10 Stories That Prove Wrestling Is The Wildest Industry EVER
2. The Montreal Screwjob
You're about as bored reading about it as I am of writing about it.
Apologies.
But approached through the perspective of how bonkers it is, it really was an incredible series of events.
Because pro wrestling is predetermined, and certain top stars don't wish to appear like losers, a booker is at the mercy of ego. Or they were, anyway.
And, with major competition abound, the WWF wrestlers of 1997 actually had sway in their creative direction. Bret Hart had contractual say in his creative direction. Nonetheless, Vince McMahon and the Kliq f*cked on the loyal servant at Survivor Series '97 after Shawn Michaels broke etiquette and broke it badly. He had outright told Bret Hart that he wouldn't do a job for him even in a hypothetical scenario. Bret said "well, f*ck you" and refused in kind. Shawn was prioritised ahead of Hart in Vince's heart even though he didn't draw a dime in 1996. And so, in a convoluted scheme that Vince Russo might have penned in 1998, Hart was screwed out of the World Title live on pay-per-view.
This just doesn't happen in other walk of life. Hart could not exactly be re-cast, like an unruly actor that nobody wanted on the set anymore. Nobody could ever lace his boots.
Triple H could have worn pink dyed his hair black and soaked it, and he'd have still done a less convincing job than Glenn Jacobs did as Diesel.