WWE: Destruction of Bret Hart – Aftermath of the infamous Montreal incident

“1997 was the breaking point for wrestling and in many ways, my marriage with Bret. Outside of real-life tragedies such as Owen’s death and his stroke, that was the hardest night of Bret’s life for sure.” – Julie Hart on Bret Hart

For a professional wrestler, respect and leaving a lasting legacy is everything. A character is only as good as the person portraying it, and this was where Bret Hart found his “home”. Many consider Bret too serious for the business, when infact, Bret loved the business too much to “fake” it.

Like the old school wrestlers such as Ric Flair and Sammartino, Bret Hart lived through professional wrestling. For Bret, “The Hitman” wasn’t a character, but himself. As such, respect meant everything to Bret, and on a fateful night in November, it cost him everything.

In one second, Bret Hart lost his career, and his legacy was tainted. He wasn’t to be remembered as “The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be” in the then WWF. He was simply known as the guy who was “screwed” out of the company. Bret Hart on that night essentially lost his life and his career.

Everyone has an opinion about what happened on that night. Whether it was his own fault or the fault of Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels and Triple H, we can go on debating about it forever.

Today, I don’t intend to dig up an old grave, but instead I look at the aftermath of that night in Montreal, and how it impacted all the three individuals involved, but more so about the protagonist, Bret Hart. It has always been wondered what would have happened if the Montreal Screwjob had never happened. How did that one night impact the careers of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart?

Well, Shawn Michaels went on to take a hiatus from professional wrestling for four years due to an injury, but came back and performed for the next eight years. In all fairness, Shawn’s hiatus was due to an injury he picked up during a match, and hence it can’t be blamed on that one night.

Bret Hart’s story was completely different. Bret Hart, after the Montreal incident, spiraled into self destruction, although he didn’t do it on purpose. Bret Hart went to WCW, and was involved in mediocre storylines, and was grossly underused. Bret Hart grew frustrated with WCW and how they booked him, and he wasn’t wrong.

WCW took the hottest commodity in professional wrestling, which was Bret after the infamous incident, and put him in pointless angles, with his debut being redundant. WCW was all about Hogan, Nash, Hall and their friends, and they made Bret play second fiddle to them.

Add this to the fact that Bret’s personal life fell apart. He had problems with his wife, Julie Hart and they got separated, as Bret only grew unhappy with his professional and personal life. For Bret, WWF was his home, and when he was forced out of his home, he had to seek refuge in a shelter, which was WCW.

Bret’s personal life only got worse when his brother, Owen Hart fell to his death in ’99 at Over the Edge PPV. Bret has since claimed in many interviews that if he were in the WWF, he would have discouraged Owen from doing anything dangerous. In a way, Bret blamed himself for the death of Owen Hart, and that didn’t do him any favours.

Bret Hart’s downward spiral continued, as he was then forced to retire from professional wrestling, when a stiff mule kick from Goldberg gave him a concussion. Bret’s professional life ended out of nowhere, and this devastated Bret Hart. Bret only grew bitter with life being unfair, and it still wasn’t the end of troubles for the “Hitman”.

Bret then lost his brother-in-law, Davey Smith, and a month later fell from his bike and suffered a stroke, which paralyzed his left side. Bret’s good friend, Curt Hennig then passed away the next year, adding to Bret’s agony. Life after the Montreal Screw Job was especially hard on Bret Hart, both personally and professionally, while Vince was reaping the results of his ‘bad guy’ character, ushering a new period in the WWF, with his feud with Austin drawing incredible numbers and selling out arenas.

It’s safe to say that Bret got the short end of the stick. Although, the incident happened more than a decade and half ago, people to this day still debate about who was right and who was wrong. In the end, nothing else matters, as Bret and Shawn have since buried the hatchet. But one has to believe that on that night, a huge part of Bret died, as Bret has never been the same since.

The incident affected Bret more than anyone else, and in the end, when all is said and done, the Montreal incident will be seen as the first nail in the coffin of Bret Hart’s personal and professional life.