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The Montreal Screwjob
Considered by many the most controversial happening in modern wrestling history, the events of November 9, 1997, provoke empassioned discussion amongst fans to this day. Referred to as the Montreal Incident or, less tactfully, the Montreal Screwjob, the subject centers on the unceremonious departure of Bret "The Hitman" Hart from what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation.
Leading up to the night in question, the WWF (now WWE) had been suffering at the hands of rivals World Championship Wrestling in the Monday Night Wars, with WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff signing some of the Federation's top stars and consistently drawing higher ratings than RAW Is WAR with the competing Nitro. Bret Hart, the WWF Champion, had recently turned down a lucrative offer from WCW and opted to sign a 20-year contract with the WWF. However, citing "financial peril," Federation Chairman Vince McMahon informed Hart that the company could no longer afford to honor his lengthy deal, and urged him to pursue a new offer from WCW.
When Hart signed with the Atlanta-based promotion, terms stated that WCW could not announce its latest acquisition until after the Survivor Series pay-per-view in Montreal. Not wanting Bischoff to declare on national television that he had signed the current WWF Champion, humiliating his company and making it seem inferior while already losing the ratings battle, McMahon was keen for Hart to drop the title at the pay-per-view to Shawn Michaels. Hart was not so eager, for two principle reasons: having positioned himself as a Canadian hero during recent anti-American storylines, he did not want to lose the title in Canada; and, dating back to earlier in the year when Michaels had shirked returning the job from their WrestleMania XII main event, there had been growing personal friction between the two wrestlers, going as far as a backstage brawl, leaving Hart reluctant to put over his real-life rival on pay-per-view.
Enforcing a clause in his contract that gave him "reasonable creative control" over his exit from WWF storylines, Hart arranged with McMahon on the day of the show for the match to end on a disqualification, with Hart dropping the belt in the following days. Hart insisted that he would happily lose the title to Shawn Michaels in whatever way McMahon desired, provided it was not that night in Montreal.
McMahon agreed on a script for the main event that would see the referee take a bump before Michaels locked Hart in his own signature hold, the Sharpshooter. Hart would then reverse the hold, and Michaels would tap out, but the referee would still be down. After releasing the hold to revive the official, Hart would be struck with Michaels' Superkick, but members of Bret's faction the Hart Foundation - brother Owen Hart, and brothers-in-law Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith - would storm down the aisle and break up Michaels' pin, causing the DQ.
Prior to the match, fellow roster member Vader apparently warned Hart to watch out for a possible double-cross, and not to allow himself to be put in any submission holds or get in a position where he could not get his shoulders off the mat. However, having ensured that trusted friend Earl Hebner - who swore on his children that Bret would not be screwed - was assigned as referee, Hart was confident that all would go down as agreed.
In the event, McMahon had other intentions. As per the script, Hebner took a bump and Michaels put Hart in the Sharpshooter. But with McMahon at ringside following planned involvement in an earlier portion of the match, Hebner got right back up and followed the promoter's instructions to call for the bell, indicating a submission by Hart. Hart, meanwhile, was in the process of reversing the Sharpshooter as planned, only to find that the match was over. As Hebner and Michaels fled the scene (Hebner ran straight to an awaiting car and flew home, where he would remain the next night during RAW Is WAR), Hart instantly realized what had happened. Looking over the ropes to McMahon on the outside of the ring, Hart spat in the Chairman's face, before trashing ringside electronic equipment. The Hart Foundation, who had been awaiting their cue backstage for the scheduled run-in, finally arrived to calm Bret down, as he proceeded to write (unaired on the live pay-per-view broadcast) the letters "WCW" in the air with his finger.
Backstage after the show, McMahon had locked himself in his office. Michaels, who had responded to the premature bell with apparent anger, meanwhile denied any prior knowledge of the plan and said he was not going to keep the belt, swearing to Hart that he was as surprised and appauled as he was. Hart told him he could prove his feelings by not bringing the belt out on TV the next night.
At the behest of a furious Undertaker (the general feeling of the roster was anger at the Chairman's treatment of a loyal, hard working, longtime hand), McMahon eventually left his office and entered Hart's locker room, trying to apologize while explaining that he could not risk Bischoff announcing the next night on Nitro that he had signed the WWF Champion. Hart responded by saying that he was going for a shower, and that if McMahon was still there when he got dressed then he would "knock him out." When called a liar, McMahon replied that he'd never lied to Bret until now, only for Hart to reel through a list of instances. Once dressed after his shower, with McMahon refusing to leave, a physical altercation broke out in which Hart punched the Chairman to the floor. As Vince's son Shane tried to retalliate on his father's behalf, Davey Boy Smith got involved in tearing the younger McMahon away, and the elder was dragged out of the room by agents and officials.
The following night on RAW Is WAR, with Hart having departed early from the company, Michaels went back on his word and wore the belt out to the ring, heelishly boasting about his title victory and beating Hart with his own hold in his own country. Meanwhile, of the many wrestlers who vowed the previous night to boycott the show, aside from the Hart Foundation Mankind (Mick Foley) was the only one to stay home. Bret had in fact advised those who asked him about it to fulfill their contractual obligations and not risk their own futures over the incident.
During the program, in a sit-down interview with Jim Ross, a sombre McMahon (sporting a black eye) discussed the circumstances surrounding Hart's departure in broad terms while accusing him of breaking a "time honored tradition" in the business, referring to the act of putting over the next star on the way out. When asked if he "screwed" Bret, McMahon coined the phrase that would be repeated by those on his side of the argument for years to come: "Bret screwed Bret."
In a subsequent episode, Michaels, along with D-Generation X stablemates Triple H and Chyna, promised a one-night return from Hart, only to bring out a midget dressed as the former champion and aim assorted jokes at the miniature double. Several years later, Michaels would admit on the magazine-style show WWE Confidential that he had indeed been in on the double-cross beforehand.
On WCW broadcasts, announcers and wrestlers alike were vocal in their sympathy for Hart and anger towards McMahon. Hart would debut in the spotlight, shunning Bischoff's on-screen character's offer to join the New World Order faction, and acting in top babyface Sting's favor as guest enforcer in the Starrcade '97 main event against nWo leader Hollywood Hogan. Claiming that Hogan's initial victory was due to a fast-count from the referee, Hart threw him back into the ring and declared that he would not allow Sting to be "screwed."
While former Hart Foundation members Neidhart and Smith followed their brother-in-law to Atlanta as an under-to-midcard tag team, Hart's younger brother Owen remained in the WWF, where he entered a main event feud with Michaels and later Triple H based on the pursuit of revenge for his family. Stories conflict over whether Owen's staying with the Federation was his own choice or forced by a contract-clenching Chairman.
Fortunately for intrigued fans and director/producer Paul Jay, much of the "screwjob" scenario was chronicled by the third-party documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows, which was being filmed up to and including that night in Montreal. Backstage footage and even a secret audio recording of Hart's pre-match discussion with McMahon have provided many with a greater insight into the situation than if the only sources available were retrospective spoken accounts.
Thanks in part to this film though, a portion of observers question the subject's authenticity. Some believe to this day that the entire event was a carefully crafted angle orchestrated only by those closest to the situation, sewing the seeds for McMahon's on-screen "evil owner" character while allowing Hart to continue his career in WCW on a wave of public support (Americans included). All involved deny such theories, with Hart continuing to treat the matter as genuine long after retirement in 2000, and discussing it alongside subjects as tragically real as his brother Owen's fatal accident in 1999.
WWE has, however, utilized the infamous screwjob story to further scripted feuds or build interest in events throughout the years since, with the double-cross finish re-enacted (in a fully prearranged fashion) several times in high-profile matches. In one example at the following year's Survivor Series pay-per-view, McMahon's heel character called for the bell as The Rock trapped Mankind in the Sharpshooter, giving his new ally the WWF Title in a clear "tribute" to the events of twelve months prior. In 2005, renewed heel Shawn Michaels openly bragged to a live and raucous Montreal crowd about his "screwing" of Bret Hart, claiming that he would do it again, all in an effort to build heat for his upcoming match with Hulk Hogan. A live appearance was even teased by Hart's old theme music playing into the arena, with Michaels feigning surprise and terror before mocking the fans for getting their hopes up. The following year, memories of 1997 were again invoked during a feud between McMahon and a babyface Michaels, with Vince calling for the bell while his son Shane held Michaels in the Sharpshooter at the end of their match on Saturday Night's Main Event.
WCW would also incorporate the double-cross into its own angles on occasion, including the aforementioned reference at Starrcade '97 but most explicitly at Starrcade '99, when guest referee Roddy Piper "screwed" Goldberg by falsely ending the match by submission when Hart himself (at this point a heel) applied the requisite hold.
While maintaining that he would not appear on WWE programming in a storyline capacity, in 2005 Hart worked in conjunction with WWE for the first time since the Montreal Incident, to produce the 3-disc DVD set Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be, highlighting his career. The set was originally due to be named Screwed: The Bret Hart Story, but after meeting with McMahon, Hart agreed to participate if he had some control over its direction, including shifting the emphasis from his WWF/E departure. Some believe Hart was afraid that without his involvement, the project would have been a "hatchet job" in the vein of recently released DVD The Self Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior.
In November that year, Hart made his first live appearance for the company since Survivor Series '97 on the Byte This! webcast, drawing the largest viewership in the history of the online show. During the interview, when asked about giving a farewell speech on WWE television, he indicated that it was a possibility. The following year, Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and gave a positive speech at the televised induction ceremony. He declined, however, to join fellow inductees the next night for a live appearance at WrestleMania 22.
Hart has stated on record that he has forgiven referee Earl Hebner for his involvement in the controversial finish. During production of the DVD set, he was photographed smiling and shaking hands with McMahon. It would seem that the only main player in the Montreal Incident with whom Hart remains on bad terms is Michaels, whose presence at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony would, warned Hart, have forced the inductee to fly home immediately. Michaels left early to avoid a scene, and claims to have apologized to the Calgary native for what happened in Montreal, but Hart says he does not recall receiving such an apology.
All three central perpetrators of the screwjob have remained targeted by fans with intermittent chants of "you screwed Bret" in arenas across the US and especially Canada, with varying frequency and degrees of strength and sincerity.
With all that is known about that fateful night in the province of Quebec, there remains a great deal of speculation about events before, during, and after the double-cross. Only one thing is certain: every wrestling fan has an opinion, and many still jump at the chance to exchange views on what happened on November 9, 1997.
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