The Montreal Screwjob was the single-most significant moment in modern wrestling history. It was the catalyst that brought about the departure of one-time WWE locker room leader Bret Hart and brought the power of Vince McMahon to the public eye for the first time.
It has been referenced, re-hashed and reused several times over the years, most recently at Payback 2016 in a match between Bret Hart’s niece Natalya and Charlotte Flair.Hart, and brought the power of Vince McMahon to the public eye for the first time. It has been referenced, re-hashed and reused several times over the years, most recently at Payback 2016 in a match between Bret Hart’s niece Natalya and Charlotte Flair.
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It was also a critical moment that launched WWE into the stratosphere with the single-most popular wrestling storyline of all time, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin vs. Mr McMahon. By channelling the legitimate hatred fans had towards Vince for how he treated Bret, Mr McMahon became the evil boss character that served as the perfect arch-nemesis for Austin as well as many other babyfaces.
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Indeed, the Montreal Screwjob was a major turning point in wrestling history, as it helped pave the way for the Austin Era, which allowed WWE to win the Monday Night Wars once and for all.
But what if it had never occurred? What if Bret Hart actually did win the match against Shawn Michaels in Montreal, and instead departed WWE amicably, without any shock? Where would this have led WWE in terms of company direction and booking?
WWE would look like a very different place, one that we’re going to look at here. For this hypothetical situation, we’ll need to assume a few key facts. First, we assume that Bret keeps the WWF/E Championship at Survivor Series 1997, only to drop it the following night on RAW because he vowed he’d never drop the title to Shawn Michaels in Canada.
#1 Bret would still have gone to WCW
Even if Bret hadn’t been screwed by Vince McMahon and his criminal committee on that fateful night, Bret Hart would’ve still gone to WCW. The events of Montreal weren’t the direct reason for Hart’s departure, but a consequence of it; Bret left WWE because Vince McMahon reneged on a previously-agreed-upon contract that would see Bret becoming ‘the Babe Ruth of WWF/E’.
Whether the Montreal Screwjob happened or not wouldn’t have had an impact on that.
The only difference that would exist in this regard is that Bret would probably have arrived in WCW with less fanfare. There was considerable interest in his WCW debut at first, but a lot of this was due to the direct results of the Montreal Screwjob. Had Bret left WWE on his own terms, sans screwjob, there probably wouldn’t have been as much high-profile as interest as there really was.
#2 Vince McMahon wouldn’t have had so much anger towards him
Whatever else he is, Vince McMahon is a genius that at times knows how to capitalize on something and make it into an advantage. That’s what he did with the Montreal Screwjob; he used the very real hatred that fans felt towards him over his treatment of Bret Hart to create an on-screen version of himself that has become synonymous with WWE: the Mr McMahon character.
By embracing the role of the evil corporate boss that abused his power for his own benefit and at the expense of fan favourites, McMahon touched a nerve with not just the WWE audience or wrestling fans in general, but with wider American society. In a way, the Mr McMahon character became the embodiment of the hated bosses that millions of people from all walks of life had to deal with on a daily basis.
Vince becoming this antagonistic caricature allowed him and his WWE wrestlers to tell more relatable stories that transcended the bubble of wrestling fandom and became part of the fabric of American society for a brief but critical period.
If the Montreal Screwjob never happened, Vince McMahon wouldn’t have the catalyst needed to become this character. He needed some kind of realistic segment to set the chain of events that would lead to this character’s creation. He needed to make the audience hate him as much as possible, especially since many people knew him as nothing more than a commentator up until a few months prior to the Screwjob.
Simply put, without the Montreal Screwjob, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for Vince McMahon to become an on-screen character that aligned so perfectly with everything else that was going on. Sure, he could’ve used another opportunity as a pretence to become this caricature, but it definitely wouldn’t have had the historical significance of the Montreal Screwjob.
#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin wouldn’t have had the perfect nemesis in Mr McMahon
The rivalry between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Mr McMahon is widely regarded as the greatest feud in professional wrestling history. The promos, brawls, betrayals and shocking segments between them were instrumental in elevating Austin’s own character to new heights.
But these wouldn’t have happened without Montreal.
Austin was a rising star at the time of the Screwjob but was arguably #2 or #3 in terms of popularity at the time – depending on whom you ask, behind only Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. The events of Montreal and their immediate aftermath were both critical in catapulting Austin to superstardom.
With Bret gone, WWE needed a new babyface that everyone could rally behind. And once Shawn left following his near-career-ending back injury, Austin was virtually unopposed at the top of the WWE.
What’s more, Austin’s antihero and anti-corporate mentality were gaining widespread popularity at the time. But this persona needed an ideal villain to fight, and that villain was Mr McMahon.
Without Mr McMahon – who, as we’ve established, couldn’t have come about without the Montreal Screwjob – Austin’s anti-corporate war wouldn’t have had as much popularity nor would it have been as convincing to the audience.
If Austin merely wrestled other wrestlers in wrestling matches in a wrestling ring, the stories Austin would’ve told wouldn’t have had that transcendental power that his feud with McMahon did. Austin needed an arch-nemesis that couldn’t wrestle but could get others to do his dirty work for him for this rivalry to work perfectly.
#4 The Monday Night Wars wouldn’t have been won so decisively
Many wrestling observers have considered January 4th, 1999 – the night of the famous ‘butts in the seats’ comment by WCW commentator Tony Schiavone – as the night on which the Monday Night Wars turned in WWE’s favour forever.
But it was more than just that one comment that sealed WCW’s fate; WCW was rife with mismanagement and creative ineptitudes while WWE was riding a tsunami of momentum following the overwhelming success of the Austin-McMahon rivalry and the overall Attitude Era direction.
But this victory of WWE’s wouldn’t have been so easy had the Montreal Screwjob never happened. WWE’s storylines and overall creative direction at the time were very much centred on blurring the lines of reality and scripted, while also involving realistic characters that were merely extensions of their wrestlers’ personalities (with some exceptions).
At the heart of these intertwined rivalries was Mr McMahon doing whatever he could to screw over whichever wrestler stood in his way of him achieving his dream of having the perfect champion. Whether it was Austin, Rock, Mankind, the Undertaker, or anyone else, Vince acted as the ultimate evil – the great adversary, if you will – for all of them.
Had none of these storylines involving Mr McMahon ever surfaced, WCW might’ve enjoyed more success for a longer period, and could’ve held their own against WWE. This was especially true since the NWO was still relatively popular, and WCW had relatively superior technical workers, especially in their cruiserweight division.
However, the Montreal Screwjob didn’t have an effect on WCW’s own internal politics. Time Warner and Ted Turner choosing to take WCW in a more family-friendly direction during the peak of WWE’s Attitude Era was a crippling decision that forever stunted their ability to compete with Vince.
Had none of Mr McMahon’s rivalries with Austin or whomever ever happened, then WCW’s eventual collapse wouldn’t have happened so early into the new millennium. WCW would’ve likely held its own against WWE for quite some time longer, capable of competing thanks to the few assets that it had at the time.
But WCW’s death was inevitable, with or without the Attitude Era and the Montreal Screwjob. The only real difference was that WCW would’ve had a fighting chance for a longer period if WWE didn’t showcase such outstanding and entertaining segments on a weekly basis that centred on Mr McMahon being the evil boss that everyone wanted to see get his comeuppance.
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