10 Times WWE Seriously Disrespected Hall Of Famers

2. The Montreal Screwjob

Is there anybody out there (besides Vince McMahon and a select few WWE employees) who really think that the WWF had to screw Bret Hart out of the WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1997? To recap, Bret Hart was set to leave the WWF for WCW at the end of 1997. The WWF had previously offered Bret an unprecedented twenty year contract to stop him from defecting.

Vince reneged on the deal and encouraged Hart to take a big-money deal with WCW. Hart reluctantly accepted. Bret was loyal to Vince and didn't really want to leave. He would have been happy to wrestle for a few more years before becoming a trainer/road agent/ambassador for the company. Bret was the reigning WWF Champion at the time and the plan was for Shawn Michaels to win the belt.

The Hitman was fine with this idea, on one condition: it couldn't happen at Survivor Series in Montreal. Bret wouldn't lose to Shawn in Canada and, since he had a creative control clause in his contract, was within his rights to refuse. The finish of the match was changed to be a disqualification/no contest following interference from DX and The Hart Foundation.

Of course, that wasn't the finish that actually happened. Unbeknownst to Bret, Vince along with Michaels, Triple H and Earl Hebner had conspired to get the title off of Hart without him knowing it. When Shawn had Bret in Bret's own finishing move, the Sharpshooter, Hebner called for the bell and awarder the match to Michaels. Hart had been screwed and he was justifiably furious and upset about it.

It would take him years to fully get over what became known as 'The Montreal Screwjob'. WWE didn't have to do that to Bret, a faithful servant to the company for thirteen years. They could have had him drop the belt cleanly the next night but they felt they needed to show their power.