Trivia / Montreal Screwjob

• Completely Different Title: Since there isn't a particular translation for "screwjob" in several languages, the incident tends to be known by other names in other languages.
  • In Spanish-speaking countries it is known as either the Traición de Montreal ("Montreal Betrayal") or the Robo de Montreal ("Montreal Theft").
  • In Japan, it was named as Montreal Jiken ("Montreal Scandal").
  • In French it was known as Le Coup Tordu de Montréal ("Montreal's Twisted Coup").
• Fountain of Expies: The screwjob itself inspired a lot of similar double-crosses across the wrestling world, though those were all in kayfabe.
• Lying Creator:
  • Shawn Michaels swore up and down he wasn't in on it for years, before finally coming clean in the mid-2000's. He copped to it on-air during a 2009 episode WWE Raw in which Michaels came face-to-face with Hart for the first time since the Screwjob took place.
  • Vince Russo and Jim Cornette both claim to have come up with the finish.
    • Russo has claimed responsibility since the end of his WCW run, claiming that it was a work and done with Bret Hart's involvement. Bruce Pritchard has also called Russo's version of events into question on his "Something to Wrestle With" podcast. Co-host Conrad Thompson read Russo's account of the event verbatim from Russo's own book and Pritchard shot down most of the narrative as untrue.
    • Cornette finally staked his claim on the Viceland documentary about it that aired in June 2019, reiterating that it was a double-cross done behind Bret's back. Cornette said that he called Dave Meltzer (who had sources inside WWF) to see if anyone had figured out that he'd come up with the finish and if anyone was planning to confront him physically. Meltzer publicly backed this story on Cornette's podcast, and in his own review of the Viceland documentary.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Obviously, an actual double-cross happening instead of it being part of kayfabe puts it here. This is why the Screwjob is remembered so well in wrestling lore — a wrestler really did get screwed out of the title.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Prior to the event, Vader told Hart that he shouldn't allow himself to be taken into any submission hold, having witnessed similar screwjobs in Japan. It only takes a look at the article picture to realize that Bret didn't listen.
  • When Jim Cornette suggested a double cross at a booking meeting, he suggested using Ken Shamrock for Bret's opponent; with his MMA experience, Shamrock would have been able to physically force Bret to drop the title and could protect himself if there was any fallout. Ironically enough, had Vince asked Bret to drop the title to Shamrock, he probably would have done so without any complaints, since his main issue wasn't so much about dropping the belt itself as it was to drop it to Shawn Michaels in particular.
  • When Bret refused to drop the title to Shawn, he offered several alternatives. The Undertaker, Ken Shamrock, Mick Foley and Steve Austin were all considered.
• Word of God: Jim Cornette finally admitted on Dark Side of the Ring in 2019 that he came up with the finish. He laid the whole thing out as a hypothetical scenario when challenged by Vince McMahon to come up with a finish. Cornette said that he didn't know Vince was going to use the finish, citing that Vince never used his finishes, and that he didn't know what was happening until he saw the spot while watching from a monitor backstage. He also said that the only people who knew were Vince, referee Earl Hebner, Shawn, Triple H, Gerald Brisco, Dave Meltzer, and his friend Danny Davis.