Reason why Vince McMahon kept controversial match finish a secret from WWE legend

Jim Ross says Vince McMahon did not inform him about the WWE Survivor Series 1997 finish because the latter wanted to protect him.

The pay-per-view ended with Shawn Michaels controversially winning the WWE Championship from Bret Hart via submission even though the WCW-bound superstar did not submit. Hart thought the match was going to end in a disqualification, but McMahon changed the finish without him knowing.

Ross, the commentator for Hart vs. Michaels, spoke about the incident on his Grilling JR podcast. As WWE’s Head of Talent Relations at the time, he said McMahon thought superstars might doubt him if he knew about the finish in advance:

“I was especially p****d off because I didn’t know it was going to happen, and the reason that Vince did that made all the sense in the world and it’s why he’s much smarter than I. He said, ‘You can’t let the locker room down. If you knew it and didn’t say anything, it was like you condoning it.’ And I didn’t condone it. I didn’t think it was a good idea,” said Ross. [2:17:52-2:18:14]

Vince McMahon booked Michaels as the winner after Hart refused to drop the WWE Championship to The Heartbreak Kid in Montreal. McMahon did not want Hart to potentially leave his company as the WWE Champion, so he changed the finish at short notice.

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Jim Ross understood Vince McMahon’s decision but did not like it

Jim Ross worked closely with Vince McMahon behind the scenes around the time of Survivor Series 1997. For that reason, some superstars did not believe him when he claimed to be unaware of the match’s outcome.

The current AEW announcer added that many superstars, including Mick Foley, did not like the way McMahon treated Bret Hart:

“I remember I had a long talk with Mick Foley. I had to convince people that I didn’t know. Some believed me at that time, and some believed me in time. All I can do is tell the truth and tell it one time, so I didn’t change my story. So that’s how that worked. None of the veterans liked the way that went down. We all felt it was unnecessary,” stated Ross. [2:19:35-2:19:57]

Foley no-showed the post-Survivor Series 1997 episode of RAW and planned to quit WWE in support of Hart. He returned later that week after realizing that a clause in his contract prevented him from working anywhere else for another five years.

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Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.