[TheQuestionaire]

There are a lot of people that still believe it is real. There are tons of arguments for this , the timing of the documentary, The perfect camera work during the match. Vince for some reason being out there, Bret having so many promos about people screwing him before this and the fact that no one really lost. I ultimately believe that only Bret and Vince are the people that knew everything and the rest didn't know Bret knew.

My main reason for why this is all a work is this; Whenever something happens that Vince disapproves of,he makes it his mission to almost never mention any of it in any way. Meanwhile this one thing about Montreal they just keep headlining. They will do revisionism on the MNWs they will say Austin was bigger than Hogan or the like, But Montreal for some reason doesn't have a changed narrative at all.
So that is why I believe it is a work, Vince will make it his mission to make sure you forget something he doesn't want you to remember

 

[[The_Game]]

I believe it’s real. Bret knew something might happen that night, he had a feeling. Checked with the ref earl hebner before who had told him that he wouldn’t do anything to screw him over, swore on his kids or something. And then it happened. Brets called earl a coward on interviews after from his heart. And you can tell the way bret speaks about the incident, that it’s authentic.

 

[Freelancer]

Listen to the Cornette omnibus about it, he goes into detail. Basically Vince wanted the belt off Bret just so Bischoff couldn't announce that they signed the current WWF champion the next night. He wasn't worried at all about Bret pulling a Madusa cause that wasn't happening.

 

[-Slick-]

Yes, there is

 

[Dr. Jones]

If Shawn Michaels hadn't opened his drug addled, insecure, miserable mouth and told Bret that he wouldn't lose to him(even though he was never asked to) in the summer of 97, the whole situation never would've happened. Bret would've lost to Shawn on the way out and gone to WCW undamaged and started fresh from there

But Shawn just had to be a miserable prick and symbolically spit in Bret's face when Bret had just told him that he would put him over

 

[Rocklamps9]

If Shawn Michaels hadn't opened his drug addled, insecure, miserable mouth and told Bret that he wouldn't lose to him(even though he was never asked to) in the summer of 97, the whole situation never would've happened. Bret would've lost to Shawn on the way out and gone to WCW undamaged and started fresh from there

But Shawn just had to be a miserable prick and symbolically spit in Bret's face when Bret had just told him that he would put him over

The issue here is all of that is heresay. My coworker Bernard may have told everyone that I used to smuggle corn dogs across several states in exchange for cat clothes. However, not everyone is really going to believe I smuggled corn dogs in exchange for cat clothes just because Bernard made that statement. So we really don't know for sure what happened without being there ourselves.

 

[A PG Attitude]

Bret has too much integrity to lie about a work for so long. How it happened is how it happened. There's a reason Bret hates Triple H so much.

 

[OwenSES]

If it's a work then what's the point? Who does it benefit? Shawn looks like a shit champion because he couldn't beat Bret, and Bret is the hottest guy in the industry and the real world champion, and he isn't even under contract with WWE anymore.

 

[Jets4Life]

The movie that the OP speaks about "Wrestling With Shadows" debut on A&E in 1998. The WWE actually tried to get a court injunction to prevent it from being shown or sold in the US. When that did not work, they tried to bury the film from the producers, in hopes of burying it. The WWE was somewhat successful in preventing it from being sold at local retailers, as they threatened to yank their merchandise off the shelves of any place that sold the documentary.

WCW and Bischoff actually wanted to buy the documentary since it was about Bret Hart, who was under contract with WCW when it came out in 98. They ultimately declined due to the ongoing lawsuit WWE had against WCW at the time, and Bischoff thought that the documentary portrayed McMahon as "the evil boss" he had been doing with Austin for much of the year, and was afraid that it would benefit WWE.

I think all talk about Montreal being a work should have died out after Owen Hart died in 1999. After that, and the lawsuits against McMahon, it was pretty obvious that it was not a work. Besides, Hart was not known as the typical wrestling carny, and many felt he took himself too seriously. Even HBK, HHH, and others have admitted that they were in on the screwjob.

PS...why is the OP even discussing this in 2023? It's been over 25 years, and it's all but a forgone conclusion that it was real.

What's next? Owen hart faked his own death, and is living in Mexico?

 

[Dr. Jones]

The issue here is all of that is heresay. My coworker Bernard may have told everyone that I used to smuggle corn dogs across several states in exchange for cat clothes. However, not everyone is really going to believe I smuggled corn dogs in exchange for cat clothes just because Bernard made that statement. So we really don't know for sure what happened without being there ourselves.

Bret has been telling this exact same story for 25 years. Shawn has never denied saying it and admits he was so pilled up all the time, that he doesn't remember much. And Prichard(who likes both guys) said that Shawn would go out of his way to say and do things just to piss people off and get under their skin

I would put the probability of this actually happening at about 90%

 

[Mustard]

Not this again! If it was a work, nothing that happened afterwards makes any sense. Bret was bitter for years, until he was in a hospital bed after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2002. In between, Bret had separated, united, separated, reunited etc. and then divorced from his first wife Julie, had been misused for most of his career in WCW, had his career ended with severe concussions, had lost many friends and family members who had passed away.

The Montreal Screwjob was a shoot.

 

[Germanys Own]

There are a lot of people that still believe it is real.

The main reason people believe it's real is because it's real.

 

[gillbergisback]

Not a work just Vince playing Hart like a fiddle and getting him to create the greatest heel in wrestling history.

 

[Rozzop]

I can imagine Bret knew he was getting screwed but went along with it.

There is no way he is positioning himself to receive the sharpshooter under the threat of a screwy finish. Earl Hebner being the ref or not. No way. In fact had anybody ever gave Bret the sharpshooter before this?

 

[Seafort]

There are a lot of people that still believe it is real. There are tons of arguments for this , the timing of the documentary, The perfect camera work during the match. Vince for some reason being out there, Bret having so many promos about people screwing him before this and the fact that no one really lost. I ultimately believe that only Bret and Vince are the people that knew everything and the rest didn't know Bret knew.

My main reason for why this is all a work is this; Whenever something happens that Vince disapproves of,he makes it his mission to almost never mention any of it in any way. Meanwhile this one thing about Montreal they just keep headlining. They will do revisionism on the MNWs they will say Austin was bigger than Hogan or the like, But Montreal for some reason doesn't have a changed narrative at all.
So that is why I believe it is a work, Vince will make it his mission to make sure you forget something he doesn't want you to remember

I’ve considered this. Let’s assume it was a work.

1. Bret and Vince were in on it. But only them. It serves two potential purposes - helping to launch Bret’s WCW run (a nice sweetener for him) and it solidifies Vince as the evil owner.

2. It’s such a work that even Davey and Neidhart don’t know it’s a work. They leave WWE, with Davey paying six figures to get out of his deal.

2. But, this work becomes even harder to disclose. Davey suffers a serious injury in WCW in the fall of 1998, and he’s only there because Bret lied.

3. Owen dies in May 1999, and Bret’s kayfabe anger turns real. Bret blames Vince for his brother’s death, and any chance that the work is revealed goes out the window.

 

[[The_Game]]

I can imagine Bret knew he was getting screwed but went along with it.

There is no way he is positioning himself to receive the sharpshooter under the threat of a screwy finish. Earl Hebner being the ref or not. No way. In fact had anybody ever gave Bret the sharpshooter before this?

There was no reason to think anything of it, as far as I recall wasn’t an instant in those times before the event where the ref called for the bell before the match was legitimately over. Even if part of a script, however this was done a couple of times after the screwjob happened but in a scripted fashion. Things like mankind quitting without quitting, and there was other instances of vince calling for the bell without a legitimate finish. But this was all after the screwjob.

 

[Seafort]

Not this again! If it was a work, nothing that happened afterwards makes any sense. Bret was bitter for years, until he was in a hospital bed after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2002. In between, Bret had separated, united, separated, reunited etc. and then divorced from his first wife Julie, had been misused for most of his career in WCW, had his career ended with severe concussions, had lost many friends and family members who had passed away.

The Montreal Screwjob was a shoot.

I would hold out a sliver of possibility that it was a work at the time, but the events that happened afterwards led to such animosity that it became a shoot. Bret would have been far to embarrassed to admit it was a work. Vince - always wanting that eventual return - would not disclose that it was a work so as to avoid antagonizing Bret (who would have denied it anyway).

Or even if the events that took place in 1998-1999 had not happened, there might have always been the gentleman’s agreement that the work would never be disclosed.

That said, one of the things going against it being a work is simply this - the risk.

In a work scenario it’s more likely Vince would have suggested the idea of the Montreal Screwjob. If that’s the case, he’s removed his trump card for getting the belt off of Bret in ring ..:if Bret says no. Having suggested it, Bret would be alerted to the very real possibility of a Screwjob.

 

[Mustard]

When Bret had the concussions in WCW in December 1999 - January 2000, he mentioned how many wrestlers thought that he was putting it on when he sometimes slurred his speech (i.e. suggesting that it was a work and not a shoot). Bret could see that the business had gotten to the point where so many people inside the business just couldn't tell what was real and what was storyline.

And Bret was ahead of his time there. He was talking a lot in 2000-2001 about his concussion problem and how serious it was in having ended his career. The truth of the matter is that at that time, i.e. 2000, an arm injury was considered more serious than a concussion.

 

[stew mack]

If Shawn Michaels hadn't opened his drug addled, insecure, miserable mouth and told Bret that he wouldn't lose to him(even though he was never asked to) in the summer of 97, the whole situation never would've happened. Bret would've lost to Shawn on the way out and gone to WCW undamaged and started fresh from there

But Shawn just had to be a miserable prick and symbolically spit in Bret's face when Bret had just told him that he would put him over

lmfao such a shawn thing to do... like when jon snow admits he can only serve 1 queen

 

[ClassicFan]

The movie that the OP speaks about "Wrestling With Shadows" debut on A&E in 1998. The WWE actually tried to get a court injunction to prevent it from being shown or sold in the US. When that did not work, they tried to bury the film from the producers, in hopes of burying it. The WWE was somewhat successful in preventing it from being sold at local retailers, as they threatened to yank their merchandise off the shelves of any place that sold the documentary.

WCW and Bischoff actually wanted to buy the documentary since it was about Bret Hart, who was under contract with WCW when it came out in 98. They ultimately declined due to the ongoing lawsuit WWE had against WCW at the time, and Bischoff thought that the documentary portrayed McMahon as "the evil boss" he had been doing with Austin for much of the year, and was afraid that it would benefit WWE.

I think all talk about Montreal being a work should have died out after Owen Hart died in 1999. After that, and the lawsuits against McMahon, it was pretty obvious that it was not a work. Besides, Hart was not known as the typical wrestling carny, and many felt he took himself too seriously. Even HBK, HHH, and others have admitted that they were in on the screwjob.

PS...why is the OP even discussing this in 2023? It's been over 25 years, and it's all but a forgone conclusion that it was real.

What's next? Owen hart faked his own death, and is living in Mexico?

I have that documentary on VHS, so stopping the sale of it didn't work so well. Great film.