can some 1 tell me why people say BREAT HART got screwed in wrestling.?

Question

i always hear it but i dont no

Answer 1

Hart lost the title to Shawn Michaels in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match was not without controversy. Michaels was victorious in a sudden death overtime finish. In most wrestling organizations, if a title match is decided to continue after the time limit expires, the title would normally no longer be in contest and would remain with the title holder, no matter the outcome of the match. This match, however, saw WWF President Gorilla Monsoon declare a "sudden death" overtime period, in which Michaels won the title following two superkicks.

At the match's conclusion, Michaels supposedly instructed Hart to "get the **** out of my ring," a comment over which Hart still harbors bitter feelings. Michaels has never denied or confirmed this. It is thought that Michaels feels Hart was bitter about being defeated and didn't engage in the tradition of shaking hands after the match. Hart and Michaels were never the best of friends, and Hart's opinion of Michaels was damaged to a new degree after this match. This would mark the beginning of a seven-month hiatus from the WWF for Bret. Hart was the hottest free agent in wrestling at this point, and negotiations with the WWF and WCW (World Championship Wrestling) were said to be at the ‘eleventh hour’. Even though WWF were proceeding with booking plans leading to him facing Stone Cold Steve Austin at the Survivor Series PPV in November, Hart was seriously considering an offer from WCW, which was said to be worth three times more than what the WWF was offering him. It was alleged that WCW had made him a three year, $9m offer, which at that point was said to be an offer that the WWF couldn’t match. In his best year with the WWF, it was believed Hart earned very high six figures. He eventually signed a 20-year contract with the WWF - the plan being that an initial period of this would be spent on wrestling while the rest would be in a backstage role.

Answer 2

it was called the Montreal Screwjob. Ok a little background ok at Survivor Series Of '97 in a WWF Championship match Bret Hart gave Shawn Michaels permission to put him in the sharpshooter and Michaels did it the ref was down and bret hart made some kind of noise that the ref heard which was actually a counter to the sharpshooter but the ref thought the Hart tapped out and thats how he got screwed

Answer 3

I think it happened in a Summerslam or Survivor Series Pay-Per View. He went backstage and Asked Vince if he could Maintain the Championship belt, And he said no. Well Later in the match Shawn Michaels put Hart in a sharpshooter and McMahon Called for the bell automatically afterwards. Declaring Shawn the winner and forever making it the Toroto Screwjob. I personally have never seen the match, and would like to see it in it entirety.

Answer 4

Who's Breat Hart?

Answer 5

shawn michaels put bret hart into the sharpshooter, but the way bret thought would happen is that he would reverse it and put shawn in the sharpshooter. vince called for the bell and the ref ended the match and gave shawn the title. bret never tapped out and that is what happened. the ppl who knew all about it were shawn, vince, and the ref. the reason was because bret was going to wcw and taking the wwf title away. vince did not want to lose his title to wcw.

Answer 6

Vince McMahon was feuding with Bret at the time...and he ordered the bell rung as Michaels had him in a move, I forgot what, so that Hart lost the match, supposedly by forfeit...tapping out...

Answer 7

shawn michels was supposed to lose the match. vince macmon had the refree fast count so shawn beat bret hart

Answer 8

cause he did by vince.

Answer 9

The Montreal Screwjob (a.k.a. the Montreal Incident, Montreal Finish, Survivor Series Screwjob, or The Double Cross) is professional wrestling parlance for a genuine incident that took place on November 9, 1997 during a match for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Championship between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. Viewed by most observers as the most famous ending to a wrestling match in history, the incident featured WWF Chairman Vince McMahon instructing referee Earl Hebner to prematurely end the match, legitimately cheating Hart out of the WWF Championship he held. The incident was featured in the 1998 movie Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows, a documentary about Hart's life as a WWF wrestler. It was also featured in the McMahon DVD, the 2003 WWE Confidential vol. 1 DVD and the 2004 "Monday Night War" DVD.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Hart's contract with WWF
1.2 Hart's personal feud with Michaels
1.3 Search to end Hart's reign as champion
2 Setup
3 Execution
4 Legacy
4.1 Evolution of "Mr. McMahon"
4.2 Infamy in Canada and other parallels
4.3 Resolution and revelations
5 Use in wrestling storylines
6 See also
7 External links



[edit] History

[edit] Hart's contract with WWF
After his loss to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII in March 1996, Bret Hart took a leave of absence from the World Wrestling Federation. For the next seven months, he was in talks with both the WWF and World Championship Wrestling over contracts and was considering giving up wrestling. He had briefly experimented with acting, playing in Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years, and was considering changing careers.

In October 1996, despite being offered $9 million from WCW, Hart signed an unprecedented twenty-year contract with the WWF. Hart had been with and remained loyal to the WWF since 1984. He also had emerged from wrestling mainly in tag teams to becoming a popular and respected singles star. Between 1992 and 1996, Hart won the WWF Championship three times and the Intercontinental Title twice. He also won the King of the Ring tournament in 1993, was featured as a participant in the main events of Wrestlemanias IX, X and XII, was named WWF Superstar of the Year in 1993, and was joint winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble alongside Lex Luger. The contract that he signed in 1996 called for him to wrestle three more years with the WWF and then complete his career in a behind-the-scenes writing and booking position. Both sides felt that the contract was a suitable and appropriate expression of Hart's loyalty to the WWF and its loyalty to him.

However, by the middle of 1997, the WWF was in financial trouble due mainly to WCW taking over as North America's top pro wrestling promotion. Additionally, many felt that Hart's behavior had become more erratic and he began making demands; for example, insisting that the European-only pay-per-view One Night Only also be shown in Canada. This was cause for Vince McMahon to regret offering such an expensive deal to Hart.

As a result, McMahon informed Hart that he wished to withdraw from the contract, and he encouraged Hart again to seek employment with WCW. When Hart asked about his plans for his "Hitman" character, giving McMahon an option to entice Hart with interesting story ideas, the ideas put out by Vince made it clear to Hart that he was not part of McMahon's longterm plans. Meanwhile, Hart had developed concerns with the recent, less family-friendly direction of the WWF under its "Attitude" branding, as well as with his character expressing views that he did not personally endorse (he had also been turned into a heel during the early part of 1997; something he had not cared for). Hart thus elected to sign with WCW.

On November 1, 1997, after several weeks of negotiations, Hart agreed to a three million dollar a year contract with WCW. When Hart asked McMahon if he would be mocked after leaving for WCW(as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were in the "Billionaire Ted" segments), McMahon replied "Absolutely not." Furthermore, McMahon promised Hart access to all of his WWF-owned footage. Hart believed he was leaving on good terms, and went on to say in later shoot interviews, that he believed he would return to the WWF when his WCW contract expired.

As part of his WWF contract, Hart had "reasonable creative control" over his character in the last days of his WWF tenure. Therefore, he had input as to what he would and would not do and say. This created a problem for McMahon. Even though the two had agreed to part on good terms, Hart's "reasonable creative control" was abused beyond Vince's respect, as he refused to drop the belt to Michaels. This was the main determining factor that led to McMahon's decision to carry out the job.


[edit] Hart's personal feud with Michaels
Hart also had one major caveat: he would not lose the WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels in Canada. Hart had legitimate personal animosity towards Michaels that had spanned several years. The backstage ill-feeling between the two meant that neither man was willing to lose face in or out of the ring to the other, but they agreed to work together for the sake of the business. At the time, Hart and Michaels had radically different lifestyles and attitudes out of the ring and had clashed previously. One such incident was provoked when Michaels implied that Hart was sleeping with WWF valet Sunny. This led to Hart attacking Michaels backstage during a taping of RAW after they had gotten into a verbal argument (Hart claimed several years later in a shoot interview that the real reason for the fight was due to him expressing his concern that Michaels' drug problems would affect his ability to protect Hart's injured knee during a match). Hart has claimed on his own website that he never said he would not lose in Canada, as he had lost in Canada several times; instead, his only demand was that he not be made to lose to Michaels. However, Michaels said in his biography that Bret's excuse was that he was a hero in Canada, and that the fans might riot. Further muddying the waters is the fact that Hart is heard explicitly saying, "I'll drop the belt, but not in Canada", in the 1998 Wrestling With Shadows documentary (which chronicled the entire Screwjob). This was in the midst of the infamous Monday Night Wars, in which WWE and WCW were in a heated battle for television ratings. A type of "unwritten rule" of saving face for WWF was to have the champion "drop the belt" on his way out. Bret's contract would expire in less than a month, and WWF was in danger of their title losing its mystique.

The relationship between both men was very rocky at best. Hart was angered about how much booking power The Clique, of which Michaels was a part, had apparently gained during the mid-1990s. The Clique had all but run the main storylines of the WWF in 1995, with Diesel as WWF Champion and Michaels and Razor Ramon at the top of the midcard feuding over the Intercontinental Championship. Meanwhile, Hart languished in midcard feuds with Hakushi, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, and Jean-Pierre Lafitte before defeating Diesel for the championship again at Survivor Series 1995. In the buildup to their 60-minute "Iron Man" match for the WWE title, both Hart and Michaels engaged in "worked-shoot" comments about the other's families and trainers. Both men feared that the other was taking potshots at his own expense.

At WrestleMania XII, Michaels beat Hart for the WWF Championship, and after the match, Hart claims that Michaels told him, "Get the **** out of the ring; this is my moment." The match itself was also suspect, with both men not cooperating with the other at times. Hart also claims Michaels was supposed to "return the favor" at WrestleMania 13; however, Michaels needed knee surgery and would not be able to wrestle for months. Michaels gave up the title on a special episode of RAW dubbed Thursday RAW Thursday in what is now known today as the infamous "Lost My Smile" speech. [1] Despite popular belief, Michaels did not say that he was doing it because he had lost his smile. He did mention this, but he was referring to an earlier interview he had given after losing the title to Sycho Sid at Survivor Series 1996. It is believed by many, including Hart himself, that the speech was just an excuse to not drop the title to Hart in a match. Hart accused Michaels on air during WrestleMania 13 of faking the knee injury to avoid wrestling him at the event. The injury was legitimate, though Michaels returned to active competition three months after WrestleMania.

There are several reasons some people dispute Hart's version of events, however:

It had been reported on the internet prior to Thursday RAW Thursday that Michaels would drop the belt to Sid[citation needed], who would face The Undertaker at WrestleMania for the title in the main event, which did in fact become the WrestleMania main event for that year.
Although Hart won the title in a four-way match also involving Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Vader at In Your House: Final Four three days after Michaels gave it up, Hart dropped it to Sid the next day (the man rumored to be scheduled to win the title on Thursday RAW Thursday).
Hart was not placed in the main event at WrestleMania, nor was he given a main event program until SummerSlam 1997 six months later.
Hart was scheduled to face Michaels at King of the Ring 1997. However, Hart withdrew from the match to have surgery of his own in an ironic twist.


[edit] Search to end Hart's reign as champion
Hart regained the WWF title at SummerSlam 1997 (strangely enough, due to interference from special guest referee Michaels, who hit Undertaker with a chair most likely aimed at him, but he ducked), but McMahon began seeking a way to move the belt off of him when Hart began talks with WCW. Michaels was booked as the number one contender to Hart's title in the fall of 1997. Of course, Hart took immediate issue with the idea that he would lose the title to Michaels, in Montreal, at the Survivor Series 1997 PPV event on November 9, 1997. He did not believe that Michaels would have offered a loss in return had he stayed in the WWF.

McMahon tentatively agreed to end the match in Montreal with a planned disqualification finish, which would involve various cohorts of both Hart and Michaels running in and disrupting the match. Hart said that he could make a live speech the next day on the November 10, 1997 edition of RAW and then hand the belt back or that he could lose the title to Ken Shamrock who had, in the weeks leading to Survivor Series, made both Hart and Michaels tap out to his Ankle Lock finisher.

McMahon, however, felt that Bret was lying to him and that Bret would instead appear on WCW Monday Nitro with the title the next night, despite Bret being legally unable to do so. There is a common misconception that Bret's WWF contract expired at the Survivor Series; it actually expired several weeks later. McMahon was actually concerned that Eric Bischoff, WCW's Executive Vice President, would announce on the live Nitro (which aired prior to the WWF RAW program) that his company had just signed the reigning WWE Champion to a contract. In his 2005 book Controversy Creates Cash, Eric Bischoff states that he had no such plans because his corporate bosses at AOL/Time Warner would no longer allow him to in any way defame the WWF on Nitro. However many feel that Bischoff's comments in the book were less than truthful since the night after the 1997 Survivor Series incident, Bischoff and his nWo cohorts opened the Nitro show by walking to the ring draped in Canadian flags.) McMahon's fear was intensified by memories of an incident that had occurred in December 1995, where then-WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze had signed with WCW. Bischoff coerced Blayze to appear on Nitro with the WWF Women's Title Belt, which she did; she then proceeded to drop the belt into a trash can, in full view of the live TV audience.


[edit] Setup
The Wednesday before Survivor Series, McMahon devised what would become the Montreal Screwjob. As Gerald Brisco allegedly sat in a hotel room showing Michaels how to defend himself should Bret attempt to shoot on him, McMahon decided, with counsel from others, that he had no alternative other than to make sure that Survivor Series would end with Michaels as champion.

On the day of Survivor Series, Hart and McMahon sat in a room and discussed the different possibilities for ending the match. Vince apparently seemed to agree to everything that Hart wanted to do. Hart left the meeting feeling a little more relaxed, despite being warned by several wrestlers beforehand (including Vader, who was a veteran of the Japanese scene and knew the prospect of a screwjob could be looming) never to let himself be pinned for more than a count of one or be put in any submission moves.


Vince McMahon and Sgt. Slaughter watch intently from ringside.Actually, Hart himself was also deeply aware of the possibility of a last minute change of plan behind his back and, fearing a double-cross, went so far as to ask the match's referee, Earl Hebner, to swear an oath on his children's lives that he would not participate in such an incident. Hebner agreed. The match plans detailed to Hart on the day of Survivor Series discussed the planned disqualification finish: Michaels would put Hart in the latter's famed "Sharpshooter" finishing hold, and Hart would reverse, only for D-Generation X and the Hart Foundation to run down for a big brawl to end the match.


[edit] Execution
After an arena-wide brawl before the match had even officially started, Hart allowed Michaels to place him in the Sharpshooter after accidentally knocking Hebner out, as per the planned finish. Michaels then gave Hart his foot to reverse the hold. Hebner, having come back up to his feet, then signaled to the timekeeper to ring the bell and end the match as if Hart had submitted to the hold; McMahon, seated at ringside, elbowed the timekeeper and screamed at him to "Ring the bell!" Hebner then bolted backstage from the ring and left the Molson Centre in a waiting car. Just as Hart broke the hold and Michaels fell to the mat, the latter was quickly awarded the match and the title as his theme music began to play. All the while, Hart (and briefly Michaels) remained in the ring in surprise.


McMahon, moments after being spat on by Hart.Astounded by the unexpected turn of events, Hart was immediately outraged. Michaels showed no celebration whatsoever over the victory and even gave an expression of apparent anger and frustration. As Hart stood dazed in the ring, Triple H and Gerald Brisco came out to escort Michaels backstage as the fans threw garbage at him and relentlessly and loudly booed at him; one fan even went so far as to shove Michaels as he was passing him. Hart looked down at McMahon from the ring, spat right in his eye and, shortly after announcers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler departed their position, Hart then destroyed several TV monitors at ringside before climbing the turnbuckles and signing the letters "WCW" in the air to the rabid crowd. Bret's younger brother Owen Hart and his brothers-in-law Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith came down to the ring to try and calm him down.


Hart, smashing television equipment after Survivor Series went off the air.Backstage, after cooling off, Hart learned that many of the other wrestlers were disgusted at the finish and were forcefully pressuring the now-in-hiding McMahon to face Hart and explain himself (Hart even proclaimed to his then-wife Julie, "The piece of ****'s locked himself up in his office"). Hart and Michaels briefly discussed the incident in a locker room, during which the latter denied being involved in its planning. Hart's son was physically upset at what had happened, and Julie Hart laid a verbal onslaught onto Triple H (whom she believed knew about the whole thing, despite his "swearing to God" his ignorance), while The Undertaker confronted McMahon and demanded that he meet with Hart face-to-face. McMahon, along with Brisco and son Shane, went to see Hart — an incident that ended up as a physical confrontation in the Montreal locker rooms.

As Hart got ready to shower, McMahon entered and tried to justify his actions but was told to get out or get punched in the face. He persistently defended his actions and the good relationship the two once had, only for Hart, with Davey Boy Smith on hand, to angrily ignore the comments and continually order McMahon to leave. McMahon refused, leading into a grappling of sorts between the two as well as additional members of both parties joining the melee. Smith, not prepared for a physical confrontation, had already removed his leg brace and strained a muscle in pulling Shane away from the fight. The end result had Hart punching McMahon in the jaw, knocking him to the floor (in Mick Foley's book, Have a Nice Day, he reveals a conversation with Owen Hart, in which Owen heard that Bret went into the shower and told him that he would "punch (McMahon) in the ******* mouth" if he was still there when he came out). Hart then threatened Shane and Brisco to leave as well or "suffer the same consequences." As they quickly regrouped for an exit, one of them accidentally trampled onto McMahon's ankle and nearly broke it in an attempt to help him off the floor.

Several wrestlers threatened to walk out on the WWF after the event (Foley and Undertaker being two of them) and were only calmed by a backstage meeting in which McMahon lied in order to soften the pain of the wrestlers, as they felt that if it could happen to one of the most loyal and popular members of the roster, it could happen to anyone. Owen Hart (claiming a knee injury) left out of loyalty to his brother, but would eventually return a month later when he was unable to get out of his contract. Neidhart and Smith also quit, and were formally released soon afterwards and joined Bret in WCW. Rick Rude, who was a manager of D-Generation X and worked on a pay-per-appearance basis, left a week later after appearing on Nitro the same night as a pre-taped RAW (Rude chastised the WWF and mentioned Shawn Michaels by name on the live Nitro). Brian "Crush" Adams left two weeks after Survivor Series, using the "screwjob" as an excuse. In reality, he felt because the WWF was losing the war to WCW, he would fare better there. Mick Foley walked out, but returned after realizing he would have been in breach of contract; he stated in his autobiography that it was Jim Ross who persuaded him to continue to stay with the WWF, even after his contract expired, as well. Barry Windham and Mick Foley (then wrestling as Mankind) also no-showed, demonstrating how angry they were. However, they returned to the WWF a week later, believing that they had made their point.


[edit] Legacy
Initially the people who saw the event live on pay-per-view didn’t know what happened, whereas as the live audience understood, to a certain extent, what it was all about. When WCW introduced Bret Hart in the coming days people developed a theory that Bret lost the title to Michaels effortlessly and easily, making it a boring contest in his attempt to cost the WWF millions, having been no longer employed by the WWF. The notion changed afterwards when people came across the real facts of the incident. In the days to follow, Hart left for WCW, and McMahon claimed that he could not trust Bret with the title, fearing that he would show up on the competition's TV show with the WWE Championship. In Hart's recently released DVD The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be, both Hart and Eric Bischoff clearly stated that Hart being the WWF Champion was not a factor in Hart's jump to WCW, and Bischoff had advised Hart to do whatever he needed to do (in terms of ending his WWF Championship run) in order to begin a clean and fresh start in his WCW career. The WWF, however, refutes this contention and felt that its paranoia was justified, and furthermore maintains that Hart should have followed the "time-honored tradition" of losing his title and putting over the new champion before leaving the company. In the era of the Monday Night Wars, given the bad blood between Bischoff and McMahon and WCW and the WWF, it is hard to say who, if anyone, was right.


At Saturday Night's Main Event, Shane McMahon defeats Shawn Michaels in a similar manner.The very next night on WCW Nitro Hulk Hogan, along with other nWo members came out to the ring having Canadian flags in their hands at the start of the show, claiming that it was not the WCW that had signed Bret, rather it was nWo which Bret would become a member of. The announcement rocked the wrestling world, especially those who did not know that Bret had already signed with WCW even before the Survivor Series PPV. As a result people became confused of the situation and began to understand that it was the reaction of what happened last night with Bret that made him move to WCW, which was not the case or many considering it as a mockery made by the WCW of the event that unearth last night in Montreal. Moreover, Mike Tenay and Tony Schiavone had shown their bad feelings towards the incident at the start of the show and mentioned the name of Shawn Michaels live on TNT.

The classic "Bret screwed Bret" line would be thrown into a couple of promos that Vince McMahon cut during his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Unforgiven 1998 opened with a video package that ended with McMahon saying, "Vince McMahon didn't screw Stone Cold. Stone Cold screwed Stone Cold." This was obviously a play on what McMahon had spoken about Hart a year earlier.

The Montreal Screwjob was the first heavily publicized professional wrestling double-cross since Wendi Richter lost the WWF Women's Championship to a masked Fabulous Moolah following a contract dispute on November 25, 1985. It is not, however, the only screwjob in wrestling history; in fact, such incidents are common practice among some companies and have been for years.


[edit] Evolution of "Mr. McMahon"
After this event, the popular opinion was that this was a deathblow for the WWF and a major score for WCW. The combination of a company screwing over a popular wrestler and angering many fans should have dealt a massive blow to the WWF and given WCW a great amount of hype to work from. Incongruously, the opposite effect was achieved. McMahon harnessed the real-life hatred that fans held for him afterwards and created the "Mr. McMahon" character. This, combined with the massive popularity of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, created a feud that later pushed the ratings in the WWF's favor. Meanwhile, WCW failed to utilize Hart for years, never pushing him or having him do anything relevant in terms of storylines, despite the fact that he was being paid nearly $3 million per year. It was only in his later years with WCW that he would be pushed to main event status (he was at the beginning regarded as a "midcard talent") despite his previous accomplishments.

The aftermath of the real-life screwjob and McMahon's later "Bret screwed Bret" speech laid the groundwork for Vince's storyline "Mr. McMahon" character, the evil boss of the WWF who would "screw" faces in order to ensure the dominance of his hand-picked heel champions, and whose feud with the rebellious face Austin would be the central storyline for the WWF for the next several years. He and his son Shane have continued their evil ways (in storyline) up to this very day.


[edit] Infamy in Canada and other parallels
At wrestling shows in Canada, chants of "You screwed Bret!" spontaneously arise when key players in the screwjob make their appearances, particularly McMahon and Michaels (not to mention Hebner, even occurring at his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling). To this day, fans (especially those from Canada) continue to blast WWE for the screwjob and carry Bret Hart signs to WWE shows.

Whenever a Canadian wrestler is trapped in the Sharpshooter during a show in Canada, there are typically references to not only Bret Hart but also the Montreal Screwjob. Major controversy erupted when, at Backlash 2004, Michaels trapped Chris Benoit in the Sharpshooter as Hebner ran to the ring to replace the bumped referee who was officiating the match. The fans booed wildly, and Jerry Lawler constantly screamed, "Ring the bell, Hebner; you've done it before!", a reference to the screwjob. A similar remark by an announcer was made at Survivor Series 2001 during the Survivor Series match that ended the Invasion storyline. The Rock was the only member of Team WWF remaining, while Austin was the only Alliance wrestler remaining. When Stone Cold put The Rock in the Sharpshooter, Alliance commentator Paul Heyman yelled in his microphone, "Why doesn't Hebner call for the bell 'cause he likes to?" Jim Ross replied that "Because The Rock hasn't tapped," prompting Heyman to respond, "That never stopped him before at Survivor Series!"

In the aforementioned Backlash 2004 main event, after teasing a repeat of the screwjob, Chris Benoit forced Michaels to submit cleanly to the Sharpshooter. This could be seen as the start of mending fences for the screwjob, as Michaels lost cleanly to Hart's fellow countryman and friend Benoit, in Canada (the event was held in Edmonton, Alberta), to Hart's famous submission hold.

On the September 18, 2006 edition of RAW, Michaels and Triple H returned to Montreal. In a sign that Hart's fans had seemingly moved on, DX was cheered several times during the show, and several DX, Triple H, and HBK signs could be seen. After the show went off the air, Triple H performed his old "Are You Ready?" speech, and afterwards, a visibly moved Michaels thanked the Montreal crowd, saying "and because, for one night only, Montreal forgave me...if you ain't down with that, we got just two words for ya!"

At Unforgiven 2006 that took place in Toronto, Canadian wrestler Trish Stratus defeated Lita using the Sharpshooter to regain the WWE Women's Championship in her last match. Many feel that there are two reasons behind this shocking ending: 1) If Trish were to lose to Lita in her last match in her hometown of Toronto, it would start a riot on the belief that WWE "screwed" Trish, just like they "screwed" Bret Hart in real life, and (2) Many Canadian WWE fans saw this ending as a form of "paying tribute" to Bret Hart, showing that the legacy that Hart left behind was one that will be felt for many generations of Canadian WWE superstars (male AND female) to come.


[edit] Resolution and revelations
Early in the fall of 2005, WWE.com announced that McMahon and Hart had buried the hatchet to collaborate on the production of a DVD chronicling Hart's career.

Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006, and although Vince McMahon was not visibly present, Michaels was in attendance. Hart had said in interviews prior to his induction that he would walk out on the ceremony if he saw Michaels during WrestleMania weekend, to which Michaels (now a born-again Christian) replied by saying that he would agree to not appear at the ceremony under those terms. Michaels was actually contractually obligated to appear at the ceremony, but left the ceremony early with his wife to avoid a confrontation with Hart. Nonetheless, Hart did appear at the ceremony to receive his induction, although Hart was not present the next night at WrestleMania 22 with the other inductees who all were on stage at the event in between matches. Howard Finkel, the one in charge of announcing the inductees to the crowd in the mini-ceremony at WrestleMania, said that this was because Hart had not felt comfortable appearing on the show.

During an interview immediately following WrestleMania 22, Michaels was asked what he thought about Hart's induction into the Hall of Fame. Michaels remarked that he was "excited for the Hart family" and added that Hart's induction had been a "long time coming for the Hitman."

There has been a comment made on the Wrestling Classics forum by Dave Meltzer which states that the full Montreal story still hasn't been revealed and won't be until a certain person responsible for the "Sharpshooter spot" in the match passes away. The person was originally thought to be Pat Patterson, despite popular belief. However, it was Patterson who told Hart about it. According to WWE Confidential, it was Gerald Brisco, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Vince McMahon and Earl Hebner (hours before the match took place) who knew about the screwjob and kept it within themselves.

Michaels and his friend Triple H claimed total innocence over the incident but later admitted that Michaels was in on the fix. Triple H had much to do with this whole affair. This is backed up in Michaels' autobiography (Heartbreak and Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story), Michaels brought up the idea of a swerve during a conference call with Triple H and Vince McMahon a few days before the Survivor Series.

Vince Russo claimed in a WCW interview that he, Vince, and Jim Cornette decided that it had to be done. They just didn't believe that McMahon would go through with it.


[edit] Use in wrestling storylines
Several parodies of the event have also been booked into subsequent matches in WWE and other promotions. The next night on RAW, McMahon and Michaels did what they could to kill the Bret Hart mystique. When the show opened, Michaels gave an interview in the ring where he mocked Hart by saying, "I ran Bret down south with all the other dinosaurs, and Hitman, the gentlemen down there that aren't dinosaurs are my friends (a reference to Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman), and they can't wait to kick your butt either." Hart was watching back at his home in Calgary.

Later that night, McMahon gave an interview with Jim Ross stating his side of the story. He then concluded, saying that he himself didn't screw Bret but that "Bret screwed Bret."

A week before Hart was set to debut on WCW Monday Nitro, Michaels further disgraced "the Hitman" by claiming that he had secretly negotiated a deal to "set the record straight" with Hart before he was going to leave. Hart's signature music played, and out came a midget dressed up like Hart. Michaels and the other members of D-Generation X pretended to torture him before attaching a WCW bumper sticker on his butt, kicking him out of the ring and saying, "There you go, Hitman. Head down south with all the other has-beens."

When Hart made his debut on WCW Monday Nitro on December 1, 1997, he had an in-ring interview with Gene Okerlund. During this interview, Hart said, "There is nobody who knows better than I do what it's like to be screwed over by a referee", making a reference to the Survivor Series a month earlier that year.

At StarrCade 1997, Hart prevented Hollywood Hogan from leaving with the WCW Championship. He claimed that the referee (Nick Patrick) gave a fast count and that he wouldn't allow another wrestler (Sting) to be screwed.

At the end of 1998's Survivor Series main event between the Rock and Mick Foley, where the Rock put Foley in a Sharpshooter and McMahon ordered the referee to "ring the bell," despite the fact that Foley, like Hart, never actually submitted.

At StarrCade 1999, the finish of the match between Bill Goldberg and Bret Hart was for guest referee Roddy Piper to "ring the bell" once Hart place Goldberg in the Sharpshooter despite Goldberg not submitting.

Another notable play on the infamous event took place on the May 28, 2001 episode of RAW in Calgary, Alberta, featuring Chris Benoit being cheated out of a WWE Title win when Stone Cold Steve Austin applied the Crippler Crossface finisher on Benoit (Like the Sharpshooter was with Hart, the Crossface has become considered Benoit's trademark submission maneuver) and McMahon yelled at Hebner to ring the bell. However, Benoit and his ally Chris Jericho applied their finishers on McMahon and Austin at the end of the show.

During No Way Out 2003 in Montreal, taking an angle once used 15 years before in World Class Championship Wrestling, The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan after the lights went out in the entire arena for a brief moment only to come on again and find the referee (Sylvain Grenier) knocked out in the middle of the ring with a steel chair as well as Vince McMahon at ringside. While Hogan was distracted by McMahon, Grenier woke up and handed the Rock the chair, then went back to his unconscious state. The Rock then blasted Hogan with a chairshot and after a Rock Bottom, Grenier sprung back up and delivered the 3 count in the Rock's favor granting him the victory. The event was labeled on WWE.com the next day as the "Montreal Screwjob II."

The weeks prior to SummerSlam 2005 had recurring references to the Montreal Screwjob as Michaels would often try to finish his matches with the sharpshooter. Michaels would also humiliate the Canadian fans during an episode of RAW filmed in Montreal, where he led them to believe that Bret Hart would appear by having the Hitman's entrance music played. Michaels would appear later that same evening and place his SummerSlam 2005 opponent Hulk Hogan in the sharpshooter to end the show. This was also done because it had been publicized on the WWE.com that Bret Hart was working with WWE on his DVD set at that time.

A slightly varied version of the Montreal Screwjob was introduced on the October 24, 2005 episode of RAW, during the John Cena WWE Championship feud versus Kurt Angle and General Manager Eric Bischoff. Angle and Cena wrestled in a non title match with Mick Foley as the referee, until Foley abandoned the match to brawl with Carlito, so Bischoff ran down to assume officiating duties. As Angle put the anklelock on John Cena, Bischoff lifted Cena's arm and dropped it, literally forcing his hand into tapping out, declaring Kurt the winner.

In WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 during the "Legends" season mode, Jimmy Hart (who is the "on-tour" General Manager) makes a match between the player's character and Bret Hart in a submission match (the show is being broadcast in Montreal). Jimmy Hart says, "Bret says something about putting the past behind him", The player's character responds with "Well, this won't be the first time Bret tapped out in Montreal to a legend in the making", making a mockery of the Montreal incident (Bret's voice is never heard in the game, as he had no involvement in its production).

In a segment with D-Generation X, prior to their match at Cyber Sunday, Shawn Michaels is seen voting for the special referee for the match. Triple H appears and eventually tells Michaels that Eric Bischoff said they "don't know the meaning of controversial," which leads Michaels to say, "I'm the one who put Bret Hart in the Sharpshooter!" An obvious reference to the Montreal Screwjob.

In the commercial for the 2006 Royal Rumble, the McMahons are depicted as Roman rulers at a gladiatorial game. The audience chants, "You screwed Breticus!" to the McMahons, making a reference to the Montreal Screwjob. Vince McMahon (referred to as "Vince Caesar" in the commercial) replies with an angry "SHUT UP!"

On the final RAW of 2005, Vince McMahon is seen "reviewing" the new Bret Hart DVD. In a promo with Shawn Michaels, where each man talks about the Screwjob, McMahon tells Michaels, "I screwed Bret. Don't make me screw you." This led to a long feud between the two, which allowed Michaels to gain somewhat popularity in Canada, as he was now viewed as the lesser of the two evils behind the incident. For example, at Unforgiven 2006, which was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Michaels was mainly cheered by the Canadian fans, as well as the following night on RAW, which took place in Montreal. But, this could also be attributed in part to his being a part of the popular tag-team/faction D-Generation-X with Triple H.

During this feud, the Sharpshooter was used against Michaels at "Saturday Night's Main Event" when Vince knocked out referee Mike Chioda as Shane McMahon trapped Michaels in the Sharpshooter. Just like before, McMahon screamed at the timekeeper to ring the bell and awarded the match "by submission" to Shane.

Rob Van Dam's July 2006 ECW World Heavyweight Championship loss to The Big Show, which involved interference on the part of ECW Representative Paul Heyman (and ended with Heyman counting the pinfall in lieu of a referee, à la One Night Stand), was referred to on air and on WWE.com as the South Philly Screwjob. However it is not an actual screwjob. The storyline had to be changed due to Van Dam's arrest and suspension. It was a work.