10 Times WWE Went Back On Big Decisions
1. Bret Hart’s Contract
On October 21, 1996, and amidst interest from WCW, Bret Hart signed a staggering 20-year contract with the World Wrestling Federation worth more than $1million per year. And yet, just 13 months later he was out the door following the most infamous screwjob in the business' history.
One year into that lengthy contract, Vince McMahon apparently realised that $20million is, in fact, an awful lot of money. Meanwhile, and conveniently for McMahon, Hart was reported to be unhappy about the company’s "cruder" new direction. As such, when WCW came snooping once more, McMahon – having decided one and for all that $20million wasn’t actually within his budget – encouraged Hart to make the jump and negotiate the best deal he could for himself.
In isolation, that all sounds fairly amicable. Of course, come the end of Survivor Series’ 97, the situation looked rather different after McMahon had double-crossed Hart and legitimately screwed him over on live television in the most written-about controversy pro wrestling has ever seen.
While there were a fair few factors that contributed to the Montreal Screwjob of November '97, McMahon’s apparent change of heart – no pun intended – regarding Bret’s contract was certainly a sizeable one.