5 famous ''screwjobs'' before that night in Montreal

#3 Frank Gotch & George Hackenschmidt were the original Montreal Screwjob

Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt were the 1910’s version of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels (The participants of the Montreal Screwjob). The two spent most of their careers circling one another and were involved in one of the first screwjobs. It might have been the most devious of all the screwjobs we know of in wrestling, or at least from the early years.

In the rematch of the century, Gotch and Hackenschmidt went head-to-head with a record-breaking gate of $87,000, the equivalent of over $2 million today. Gotch wanted the match to go his way so set about hiring a ‘hooker’ to purposely injure Hackenschmidt’s knee during sparring practice. A hooker in wrestling terms is a person who is a submission expert or bone breaker.

With so much money on the line, the promoters kept the injury a secret and set out to make sure the match still went ahead. Hackenschmidt wanted to pull out altogether but was convinced by Gotch that things would be fine. He even offered to make him look good and promised to give him one of the three falls in their match.

But as with every entry on this list (as well the Montreal Screwjob itself), that was not what happened. Frank Gotch double-crossed Hackenschmidt, going after his injured knee and beating him in two quick falls. The whole bout only lasted 19 minutes with Gotch retaining his World Heavyweight Championship. This would be Hackenschmidt’s last match, leaving the world of wrestling after being humiliated by Frank Gotch. The Montreal Screwjob was devious, but this was downright despicable.