‘The most beautiful uppercut’ – Bret Hart describes KO of Vince McMahon in backstage brawl after WWE stars break character live on air
Of the many controversial incidents in the history of WWE, few did more to cause the tidal wave that was the Montreal Screwjob in 1997.
Particularly under the stewardship of Vince McMahon, professional wrestling’s biggest entity was never far away from its share of the headlines.
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Throughout the decades however, most of its Superstars at least managed to maintain the act of kayfabe – the illusion that what fans see and hear on screen in professional wrestling is real.
Kayfabe sells tickets and merchandise and builds rivalries, of course – though not nearly as well as action with real life connotations.
Step forward one fateful night in wrestling folklore that changed everything, and saw kayfabe blasted into oblivion while thousands of fans watched on in awe with a global pay-per-view audience tuned in to boot.
Back in 1997, WWE was edging towards the famed Attitude Era, a period that made the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H famous – among many others.
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Far edgier and close-to-the-knuckle than the family-friendly ‘WWF’ had been in the years prior, the product didn’t sit well with Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart who has openly admitted he felt uneasy about the sleazier content contained in the company’s output.
Rivals WCW, meanwhile, had been surging ahead in the ratings war between the two – dubbed the Monday Night War – as their Nitro programme outperformed WWE’s Raw show. As such, money started to become an issue.
Having already plucked many a star away from their rivals, WCW came sniffing around Hart, who was at that stage the WWE Champion. A huge offer was put to the Canadian, while McMahon made clear he couldn’t guarantee Hart the same kind of sums. Further, it’s believed McMahon began to favour the likes of Austin and Michaels to spearhead a new company era.
The crux of the drama was that Hart agreed to sign for WCW, sealing the end of a near 13-year run with WWE. As he was the Champion, though, the parties had to agree a way to have him dethroned while also maintaining respectability.
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WWE aired its November pay-per-view Survivor Series in Bret’s homeland of Canada, where he was revered as a hero. He was slated to wrestle Michaels in the main event, who conversely was despised north of the border.
It was quite the conundrum, with Hart claiming he was unwilling to drop the title to Michaels in a storyline-based match as HBK had been adamant he’d never do the same in return. It appeared the parties were at an impasse.
While many blamed the WWE boss for what followed, some argued Hart's stubbornness was every bit responsible for his downfall and that being more open to dropping the championship may have prevented the horror that came next.
Nevertheless, come Montreal, and Vince and a select group of aides kicked up a plan that saw Shawn leave with the championship gold – by having him beat Hart without the champ’s cooperation.
Michaels applied Bret’s signature Sharpshooter submission hold in the ring, with referee Earl Hebner signalling for the ringing of the bell - and the end of the match - within seconds before the Calgary native had a chance to react.
The sound of the bell ringing killed kayfabe for the night with neither star anywhere close to remaining in character, Michaels darting from the ring with the WWE Championship belt as the show went off the air left fans in a mix of confusion and rage. Hart was furious, too, spitting in McMahon’s face before destroying ringside broadcast equipment.
Backstage, Hebner was nowhere to be seen. A helpless accomplice to the drama, he fled the madness immediately, running straight from the ring and into a waiting car, with little blame attached to him for having to do McMahon's bidding.
For his part, Michaels denied all wrongdoing at the time, before years later admitting: 'I knew', having been in on the plot.
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In the locker room, Hart confronted his boss and took things further, later revealing: “Somewhere in that conversation, I said: ‘If you’re still here after I get dressed, I’m going to punch you out.'"
Hart carried through his threat with McMahon said to be willing to let his soon-to-be-former employee take one free shot. As it turned out it was all the grappler needed
He went on: “It was the most beautiful uppercut punch you could ever imagine. I actually thought it would miss and go right up the side of his head, but I popped him right up like a cork was under his jaw and lifted him right off the hand. I broke my right hand just beneath the knuckle, and knocked Vince out cold.
“Then I remember sitting there in the dressing room. Everyone’s just sitting there. We’re all looking and it’s like stunned, including me, I’m going: ‘I can’t believe I just knocked out Vince McMahon…’
What followed was the birth of the 'Mr McMahon' character in WWE as the company owner harnassed the Montreal controversy to maximum effect. Michaels and D-Generation X pressed forward before Austin's ascent to the gold.
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Though it took many years, Hart and McMahon would later reconcile, with the multi-time former world champion inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame in 2006.
After well over a decade in WWE, he wrestled for just a couple of years with Eric Bischoff's WCW before suffering career-ending injuries in a controversial match against Goldberg at Starrcade in 1999.
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