20 Most Infamous Real Life Wrestling Fights Of All Time
2. Bret Hart Vs. Vince McMahon (1997)
The story of the Montreal Screwjob has been told many times, but to reduce it to the briefest version possible: McMahon got cold feet on Bret's 20-year, $1.5 million per annum contract and decided to pull the plug a year into the deal, forcing Hart out of the WWF and into WCW.
The problem was that McMahon had recently put the WWF Championship on Hart and now needed a way to get it off him. Hart was able to refuse any ideas he did not like the sound of due to a unique and never-to-be-repeated creative control clause in his contract, leaving them at loggerheads. McMahon asked Hart to drop the title to Shawn Michaels, Hart refused because Michaels had recently disrespected him in front of the dressing room (and the pair had been at war all year anyway, battling for McMahon's affections and the position of the WWFs alpha male). Worried that Eric Bischoff was about to announce the signing of the WWF Champion with WCW, and with no solution forthcoming, McMahon decided to take matters into his own hands and ring the bell on Hart at Survivor Series, taking the belt from him without Hart's consent.
Bret was furious. After trying to smash his way into McMahon's locked office, he went to get showered, only to be told by Rick Rude and Davey Boy Smith that McMahon was in the locker room and wanted to talk to him. Hart told them to pass on the message that he needed to get out of there before he got hurt, but McMahon was bullish and did not heed the warning.
Hart came out of the shower and warned McMahon that once he was dressed he was going to punch him if he was still there. McMahon did not move as Hart slowly got dressed, hoping Vince would leave so that he didn't have to lay him out. By the time he had laced up his shoes, he had nothing left to put on, so he stood up and went nose-to-nose with McMahon.They locked up as if they were in a wrestling match, then Hart stepped back and launched McMahon with an uppercut to the jaw that took him off his feet and sent him crashing onto the carpeted floor.
Hart had realised he only had one shot at Vince before others intervened, and with McMahon's team stood around waiting to pull him off, he decided against an overhead punch because he assumed they would grab his arm and prevent it. As soon as McMahon hit the floor, Hart yelled at his hangers-on to get him out of there before he finished him off with his metal knee brace, warning Gerald Brisco and Shane McMahon that they would be next if they did not comply.
Immediately, Bret was a locker room hero. He was the one man in history who had been able to punch Vince McMahon in the mouth, a dream long held by territorial promoters everywhere.
Winner: Bret Hart