10 Film Documentaries That Accidentally Uncovered Major Scoops

7. Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows - The Montreal Screwjob

Gimme Shelter 1970 documentary
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Released in 1998, Paul Jay's Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows stumbled across absolute pro wrestling gold.

Intended to follow the legendary Bret Hart as he entered the final year of his contract with Vince McMahon's then-WWF, this documentary ended up spotlighting one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history.

After McMahon backtracked on a life-long contract offer to Hart, he encouraged the Canadian to sign with rival promotion WCW. Reluctantly doing just that, the Hitman's last match was him defending the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Survivor Series PPV in Montreal, Canada.

With Bret contractually able to decide the fate of his on-screen persona, he decided that he didn't want to lose his title in his home country to real-life bitter enemy Shawn Michaels. And so, the decision was made to have the match end in a double DQ, with Hart then handing over the belt the following night.

Unbeknownst to Hart, McMahon and a few select higher-ups put a plan in motion that would see the Canadian screwed out of his championship in an event that would become known as the Montreal Screwjob.

For Wrestling with Shadows, it caught this moment in real time, caught the angry reaction to it, and gave wrestling fans a fascinating look behind the curtain.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.