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The Montreal Screwjob: 25 years later.


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The Montreal Screwjob. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels for Bret's WWF Championship at WWF Survivor Series 1997. Such a historic moment. Still disgusting 25 years later. Glad Vince McMahon got KTFO by Bret Hart backstage after all Bret had done for him. Wrestling With Shadows is still the best wrestling documentary ever made and Dave Meltzer's piece on what happened that night in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is a must read. Thoughts then and now?

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Reliving the Montreal Screwjob 25 years later - WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, AEW News, AEW results (f4wonline.com)

 

Reliving the Montreal Screwjob 25 years later

We look back at Dave Meltzer's coverage of the infamous WWE Survivor Series moment along with some recent audio.

 

 

 

Hey guys! Didja know today's the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Screwjob? OH YOU DIDN'T KNOOOOOW?! 

/s

Edited by Hayabusa
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The beginning of the end for WCW.

Bret Hart walking into that company should have been a massive, massive boon. Hart helping Sting kill the nWo and then building up a match between them to determine the 'real, undisputed' world champion was a no-brainer.

That Bret didn't win the title until almost TWO YEARS later (only to immediately vacate it) is one of the all time bonehead booking moves.

You had all the heat and hype that the super smark IWC/tape traders could possibly give you and you pissed it all away.
 

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54 minutes ago, L_W_P said:

The beginning of the end for WCW.

Bret Hart walking into that company should have been a massive, massive boon. Hart helping Sting kill the nWo and then building up a match between them to determine the 'real, undisputed' world champion was a no-brainer.

 

This is true but Stone Cold was already ascendant in WWF (with Rock becoming the Rock shortly after) and I don't know that anything in WCW was gonna be able to slow down that train once it got started. Clearly WCW could have done better but I think they were in serious trouble no matter what they did.

That's the funny part about the whole Montreal screwjob: for all the hullabaloo it generated both men were about the be eclipsed by what was right around the corner, and even if they avoided the injuries and stupidity that dogged them in the immediate years after the next generation of stars were stars beyond what either of them could even imagine. Ironically enough it probably saved both their legacies more than if anything else happened.

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We get the rise of Mr. McMahon and Bret Hart's major injury from fucking Goldberg at WCW Starrcade 1999. In a better timeline, Bret Hart stays with WWF or comes back like Shawn Michaels' second run there and CM Punk in AEW. Travesty what happened to Bret Hart.

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The worst part of this is that it's arguably the most boring timeline imaginable.

I remember getting the internet the week this happened and people were going batshit over it.

Imagine going back and tell yourself that Bret has this really mediocre run in WCW that peaks with a promo about El Dandy, Shawn retires a few months later, and nothing really happens until one is born again and the other stroke-fucked, and they legit hug it out. If you take this at face value, Imagine telling Vince that neither guy really matter anymore and this agonising decision is really all for naught.

I want drug fucked Shawn going to WCW with all of the Clique there and having the run Jeff Hardy did in TNA in 2010, and I want that to just blow up dramatically against the likes of Hogan, Savage, Piper and Flair.

I want WWF to basically become an Ed Whalen wet dream, booked by Jim Cornette and Jerry Jarrett to 1950s sensibilities. Bring back the Stomper to headline against Stone Cold. A show where you literally see ROCKABILLY. ALL. NIGHT. LONG. A renaissance of Smith Hart. 

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18 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said:

The worst part of this is that it's arguably the most boring timeline imaginable.

 

See I disagree with this as it did give us the evil Mr. McMahon (well character-wise at least, I assume real him was evil long before this) and that certainly was a catalyst for a lot that came to pass in the next few years. Austin and Rock are likely still huge stars but perhaps not to such an absurd degree, and I honestly wonder if Foley gets hot enough to hold the belt without Mr. McMahon around. It seems boring because we've lived with it for 25 years now, but it's probably one of the more interesting possible timelines if we're honest with ourselves.

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My view is that would have happened anyway, whether or not they run the screwjob as a catalyst.

The line from a lot of WWE talking heads is that the idea came about based on the pop Austin got for giving McMahon the stunner at MSG in mid 1997. Not sure how much that's revisionist history, but you also have to consider that you already had Eric Bischoff on TV doing the heel promoter gimmick, and they had already inserted Vince into several storylines as the evil boss over the past 18 months (the Bret meltdown after the Sid cage match, the heel JR shoot promo, interaction with Shawn/Hunter, the above Austin angle about the WWF not wanting to be held liable for his injuries). 

It also helps that there was a very low depth of main event heels that Austin could work with (taking into both his neck injuries and probable distaste for working with Owen again also), which left Taker, Kane and Foley. 

Rock got hot as an up and coming act well before he ever really interacted with Vince in late 98. Also difficult to tell where Foley working off the Mr McMahon character starts and the HIAC bump ends for people starting to care about him after him being lukewarm at best from mid 97 to KOTR. 

It's not the worst timeline, but a lot of what resulted is largely in the works already before Montreal. 

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In my WWF history book, "King of New York," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Louisville Screwjob and put the title on the Patriot at Ground Zero?"

In my upcoming WCW history book, "King of Atlanta," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Russo/Hogan Screwjob and had Bret WIN the match, strip him of the title, and have Shamrock beat Michaels in the main event before losing the belt to Shawn at IYH:DX?"

 

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Maybe a minority opinion but I don’t think there’s much material difference between doing the screw job and taking a more traditional approach of e.g. Bret dropping it to Taker before/after HIAC and simply walking, without all the on-screen drama. You still get to Austin at Mania, and I think you still get to McMahon as the lead heel even if the story of Vince letting Bret walk is referred to more so than explicitly shown on camera. 

A bit of sound and fury signifying nothing as the big transformative wheels were already in motion. 

Edited by For Great Justice
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The way I always thought Bret leaving should have gone was:

Let Bischoff make the announcement that he was jumping to WCW. Since Bret was under contract with the WWF through the December IYH, you have him announce that he’s leaving in a month and taking the world title with him, unless someone can beat him before then. The month becomes a chase, with the entire roster temporarily turning face. And then he loses on the last night to Undertaker; he tries to walk out and the roster blocks him at the top of the aisle; usual stuff like that. Tombstone finishes him, then Taker drops the belt to Michaels at the Rumble in the casket match, and we're back on the same timeline without anyone being double-crossed, quitting, etc.

Edited by Hamhock
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6 hours ago, Gorman said:

In my WWF history book, "King of New York," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Louisville Screwjob and put the title on the Patriot at Ground Zero?"

In my upcoming WCW history book, "King of Atlanta," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Russo/Hogan Screwjob and had Bret WIN the match, strip him of the title, and have Shamrock beat Michaels in the main event before losing the belt to Shawn at IYH:DX?"

 

The biggest fallout from this would be that Kurt Angle would have to get different theme music! No "You Suck! You Suck!". I don't want to live in this timeline.

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6 hours ago, Gorman said:

In my WWF history book, "King of New York," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Louisville Screwjob and put the title on the Patriot at Ground Zero?"

In my upcoming WCW history book, "King of Atlanta," I pose the question, "What if the WWF did the Russo/Hogan Screwjob and had Bret WIN the match, strip him of the title, and have Shamrock beat Michaels in the main event before losing the belt to Shawn at IYH:DX?"

 

I think the biggest issue with the first scenario is still getting a decent gate for the Montreal show a month later if they're saying in advance that the major Canadian babyface is off the show.

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My revision? Do the double DQ. Have Bret start to give a farewell speech, which the rest of the Hart Foundation start to react badly to as they never got the inside word and why aren't they coming along.

Impromptu Bret/Owen match. Redo the finish to WM X. Did Bret let his younger brother win on purpose? Hart Foundation celebrate with Owen as show goes off the air.

Shawn beats Owen the night after when it's revealed Bulldog and Anvil are going to WCW with Bret and cost Owen the title.

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1 hour ago, cwoy2j said:

The biggest fallout from this would be that Kurt Angle would have to get different theme music! No "You Suck! You Suck!". I don't want to live in this timeline.

Yeah, we played that song as we entered our wedding reception, so we would have looked like we were bragging about being great patriots.

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It’s not something that comes up often, but Owen was probably never sniffing the top of the card again after he almost killed the prospective golden goose. Not even necessarily as a punishment, but Austin wanted nothing to do with him which was why he was solidly midcard after Bret left.  

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