5 Survivor Series moments that changed the course of WWE

#2 The Montreal Screwjob

An ending no one saw coming (Bret Hart for one!)

Survivor Series 1997 was slated to be held in Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart’s hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After Summerslam, where Hart reclaimed the WWE Championship, he rekindled an on-screen and off-screen feud with Shawn Michaels.

However, things changed when it was revealed that Hart had signed a contract beginning December 1997 with WWE’s big rival, WCW. It was reportedly decided that the match at Survivor Series would end in a disqualification and Hart would relinquish the title at a later date.

Unknown to Hart, Vince McMahon and referee Earl Hebner had colluded to alter the finish and declared Michaels the winner as soon as he applied the Sharpshooter. This was to be Hart’s last match in the WWE as he left the company on bad terms.

This was later to be the most talked and controversial about match in wrestling history and laid the foundation of the Attitude Era where Vince McMahon took up a ‘heel’ Corporate on-screen persona.