Did Bret screw Bret?

Working on the theory that it is a shoot I’d say McMahon screwed Bret

Some of the things that make me understand Bret’s motives:

He was given a contract that should it be broken, he would have creative control over his character in the last 30 days, which covered the Survivor Series match. Now regardless, it was tradition that the departing wrestler would do “the honourable thing” and put his opponent over on his way out. However, with the legitimate heat between himself and Shawn, I believe the Hitman didn’t think it was possible.

Apparently, Bret and Shawn had a conversation where the Hitman had said words to the effect that he would do the right thing for Shawn and Shawn said he wouldn’t reciprocate. Whether that conversation took place, I think that the Hitman believed it to be the case. Looking at the human side of that, would you, the reader, be willing to do the honours for someone that you have heat with, that has messed with your career and even your marriage (sunny days) and either told you or implied that they wouldn’t be prepared to do the right thing by you, even though you said you would for them? All the while having a legally binding contract saying you don’t have to?

McMahon seemed to back out f the contract fairly quickly after it was signed. Vince is known for taken gambles and putting it all on the line, but surely even he wouldn’t have made such a grand promise in the form of a lucrative contract, if he didn’t think there would be a good chance he could afford it long term. My guess is that he had buyers regret and realised that firstly the Hitman wasn’t worth it and secondly that Bret’s character didn’t fit the new direction. Did the Hitman really owe McMahon anything?

From McMahon’s perspective, he leads a pretty sheltered life. Working long days, seven days a week in the fantasy world of wrestling, surrounded by yes men. How in touch with reality is he? I would imagine his lawyers spend a good portion of their time trying to explain to Vince why he can’t do certain things. With written contracts being fairly new in 1997, I do wonder if he fully grasped the 30 days creative control clause. Not to doubt his intelligence, maybe just the concept that a wrestler he no longer needs could have a legal hold on him.

As much as the Hitman couldn’t legally turn up on the next days Nitro with the belt, the Lex Luger and Alundra Blayne incidents must have been playing on his mind. Even if Bret did turn go to Nitro and McMahon sued, the impact of losing the current champion to the opposition could have caused the WWF to go out of business by the time it was heard in the courts. To me the onus was on McMahon to take whatever action was necessary to get the belt back. McMahon screwed Bret.

The biggest tragedy of it was that the super hot Michaels was the tool that put Austin at the top, with the Evil McMahon proving to be the nemeses that kept him there and reinvigorating the fortunes of the WWF. Bret should have the sole figure that cranked the heat up in the Monday Night Wars. The way he was handled in WCW was pathetic.

If the whole Montreal debacle turned out to be a work, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve always thought that it was pretty convenient that a film crew was allowed backstage access to the still reasonably closed brotherhood of wrestling at what turned out to be not only Bret’s last year in the WWF but also finishes with one of the most controversial and talked about incidents in the history of the sport. As hbkdaddycool said, the storylines leading up to his departure were based around Bret being screwed over time and again. I mentioned earlier about Vince backing out of the 20 year contract. If I remember rightly, he played a role in helping with negotiations with his biggest competitor, who was beating him in the ratings. From what I remember as well, there didn’t seem to be much counter offers from the WWF. Surely there was room for some compromise? Just think there are some questions we’ll never have answered

Yes.

honestly, anyone who thinks bret screwed bret see's things from a far away perspective than i do. was bret naive, selfish, egotistical? sure, bigtime. but he didn't go behind anyone's backs. he was honest with a company he'd been loyal to for years, and the company was not loyal back. he was stabbed in the back.

vince, michaels, and triple h are cowards for what they did. pretty plain and simple.

and i don't believe it was a work, the only work was the extent of michael's back injury so that he could stay home getting pilled up like the loser he was.

I will say that I’ve given this theory a lot of thought too. My only issue with this is the way he acted in the years following the screw job. Who knows tho. From what I understand he did like working the boys. There’s the story about how him leaving immediately after WM12 was a work/shoot to build heat. But if it was a work it was the best work of all time.

Yes. Bret screwed Bret

I will always side with Bret in the Montreal Screwjob so I say no.

if it was a work, why wouldn’t they have admitted it yet?

in bret’s book he vilifies McMahon for both the screwjob and his brother’s death. he’d really keep up the act, 15 years later? and Michaels would allow his career to forever be tarnished? and they’d have a DVD where it’s basically Bret just calling Michaels out on being a POS?

if it was a work, I think we would’ve found out with Owen’s passing. you don’t mix kayfabe with a person’s death.

Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Earl Hebner screwed Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1997.

Yeah but even the filmmakers admitted they stumbled upon gold and that prior to that it was just a documentary. They just happened to be right place, right time.


There is no way it was a work, at least one person in the know would have blabbed by now. It is hard enough to get people to keep a secret in real life, let alone in wrestling.

Plus Bret is not a good actor. He would not be this bitter if it was a work. Bret was a shell of his former self in WCW, moping around and never had any of the same passion he had before. Bischoff said he was a miserable person and didn't want to do anything. And that was prior to Owen's death and you could say it was due to backstage politics but Bret came in immediately like this. He could never move past the MSJ then and couldn't for years afterwards along with Owen's death.