Bret Hart knocked Vince McMahon out cold before departing WWE for WCW after the Montreal Screwjob in 1997
Are you really a wrestling fan if you haven’t heard of the Montreal Screwjob?
It’s a debacle that is still talked about more than 23 years after it happened.
In 1997, Bret Hart was put in his own submission move by Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series and Vince McMahon called for the bell in what has become known as the Montreal Screwjob
Let me break it down for us again as quickly as possible.
In 1997, the Attitude Era was in full swing. Shawn Michaels and Triple H were D-Generation X, one of the shining lights of the new tone in WWE and with that standing, they had become close, creatively, with chairman Vince McMahon.
Bret Hart had been in the world title scene for five years and had been with the WWE for 13 years at that point. He was fast approaching 40 and while still at the top of his game, McMahon began to wonder if he really fit in with the company’s new edgier style that had the likes of Steve Austin and The Rock on the rise.
This was during the height of the Monday Night Wars, too. WCW was trying to prize away top WWE talent with their vast resources and they were in the midst of dominating the TV ratings, a string of victories that lasted for 83 consecutive weeks.
Even when Bret Hart was a bad guy in WWE, he was beloved by Canadians
WCW had made an offer to Hart, one far higher than McMahon was prepared to match. Hart told his boss he didn’t want to leave WWE, but McMahon said he couldn’t promise he’d remain at the top for the long run or on the same money if he stayed.
Essentially, Hart felt like he was forced out. McMahon went as far as to offer to negotiate Hart’s deal with WCW.
“Vince wanted to negotiate my deal with WCW,” Hart recalled. “I was very close to Vince in like a fatherly way. There was a period where I talked to my lawyer, I told my lawyer about it and he said ‘that’s not a good idea to do it that way.’
“I was like, ‘Vince will negotiate with me with [WCW boss Eric] Bischoff and work’ — and he goes, ‘Let’s not go near that.’”
Once Hart – the WWE champion – knew he was leaving, all parties had to think about how he was going to drop the title.
The moment Hart realised he had been screwed by McMahon in front of his fellow Canadians on 9 November, 1997
The Hitman and Michaels already had a long and storied feud – one that got very personal when Michaels alluded to an affair between his rival and WWE diva Sunny live on air – and McMahon wanted the belt back on Michaels when Hart left.
Knowing he would be working with the Heartbreak Kid last, Hart approached Michaels and said he’d be happy to drop the title to him at Survivor Series in Montreal. Michaels said “Thanks, I appreciate that. But I wouldn’t do the same for you.”
From there, Hart told McMahon he would drop the title to anyone, anywhere, but he wouldn’t do it for Michaels in Montreal as a proud Canadian.
McMahon feared Hart would keep the title and take it to WCW, where he would appear the very next night.
As a result, McMahon set in motion a plan with Michaels, Triple H and referee Earl Hebner that would see Hart tap out of a submission when he really hadn’t. Hence, the ‘Montreal Screwjob’.
Backstage, things turned nasty. McMahon was locked inside a dressing room with his son, Shane, Sgt. Slaughter and Pat Patterson.
Hart angrily knocked on the door, but they wouldn’t let him in. From there, Hart went to the locker room and decided to wait. McMahon couldn’t hide forever.
But during that time, the chairman decided he was going to be a man and let Hart have one shot at him.
Stone Cold Steve Austin recalled the hysteria backstage after the screwjob.
“It was weird, man, because Davy ‘Boy’ [Smith] was going crazy.
“Owen [Hart] was going crazy. That whole backstage thing, and, I mean, I was around, but I wasn’t catching all of it.
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“It’s a famous thing where Vince was going to walk into the dressing room and at least say something to Bret, give him his shot, and took the shot,” Austin continued.
“It was just weird coming off of that because, man, what is going to happen to this company? I mean, Bret was our world champion. I was a huge Shawn [Michaels] fan, but Bret was the guy at that time, and so I was thinking, ‘this is going downhill! You can’t fire your world champion.’”
Once McMahon came in and somewhat apologised to Hart, the Hitman told him he needed to leave.
“Somewhere in that conversation, I said, ‘If you’re still here after I get dressed, I’m going to punch you out,’ Hart said.
McMahon was given a black eye from a ‘beautiful’ uppercut from Hart
“It was the most beautiful uppercut punch you could ever imagine. I actually thought it would miss and go right up the side of his head, but I popped him right up like a cork was under his jaw and lifted him right off the hand. I broke my right hand just beneath the knuckle, and knocked Vince out cold.
“Then I remember sitting there in the dressing room. Everyone’s just sitting there. We’re all looking and it’s like stunned, including me, I’m going, ‘I can’t believe I just knocked out Vince McMahon. I would’ve done anything for this guy.’”
Hart debuted on WCW the next night but his career never reached the same heights. He was forced to retire due to a concussion suffered at the hands of Goldberg two years later in 1999.
The black eye suffered at the hands of Bret Hart was still visible during interviews weeks after the 1997 Survivor Series
Hart did return to the company. In 2005 he contributed to his own DVD and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2010, he worked with McMahon in a match at WrestleMania 26.
So, how are things between the pair today?
“We have a good relationship,” Hart told Steve Austin on Broken Skull Sessions, a WWE Network show. “I’m not sure, I can’t speak for him, how it affects him, whether it’s real forgiveness. I think there is so I think, although I’ll never probably ever get over what happened to me.
“And as far as our relationship today, there’s a part of me that forgives Vince, because I love what I did for the company. I’m so proud of my career, I’m proud of my matches. I couldn’t have wished for more when I got in the business.”
Hart and McMahon worked together at WrestleMania 26, with the Hitman winning
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