lhama

As Cornette said. Dont book the match. Have Hart loose it to Shamrock, who then looses it to HBK.

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Thank you for your irrelevant opinion

RyanPelley

That seems the most logical. Austin didn't wanna drop the Title to Triple H in 1999, so that's what they did, with Mankind involved.

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blarg_

Is this really the official story? I wonder why they didn't just have HHH get the pinfall on Mankind during the triple threat. Austin would've still looked strong since he didn't eat the pinfall, and it wouldnt have changed a damn thing in the storyline. Always wondered why they gave Mankind a 1 day title reign..

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humanracer25

Off topic here but I was told it was because Ventura did not want to raise the hand of a heel so a babyface had to win it.

Fid

To avoid the screwjob altogether I would of had Bret lose the belt a week or two before Survivor Series. While Bret may of not been fond of dropping the belt to Shawn. Then have a rematch at the Montreal show and have it end in the DQ as originally planned. Don't think there was a lot of different options.

And I believe it was in Wrestling With Shadows that Bret was talking to his wife and said Vince called and wants out of their deal in 1997. That Bret should call WCW and see if a previous offer still stands. So by that standard I'm sure the screwjob was swimming through Vince's mind weeks before Survivor Series.

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The_Jiz

Vince and Michaels had it in for Bret from the get go.

Why did they give the title to Bret?
Why does it have to be Hart v HBK when Bret was open to dropping the title to Undertaker, Mankind, and even Stone Cold?
Why was it Hitman v HBK when they were BOTH heels? [Bookings like this rarely happened back then].

ChocolatePain

Honestly, why would you want to avoid the screw job? It gave Mr. McMahon tremendous heat which turned him into the top heel in the WWF. It all set up Austin vs. McMahon perfectly.

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You lost today kid, but that doesn't mean you have to like it.

dave 1981

1. WWE put the title back on Bret Hart because Bret Hart asked to do a storyline where if he lost he would never wrestle in America again. They first tried the storyline going into King Of The Ring which was meant to be Michaels/Hart and Austin/Pillman but because of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart having their real life fight in Hartford that match never happened and they did Austin/Michaels instead. They then did it with Undertaker/Hart instead but the plan was always to build towards Michaels/Hart at Survivor Series which is why they had Bret Hart win against The Undertaker as he did so they could do Michaels/Undertaker and keep Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart apart until Survivor Series.

2. Stone Cold Steve Austin only came back at Survivor Series and was tied up with Owen Hart whilst The Undertaker was deep in the storyline with Kane and Mankind was a non starter. People don't seem to realise that Michaels/Hart was THE biggest feud that WWE had at that time because of the real life situation and the history on screen and off screen and WWE was in a bad way financially so Michaels/Hart simply HAD to happen business wise as well as storyline wise.

3. Back in 1997 the whole face/heel, black/white thing was blurred into shades of grey and faces feuded with faces and heels feuded with heels as Austin/Pillman as far back as late 1996 shows. Because of the history between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart it didn't matter about a heel/heel thing as the fact was they hated each other and that made the feud rather than who was face and who was heel. Other heel/heel feuds from around that time were Austin/Pillman, Mankind/Kane and Bulldog/Owen just to name three off the top of my head so heel/heel feuds were not so rare that Michaels/Hart shouldn't happen.

To say Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon had it in for Bret Hart from the start is very wrong because it wasn't until late 1996 that there was even a real problem between the two and up until then they had been working everyone from WrestleMania 12. As seen in another thread which shows Bret Hart is still bitter he found it hard to accept he wasn't the top guy anymore yet complains about the older wrestlers not putting him over when he had just become the top guy. Whilst Shawn Michaels had no love for Bret Hart he was actually the least involved in setting it all up as it was an idea by Triple H that Vince McMahon pushed through, Shawn Michaels was the guy that had to pull the trigger as has been said and because he was the one who had problems with Bret Hart he got way much more hate than was actually deserved.

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paulborklaserheyma

Nah, Bret Hart refused to job when he was leaving.
Yes, HBk refused to job to Bret Hart also, but the important thing is that HBK was not leaving, Bret was.
Shawn Michaels screwing Bret Hart was right decision.

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nazzac

The Montreal screwjob was a blessing in disguise for wwe. It established Vince as the evil boss, and it helped boost the biggest feud of the attitude era (Austin-McMahon)

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