Montreal Screwjob

[Troy]

​

That famous moment occured at the Survivor Series PPV in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the 9th of November 1997. Bret Hart was defending his WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels and Earl Hebner was the referee. Bret Hart was on his way out of WWF to head to WCW after Vince reneged on a 20 year contract he had offered Bret due to Vince being unable to pay him. Bret had signed with WCW and was happy to drop the title to HBK but not in his hometown. Devious plans were made to double cross Hart in the ring and it happened when Shawn Michaels locked Bret in the Sharpshooter. Vince was ringside and called for Earl Hebner to call for the bell and declare HBK the winner and new WWF Champion by submission. Hart then went on a rampage destroying things ringside, spitting on McMahon and wrote the letters W-C-W in the air as the PPV went off air.

We all know the story and there have been many DVDs and books produced discussing the subject including Hitman Hart: Wrestling With the Shadows and Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart that was released last year which featured the two performers sitting side by side discussing the situation.

What are your thoughts on this event? Do you remember seeing it happen live and what was your reaction? Do you think that Vince did the right thing to protect his company or should he have trusted Bret more? No fence sitting, who do you side with out of this Vince or Bret?

 

[Mick Donalds]

I read Bret's book. He made himself look like a pure victim. He had played the heel and had watched Canada and his family get disrespected on tv week in and week out by DX. He mentioned that he had complete creative control over the last 30 days of his contract too.

I know Vince said one thing and did the opposite, but Bret thought he was bigger than the business, which is a no-go. I take Vince's side.

 

[Weez]

I, too, have to be on Vince's side here. No one is bigger than the business. Doing a job is doing a job. It's your fucking JOB as champion to one day drop the best to someone else, regardless of where the fuck it is. It's not too damn often, really, especially in WWE, that the "Hometown Hero" gets the W anyway, like Kaitlyn did on RAW last week.

Sidenote: Seriously, her spear was freaking LEGIT lol.

I've always said it was an unfortunate thing that had to happen. It had to happen because Bret started believing his own hype and put them in that situation. Bret screwed Bret. It's still the truth.

 

[The Cork]

Vince was proved right in the end, ratings cancer Bret went and helped kill WCW and Michaels became the biggest comeback story since Jesus Christ.

 

[ThatGuyFromNukemHigh]

Looks like I am against the grain.

There are ways this could have been done differently, Hart could have dropped the belt to Michaels the Raw before Survivor Series, and had Hart as the challenger going in. Hart wouldnt be champion as his contract expires, and the angle wouldnt have been worked a million times since.

I cannot blame Hart for reacting the way he did, anyone would react the same way if their boss fucked them like that.

 

[Crippler]

I believe this is the great WORK in wrestling history.

 

[We Are Legion]

There's fault on both sides, but I still mainly side with Vince on the matter just because um.... wrestling is FAKE, okay? And for Bret to react they way he did over a title that was only GIVEN to him in the first place to persuade him to stay with the company is pretty silly. I mean, Bret really acted like he was Muhammad Ali being forcefully stripped of a title that he earned all by himself and that just isn't the case.

Bret had been around the business his entire life and he knew the routine, yet he chose to believe he was entitled extraordinary perks just because of who he was, which was arrogant and selfish. And his stories aren't consistent either. At one point he mentions that he wouldn't drop the belt to Michaels at all because of how bitter he was towards the guy, then later he says he just didn't want to lose in Canada and he would have dropped the belt to Michaels the next day on Raw since they would be back in the States that day, and yeah... there's just so much uncertainty as to how that would have gone down. What if Vince actually agreed to that and Bret changed his mind at the last minute prior to Raw (because you KNOW he would have stayed up all night after Survivor Series thinking it over, completely lost in his own hype) and decided not to show? Or just flat out demanded another opponent besides Michaels? There's no telling how that would have transpired or NOT transpired.

Of course, I won't put it all on Bret because Vince could have done some things differently too. He could have confiscated the belt after Survivor Series after allowing Bret to win and held it over night for reassurance that Bret wouldn't run to Nitro the next day and pull a Madusa. Technically, his contract DID allow Bret to have creative control over his departure, which was also Vince's fault for giving him that power. And just in case he just didn't show for Raw, they could have had their Survivor Series match end in another controversial fashion, like Bret using the ropes for leverage on a pin or Michaels's foot being underneath the rope, or having Bret smack Michaels with a chair when the ref wasn't looking... really anything they could have used the next day in the event Bret didn't show up so they could work it into a story line as "Bret cheated to win, so he's stripped of the title and now tonight will be a tournament to decide the new champion" which then Michaels could have won. They could have even had a rematch between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels that night which would have drawn great ratings considering those two were heated rivals in late 97. There are SO many ways Vince could have handled that situation besides a screwjob, but I think Vince actually preferred something controversial like that because it put a lot of heat on him and put a lot of eyes back on the WWE product, even if it was for bad reasons.

But I still have to put more of the blame on Bret just because of how unwilling he was to compromise and saying things like "I won't lose to him" or "I won't lose in this city" is absurd. Bret flew too close to the sun and he got burned. Pity for him.

 

[zigglerHEEL]

^^^ this..

 

[The New F'n Show]

To me both are at fault. Bret should have been honorable and did as he was asked. He was leaving anyway and should have put their guy over, whether they had personal problems or not. I do have a issue with Vince though if he had agreed with Bret that he could drop it the next night as stated. A man is only as good as his word and as someone posted earlier, he easily could have had a plan in place if Bret No showed.

 

[Keith]

To me both are at fault. Bret should have been honorable and did as he was asked. He was leaving anyway and should have put their guy over, whether they had personal problems or not. I do have a issue with Vince though if he had agreed with Bret that he could drop it the next night as stated. A man is only as good as his word and as someone posted earlier, he easily could have had a plan in place if Bret No showed.

The problem with your argument is didn't Bret have full creative control of his programmes in his final year with WWF? I think I heard that was part of the conditions when he signed a new contract.

Anyway I side totally with Bret, as has been said he was willing to drop the title at any other time to anyone including Michaels (its not like he had side stepped jobs in the past), Shawn owned him for the Mania 12 job, and Bret still had a month before he left for WCW what was Vince's big rush? When someone gives you the kind of service Bret Hart did to turn around and treat them in such a way was a disgrace.

 

[Chris]

I don't have an issue with what Vince did because it was good for business.

 

[The New F'n Show]

The problem with your argument is didn't Bret have full creative control of his programmes in his final year with WWF? I think I heard that was part of the conditions when he signed a new contract.

Anyway I side totally with Bret, as has been said he was willing to drop the title at any other time to anyone including Michaels (its not like he had side stepped jobs in the past), Shawn owned him for the Mania 12 job, and Bret still had a month before he left for WCW what was Vince's big rush? When someone gives you the kind of service Bret Hart did to turn around and treat them in such a way was a disgrace.

Bret did have creative control but it didn't end up mattering in the end, so my point still stands. Kind of flawed argument but true.

 

[Troy]

I definitely think that both sides need to take a portion of the blame but in the end I side with Vince. He was protecting his company and doing what he thought was right for his business. No one person is bigger than the business so he had to protect that. Vince did make a few mistakes and that was mainly with the contract he offered to Bret, offering a 20 year contract when times were tough is a pretty dumb idea and he must have known that he could never stick to the agreed terms.

Bret though should have just done the job to HBK even if it was in his hometown, how often to wrestlers, in WWE at least, win in their hometown? Very rarely. He was on his way out of the company so he should have just done the job asked of him rather than disagreeing with any situation involving HBK taking the title. It wasn't as if Vince was jobbing him out of the company, he would simply have lost a title match and then he would still be heading over to WCW where he could have complete creative control over there. In the end it is Vince's company and if he wanted HBK as champion Bret should have just agreed to it even if they were sworn enemies.

In the end though it worked out well for pretty much all involved and everyone involved made a ton of money thanks to this incident. It is nice that they have all made up over it and haven't continued to hold grudges.

 

[Keith]

I definitely think that both sides need to take a portion of the blame but in the end I side with Vince. He was protecting his company and doing what he thought was right for his business. No one person is bigger than the business so he had to protect that. Vince did make a few mistakes and that was mainly with the contract he offered to Bret, offering a 20 year contract when times were tough is a pretty dumb idea and he must have known that he could never stick to the agreed terms.

Bret though should have just done the job to HBK even if it was in his hometown, how often to wrestlers, in WWE at least, win in their hometown? Very rarely. He was on his way out of the company so he should have just done the job asked of him rather than disagreeing with any situation involving HBK taking the title. It wasn't as if Vince was jobbing him out of the company, he would simply have lost a title match and then he would still be heading over to WCW where he could have complete creative control over there. In the end it is Vince's company and if he wanted HBK as champion Bret should have just agreed to it even if they were sworn enemies.

In the end though it worked out well for pretty much all involved and everyone involved made a ton of money thanks to this incident. It is nice that they have all made up over it and haven't continued to hold grudges.

But as long as Bret was willing to drop it before he left which he was, then how is it him trying to be bigger than the company? He was due a ppv win over Michaels, and besides when you give someone creative control you don't have much of a leg to stand on.

 

[Deezy]

This is such an exhausted argument, that all parties involved are sick of talking about it.

But that being said, this would've been the greatest angle in history if it wasn't legit. Too bad, nobody thought of actually making it a work beforehand, because everyone involved would've been protected.

That being said, both were both right on doing what they did. Bret didn't want to drop a belt he actually believed in to a guy he thought was blatantly disrespecting something he was born into. (not my words)

And Vince and co, were right for not wanting a guy to show up on the rival show with their belt, because they were burned before.