10 Wrestlers Who Knew They Were On The Way Out

3. Bret Hart (WWE Survivor Series 1997)

Montreal Screwjob
WWE.com

Bret Hart put both the "professional" and "wrestling" into "professional wrestling" to such an extent that you'd never know Survivor Series 1997 was going to be his last match as he entered. Sadly, thanks to the unscrupulous unprofessionalism of his boss, you f*cking knew by the time he'd left.

Hart and bitter rival Shawn Michaels had a somewhat underrated brawl before all the sh*t you've read about a million times kicked off. A literal title fight, 'The Hitman' and 'The Heartbreak Kid' had never meshed as well as when they were scrapping wildly through the Montreal crowd ahead of a mini-match that obviously reached its conclusion quicker than 'The Excellence Of Execution' was ready for.

Unable to do anything unless it was absolutely perfect, Hart clocked his situation quick enough to land a loogie right on Vince McMahon's face before the cameras cut. Whatever rumours had circled about his move to WCW were confirmed in that moment, even if the pay-per-view was off the air by the time he was signalling for it with his finger.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett