#2 Vince McMahon wouldn’t have had so much anger towards him
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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.
