I remember watching the match(Survivor Series 1997-Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels) live and thinking that something wasn't right.
1. The camera cut to Shawn instead of Bret, who was put in the hold. Normally, the camera is angled at the wrestler in the hold so the fans can see him give up.
2. Bret's shock after the bell was rung. I'm not sure Michaels shock was legit or not.
3. Shawn looking pissed after being just given the belt that he won. For me, it was fishy b/c the winner would look like he is on top of the world so to speak not pissed off.
4. Bret spitting at Vince before the cameras turned off ending the show. At least for me, Bret's destroying the monitors or him waving WCW were not shown.
I have it taped and am still stunned to this day, b/c wrestling was always shown as fake and here is something that really happened. I'll remember this till the day I die.
How did you guys react?
2006-11-26 07:45:21 · 7 answers · asked by Walker 2 in Sports ➔ Wrestling
I remember it quite well. There are quite a few accounts of it, but I believe the most valid story is as follows. Because of the length, I'll give the very abridged version.
Bret did not want to do the job in Canada. He told Vince he would drop the belt the next night on Raw. This was just not acceptable in a time where wrestlers were leaving WWE and throwing belts in the trash on Nitro. Vince even helped Bret to get a better deal in WCW, and felt that Bret should at least be professional and do the job. At the time, Bret and Shawn didn't get along all that well, but this wasn't about that - it was about Canada.
It was normal for Vince, Shawn, and HHH to have phone calls. Vince explained to Shawn that Bret just didn't want to do the job, and no matter how much they didn't like it, it was how it was going to have to be. Hunter said that it wasn't right, and that Bret wasn't being professional. Shawn said he would do anything he was told even if it meant pulling a swerve. Vince said he would think about it, and that was that. Later on, they agreed to pull the swerve, but Vince told Shawn that he didn't want Shawn to take any blame for it. He told Shawn to deny everything.
The day of the PPV, Shawn and Bret spoke about the match and how it would work. It was Brets idea for Shawn to put him in the Sharp Shooter, and then Bret would reverse it. The match was going to end in a DQ when the Harts and Dx would run out into the ring. It should also be known that Bret apologized to Shawn about their disagreements in the past.
Shawn went back to Vince and told him about the Sharp Shooter reverse plan. That was their chance to pull the swerve. It was then and only then that Shawn went backstage, right before the PPV, and told Earl Hebner what was going to happen. Earl confirmed it with Vince, and that was that. In the entire company, you could only count on one hand the amount of people who knew prior to the actual screwjob what was going to happen.
As the match went on, Vince made his way towards the ring. As directed, Shawn played dumb, and whispered to Bret "Why is Vince coming down?". As Shawn was about to apply the sharp shooter, he screamed "Here we go!" Vince yelled "ring the bell", earl rang it, and Shawn left quite angry... yet again, as directed by Vince. Vince wanted to take all the heat.
In 97, I was 14 years old... for many years, I thought the whole thing was just terrible. I thought it was a poor business move to pull on someone who gave so much to the industry. Now that I look back on it though, I really do blame Bret. Yeah, it wasn't the nice thing to do, but the professional thing to do was certainly not to refuse to lose a match. A lot of people weren't pleased with Bret for it, and I guess he had it coming to him.
So there it is, folks. The story of the screwjob.
2006-11-29 12:28:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I do not think no one will ever forget that incident but I got to admit Bret was screwed badly but like vince and shawn said that was the right thing to do for the business so they did what they got to do.That was a great match though
2006-11-26 07:59:53 · answer #2 · answered by jamaican babe 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This was back when wrestling was unpredictable and fun to watch, and its fallen off alot. But like you, I will remember that event because it is probably the most controversial event in wwf history and still brought up (plus the crowds in canada always yell "you screwed bret")
2006-11-26 07:49:54 · answer #3 · answered by kings17 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You all do comprehend this replaced right into a setup through Vince to take down WCW. imagine about it, Bret Hart leaves WWF all "annoyed" and joins WCW, yet mutually, he continues to be in cohootz w/ Vince. Bret notifies Vince about storylines coming up in WCW and Vince counteracts with coming up with extra valuable storylines. WWF loses the ratings conflict for some time in order that Ted Turner receives a huge head and then WCW slowly starts to lose its attractiveness, finally ensuing in Vince identifying to purchase WCW and the downfall of WCW. that's really genius on Vince's area, deliver one in all of your men to infiltrate the enemies base from the interior...genius.
2016-10-16 10:35:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No no one knows what your talking about........... of course we know. Even newbies who were watching Raw in Feb-Mar saw Michaels and Vince talking about it.
2006-11-26 07:58:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. It's for the good of the business though. Vince had to do what he had to do.
2006-11-26 07:47:45 · answer #6 · answered by tyrone b 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i remember it like yesterday
2006-11-26 08:36:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋