The Montreal Screwjob was a real life incident in which WWE (then WWF) owner Vince McMahon double-crossed WWF Champion Bret Hart. The incident occurred at the Survivor Series in 1997 during a match between WWF Champion Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. During the match, McMahon came to the ring as Michaels was putting Hart in the Sharpshooter submission hold. McMahon ordered referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell and end the match, even though Hart had not submitted. Michaels was awarded the victory and the WWF Championship. Hart proceeded to show his anger by spitting in the face of McMahon and destroying several television monitors.
Setup
Bret Hart had decided to leave the WWF to join its competitor, WCW. Since Hart was currently the WWF Champion, the company needed a way to transition the belt to someone else. Hart refused to lose the title to Michaels in his native Canada. An agreement was made for the match at Survivor Series to end in a no contest and that Hart would hand over the title the following night on Raw. Despite the agreement, McMahon had been adamant about Hart losing the title, so he met with Michaels, referee Earl Hebner, and others to devise a plan to have Hart lose his title at the pay-per-view event. It was actually Michaels that suggested the idea of ending that match while he had Hart in the Sharpshooter. Originally, Michaels denied having any prior knowledge of the setup. He would later write his account of the event in his 2005 autobiography.
