In the run up to Survivor Series 1997, Vince McMahon was caught between a rock and a hard place. His WWF Champion, Bret Hart, was leaving to WCW the night after the show, so Vince needed to get the title off Hart and onto Shawn Michaels. The sticking point was, however, that Bret and Shawn hated each other, and Bret refused to lose to Shawn in front of a Canadian crowd. Two years earlier, WWF Women's Champion showed up on WCW Monday Nitro and unceremoniously dropped the title in the trash live on air. Vince was paranoid that something like that might happen with his Heavyweight title and tried to reason with Bret, but they couldn't come to terms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qWKl9wLS9U A plan was put into place among McMahon's most senior officials. As far as Bret was aware, Shawn was going put The Hitman in his own finisher, The Sharpshooter but Bret would get free, and the match would eventually end in a no-contest. What actually happened was as soon as Shawn locked in the move, referee Earl Hebner called for the bell and ran out of the ring. Shawn Michaels quickly followed with the title. Bret famously spat in Vince's face and wrote the letters WCW in the air, to let fans know where they could find him. Bret Hart wouldn't return to WWE properly for over twelve years.
