The Montreal Screwjob

Characters Involved:

1) Vincent Kennedy McMahon

2) The Show Stopper, The Main Event , The Icon ,Mr Wrestlemania The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels Hickenbottom

3) The Poor Guy...Bret' The Hitman' Hart

4) The Ref Earl Hebner

5) 70 Thousand People cheering for Bret in his hometown.



The Montreal Screwjob was the real life double-crossing of defending WWF Champion Bret Hart by Vince McMahon, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), 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 change of the match's pre-determined finish (known as a "shoot screwjob" in professional wrestling parlance) was devised by McMahon and discussed with Hart's match opponent, Shawn Michaels.

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 (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.

Bret was Screwed!

What was the fuckin Reason??

Hart's departure

The reason for this screwjob was rooted in Hart's decision to leave McMahon's company for its chief competitor, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), after McMahon told Hart that financial problems would not allow him to keep Hart on under his recently signed 20 year contract. Hart cited a clause in his contract that granted him "reasonable creative control" and was steadfast in his refusal to lose a match hosted in his home country of Canada, especially against Shawn Michaels, with whom he did not get along.

McMahon remained insistent that Hart should lose to Michaels in Montreal, fearing that his company's business would suffer if WCW announced Hart as its latest signing while he still held the WWF World title. Although Hart and McMahon agreed to a compromise on the match ending that allowed Hart to retain the title, McMahon was determined to remove the title from Hart.

Setup and execution

On the Wednesday before the Survivor Series (which was to be held on Sunday), McMahon met with Michaels, Paul Levesque (Triple H), and a close coterie of advisors in a hotel room in Montreal and planned the screwjob. It is unclear how many people knew of the impending screwjob, but McMahon's close aides Gerald Brisco and Robert Remus had been involved in the planning. In addition, McMahon and Michaels contrived to keep Pat Patterson in the dark, owing to his close relationship with Hart. Hart and Michaels had met with Patterson to discuss the match setup and plan, during which Hart agreed to allow Michaels to put him into the sharpshooter hold at a time when the referee would be unconscious.The rest of the match was planned to proceed thus: Hart would grab Michaels' foot and reverse the hold, putting him in the sharpshooter. Michaels would submit to the hold, but the referee would still be unconscious. Hart would let go of the hold to try to revive the referee, but Michaels would hit Hart with his finisher, the Sweet Chin Music, and make the pin. A second referee would then run to the ring with Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith following close behind. The second referee would start the count, but Owen and Davey Boy would break the pin. The original referee would then recover and start to make the count, but Hart would kick out, setting up about five more minutes of brawling that would result in a disqualification.

Reactions

While much of the live Montreal audience immediately understood what had happened and responded angrily, television viewers had been left largely confused as Survivor Series went off the air four minutes ahead of schedule with the parting image of Michaels holding the belt aloft as he disappeared backstage. Rumors and expressions of surprise and shock pervaded the INTERNET almost immediately after the match ended. Many fans and observers considered it a creative and all-time great match finish.Subsequent WWF shows saw large numbers of fans loudly chanting "We want Bret," holding up pro-Hart signs and booing Michaels, McMahon and others believed to be responsible for the screwjob.Observers of professional wrestling speculated whether the entire episode would result in WCW becoming the dominant brand in Canada, where a large majority of fans had remained loyal to WWF, especially as the Hart family was working with the company.