20 years later: 5 reasons why some believe the Montreal Screwjob was a work

A quick disclaimer before we start - this article is not an attempt to fully validate the claim that the Montreal Screwjob was a work, merely a collection of arguments that have been presented over the years to suggest it might be.

When we look back over the years of professional wrestling, nothing stands out quite like the Montreal Screwjob. We've seen big moments involving title changes, heel turns and iconic matchups, but none of those things changed the landscape of the business both in terms of the in-ring action and the backstage politics in the way the main event of Survivor Series 1997 did.

Now, after 20 years has passed, and with another highly anticipated Survivor Series on the horizon, we look back at the moment wrestling was transformed forever, assessing whether or not the Montreal Screwjob really was an evil plot to undermine a WWE legend or one of the greatest works ever put together:

#1 Bret was given the WWF Championship despite all the uncertainty around his contract

One of the most compelling arguments in favour of the Montreal Screwjob being a work is that the entire situation could so easily have been avoided. Bret gained the WWF Championship from The Undertaker at Summerslam 1997 despite there already being a genuine possibility that he would be leaving the company to go to WCW.

Not only this but Bret also had full creative control at the time, meaning he had the final say over how his matches were booked. The sensible question here would be - why would Vince have decided to make Bret his champion in such an uncertain climate?

One of the big drivers of the screwjob itself was Vince's fears that Bret would leave the WWF, go to WCW and do something similar to the Alundra Blayze incident where the female star literally dropped her WWF Women's Championship in the bin live on Monday Nitro.

The fact that the WWF found themselves in this exact situation by the time Survivor Series 97 came around leaves open two possibilities - either Vince really is that incompetent and short-sighted (which seems unlikely given the amount of success he has had over the years), or the whole thing was planned from the start.

#2 The finish of the match was far too smooth

The official screwjob story states that there were very few people who knew what was going to happen that night. It appears as though a small, intimate team, including Vince, Shawn, Hebner and a few of McMahon's associates were the only ones privy to the situation. If this is to be believed, then why did the match end in such a smooth, ordered fashion?

When Shawn applies the Sharpshooter on Bret and the referee rings for the bell, Shawn's music instantly plays, the cameras focus in on Bret and manage to capture the moment where the Hitman chooses to spit on his boss out of sheer disgust.

At the very least, this suggests that more people were involved in the planning of the screwjob than originally thought. If this was such a secretive operation, the guys in the production truck would not have known they needed to hit Shawn Michael's music so quickly, and the cameramen wouldn't have thought to have focused in on Bret rather than the man who had just become WWF Champion.

The production on that night makes the whole thing look too much like ordered chaos. Yes, we saw Bret's confusion and Shawn choosing to run for the hills, but the point is we saw it all too easily, like the whole of the WWF production team knew exactly what was going to happen beforehand.

#3 All the backstage cameras were conveniently left on

One of the reasons why people feel so passionately about the Montreal Screwjob is that at the time, we all felt like we were a part of it. For fans of a certain age, the screwjob was one of the defining moments of our childhood and our early relationship with professional wrestling.

Part of the reason was that all fans were conveniently given instant access, not just to the screwjob itself, but the entire aftermath that went down backstage. Barely a year had passed after Survivor Series 97 when the Wrestling with Shadows documentary was released. This was a film specifically about Bret Hart's life and career, a fly on the wall operation following the Hitman's every move.

The fact that everything from Bret's interrogation of Shawn to Vince stumbling out of his office after being punched by the "Hitman" was all caught on camera again makes the screwjob feel far too convenient to be a shooting incident.

You might argue that the Wrestling with Shadows documentary was about Bret, not the WWF, so it was just fortunate timing that it happened to be in operation around this time. But it strikes many people as hard to believe that Vince would allow a separate media company to film backstage so freely, especially in such a volatile and potentially embarrassing situation.

Again, one of the most reasonable assumptions here is that Vince allowed the cameras to keep rolling because this was all his own doing from the get-go, and this way he would be able to showcase his masterplan to the world.

#4 Wrestling is all about working the fans

When you take into account the fact that the entire business of professional wrestling is about openly displaying a pre-ordained product as if it was real, why is it such a difficult thing to believe that the Montreal Screwjob was also a work?

No matter how much fans might like the idea of reality and fiction becoming blurred when it comes to the wrestling business, in the vast majority of cases somebody like Vince McMahon will be in complete control of the situation. The man has been around too long to allow genuine unpredictability to dictate what happens to his company.

For example, the 'Summer of Punk' storyline from 2011 might have been done in a way that elements of it felt real and organic, but most would admit that nothing would have happened there without Vince being 100% in agreement.

While the current WWE product might be accused of being a little shortsighted with its planning, the WWF of 1997 was a very difficult animal. Vince was making decisions with expert foresight, with storylines and character developments being planned way in advance.

Again, why is it so difficult to believe that the screwjob wasn't just another example of McMahon carefully planning how to wrestle back control of WCW and to get fans talking about the WWF once again? After all, this is what he was best at.

#5 All parties (conveniently) got what they wanted

Whenever a court of law is trying to ascertain the guilt of a defendant, one of the things they will typically explore is whether he or she stood to gain from what they are being accused of doing. If for example, a woman is found dead under mysterious circumstances, and her husband suddenly comes into a lot of money as a result, questions will inevitably be asked.

When we apply the same reasoning to the Montreal Screwjob, it becomes apparent that both Bret and the WWF gained pretty highly from it in their own way. Bret knew that given the changes happening with the company back in 97, his prospects were not going to be best served by staying. Despite his reservations, WCW were offering him more money and fewer hours, a decision anybody would likely make.

For the WWF's part, the thing they most craved in 1997 was attention. WCW was doing all the right things with the NWO storyline that almost the entire wrestling universe was focused on them. It didn't matter that the WWF was beginning to highlight new stars like Stone Cold, Mankind and The Rock if nobody was watching.

In the aftermath of the screwjob, the WWF managed to gain a level of infamy not seen since the days of Hogan. People were debating heavily about what they had seen, whether Vince had crossed the line or whether kayfabe would survive. Vince didn't even need positive publicity back then, anything would have been welcomed.

Even WCW, for their own part, ended up getting what they wanted, another high profile WWF superstar on their roster. When a situation is that mutually beneficial, it starts to look more and more like a pre-ordained affair.

When we look at the current state of the wrestling business and the journey the WWE has taken since Survivor Series 1997, it's a little too difficult to ignore that the Montreal Screwjob was where it all began.

Edited by Shruti Sadbhav