By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Martha Hart, the widow of former WWE wrestler Owen Hart, is filing a lawsuit against WWE and the McMahon Family in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Connecticut today.

The AP picked up the story and reports that Martha is suing to prevent WWE from continuing to use Owen's likeness on WWE programming. Martha will allege in her lawsuit that WWE and the McMahons have violated a contract restricting use of Owen's name and likeness.

"In the 11 years since Owen's tragic and avoidable death, I have worked tirelessly to disassociate Owen's name and likeness from anything related to WWE in order to protect our children from any reminder of the circumstances surrounding their father's death, and to avoid any misplaced perception that I endorse WWE," Martha said in a statement.

Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO and candidate for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, was named in Martha's statement announcing the lawsuit.

"Given this callous, insensitive, and irresponsible behavior, one must question the moral character of Vince and Linda McMahon and the manner in which they conduct their business," Martha said.

Most of the local news outlets in Connecticut have picked up the story as part of their continuing coverage of Linda McMahon's Senate campaign in the state.

The Hartford Courant reported: "Regardless of whether the lawsuit is motivated by politics, it is part of a chorus of attacks against Linda McMahon, who was chief executive of Stamford-based WWE until she stepped down to run for office, over practices of the business."

Owen Hart's name was in the news earlier this year when Bret Hart essentially gave WWE and the McMahons a pass on his brother's tragic death after returning to a working relationship with WWE.

"There's been so many bad things that happened; clearly my brother Owen's death was just a bad accident that you can't hold Vince McMahon directly accountable for that. It was someone else underneath that didn't know what he was doing," Bret Hart said in March before his WrestleMania return match.

"I guess my coming back was a way to forgive and forget in a good way and move on. I didn't know I would always be tagged as a guy who was always bitter or negative guy toward the wrestling business that kind of made me in a lot of ways. It's closure, maybe."

FOLLOW-UP STORIES
-- CNN covers story; Martha says WWE ignored "cease and desist" letters
-- WWE responds - claims it's "politically motivated"

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