With the 15th anniversary of The Montreal Screwjob coming up, and with Bret “The Hitman” Hart scheduled to be on Raw this week, we thought it was necessary to take a look at the match that changed wrestling. Hart is to appear on the live broadcast from of all places, Montreal Quebec, Canada.

Here is the opening of the Wikipedia account of that night:

The Montreal Screwjob was a controversial, purportedly real life professional wrestling event in which the owner of the World Wrestling Federation, Vince McMahon, double-crossed the defending WWF Champion, Bret Hart, during the main event match of the professional wrestling pay-per-view event Survivor Series held on November 9, 1997 at the Molson Centre in Montreal,Quebec, Canada. A secret manipulation of the match’s result (known as a “shoot screwjob” in professional wrestling parlance) was devised by McMahon and discussed with Hart’s match opponent, Shawn Michaels. It was decided by McMahon that Shawn Michaels would win the contest, and the WWF title, from Bret Hart no matter what. The plan was executed when the match referee, Earl Hebner, under orders from McMahon, called for the bell to ring and ended the match as Michaels held Hart in the Sharpshooter submission hold (which was Hart’s signature finishing move), even though Hart had not submitted. Michaels was declared the victor by submission and crowned as the new WWF Champion.

So what is the big deal? You would say that all wrestling is scripted – right? Well, let’s take a look at what Bret and others have to say.

So again, why is this so important to post about and why do you say this one match changed wrestling (and btw, I have a hard time saying Sports Entertainment)?

Well, Hart was one of the most respected men in the sport. It was his home country. He couldn’t stand Shawn Michaels. He was leaving for WCW. So many issues and so many opinions.

My partner Trevor is going to help with this story and this will be a good place for him to join the discussion.

Trevor – The fact that this incident is such a huge part of the wrestling industry’s history is due in large part by it’s timing. The truth is if it had not been for a documentary crew following Bret for several months the events of that day would have been just another case of rumors and gossip. The fact that Bret was in the process of filming a documentary titled “Hitman wrestling with shadows” is in my opinion the single most important aspect of the “screwjob”. The documentary film crew caught every behind the scenes moment leading up to the events which occurred and the aftermath.

The documentary paints the picture of a wrestler who is torn between an offer to leave the company which gave him the huge platform of success and WCW who was offering Bret more money to join it’s organization.

The truth is that at that time Vince told Bret he “couldn’t afford” to keep him on and regretted signing a 20 year contract. Bret appears to show a deep loyalty to Vince and it appeared that both individuals were trying to work something out. In the end it was decided that Bret would go ahead and leave the company after his obligation to appear at the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal.

With Bret leaving Vince McMahon believed that the only right thing to do was for Bret to loose to Shawn Micheal’s after all you couldn’t have someone who was leaving the company have the title right? Bret’s idea was to appear on Raw the following night and forfeit the championship. With his last mach being in his home country of Canada Bret had reservations about loosing in front of friends and family in attendance.

This was the main issue leading up to the “screwjob” after all it appeared that Vince and Bret had already come to to terms with his departure from the company itself. The most conclusive evidence came in the form of what was intended to be a secret one on one meeting. However Bret had a wire (microphone) so the documentary film crew could capture the meeting audio. Behind closed doors Bret finally recommends that neither he or Shawn win the match but that the match would end in a brawl with no clear winner.

Vince can be heard saying “Whatever you want to do is fine with me”. At some point before the match Vince apparently met with the creative team behind the show and the referee and devised the plan to have Shawn win.

Regardless of who was right or wrong the good news is that wounds have heeled between Bret and the WWE. Vince would later admit he regretted the way things turned out. The saying “it’s in the past” applies here for sure. Although the events of that November night will always be the defining event which opened the curtain and showed the world how professional wrestling works. We still watch it!

Here’s a clip from the documentary (1998)

Thank you Trevor!

To finish up and to re-emphasize what Trevor said, those of us who have watched wrestling for years know that the events are scripted. I mean once as a kid Dick the Bruiser and Bobby “The Weasel” Heenan (this was before he was “The Brain”) were scheduled to sign autographs at a local car dealership and imagine my surprise when they drove up in the same convertible. No one “hated” Heenan more that Dick the Bruiser, or so I thought at that time.

Many times we know what is going to happen before they actually take place and yet we still watch with great anticipation. However, Bret thought he knew what was going to happen in Montreal until the “screwjob” took place. I echo what Trevor said about bygones. I’m glad Bret and Vince have put things behind them and who knows, maybe we will see Bret perform his own “screwjob” in Montreal on Raw this week.