Everyone seems to be forgetting one minor event that took place elsewhere during all of the WWF goings on that lead to Vince changing everything...
At WCW Eric Bischoff was leaking the word that the WWF Champion was coming over to WCW... as soon as that leaked and got back to Vince there was no way he could let Bret leave as the Champ. So ultimately Bishoff screwed Bret for media buzz.
Chick... weren't you the American Gladiator named BLUTO or was it FLOUNDER?
The rumors had already begun to spread prior to Survivor Series '97 (as was evident by the sign and posters in the crowd). McMahon was caught between a rock and a hard place, as the main event for was Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (HBK) for the WWF title.
McMahon knows that Hart won't do the match, if he has to lose the title to HBK. But, if Hart is still champion after the pay-per-view, Eric Bischoff and team WCW are going LIVE on Monday Nitro and, as early can they can get on the air, they'd announce that they just bought the WWF Champion. McMahon had already been embarrassed twice before in 1995: 1) Lex Luger's appearance on Nitro, the night after he was at WWF SummerSlam; 2) Madusa Micelli (aka Alundra Blayze) debuting on WCW's show, still wearing the WWF Women's championship belt, which she later threw in a trash can, ala Riddick Bowe.
There was no easy answer for the WWF owner; but one thing was certain: Come hell or high water, Bret Hart ain't leaving Survivor Series as World Wrestling Federation Champion, PERIOD!!!
What saved McMahon and, ultimately the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) is that the following night on RAW, Jim Ross interviewed his boss on the situation. Rather than lie about it, McMahon actually told the truth. But, he did so, speaking "wrestling-ese", if you will.
He mentioned that there is a "time-honored tradition in the wresting business" that Bret Hart didn't follow. And, he agreed with some loyal WWF fans that "Bret Hart sold out!". McMahon continued, "...and, it's not a big deal, because I helped him do it." He stated that his responsibility was to the other wrestlers in his company.
The "time-honored tradition" (as explained by several now-defunct wrestling sites) is simply this: When you leave a federation to go to another one, you lose in a way that puts the other guy over. That's especially true if you happen to be a particular organization's world champion.
Though many fans were angry initially at McMahon, they can't deny the fruits that came of it:
- The "Mr. McMahon character,
- The development of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
- The Austin-McMahon feud, which ultimately helped the WWF regain its place at the top wrestling company.
- The emergence of The Rock and Triple H
None of that would have happened, had Bret Hart simply followed the "time-honored tradition". To this day, wrestling fans are still split on the issue. Some feel that McMahon did the unforgivable and shafted the Hitman, causing a loss of much respect from certain wrestlers and fans; others feel that Hart should have just dropped the belt to Michaels at Survivor Series and been done with it, as his fan base would have followed him to WCW, anyway, with no incident and no controversy on which the WWF could build.
It's been nearly ten years since the "Survivor Series/Montreal Screwjob" went down. Yet, to this day, it's still a hot topic of discussion in sports-entertainment.
