History Wrestling / MontrealScrewjob

The Montreal Screwjob is, without hyperbole, one of the most important events in the history of the entire {{professional wrestling}} industry.

In 1997, [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} the World Wrestling Federation]] was facing its most heated competition ever in the form of [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling.]] The Wrestling/MondayNightWars had hit full swing, and the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle helped give WCW better ratings than the WWF. Wrestling/VinceMcMahon saw some seriously hard times ahead for his promotion, which forced him to make some tough decisions. One of these decisions involved a wrestler named [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret "The Hitman" Hart.]]

Hart had signed an unprecedented twenty-year deal with the WWF in 1996 that would've seen him collect a considerable amount of money for his services. [=McMahon=] felt he would have to breach Hart's contract in order to keep the company alive as WCW ran roughshod over the WWF. Backstage tension between Hart and fellow performer Wrestling/ShawnMichaels had also reaching a boiling point around this time. The two men infamously didn't get along, and backstage tensions between Hart and Michaels were becoming a common sight. Between the desire to get away from Shawn and the promised fiscal security of the WCW contract, Bret saw no other choice but to jump ship to WCW. In November 1997, Hart (the then-reigning WWF Champion) signed a contract with WCW for a guaranteed three million dollars per year.

Hart's last contractually-obligated appearance on WWF programming would take place at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1997'' in Montreal. Hart would face off against Shawn Michaels in the main event with the WWF Championship on the line. The WWF hadn't scheduled the show as Hart's last with the company, as his working agreement ran for three weeks after the pay-per-view, and WCW gave him verbal approval to work another PPV in early December. This December PPV would have likely seen Bret drop the title in a four-way match to either Michaels (if Michaels agreed to lose at Montreal) or another wrestler who would later lose to Michaels (if Michaels refused to job). Shawn refused to lose the ''Survivor Series'' match to Hart under any circumstance. Hart made it clear that he would not lose to Michaels in Montreal. The exit clause in Hart's aforementioned contract required Bret and Vince come to an agreement on any booking decisions regarding Hart, which left Bret holding all the cards. Michaels and Hart's mutual stubbornness placed [=McMahon=] between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

The original plan for the match's finish (according to Hart) would have seen Michaels use Hart's Sharpshooter submission hold against Hart himself after a ref bump. Once Michaels applied the hold, Hart would reverse it, leading to a few more near-falls. Then, feuding factions Wrestling/DGenerationX (to which Michaels belonged) and the Hart Foundation (to which Hart belonged) would run in, start a huge brawl between the groups, and cause the match to be tossed out on a double-DQ. This ending would leave Hart open to drop the title in the aforementioned four-way match. (Hart briefly discussed simply giving up the title on TV, but at that point, [=McMahon=] had committed to the Screwjob, so he agreed to nearly anything Hart said in order to get Bret to perform at ''Survivor Series''.)

However, [=McMahon=] was nervous about sending Hart out of the company as the champion. [=McMahon=] still had some leftover anger concerning then-WWF Women's Champion [[Wrestling/{{Madusa}} Alundra Blayze]] tossing the WWF Women's Championship belt in the trash live on ''WCW Monday Nitro''. [=McMahon=] reportedly feared Hart would show up on WCW programming with the WWF Championship and toss that belt in the trash (or worse), even though the WWF had filed multiple lawsuits regarding the Blayze incident against WCW. Since Hart had refused to drop the belt to Michaels in Canada, [=McMahon=] had to worry about the possibility of Bret jumping ship with the championship belt.

Well, that's the story [=McMahon=] will tell you, anyway. Wrestling critics/historians say the reason for the Screwjob on [=McMahon=]'s end was money. At the time of ''Survivor Series'' 1997, Hart had been earning just shy of two million dollars per year, making him the highest-paid worker in the WWF (for comparison, Shawn Michaels was earning $750,000 per year). Also at the time, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and Wrestling/TheUndertaker had new contracts under negotiation with the WWF. When Austin and Taker compared themselves to Hart, that's when [=McMahon=] got ''really'' scared. However, whatever the reason might have been -- respect, money, prestige, or something else -- [=McMahon=] knew he had to get the belt off of Bret by any means necessary.

And so, Vince hatched a plot on the night of ''Survivor Series''. When Michaels caught Hart in the Sharpshooter submission hold as planned, [=McMahon=] ordered referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell as if Hart had submitted to the hold, despite Hart clearly having done no such thing. This ended the match, made Michaels the champion, and screwed Hart on his way out of the WWF without a proper send-off.

Bret Hart left the WWF and spent three years [[DemotedToExtra floundering around in WCW]] thanks to crappy booking and nobody really knowing what to do with him. This was despite Hart being -- at the time -- ''the hottest free agent in professional wrestling'' (something that ''[=McMahon=] himself'' predicted would happen). The people pressuring Eric Bischoff, the head of WCW creative at the time, didn't want Hart to get over if he jumped ship. WCW kept Bret on the shelf for over a month before popping a buyrate with the then-considered-washed-up Flair and being buried in pointless United States Title feuds. Thanks to an errant kick by Bill Goldberg during a match in 2000, Hart suffered a career-ending concussion and retired from in-ring action. A stroke suffered after Hart's retirement has ensured that, save for special circumstances where he doesn't have to take a bump, he'll never perform in the ring again. Following his retirement, Hart had very little love lost for WWF -- thanks both to the Screwjob and the death of his brother [[Wrestling/OwenHart Owen]] in 1999 -- but managed to put his animosity aside to help preserve his legacy. He worked with WWE to produce a DVD set that became widely acclaimed as a great retrospective on his career ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen one that WWE initially planned as a smearjob set called ''Screwed'']] until Hart heard about the plans). In 2006, Hart accepted induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, making his first appearance on WWE programming of any kind in nearly a decade to accept the honor. A few years later, Hart signed up again with WWE to ensure a proper and honorable exit from the business (see below).

** When confronted by Hart after the match, Shawn Michaels strongly denied any foreknowledge of the altered finish and claimed he was just as confused and outraged at the result as Hart was. It would later be revealed that not only did Michaels know of the plan the entire time, he had hand in crafting its execution.

->''"Some would say... ''I'' screwed Bret Hart. ''Bret Hart'' would definitely tell you I screwed him. I look at it from a different standpoint... I look at it from the standpoint of the referee did not screw Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels certainly did not screw Bret Hart, nor did Vince [=McMahon=] screw Bret Hart. I truly believe that ''Bret Hart''... screwed Bret Hart. And he can look in the mirror, and know that."''

In 1997, [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} the World Wrestling Federation]] was facing its most heated competition ever in the form of [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling]]. The Wrestling/MondayNightWars had hit full swing, and the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder angle helped give WCW better ratings than the WWF. Wrestling/VinceMcMahon saw some seriously hard times ahead for his promotion, which forced him to make some tough decisions. One of these decisions involved a wrestler named [[Wrestling/BretHart Bret "The Hitman" Hart]].

Hart's last contractually-obligated appearance on WWF programming would take place at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 1997'' in Montreal. Hart would face off against Shawn Michaels in the main event with the WWF Championship on the line. The WWF hadn't scheduled the show as Hart's last with the company, as his working agreement ran for three weeks after the pay-per-view, and WCW gave him verbal approval to work another PPV in early December. This December PPV would have likely seen Bret drop the title in a four-way match to either Michaels (if Michaels agreed to lose at Montreal) or another wrestler who would later lose to Michaels (if Michaels refused to job). Shawn refused to lose the ''Survivor Series'' match to Hart under any circumstances. Hart made it clear that he would not lose to Michaels in Montreal. The exit clause in Hart's aforementioned contract required Bret and Vince come to an agreement on any booking decisions regarding Hart, which left Bret holding all the cards. Michaels and Hart's mutual stubbornness placed [=McMahon=] between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

This singular moment became one of the most controversial, shocking, and altogether important events in the history of pro wrestling. The Screwjob sent Hart packing to WCW on very bad terms with the WWF. The event destroyed {{kayfabe}} for many fans around the world after what was going on began to be understood by the general audience. Vince -- who had hoped the whole thing would blow over with time -- suddenly found himself as the most hated man in all of pro wrestling once people found out what had really happened. The next night on ''Raw'', [=McMahon=] famously said that "Bret screwed Bret." This served as the launching pad for the "Mr. [=McMahon=]" character, an evil CorruptCorporateExecutive boss {{heel}} who would handpick his own champions while screwing babyface wrestlers out of matches. [=McMahon=] ended up having a much bigger on-screen role than he could have ever imagined, playing the role of "evil boss" to the hilt as he feuded with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin during the Attitude Era. That feud would come to define both the Era itself and the CorruptCorporateExecutive role in pro wrestling for years to come.

Bret Hart left the WWF and spent three years [[DemotedToExtra floundering around in WCW]] thanks to crappy booking and nobody really knowing what to do with him. This is despite Hart being -- at the time -- ''the hottest free agent in professional wrestling'' (something that ''[=McMahon=] himself'' predicted would happen). The people pressuring Eric Bischoff, the head of WCW creative at the time, didn't want Hart to get over if he jumped ship. WCW kept Bret on the shelf for over a month before popping a buyrate with the then-considered-washed-up Flair and being buried in pointless United States Title feuds. Thanks to an errant kick by Bill Goldberg during a match in 2000, Hart suffered a career-ending concussion and retired from in-ring action. A stroke suffered after Hart's retirement has ensured that, save for special circumstances where he doesn't have to take a bump, he'll never perform in the ring again. Following his retirement, Hart had very little love lost for WWF -- thanks both to the Screwjob and the death of his brother [[Wrestling/OwenHart Owen]] in 1999 -- but managed to put his animosity aside to help preserve his legacy. He worked with WWE to produce a DVD set that became widely acclaimed as a great retrospective on his career ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen one that WWE initially planned as a smearjob set called ''Screwed'']] until Hart heard about the plans). In 2006, Hart accepted induction into the WWE Hall of Fame, making his first appearance on WWE programming of any kind in nearly a decade to accept the honor. A few years later, Hart signed up again with WWE to ensure a proper and honorable exit from the business (see below).

In December 2009, Hart confirmed that he would return to WWE in 2010 to guest host the first ''Raw'' of the year (his first appearance on ''Raw'' in over twelve years), and during that show's opening segment, Hart made his peace with Michaels in the middle of the ring in one of the most surreal moments in wrestling history. He was (kayfabe) attacked by [=McMahon=] at the end of the show, which set up an angle that led up to ''[=WrestleMania=] 26'', where [=McMahon=] faced Hart in a "No Holds Barred" Match. Although [=McMahon=] tried to bribe the rest of the Hart family into screwing Hart over again, they saw through Vince's scheme and double-crossed him, which allowed Hart to finally make [=McMahon=] pay for Montreal (via thirteen chairshots and the Sharpshooter) and receive the full closure he'd been looking for. (As part of the angle, Hart's father -- legendary Canadian wrestling promoter/trainer and patriarch of the Hart family, the late Stu Hart -- received a posthumous induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.) After ''[=WrestleMania=]'', Bret appeared sporadically to help put over The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith, Wrestling/TysonKidd, and [[Wrestling/NatalyaNeidheart Natalya]]) and serve as ''Raw'''s General Manager for a brief period (Wrestling/TheNexus would eventually take him out). Both Hart and Michaels continue to make special "cameo" appearances at WWE events to this day.

* TheBadGuyWins: Assuming that the screwjob was the first of the evil deeds of the "Mr. [=McMahon=]" CorruptCorporateExecutive character (going by his later "Bret screwed Bret" interview), Mr. [=McMahon=] got ''exactly'' what he wanted out of thisand more. This was pretty much the turning point in the Wrestling/MondayNightWars, the birth of the Wrestling/AttitudeEra, and all he had to do was get rid of an expensive wrestler who was already on his way out. Mr. [=McMahon=] became the main heel of his own show, and the following year, his company had some of the best matches, angles, and [=PPVs=] it ever had, to say nothing of the publicity that came with what he just did. Bret, for his part, was literally screwed, as WCW squandered his talent, a clear symptom of their own inevitable decline.

** When confronted by Hart after the match, Shawn Michaels strongly denied any foreknowledge of the altered finish and claimed he was just as confused and outraged at the result as Hart was. It would later be revealed that not only did Michaels know of the plan the entire time, he had hand in crafting its execution (it was his suggestion to cause the false finish at the point where he had Hart in the Sharpshooter)

** Even after Michaels' RealLife HeelFaithTurn, this has been his stance regarding the screwjob. Both in kayfabe and in real life, Michaels feels like he did what was necessary to save the WWF, even if he didn't like doing it.

In April 2019, wrestling documentary series ''Series/DarkSideOfTheRing'' focused on the screwjob in its second episode, featuring Hart detailing his side of things, as well as going into what happened backstage after the event was over. It also features Wrestling/JimCornette self-admitting to being an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom on the screwjob, with Cornette alledging that he offhandedly suggested such a screwjob to [=McMahon=] during a meeting and planting the seed of the forced title change in Vince's mind.

In April 2019, wrestling documentary series ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Side_of_the_Ring Dark Side of the Ring]]'' focused on the screwjob in its second episode, featuring Hart detailing his side of things, as well as going into what happened backstage after the event was over. It also features Wrestling/JimCornette self-admitting to being an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom on the screwjob, with Cornette alledging that he offhandedly suggested such a screwjob to [=McMahon=] during a meeting and planting the seed of the forced title change in Vince's mind.

* {{Documentary}}: ''Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows'' and ''[[http://www.indywrestling.us/downloads/the-montreal-theory/ The Montreal Theory]]''. Also, the second episode of ''Dark Side of the Ring'' is all about the screwjob.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wrestling/JimCornette has stated on ''Dark Side of the Ring'' that he was the first one to suggest a double cross on Bret during a booking meeting. (Cornette first suggested booking Bret with Wrestling/KenShamrock, who with his background in MMA could have legitimately beaten Bret in a fight if he refused to do the job.) In June 2019, Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night. Since he figured his "idea" wasn't going to be used, Cornette never bothered to ask about confirmation about the finish.

* TalkToTheFist: Backstage footage of Bret afterwards showed Bret saying that "Vince ran into [his] fist."

* OhCrap: Going by Bret's description of the aftermath during the "Broken Skull Sessions" interview, Shawn Michaels had a ''huge'' one of these following the screwjob, after Vince had come to the locker room, been knocked out by Bret with one punch, and carried out again by his supporters. Shawn realized he was practically alone in the locker room with not only the furious Bret (who he'd just seen ''punch out his boss'') but Owen Hary, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Rude and Jim Neidhart- all family and friends of Bret Hart. Triple H wasn't there, and the most support Shawn could reasonably expect was from the equally-furious Undertaker, who would ''probably'' intervene if it looked like Shawn was going to be ''beaten to death.'' Then Bret walked over to Shawn, tapped him on the shoulder, [[BaitAndSwitch offered him his hand and said "Shawn, thank you for the match".]] (Bret said that when he later found out that Shawn had been in it up to his neck, despite swearing his ignorance, he wished he'd kicked Shawn's head off instead.)

* BlatantLies: Wrestling/MichaelCole interviewed [=McMahon=] before the event. When asked who will win, [=McMahon=] replied "I don't know", of course, he had been well aware of the plan from several weeks prior.

* {{Documentary}}: ''Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows'' and ''[[http://www.indywrestling.us/downloads/the-montreal-theory/ The Montreal Theory]]''.

** Vince [=McMahon=] feels very much the same.

* OhCrap: Going by Bret's description of the aftermath during the "Broken Skull Sessions" interview, Shawn Michaels had a ''huge'' one of these following the screwjob, after Vince had come to the locker room, been knocked out by Bret with one punch, and carried out again by his supporters. Shawn realised he was practically alone in the locker room with not only the furious Bret (who he'd just seen ''punch out his boss'') but Owen, Davey Boy Smith, Rick Rude and Jim Neidhart- all of Bret's family and friends. Hunter wasn't there, and the most support he could reasonably expect from the equally-furious Undertaker was that he would ''probably'' intervene if it looked like Shawn was going to be ''beaten to death.'' Then Bret walked over to him, tapped him on the shoulder, [[BaitAndSwitch offered him his hand and said "Shawn, thank you for the match".]] (Bret said that when he later found out that Shawn had been in it up to his neck, despite swearing his ignorance, he wished he'd kicked Shawn's head off instead.)

Well, that's the story [=McMahon=] will tell you, anyway. Wrestling critics/historians say the reason for the Screwjob on [=McMahon=]'s end was money. Up until his departure from the WWF, Hart had been earning just shy of two million dollars per year (compared to Michaels' $750,000 per year). At the time, Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and Wrestling/TheUndertaker had new contracts under negotiation. When Austin and Taker compared themselves to Hart -- then the highest paid guy in the WWF -- that's when [=McMahon=] got ''really'' scared. However, whatever the reason might have been -- respect, money, or something else -- [=McMahon=] knew he had to get the belt off of Bret by any means necessary.

This singular moment became one of the most controversial, shocking, and altogether important events in the history of pro wrestling. The Screwjob sent Hart packing to WCW on very bad terms with the WWF, and destroyed {{kayfabe}} for many fans around the world. Vince -- who had hoped the whole thing would blow over with time -- suddenly found himself as the most hated man in all of pro wrestling once people found out what had really happened. The next night on ''Raw'', [=McMahon=] famously said that "Bret screwed Bret." This served as the launching pad for the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive "Mr. [=McMahon=]" character]], an evil boss {{heel}} who would handpick his own champions while screwing babyface wrestlers out of matches. [=McMahon=] ended up having a much bigger on-screen role than he could ever imagined, playing the role of "evil boss" to the hilt as he feuded with Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin during the Attitude Era. That feud would come to define both the Era itself and the CorruptCorporateExecutive role in pro wrestling for years to come.

* SadisticChoice: Right before the match, Gerald Brisco forced referee Earl Hebner into taking part in the screwjob, or else he'd be fired from the WWF.

** Earl Hebner didn't want to participate in the finish on ethical grounds; Gerald Briscoe told Hebner he'd be fired if he didn't. Hebner agreed to go with it because he needed the job.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wrestling/JimCornette has stated that he was the first one to suggest a double cross on Bret during a booking meeting. (Cornette first suggested booking Bret with Wrestling/KenShamrock, who with his background in MMA could have legitimately beaten Bret in a fight if he refused to do the job.) In June 2019, Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night. Since he figured his "idea" wasn't going to be used, Cornette never bothered to ask about confirmation about the finish.

** Wrestling/JimCornette has spent years rallying against the death of {{Kayfabe}} and feels that pulling back the curtain and exposing the business is what led to the downfall of professional wrestling. He said that it occurred to him much later that as the accidental architect of the Montreal Screwjob, he's indirectly responsible for the death of kayfabe.
* RuleThirtyFour: In 2017, the porn company Brazzers announced that they were going to produce a parody film titled ''[=The Fuckjob=]'', but it appears that the project has never been released, making this an aversion.

** The Montreal Screwjob shows what would really happen if a wrestler ever got screwed out of the title. Forget winning the belt back or beating his opponent; Hart was so angry that he attacked [=McMahon=], [[TrashTheSet destroyed WWF equipment in rage]], and left the company for ''decades'' before he came back. Plus, other people backstage almost quit out of anger at management. And yet, it's the Montreal Screwjob that shaped pretty much every similar story that came afterwards.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wrestling/JimCornette has stated that he was the first one to suggest a double cross on Bret during a booking meeting. (Cornette first suggested booking Bret with Wrestling/KenShamrock, who could have legitimately beaten Bret in a fight if he refused to do the job.) In June, 2019 Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night. Since he figured his "idea" wasn't going to be used, Cornette never bother to ask about confirmation about the finish.

* WhamLine: "Ring the [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] bell!" This was the point in which [=McMahon=] deviated from the plan; rather than allow the match to be thrown out by a brawl, Vince forced the ref to end the match when Hart was put into a submission hold, despite Hart clearly not submitting. This forced Hart to capitulate and give up the belt to Michaels. The {{Kayfabe}} illusion at this point was shattered with those four words, and it redefined the careers of everyone involved in the incident, including [=McMahon=] himself.

** The ending was recycled a year later for the purpose of turning [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the Rock]] {{heel}}, and several other companies have used the Screwjob as a template for screwy endings:

In December 2009, Hart confirmed that he would return to WWE in 2010 to guest host the first ''Raw'' of the year (his first appearance on ''Raw'' in over twelve years), and during that show's opening segment, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Hart made his peace with Michaels in the middle of the ring]] in one of the most surreal moments in wrestling history. He was (kayfabe) attacked by [=McMahon=] at the end of the show, which set up an angle that led up to ''[=WrestleMania=] 26'', where [=McMahon=] faced Hart in a "No Holds Barred" Match. Although [=McMahon=] tried to bribe the rest of the Hart family into screwing Hart over again, they saw through Vince's scheme and double-crossed him, which allowed Hart to finally make [=McMahon=] pay for Montreal (via thirteen chairshots and the Sharpshooter) and receive the full closure he'd been looking for. (As part of the angle, Hart's father -- legendary Canadian wrestling promoter/trainer and patriarch of the Hart family, the late Stu Hart -- received a posthumous induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.) After ''[=WrestleMania=]'', Bret appeared sporadically to help put over The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith, Wrestling/TysonKidd, and [[Wrestling/NatalyaNeidheart Natalya]]) and serve as ''Raw'''s General Manager for a brief period (Wrestling/TheNexus would eventually take him out). Both Hart and Michaels continue to make special "cameo" appearances at WWE events to this day.

* WhamLine: "Ring the ([[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]) bell!" Significant in that this was the point in which [=McMahon=] deviated from the plan; rather than allow the match to be thrown out by a brawl instigated between Hart's and Michaels' factions, which would allow Hart to walk out of the WWF with the championship belt and his dignity, Vince forced the ref to end the match when Hart was put into a submission hold, forcing Hart to capitulate and give up the belt to Michaels. The {{Kayfabe}} illusion at this point was essentially shattered with those four words, and it essentially redefined the careers of every wrestler involved in the incident, including [=McMahon=] himself.

* WhamLine: "Ring the (fucking) bell!"

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wrestling/JimCornette has stated that he was the first one to suggest a double cross on Bret during a booking meeting. (Cornette first suggested booking Bret with Ken Shamrock, who could have legitimately beaten Bret in a fight if he refused to do the job.) He later said that he meant it jokingly and had no actual hand in the ending, all he asked Vince was if he had a finish. Vince said he did, and that was all Cornette wanted to know; he didn't want to know any details. In June, 2019 Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night.

** The chants of "You screwed Bret!" follow [=McMahon=], Michaels, and even referee Earl Hebner in Canada to this day, more than two decades after the event had passed.

** Wrestling/JimCornette has spent years rallying against the death of {{Kayfabe}} and feels that pulling back the curtain and exposing the business is what led to the downfall of professional wrestling. He said that it occurred to him much later that as the accidental architect (See Unwitting Harbinger of Doom below) of the Montreal Screwjob, he's indirectly responsible for the death of kayfabe.

* AccidentalMisnaming: In the [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestlingJargon lexicon of pro wrestling]] the Montreal Screwjob isn't technically a screwjob, it's a double cross. But "Montreal Screwjob" does sound better.

* AccidentalMisnaming: In the [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestlingJargon lexicon of pro wrestlng]] the Montreal Screwjob isn't technically a screwjob, it's a double cross. But "Montreal Screwjob" does sound better.

* RunningGag:
** The main event of WCW's ''Starrcade 1997'', one month later - Wrestling/{{Sting}} was pinned by [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Champion]] [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood" Hogan]] via a "fast" three-count, but before the bell could be rung, Hart (a special referee during an earlier match) stopped the timekeeper from ringing it, knocked out the ref, and tossed Hogan back into the ring, where he eventually tapped to the Scorpion Deathlock (which coincidentally is Sting's version of the Sharpshooter) while Bret acted as the ref (this was made worse by the fact that the "fast" three-count wasn't really "fast", and it's long rumored that Hogan called for the screwy finish so as not to lose clean to Sting).
** During the first World Wrestling All-Stars show, Bret, serving as the WWA Commissioner, refused to ring the bell with the referee down and one of the combatants locked in a Sharpshooter. In a subversion, however, the screwiness was Bret refusing to ring the bell, as both Road Dogg and Jeff Jarrett, who were competing, tapped with the referee down, and Bret not only refused to count either of them, but tried to walk out with the belt himself.
** The Screwjob became a running gag on parody wrestling news site [=ScoopThis=], as "Shootin' Vince [=McMahon=]" was said to call for screwy finishes at wildly inappropriate times; one such article had a submission victory due to a "devastating pre-match handshake", at [=McMahon=]'s behest.
** The Rock vs. [[Wrestling/MickFoley Mankind]] at Survivor Series 1998 was the original Screwjob copycat with Rock playing Michaels, Mankind playing Hart and [=McMahon=] betraying Mankind.
** On the May 28, 2001 edition of ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw Raw is War]]'' held in Calgary, Alberta (Hart's hometown), Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin (the then-WWF Champion) put Wrestling/ChrisBenoit (a long-time friend of the Hart family) in the Crippler Crossface, and [=McMahon=] ordered the bell rung. As if recreating the Screwjob in Hart's hometown wasn't bad enough, Hart's father Stu was sitting at ringside.
** ''Wrestling/{{Backlash}} 2004'' played with the Screwjob by having Michaels put fellow Hart's fellow Canadian (and then-[[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Champion]]) Chris Benoit in the Sharpshooter, then having Earl Hebner rush down to the ring to call the submission (the first ref had been knocked out). This time, Hebner plays the referee job straight, and Benoit never taps; in fact, he later wins by making Michaels tap out to the Sharpshooter, WWE offering up a symbolic apology for the Screwjob.
** Hebner made his Wrestling/{{TNA}} debut at ''Against All Odds 2006'', and was about to call for the bell when Wrestling/JeffJarrett had [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]] in the Sharpshooter, but Cage stopped him and went on to win the match.
** Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon defeated Michaels on the March 18, 2006 ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' when he put an unconscious Michaels in the Sharpshooter, and Vince ordered the bell to be rung, and Shane to be announced as winner by submission.
** Breaking Point 2009 (oh so coincidentally held in Montreal)[[note]]As Website/WrestleCrap pointed out, it was a ''submission-themed'' event held ''in Montreal'' the ''only time it was ever held''. It was basically an entire pay-per-view tailor-made to host a re-enactment of the Screwjob.[[/note]] had Wrestling/CMPunk lock The Undertaker in the Anaconda Vice. Despite Undertaker ''escaping the hold'', Theodore Long rang the bell and declared Punk the winner by submission. This match was actually a ''double'' screwjob. A few minutes earlier, Undertaker made Punk tap out with Hell's Gate, but Long declared that it didn't count and ordered the match to continue.
** The January 21, 2010 edition of ''Wrestling/{{TNA}} Impact'' featured a damn-near recreation of the Screwjob; this time, however, the screwjob was in favor of the [[http:/www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tna/tna-h.html TNA World Heavyweight Champion]] (Wrestling/AJStyles) rather than the challenger (Wrestling/KurtAngle).
** The July 17, 2011 match between Wrestling/CMPunk vs. Wrestling/JohnCena was eerily similar till Cena, who locked Punk in a STF, ''knocks out Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis, who was gonna ring the bell!'' Cena then tells [=McMahon=] that this match is his match and that he finishes it his way, comes back to the ring and gets hit with a GTS by Punk! CM Punk wins the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE Championship]] belt with the stipulation that he leaves WWE and Cena gets fired if he loses.
** On the July 18, 2011 edition of ''[[Wrestling/{{WWERaw}} RAW]]'', Cena outright calls [=McMahon=] out on trying to recreate this incident and on what it had done to Michaels' career as part of TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.
** [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] locked Wrestling/TheBigShow in the Yes Lock on the May 11, 2012 edition of ''[=SmackDown=]'' and John Laurinaitis immediately rang the bell and declared Bryan the winner by submission.
** In 2013, seconds after Daniel Bryan won the championship from Wrestling/JohnCena at [=SummerSlam=] 2013, special guest referee Wrestling/TripleH attacked Bryan with a Pedigree, and Wrestling/RandyOrton cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against Bryan, winning the WWE Championship. Bryan would be branded a "B-list wrestler" struggling to regain the championship as Orton joined forces with Wrestling/TheShield, and after regaining the belt at Night of Champions (2013), he was stripped of the belt a night later when referee Scott Armstrong was accused of making a fast count and conspiring with Bryan, and the feud with Orton would continue into 2014 at [=WrestleMania=], defeating Triple H to qualify for a triple threat match against Randy Orton and Batista, later forfeiting the championship after sustaining injuries at the hands of Wrestling/{{Kane}}.
** The Screwjob was replicated on Payback 2016, when {{Wrestling/Charlotte}} puts Natayla in the Sharpshooter and the referee immediately calls for the bell. Bonus point for Bret Hart being there for his niece that night.

* BlatantLies: Wrestling/MichaelCole interviewed [=McMahon=] before the event. When asked who will win, [=McMahon=] replied "I don't know." Michaels suggested a screwjob to [=McMahon=] when Hart refused to lose several weeks before, and [=McMahon=] had said they needed to do it because he couldn't talk Hart around.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Even after Michaels' RealLife HeelFaithTurn, this has been his stance regarding the screwjob. Both in kayfabe and in real life, Michaels feels like he did what was necessary to save the WWF, even if he didn't like doing it. Vince feels very much the same.

** Wrestling/JimCornette has spent years rallying against the death of Kayfabe and feels that pulling back the curtain and exposing the business is what led to the downfall of professional wrestling. He said that it occurred to him much later that as the accidental architect (See Unwitting Harbinger of Doom below) of the Montreal Screwjob, he's indirectly responsible for the death of kayfabe.

** The main event of WCW's Starrcade 1997, one month later - Wrestling/{{Sting}} was pinned by [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Champion]] [[Wrestling/HulkHogan "Hollywood" Hogan]] via a "fast" three-count, but before the bell could be rung, Hart (a special referee during an earlier match) stopped the timekeeper from ringing it, knocked out the ref, and tossed Hogan back into the ring, where he eventually tapped to the Scorpion Deathlock (which coincidentally is Sting's version of the Sharpshooter) while Bret acted as the ref (this was made worse by the fact that the "fast" three-count wasn't really "fast", and it's long rumored that Hogan called for the screwy finish so as not to lose clean to Sting).

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Wrestling/JimCornette has stated that he was the first one to suggest a double cross on Bret during a booking meeting. (Cornette first suggested booking Bret with Ken Shamrock, who could have legitimately beaten Bret in a fight if he refused to do the job.) He later said that he meant it jokingly and had no actual hand in the ending, all he asked Vince was if he had a finish. Vince said he did, and that was all Cornette wanted to know; he didn't want to know any details.
** In June, 2019 Cornette detailed on his podcast that he actually came up with the finish. He says he suggested it hypothetically because Vince [=McMahon=] rarely took his suggestions. Cornette didn't know Vince was actually going to use the finish until he saw it live that night.

Hart had signed an unprecedented twenty-year deal with the WWF in 1996 that would've seen him collect a considerable amount of money for his services. [=McMahon=] felt he would have to breach Hart's contract in order to keep the company alive as WCW ran roughshod over the WWF. Backstage tension between Hart and fellow performer Wrestling/ShawnMichaels had also reaching a boiling point around this time. The two men infamously didn't get along, and backstage tensions between Hart Michaels were becoming a common sight. Between the desire to get away from Shawn and the promised fiscal security of the WCW contract, Bret saw no other choice but to jump ship to WCW. In November 1997, Hart (the then-reigning WWF Champion) signed a contract with WCW for a guaranteed three million dollars per year.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: According to Bret's autobiography, Shawn broke down crying in the locker room after the match. Shawn himself would also later confirm that the screwjob would haunt him in the years afterwards. Even so, Shawn felt that [[IDidWhatIHadToDo what he did was ultimately necessary]].