports have had athletes do similar things. It wasn't WWE's fault, but it definitely wasn't good for their product.
3: Misawa dies in ring in Japan
-This doesn't effect wrestling fans in the US, where wrestling is supposedly dieing. Another freak incident uncontrollable. I do agree wrestling is decaying, reviving, decaying, reviving, and theres a cycle of that going on, but it is not dead.
4: macho Man died
-I don't see how that harmed wrestling, it was from a heart attack/car accident.
5: Vince buys up regional stars
-Definitely hurt wrestlers, but I don't think it hurt wrestling. Vince turned it into a global empire, and look at WrestleMania.
6: Santino Marella kills the Boogiemans gimmick
-Bingo! Santino laughing at Boogeyman in OVW in front of 100 people is what did it all.
7: HHH marries Stephanie McMahon for power
-Hopefully HHH has a mind to fix wrestling's flaws when he legit takes over with Steph. I think its ignorant to say he married her for power though, because he already had some power prior. Its very possible being on the road with the same people just about every day, legit relationships develop.