THIS INFO IS TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA. IT GIVES A DETAILED
BACKGROUND ON THE MONTREAL SCREWJOB.
Hart had one major caveat: he would not lose the WWF Championship
to Shawn Michaels, with whom he had personal animosity that had
spanned for years. The legitimate backstage ill-feeling between
Hart and Michaels, which had been bubbling for years, 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, his only
demand was that he refused to lose to Michaels. However, Shawn
Michaels said in his biography that Bret's excuse was that he was a
hero in Canada, and that the fans might riot.
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.
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 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 they had just signed the reigning WWF Champion to a
contract. The fear also came from an incident that had occurred in
1995, where then-WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze had signed
with WCW. Bischoff coerced Alundra Blayze to show up on Nitro with
the Women's Title Belt, which she did. She proceeded to drop the
belt in a trash can in full view of the live audience.
The Wednesday before Survivor Series, Vince 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. Vince apparently seemed to
agree to everything that Hart wanted to do. Hart left feeling a
little more relaxed, despite being warned by several wrestlers
(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.
However, Hart was deeply aware of the possibility of a last minute
change of plan behind his back and, fearing a double cross, went as
far as asking 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 discussed the planned disqualification finish. Michaels would
put Hart in the Sharpshooter, and Hart would reverse, only for
D-Generation X and the Hart Foundation to run down for a big brawl
to end the match.
During the match, after an arena-wide brawl before the match had
even officially started, Hart allowed Michaels to place him in the
Sharpshooter, his famous finishing leglock hold. Michaels then gave
Hart his foot to reverse the hold. McMahon, positioned at ringside,
elbowed the timekeeper and screamed at him to "Ring the fucking
bell!" Hebner then signalled to the timekeeper as if Hart had
submitted to the hold, then bolted backstage from the ring and left
in a waiting car. Michaels was quickly awarded the match and the
title as his theme music began to play, all while Hart remained in
the ring in shock.
Astounded by the unexpected turn of events, Hart was immediately
outraged. 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. As
ringside commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler quickly departed
their announce position, Hart looked down at McMahon from the ring,
spat right in his eye, and shortly after destroyed several TV
monitors at ringside before climbing the turnbuckles and signing
the letters "WCW" to the rabid crowd. Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and
Davey Boy Smith hit the ring to try and calm him down.
Backstage, after cooling off, he learned that many of the other
wrestlers were disgusted and were forcefully pressuring the
now-in-hiding McMahon to face up to Hart and explain himself. (Hart
even proclaimed to his wife, "The piece of shit's locked himself up
in his office.") Hart's son was physically upset at what had
happened, and his wife laid a verbal onslaught onto Triple H (whom
she believed knew about the whole thing), 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, and the incident ended up as a physical confrontation in the
Montreal locker rooms. After McMahon tried to apologize to Hart, he
was told to get out or get punched in the face. McMahon refused to
leave and got punched in the face (in Mick Foley's book, Have a
Nice Day, he had a conversation with Owen Hart...from in which Owen
heard that Bret went into the shower and told him that he would
"punch (McMahon) in the fucking mouth" if he was still there when
he came out). With Shane and Brisco also there, one of them
accidentally trampled onto McMahon's ankle and broke it.
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, fearing that if it could happen to one of the
most loyal and popular members on 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. Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy also
quit, and were formally released soon afterwards. The late Rick
Rude, who was a manager of DX and worked on a per show 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 the
WWF was losing the war to WCW, and he would fare better there. Mick
Foley walked out, but returned after realizing he would have been
in breach of contract. Barry Windham also no-showed demonstrating
how angry he was. However, he returned to the WWF a week later
after believing that he had made his point.
