2. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart - Survivor Series 1997
There isn't much that hasn't been written about the 'Montreal Screwjob' over the years. On his way out of the WWF and heading for WCW, Bret Hart was the reigning WWF Heavyweight Champion. Having defeated The Undertaker at SummerSlam, Hart was now looking for a way to drop the title before leaving the organisation. Unfortunately for Vince McMahon, Bret didn't want to do so in Canada. The 1997 Survivor Series Pay-Per-View emanated from the Molson Centre in Montreal. That was the first problem. The second was that Bret also didn't really fancy losing to Shawn Michaels, a man he had intense personal beef with behind the scenes. Somewhere along the line, a conspiracy was concocted between McMahon, Michaels and referee Earl Hebner to remove the title from Hart without his say-so. As Shawn had Bret locked in his own Sharpshooter move, McMahon called for the bell. Hart looked incredibly shocked, realising quickly that he'd been screwed over by his boss and peer. Shawn Michaels left as WWF Champion, but the match had a much larger impact on the whole. The bout directly led to the creation of the Mr. McMahon character, and helped introduce the 'Attitude' Era to come.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
