5 Times WWE used real-life incidents in storylines 

#2 Charlotte Flair's deceased brother was mentioned by Paige in a controversial WWE segment

Paige and Charlotte Flair

A major controversy occurred during the buildup to Paige and Charlotte Flair's WWE Divas Championship match at Survivor Series 2015.

Six days before their aforementioned clash, Charlotte and Paige were involved in a contract signing segment. When Charlotte brought up her deceased brother, Reid Flair, the segment took an uncomfortable turn.

This was good, but shame on you @WWE for using Charlotte's brother. Honestly wasn't needed at all. pic.twitter.com/w59vCQxZFl

— Brian (@CR0SSRH0DES) November 17, 2015

Charlotte looked visibly emotional during the segment. When things got heated, Paige mentioned Reid in a controversial sentence:

"Your little baby brother, he didn’t have much fight in him, did he?"

Reid Flair passed away in 2013 due to a drug overdose. Some fans and critics thought that WWE's decision to carry forward with this segment was a bad move at the time.

Charlotte said in an interview that she found the social media backlash a bit surprising, even though it got people talking about the feud. Charlotte believed the angle was necessary to build some heat against Paige and develop sympathy for her own babyface character at the time.

If Charlotte was okay with it,is it our place to be offended for her? No matter your opinion #WWE got people talking with some #Raw emotion.

— Scott Fishman (@smFISHMAN) November 17, 2015

WWE has included real deaths in storylines many times throughout history. However, the aforementioned example showed that regardless of the quality, not all such instances are wholeheartedly appreciated by the WWE Universe.