10 Times Vince McMahon Screwed His Own Talent

10. The Montreal Screwjob

Let's get the most notorious example out of the way first.

Briefly, WWF Champion Bret Hart was leaving for WCW but was ambivalent about dropping the title to real life nemesis Shawn Michaels; Vince McMahon changed the finish of their title match without telling him, calling for the bell while Hart was in the Sharpshooter, even though he hadn't tapped out.

There's been a lot of he-said-she-said over Montreal over the last two decades. Some people even think it was a work, but do you really think that Bret 'the Hitman' Hart would prioritise kayfabe over his own ego? The man says grace to himself at every meal.

Vince went on a PR offensive after the Screwjob, claiming that "Bret screwed Bret". Of course, the only reason that Vince was so paranoid about Hart dropping the title before he left was because Madusa had dropped the WWF Women's Championship in the trash on Nitro when she jumped ship two years earlier... and he'd persuaded Ric Flair to bring the Big Gold Belt over to the WWF when the Nature Boy was fired by WCW in 1991

Crapping on the opposition was part of the dirty tricks playbook in 1997, largely because Vince put it there. The key issue was that, despite the unwavering loyalty Hart had showed him (he was only leaving because Vince couldn't afford to pay him the raise he'd promised), McMahon didn't trust him to keep his word and drop the title on his terms. That's not on Bret... that's on Vince.