7 ways the Montreal Screwjob changed Pro Wrestling

It's been over twenty years since that infamous night in the WWE when Bret Hart was robbed of the WWE championship. We examine the ways this watershed event altered sports entertainment forever.

There are many pivotal moments in pro wrestling history. When Ric Flair defeated Harley Race at Starrcade, a new era of wrestling was ushered in. Likewise, when Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III, it was considered the passing of the torch as the biggest star of the 1970s gave way to the biggest star of the 1980s.

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Of course, when WCW was purchased by WWE is also a moment that changed the business, however. While these events were all quite significant, they all pale in comparison to the reverberations caused by a single match in Montreal Quebec, Canada.

We are, of course, referring to the infamous Montreal Screwjob. For those who are not familiar with the incident, it broke down like this;

Prior to the world title match pitting Shawn Michaels against champion Bret The Hitman Hart, there was great tension in the then-WWF backstage area. Bret Hart had been signed to a fantastic twenty-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation, wherein he would wrestle for several more years and then become a backstage executive and trainer.

However, facing imminent financial disaster due to the poaching of talent by WCW, as well as flagging ratings, Vince McMahon found himself in a position where he could not feasibly fulfil his end of the contract. In a rare move, McMahon actually advised Bret Hart to seek out WCW officials and try to get a contract with the rival company.

Bret agreed to allow McMahon to dissolve the contract, and was almost immediately signed by WCW, who were eager to add yet another wrestling legend to their roster. However, there was a problem; Bret Hart was still the WWE World Champion. While Bret Hart was willing to drop the belt before he left the company, he was not willing to lose it in his home country of Canada.

This posed a problem because Survivor Series took place on November 9, 1997. On Monday November 10, WCW would be allowed to legally claim that Bret Hart was under contract. The thought of his world champion being announced as a member of the WCW roster drove Vince McMahon to take extreme measures, and he conspired to take the big belt off of Bret without the latter's approval or knowledge.

What happened next is wrestling history. During their title match, Bret Hart became trapped in a Sharpshooter applied by Michaels, who began 'feeding' his leg to the Hitman for a reversal.

However, before this could take place Vince McMahon--who was on commentary--suddenly demanded the timekeeper Mark Yeaton ring the bell. Yeaton, who thought the match was supposed to end in a double disqualification, refused.

McMahon then ordered referee Earl Hebner to order for the bell to be rung himself. He instructed ring announcer Howard Finkel to name Shawn Michaels the winner. Bret and Shawn Michaels both appeared confused after the finish, though later Shawn would admit he was actually in on the plot from the beginning.

The result was utter chaos. An infuriated Bret Hart attempted to address the crowd but his mic was cut. The Hitman formed the words WCW with his fingers while the crowd vented their rage on Vince McMahon. Hart would arrive in WCW shortly, and the incident would have consequences that are still felt today.

Here are seven ways that the Montreal Screwjob has affected the pro wrestling industry.

#1. The line between Kayfabe and reality was permanently erased.

Vince McMahon in 1997, the night after Survivor Series

One thing that is often perplexing to people who don't regularly watch wrestling is the concept of kayfabe.

Kayfabe is slang for 'blatant fabrication,' and in laymen's terms, it's the events, angles, and personas of a pro wrestling show. The difference between kayfabe, and, say, the suspension of disbelief in a show like Game of Thrones--obviously, there are no such thing as dragons but they are integral to the plot--is that kayfabe is meant to be maintained twenty-four seven. When Kit Harrington is off-set, he doesn't pretend he's still Jon Snow and wear his armour or drag around a broadsword.

But with wrestlers, the expectation used to be just that. If two wrestlers were in a feud with each other, like Ric Flair and Sting, they were expected to NOT interact in the outside world. They cannot dine together, go to events, or associate in any way because that would kill the illusion that the two men are mortal enemies.

Maintaining kayfabe was once so important that Kevin Sullivan ruined his own marriage by requiring his own wife to travel with another man, and Meng/Haku once bit a man's nose off for calling him a 'fake' wrestler!

But after the Montreal Screwjob, the curtain came crashing down on kayfabe. In his famous "Bret Screwed Bret" interview, Vince McMahon not only killed kayfabe, he practically eulogized it. Now wrestlers openly admit their act is a performance in all forms of media other than a wrestling event.

#2. Vince McMahon's commentary career came to an abrupt end

Vince McMahon interviewing Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase.

For many pro wrestling fans, they have literally grown up with Vince McMahon being the 'boss' of WWE, both on screen and off.

However, fans who have been watching for longer--or who have checked out the extensive archives available on WWE.com and the internet--will know that before he was the on-screen character of Mr. McMahon, he was just plain Vince and he was a commentator--a damn good one, too.

Vince McMahon was excellent at getting the fans emotionally involved in a match. His impassioned appeals to the referees to 'turn around and put a stop to this!' often mirrored the same things the fans were saying at the arena and watching at home.

Once the Montreal Screwjob took place, however, Vince McMahon was no longer able to be an announcer. Wrestling announcers are supposed to be impartial--Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura notwithstanding--and since fans knew he was the figure behind the WWE, he could no longer claim such impartiality.

#3. Bret "The Hitman" Hart tarnished his own legacy

Bret "Hitman" Hart in the 1990s

Bret the Hitman Hart might seem like the least logical choice to replace Hulk Hogan as the face of pro wrestling--but that's just what he did after the Hulkster's departure from the WWE.

The differences between Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart and many. For one thing, Hulk Hogan played the stereotypical All American hero, proudly waving the red, white and blue of Old Glory above his head. Bret Hart was Canadian, and therefore unable to be a patriotic hero for a large swath of the WWE's audience.

Then there's the size difference. Hogan is kayfabe 6'8" (the reality is closer to six five) and over three hundred pounds. Bret Hart is just barely over six feet tall and was billed at 250 even though he often weighed much less.

Finally, Bret Hart's ring style was to slowly wear down his opponent with technically precise moves until they simply could not resist when he locked in the sharpshooter, unlike Hogan's heroic comebacks. Still, Bret Hart was a popular wrestler in the WWE and was even featured in mainstream media like the Simpsons cartoon.

However, by exposing some of the ugly posturing that takes place backstage in pro wrestling, fans were treated to another side of Bret Hart; a paranoid, aging veteran desperate to hang onto to his spot in the company, a man who believed his own hype and thought he was too much of a Canadian hero to lose in his home country.

Much of what made Bret Hart such a compelling character was his earnestness and his humility; Once that was revealed to be a work, fans just weren't as interested in the Hitman.

#4. Wrestling executives became the ultimate villains

Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon both wielded power backstage in their respective companies

Heroes are always measured by the villains they oppose. Superman--rural background, lower-middle-class family--is opposed by Lex Luthor, the billionaire urban genius. Rational detective Batman faces off with the irrational and insane Joker, whose illogical motives often perplex the Dark Knight.

The same holds true for wrestling. Roddy Piper once stood in the ring with Hollywood Hogan and said 'If they hadn't hated me so much, they'd never have cheered so loudly for you.'

Piper was absolutely right. Wrestling villains, or heels, have taken many forms over the years; Aristocrats like Ric Flair, violent brutes like Kane, and arrogant pretty boys like Tyler Breeze. However, after the Montreal Screwjob, the greatest wrestling heels were often the people who ran the company--either for real or just as a storyline angle.

The pattern of evil authority has been repeated time after time, most often by the WWE itself but it has also been seen in WCW, ECW, Impact wrestling and even Ring of Honor, where CEO Jeff Koff refused to renew Christopher Daniels's contract because he was 'too old'.

These days, evil general managers and authority figures are just par for the course, and we have the Montreal Screwjob to thank for that.

#5. The internet became intimately involved in pro wrestling angles

Becky Lynch uses twitter a great deal to further her wrestling character.

When the Montreal Screwjob happened, many of the perplexed fans watching live turned to one source to relieve their confusion.

The internet.

Though the world wide web looked a lot different back in 1997--for example, even a brief video would have taken hours to download and view--it was still a major new source for fans who followed sports entertainment.

There were pro wrestling chatgroups, pro wrestling news sites and 'insider' pro wrestling pay sites that would offer 'scoops' on the backstage happenings in WWE and WCW.

It took some time for the technology to catch up to the idea, but wrestling bookers like Vince Russo began to try to 'work' the internet fans, like naming Harris brothers tag team Creative Control. These days fans expect wrestlers to use social media to further storylines, but the idea was put in place by the Montreal Screwjob.

#6. What defined a wrestling 'good guy' was changed forever

Stone Cold throwing back a Steveweister or two. Or three.

We mentioned in an earlier slide that pro wrestling executives became the ultimate villains in the world of sports entertainment. Now we'll cover what that means to the wrestling heroes or babyface superstars.

Hulk Hogan is a good example of an 'old school' babyface wrestler. He implores children to 'take their vitamins' and play fairly, to respect authority like the US government, and of course to 'say your prayers' and reinforce Judeo-Christian stereotypes.

After the Montreal Screwjob, wrestling babyfaces took a decidedly darker, and somewhat more balanced, turn. Stone Cold Steve Austin became the most over babyface in wrestling history, holding entire arenas in the palm of his hand.

However, Stone Cold didn't take vitamins or say prayers; instead, he drank beer, used obscene gestures, and when it came to respecting authority...let's just say he never had the knack.

#7. The contractual status of wrestlers became a hot topic for discussion

Kenny Omega's free agent status causes a lot of internet traffic.

After the Montreal Screwjob, fans casual and dedicated alike became much more aware of, and interested in, the contractual status of pro wrestlers.

Those who knew Bret Hart was about to leave WWE for WCW were expecting something to go down at Survivor Series, most likely Bret dropping the belt to HBK, though they probably had no idea how twisted that outcome would actually be. Likewise, many fans follow the contract status of stars like Brock Lesnar today. This led many to believe that Brock was going to drop the WWE Universal title to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 34, and thus they were quite shocked when the Beast Incarnate retained the strap and re-signed with WWE.

For good or ill, pro wrestling fans are now heavily invested in the contract status of pro wrestlers, all because of the Montreal Screwjob.

There you have it; Seven ways the Montreal Screwjob changed sports entertainment forever. Questions or comments? Please leave them below the article, and thanks for reading!