WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker recently gave his take on the Montreal Screwjob and how he and Bret Hart had a world-class match at an untelevised house show in 1997. Undertaker was a locker-room leader for much of his WWE career. He was even a judge for “wrestlers court.” The backstage politics of wrestling could get out of hand and Undertaker wanted to make sure things didn’t get too out of hand.
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One of the times wrestling and backstage scheming got out of hand was during the infamous Montreal Screwjob with Bret Hart. Undertaker recently discussed his thoughts on the Montreal Screwjob on his podcast, Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway. He stated the following on Bret Hart:
“I know Bret was really bitter about it. Bret didn’t want to leave, it was a money deal. He’d been a loyal soldier man, so there were so many feelings, everybody was just tapped out on the whole thing … You cannot, absolutely zero way can you take the chance, I’m will say he probably would have gone on TV and dropped it. Not drop it but give it away or give it up or vacate it or whatever the word is I’m looking for, but that doesn’t do us any good.
“We can’t have a guy vacate the title and then is going to the other show, it just doesn’t work. It’s our competition so you can’t let him vacate the title and then go to the competition regardless if he didn’t want to go or not he was still going.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for Transcription
The Undertaker Recalls the Unfortunate Business of the Montreal Screwjob
Undertaker went on to say that as mad as he was about the Montreal Screwjob afterward he didn’t think WWF had a choice. It was something that had to happen because of how Hart wanted to end the match. To recap the Montreal Screwjob, Hart was leaving for WCW as WWF champion. He had one last match with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series in 1997 in Montreal.
WWF wanted Hart to lose to Michaels, but Hart didn’t want to lose and wanted the match to end in a DQ. He planned to vacate the championship the next night on RAW. However, WWF was scared he would take the championship to WCW and drop it in a trashcan like Alundra Blayze had done in 1995.
To ensure Hart didn’t take the championship with him, WWF came up with a plan behind Hart’s back. Michaels would put Hart in a Sharpshooter, Hart’s signature move and the ref would say Hart tapped. Thus Hart lost his championship to Michaels. This created a lot of bad blood between Hart and WWF/WWE and more specifically Vince McMahon for many years.
Undertaker went on to say that as mad as he was about the Montreal Screwjob afterward he didn’t think WWF had a choice. It was something that had to happen because of how Hart wanted to end the match. To recap the Montreal Screwjob, Hart was leaving for WCW as WWF champion. He had one last match with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series in 1997 in Montreal.
WWF wanted Hart to lose to Michaels, but Hart didn’t want to lose and wanted the match to end in a DQ. His plan was to vacate the championship the next night on RAW. However, WWF was scared he would take the championship to WCW and drop it in a trashcan like Alundra Blayze had done in 1995.
To ensure Hart didn’t take the championship with him, WWF came up with a plan behind Hart’s back. Michaels would put Hart in a Sharpshooter, Hart’s signature move and the ref would say Hart tapped. Thus Hart lost his championship to Michaels. This created a lot of bad blood between Hart and WWF/WWE and more specifically Vince McMahon for many years.
Undertaker believes one of the saddest parts of the Montreal Screwjob is that it is a blemish on all involved. He touts Hart and Michaels as two of the best wrestlers ever and both had amazing careers, but the Montreal Screwjob is always brought up when their names come up. Undertaker sympathizes with them that they have to constantly be asked about a moment neither is proud of.
The next month Hart joined WCW and fans were very excited to see what he could do with a new crop of talent he had never worked against. He was even going to join the nWo, so he was going to get a lot of screen time. However, right from the start, this was a different Hart. In WWF he was perfect and gave it 100 percent at all times. In WCW his heart wasn’t in it and he was bland with only glimpses of The Hitman occasionally. He eventually received a concussion which would lead to him ending his in-ring career.
Shawn Michaels went on to continue his amazing career in WWE. He would have his amazing matches with Undertaker. Eventually, he helped to form DX which became the hottest faction in WWF. A few months before the Montreal Screwjob, Undertaker and Hart had a match at SummerSlam. Undertaker lost that match and his WWF Championship to Hart which was the reason he was the champion and created the Montreal Screwjob.
Undertaker looked back on his matches with Hart with fondness. He admitted that as good as his match was with Hart at SummerSlam, their best match was a little prior at a UK house show. The Phenom of WWE continued:
“I think we went 45 minutes in a house show and we took this crowd on a ride that you would not believe. It was one of those situations where like one minute it’s, ‘Let’s go Taker,’ and then the next minute it’s, ‘Let’s go Bret.’ Then there’s one half of the building yelling ‘Undertaker’ and then the other half yelling Bret Hart, back-and-forth. It was just an emotional rollercoaster we took the audience on.
“It was one of my best matches I think. It’s just a house show and I guarantee we went 45 minutes if we went 10. It was just [that] we were in a flow and we had each other’s timing and we thought alike we thought a lot alike. It was fun and then we get to the SummerSlam match and by then we’re dialed in.”
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Unfortunately, we never got to see Undertaker and Hart have a rematch once Hart left for WCW. However, Undertaker’s career took off after 1997 and he entered his prime.
Do you think Montreal Screwjob was necessary? Do you think Bret Hart would have dropped the championship the next night? What do you think would have happened if Hart never left WWF? Would his stellar career have continued or was he already leaving his prime? Do you think Hart and The Undertaker’s SummerSlam match was the best of their matches? Let us know on social media how you would have handled the situation of Hart leaving as champion if you were WWF.
SOURCE: Wrestling Inc., Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway, Wrestling Inc.
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