8 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Recreate Their Past Success
2. Montreal Screws With Our Patience
They just won’t let it die.
Here’s a timeline for you: the Montreal Screwjob occurred in 1997. Bret Hart’s relationship with WWE began to repair when he was inducted into the hall of fame in 2006. Hart and Shawn Michaels reconciled on-screen in January of 2010.
Yet despite any of the bad blood (and thus, mystique) surrounding Montreal dissipating a whopping seven-and-a-half years ago, even as recently as last year, WWE love to re-do the Screwjob... mainly just for giggles, it seems.
It started at Survivor Series in 1998, and it was sort of effective there. The Rock and Mankind were in the tournament final for the WWF Championship, and just like he did a year prior, Vince McMahon had the referee ring the bell while the Rock had Foley in the sharpshooter. Rocky turned heel and became the corporate champion. Ok, fair enough, it was a good way for The Rock to turn heel and it continued the ongoing Corporation storyline.
In 2009, at Breaking Point in Montreal, CM Punk defended his World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker. Initially, Punk tapped to the hell’s gate submission, but SmackDown GM Teddy Long restarted the match due to hell’s gate being an illegal hold. Then, Punk got ‘Taker in the anaconda vice, and the referee called for the bell despite there being no tap. Why? ...well, the show was in Montreal. Really, that’s the best explanation anyone can give.
And then, at Payback 2016, Charlotte and Natalya fought for the Women’s championship with Ric Flair and Bret Hart in their respective corners. And guess what? Since Bret was there, they did the screwjob beat for beat, this time, with referee Charles Robinson conspiring with the Flairs. So aside from the lame reference to major WWE lore, we also have esoteric inclusion of Charles Robinson’s love for Ric Flair (seriously, go look up Lil Naitch if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
Point is: WWE will not let it go, much to everyone’s chagrin. The Montreal Screwjob is an overdone, lame talking point nowadays, and frankly, everyone except Vince and co. have moved on. It’s embarrassing.