WWE History Vol. 8: The Day that Kayfabe Died

#5. The aftermath.

Vince McMahon during the infamous "Bret Screwed Bret" interview.

Backstage at Survivor Series, an angry Bret Hart confronted Vince McMahon. Details are murky, but Vince claims that Bret Hart punched him and gave him a black eye, and Hart does not dispute this at all. In fact, he can be seen bragging about in on the documentary Wrestling with Shadows.

Kayfabe had taken its biggest hit yet. In order to address the Montreal situation, Vince McMahon appeared in an interview on Raw. For the first time, he publicly acknowledged that he was the owner and chief executive officer of the WWE.

A year earlier, McMahon had already kicked kayfabe in its ribs during an interview where he unofficially started the Attitude Era. On the night after Survivor Series 97, he cut kayfabe's throat.

Vince aired the dirty laundry that Hart had refused to lose the belt in Canada. McMahon compared this to Shawn Michaels refusing to lose in America. McMahon asserted that he had not screwed Bret, but that "Bret screwed Bret."

The fans were now privy to the inner workings of the wrestling industry in a way never conceived of. As an added effect, Vince's days at the announce desk were done. He would use the heat he garnered from the Screwjob to become the villainous Mr. McMahon authority figure.