What do people mean when they refer to Montreal?

In 1997, WCW wanted to sign Bret Hart, after seriously considering their lucrative offer, Bret decide to stay with the WWF and signed a 25 year contract they had drawn up for him.

At WWF Summerslam 1997, in August, Bret was crowned WWF World Champion for the 5th time. Behind the Scene’s however, the WWF weren’t in a great financial position and Vince McMahon told Hart that he couldn’t afford to stick to this massive contract.

Bret was allowed to renegotiate with WCW and agreed to switch promotions in November.

At the 1997 WWF Survivor Series in Montreal, Bret Hart was due to go up against Shawn Michaels in defence of the World title. The following night on Nitro, however, WCW were planning to, and entitled to, announce their latest capture.

Vince McMahon desperately didn’t want WCW to announce the deal, whilst Bret was still WWF Champion, so he tried to persuade Bret to drop the Title to Shawn.

Not wanting to do the job, and especially not in Canada, Bret refused, saying he would lose to anyone, any other time, any other place, but not at the Survivor Series and not in Canada. Eventually Vince McMahon and Bret Hart agreed on a finish, Shawn would put Bret in the Sharpshooter, Bret would reverse it, they would fight for a few more minutes and then the Hart Foundation would cause a DQ finish.

Bret was worried before the match and talked to WWF referee and long time friend, Earl Hebner. Earl told Bret he would lose his job rather than screw him over.

As the PPV started, there was a notable absentee from the commentators booth. For the first time in a long, long while, Vince McMahon was not sat with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. The Match started as planned, the Home favourite Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels producing a solid opening.

With ten or fifteen minutes on the clock, Vince McMahon and his associates turned up at ringside. Minutes later, with Bret in the planned Sharpshooter, Earl Hebner signalled for the Submission, Vince McMahon called for the timekeeper to "Ring the damn bell". Earl Hebner jumped out of the ring and left the arena.

Bret Hart was still reversing the hold when the bell rang, he looked shocked, as did Shawn Michaels, and walked towards Vince. He spat on him from the ring. Moments later, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart, on standby for their DQ-causing run in, ran to the ring aware of a problem. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna quickly followed and left with Shawn Michaels, who was instructed to hold up the belt.

As the show went off the air with Bret thanking the crowd, and apparently making finger letters W-C-W, the repercussions were happening backstage. Bret Hart confronted Shawn Michaels who insisted he knew nothing of it, Shawn was heard saying, "I don’t want the belt this way", before Bret tackled Vince McMahon. Rumour has it that Bret punched Vince, knocking him out.

Bret Hart, who left the WWF for WCW, says McMahon double-crossed him, while McMahon said he did what was right for business, and that "Bret screwed Bret."

Debate over how much of that incident was real, and how much was part of a storyline, is still ongoing, however I think the state of Hart’s career since and the way he has never gotten over ‘Montreal’ lead me to believe that there was no work involved. I also believe that Shawn Michaels was in on the plan too.

The argument about who is to blame will rumble on for a long, long time. It is obvious that Vince McMahon double-crossed Bret, but I have sympathy with his reasons. Bret Hart was not going to do what was best for the WWF, so Vince did. I think the fortunes of Bret Hart and the WWF since indicate that it was a wise decision, however unfair to Bret Hart.

Bret Hart beat Ric Flair on Oct. 12, 1992 in Saskatoon, Canada in a match that didn't air on TV (it was taped for Coliseum Home Video) to begin his first WWF Title reign. It was a surprise title switch as previously it was believed that Bret wasn't considered WWF Title material by Vince McMahon. The move may have been prompted by difficult negotiations with Ultimate Warrior. Warrior was scheduled to face Ric Flair in WWF Title matches at upcoming house shows, but in order to take leverage away from Warrior, they switched the house show matches to Bret Hart defending against Ric Flair.