Examining How the Montreal Screwjob Has Become a Pro Wrestling Trope

The Montreal Screwjob was so powerful a moment that it begot fictional descendants. The incident is not history; it's pro wrestling storyline material.

The unique nature of the circumstances surrounding Bret Hart's exit from WWE and the controversy it created have made it impossible to forget what happened in 1997 in Montreal. The fact that Bookers continue to make clear allusions to it only makes it that much more true.

What began as a headline-making divorce between promoter and performer has become an industry trope, its own subgenre of a wrestling angle. 

Fans can recite the events at the end of Survivor Series 1997 by heart. The Hitman entered the event as world champ, set to face longtime rival Shawn Michaels.

Hart was set to end his tenure with WWE and head for WCW. Backstage, he expressed that he didn't want to lose the title in Montreal but instead relinquish it on Raw the next night. Vince McMahon, perhaps nervous that Hart would take the title with him to the company's rival, wanted to ensure that the champ dropped the belt. 

And so after telling Hart that the bout would end in a disqualification, McMahon orchestrated a plan that saw Michaels clamp on the Sharpshooter and referee Earl Hebner prematurely call for the bell.

An enraged Hart spat on McMahon and pantomimed spray-painting "WCW" in the air.

What would have otherwise just been another quality match between these rivals became the one of the most talked-about moments in WWE history. It has been the subject of several documentaries, a prime topic for roundtables and a barroom topic among fans. It won't die even now, 18 years after the incident.

A part of that is born from how different this was.

It marked an intersection of reality and storyline that had yet to be seen. Backstage politics spilled into the ring. The inner workings of the business were exposed. Fans were enthralled by it all.

WWE didn't shy away from it, either. Instead, it became the catalyst for the Mr. McMahon character. The chairman used fans' real animosity for him to turn him into his own best heel.

He had been a far less prominent figure on-camera beforehand. But that couldn't remain true after his famous "Bret screwed Bret" speech. 

Momentum built as he embraced his new role as the corrupt executive in charge of the company. That made it possible for Steve Austin to have the ideal archenemy. It made it possible to charge into the Attitude era.

The Montreal Screwjob helped craft a new kind of character—the unjust authority figure. It's one that has returned to wrestling shows again and again, from John Laurinaitis to Triple H.

Controversy churned up interest in the incident, as well. Fans didn't know what to believe. Was Hart being a prima donna? Was Michaels just a bystander or a key conspirator? Was this all just an elaborate storyline made to look like a wrestling narrative?

Renowned wrestling journalist Bill Apter is among those who believe that the screwjob was a work. He recently said on Wrestle Zone Daily, "To this day I think that everybody was in on it."

WWE and others took advantage of that fascination, of the buzz that surrounded it. Rather than wait around for the next big real story to make its way onto TV, McMahon and others simply recreated what went down in Montreal.

Just a year after the incident, The Rock defeated Mankind at Survivor Series 1998 by the same nefarious means that Michaels had used to dethrone The Hitman. He even used the same move. The Rock had Mankind locked in the Sharpshooter when McMahon rang for the bell.

Having the chairman repeat his actions played up his villainous nature. He didn't just screw Bret; he was making a habit out of screwing folks.

WCW actually beat WWE to the punch but stumbled in its retelling of the screwjob. 

Hart first appeared for WWE's rival at Starrcade 1997. Hulk Hogan and Sting battled over the WCW world title, and Hart looked to prevent another controversial finish by way of conspiratory referee.

The issue, though, was that what was supposed to be a fast count was actually normal speed. And so Hart interfering, forcing the match to continue, made little sense. 

Poorly executed as it was, Hart's WCW entry became a reference to his WWE exit. And like McMahon, Eric Bischoff had begun to put himself in front of the camera as an onscreen authority figure. Hart told Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, "Behind the scenes, Bischoff pretended he was Vince McMahon."

Numerous renditions of McMahon would soon follow. Along with the braggart and the monster, the heel in the suit and tie would become commonplace.

The Montreal Screwjob allusions didn't stop in the years to come. It was too juicy a story not to exploit more.

At Starrcade 1999, Roddy Piper cheated Goldberg out of a win by calling for the bell too quick when Hart applied the Sharpshooter. A decade later, Teddy Long reprised the McMahon role and called for the bell while CM Punk had Undertaker in the Anaconda Vice. 

In 2010, TNA followed suit. AJ Styles put Kurt Angle in the Olympian's own trademark submission—the ankle lock. The referee called for the bell despite Angle not tapping. Angle then went ballistic at ringside a la Hart.

To drive home the reference, the ref in Orlando that night was the same man who officiated the Montreal Screwjob—Earl Hebner.

Promoters have played homage to the incident so much that fans can now see it coming, just as they can see a splintering tag team's breakup before it arrives or sense when a heel turn is nearing.

At Money in the Bank 2011, McMahon desperately didn't want Punk to win the WWE title because the anti-hero promised to leave the company with it in hand. And so Punk was about to play the Hart role with John Cena playing Michaels.

Cena had Punk in an STF and McMahon ran down to the ring, trying to get the referee to ring the bell early. Cena refused to accept that kind of win. The screwjob had only been teased.

It won't be the last time. The compelling quality of the original begs for sequels to be made. The emotions that referring to the controversy in Canada brings up is an easy way to add to a current storyline.

It's an easy way to have a babyface suffer injustice and to play up how tyrannical an authority figure is. It's a route that WWE will surely continue to take.

Right now, Triple H is doing everything he can to prevent Roman Reigns from winning the WWE title. He has whispered promises of power to Cesaro, to Kevin Owens, to Alberto Del Rio. One imagines that at Survivor Series, it's more than plausible that The Game cheats Reigns out of his title chances.

After all, he is the Mr. McMahon of today. And the Montreal Screwjob has proved ripe for recurrence.