Bret Hart Says Punching Vince McMahon After Montreal Screwjob As 'Greatest Thing' He Has Ever Done; 'It Was The Sweetest...'
Former WWF champion Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart revisits the Montreal Screwjob incident and claims he has no regrets about knocking Vince McMahon out backstage, which he considers his greatest achievement.
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Former WWF champion and Hall of Famer Bret Hart is one of the biggest names in world professional wrestling, and he’ll always be remembered as one of the best technical professional wrestlers.
One more thing that has been part of his life and will always be remembered as one of the most infamous incidents is the Montreal Screwjob. In 1997, Bret Hart was backstabbed by Vince McMahon and WWE management, as he was told before going into the ring that he was supposed to win and the WWE played him, and the referee called off the match against him, which led to Bret Hart breaking character and spitting in the face on Vince McMahon live.
Recently, while talking to the Attitude Era Podcast, Bret Hart opened his heart and talked about ‘The Montreal Screwjob.' He revealed he was defeated after WWE betrayed him, and even after contributing significantly to the company, he was treated poorly.
Despite all the chaos, Bret Hart claimed that punching Vince McMahon and knocking out Cold backstage after the betrayal is still his greatest achievement. The Hitman expressed that he stood tall and respected what he did after what happened to him at Survivor Series 1997, even after he contributed greatly to the organization. He listened to people disregarding his actions, as The Undertaker once claimed that WWE had no other way to pull that card, and they had no other options left.
Bret Hart further stated how Vince McMahon could have fixed the situation as he had six more weeks on his WWE contract, “I had another six weeks left on my contract. There were a million things that could have been done. It was a case of liars, cheaters, backstabbers, and guys that made that moment happen. Shawn, Triple H, Vince McMahon. I wish I had knocked them all out. I have no regrets. It was the single greatest thing I ever did.”
Bret Hart further talked about the backstage chaos after Survivor Series 1997. Vince McMahon actually came and confronted Hart in the locker room, where after exchanging words, he and Vince McMahon got into an actual wrestling match, and then he landed a clean uppercut on the face of Vince McMahon. With that punch, he lifted McMahon one foot in the air and broke his hand. Bret Hart ended the conversation by saying, “It was the sweetest punch I ever threw. I wouldn’t change anything about it. Vince McMahon can rot in hell.”
Bret Hart even revealed an incident when Jimmy Snuka shook hands with Hart and said he wanted to shake the hand off the guy who knocked Vince McMahon, as he had betrayed many talents and buried them in the past. Everyone talked about punching Vince, but the only man to do it was Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart.
The Montreal Screwjob is one of the most controversial incidents in professional wrestling. It happened 26 years ago at Survivor Series 1997, when Bret “The Hitman” Hart was booked to defend his title against the heartbreak kid Shawn Michaels.
The match was supposed to be one of Bret Hart's final matches in WWE. An official and Vince McMahon told him he was going to win the match, but in the final moments of the match, Shawn Michaels kept Bret Hart locked in his Sharpshooter. Before Bret could counter, the referee called the match off, and Shawn Michaels was announced as the winner.
Bret Hart was blank and visibly great-broken when he saw the referee announce HBK as the winner. Disheartened, he spit on Vince McMahon's face and even wrote WCW with his hands in the air, just after analyzing that he had been backstabbed and baited by WWE management.
Later, in 2010, Bret Hart buried all his bad blood with WWE and Vince McMahon and made his way back to the company. He even wrestled a match against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 26 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame the same year.
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