10 Most Divisive WWE Moments

2. The Montreal Screwjob

If Bret Hart felt the grass was greener on the other side, then letting him jump to WCW and leave the WWF behind was Vince McMahon's best bet. Cutting a star who had been loyal to him since 1985 was one thing, but screwing him out of the WWF Title in his own country was another entirely. There are still those who haven't forgiven McMahon for treating Hart this way.

Known as the 'Montreal Screwjob', this Canadian catastrophe ended with a punch for Vince and a heavy heart for Bret. A match with Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Survivor Series degenerated into a farce when referee Earl Hebner called for the bell (at McMahon's request) and a WWF conspiracy outsmarted Hart.

Things would never be the same again.

WWF devotees would point to Hart's own treachery. If he wanted to leave the promotion without doing business on the way out, after all McMahon had done for him, then he deserved to be treated with contempt. The other argument, one revolving around loyalty from promoter to wrestler, claimed McMahon should have granted Bret's wishes not to drop the title in his native Canada to a man who had shown him the ultimate disrespect by refusing to return a hypothetical favour.