Twenty-nine years ago this week, then-WWE champion Bret Hart lost his title despite never being pinned or submitting to his opponent Shawn Michaels. The event, known as the Montreal Screwjob, sparked conspiracy theories and left fans wondering for decades whether it was all a work.
What Happened at Survivor Series
Hart and Michaels were midway through a classic match when the Heartbreak Kid put the Hitman in his own finishing move, the sharpshooter. Despite Bret not tapping out, referee Earl Hebner rang for the bell to signal the end of the match.
WWE chairman Vince McMahon, who had made his way to ringside during the bout, furiously shouted at the timekeeper: "Ring the damn bell." Fans inside Montreal's Molston Centre were stunned. Michaels grabbed the belt and stormed out of the ring.
Bret, whose contract with the WWE was almost up, realised quickly that he had been screwed. He spat at Vince McMahon, wrote WCW in the air with his finger and smashed up TV monitors at ringside, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.
The Aftermath
Hart, a stalwart of WWE for 14 years, was enraged by the double-cross and punched Vince McMahon out cold in the dressing room after the match. Michaels swore blind he was not in on the screwjob, though he later admitted he was.
The dramatic scenes were captured by a documentary crew that had been filming Bret for months. Vince can be seen limping away after breaking his ankle from the fall, such was the impact of Bret's punch.
Hart's WWE contract was due to end in a matter of weeks as he was due to join their main rivals WCW. His time there never lived up to potential, while Vince McMahon became one of the greatest heel characters in wrestling history and the WWE's popularity skyrocketed over the next few years during its famed "Attitude Era."
Why Did They Do It?
Bret and Shawn hated each other in real life. The pair were two of the WWE's top stars in the 90s and had competed in a number of all-time classic matches. Their feud in 1997 was one of the defining rivalries of both their careers.
Going into Survivor Series, Bret had told Shawn he had no problem dropping the belt to him, but became enraged when Michaels said he would not do the same for him. He told Vince he refused to lose the belt to Shawn at Survivor Series.
Though they had agreed to a double DQ with Bret, Vince secretly devised the change of finish with Shawn and Earl Hebner. McMahon still defends his stance, saying he was protecting his business and the world title belt.
Myths and Conspiracy Theories
Some myths have persisted, including that Bret Hart would have ditched the WWE with his title after the Survivor Series and taken it to rivals WCW Nitro the following night. McMahon was said to have been so worried about this, he forced the belt off Bret.
But while Hart had already agreed to join WCW, he was still under contract with the WWE until the end of November 1997. This meant he would not have been able to arrive at WCW until the second week of December.
Another myth is that Hart refused to lose in Canada, his home country. However, Hart himself said he had no problem dropping the belt to another wrestler, such as The Undertaker or Steve Austin. His issue was dropping the belt to Michaels, who had told him he would not do the same for him. Hart saw this as majorly disrespectful to the business.
Some conspiracy theories persist that Hart was actually in on the finish and the whole thing was a work, wrestling jargon for a storyline. Even huge wrestlers such as Scott Hall and current star Cody Rhodes have suggested it was not a legitimate double-cross.
Hall suggested everyone benefited from the angle as Bret garnered huge babyface sympathy and McMahon became a massive heel.
In an interview last year, Cody said: "I have questions... This to me is always the work within the work... The way I look at it is that anything and everything that happens in the ring, I always look at it with a 'huh, that feels like it was part of it.'"
The Truth
Almost three decades on, the controversial night continues to divide opinion like almost no other subject in wrestling. The consensus around most people in the wrestling business is that Vince wanted to get the belt off Bret and did not like being told no.
Bret appears to remain bitter about the screwjob and has even suggested last year he was "caught between two lovers", claiming that Vince and Michaels were having an affair, which HBK denied earlier this year.
But if anyone doubts the legitimacy of the incident, the final word should go to the referee on the night Earl Hebner, who asked his twin brother to put his bag in his hire car and wait for him with the engine running so he could do a runner as soon as the bell rang.
