Posts
How do you make an otherwise forgettable event the most infamous pay-per-view in professional wrestling history?
A simple answer: screw over the man who is about to go over to the competition!
The real answer is much more complicated. It’s fallout would ultimately impact the professional wrestling scene forever.
Raw emotion struck during this time wouldn’t be fully resolved until well into the new millennium. Today, on the 15th anniversary of the most infamous wrestling double-cross ever, this piece will reflect the decisions and the trauma behind the most argued piece of shoot ever devised. This will feel almost as cold as a normal winter’s day in the Canadian province of Quebec.
If anyone wants to doubt how bad the financial state the WWE was at this time, look no further than the Screwjob.
Vince McMahon, in full-out desperation, signed Bret Hart to an exclusive 20-year contract just the year before. McMahon did it because not only would it ensure Bret’s loyalty, but Vince also knew that WCW wouldn’t know what to do with a Bret Hart.
The terms of the contract stipulated that Bret would be paid “x” amount one year, then as time went on, he would get a somewhat smaller sum. Keep in mind that this is upfront costs, and does not the additional bonuses Bret would most likely accrue from merchandise plus other odds and ends.
Sadly for Vince, this was a contract he wasn’t able to keep.
In the summer of 1997, right after the Summerslam event when Bret won his fifth World Wrestling Federation Championship, Vince talked to Bret. McMahon laid out his folly, and told Bret he was free to look at other employment opportunities.
Behind the scenes, Bret didn’t want to go. While he has had his fair share of personal drama and bullshit with members of the roster (i.e: Shawn Michaels), the WWE had primarily been his home base for well over a decade. He was built from the ground up, and pulled through every rank there was. Bret was looked upon as a leader to the boys, and inspiration when times got rough.
For the state of the company though, times were indeed VERY rough.
WCW came from the trenches and established itself as the dog to beat. Between the Ric Flair and Randy Savage angle at the end of 1995, to the not-so-humble beginnings of the nWo, the Georgia-based juggernaut was growing exponentially.
Almost to the point of putting the Connecticut-based WWE out of business!
Vince had to cut Bret because not only was WWE losing money, but also viewed Bret as a growing liability due to age. Bret had just turned the big 4-0, while other men in their twenties and early thirties were just starting to hit their stride.
As noted, Bret was given the option to look for other work. Bret had sent his notice, and uneasy tensions were quickly surfacing.
The 1997 Survivor Series was heavily hyped around the rematch from WrestleMania XII. Only this time, Bret and Shawn were not only enemies on screen, but they were even worse at odds off it. Without getting too far into it, let’s say that most of the locker room was firmly on the side of Bret while Shawn and his Kliq were viewed as outcasts of power.
Originally, the outcome of the match was seen to have Shawn and Bret battle to a double-disqualification. It seemed as if everyone had agreed on the plan…
Until Vince called a meeting.
In a nutshell, this was where the Screwjob was orchestrated. Shawn was in on it, but had no hand in the decision making. Shawn, as much as as he despised Bret, didn’t really want to go through with this because the locker room hated him to begin with, and the reaction to this would be an upheaval of the guard.
Shawn told Earl what to do, and from Shawn’s autobiography, it was described as if Earl aged many years during this transaction.
Before the match started, Shawn turned into the most heinous dick ever conceived in Canada. He had consecrated the Canadian flag in many fashioned, into up and including simulated humping. Of course this was in design to make Bret look like a proud hero in his home country.
The main flow of the match was a brawl, interrupted with a few sound technical maneuvers. Then Shawn put Bret in the sharpshooter…
In the main script of the match, Bret was going to go to the ropes, and the match would continue on until the DQ.
As we all know, Vince McMahon (who had been at ringside the duration of the contest) ordered Earl to “RING THE FUCKING BELL!”
Bret looked confused, lost, and shell-shocked when the bell rang. Shawn had a startled face himself, but in reality was a mask of knowing that the plan had worked.
Vince handed Shawn the belt, and with many legitimate road agents at hand, they all walked behind the curtain the masterminds of the greatest shoot in wrestling history.
Garbage filled the ring like a blizzard, and Bret went around destroying the tables at ringside not unlike the nWo did on WCW earlier in the year.
The shit really hit the fan (and I don’t mean the forum) backstage. Vince McMahon was confronted by Bret, and was socked in the face. Vince was struck down in vain, but let’s not forget that all Vince was trying to do was cover his ass so his champion couldn’t defect to WCW with the title at hand. It was only the year before were Alundyra Blaze, aka Madusa, went to Nitro and threw the not-so-prestigious WWE’s Women’s Championship in the trash can!
And they did!
The albatross known as RAW in Toronto took place live the following night. Seriously, I’m not telling going to tell you the synopsis of the show because it was so bad. Shawn looked drunker than drunk, the ever-eloquent Commissioner Slaughter was babbling needlessly, and it seemed like jobbers were all over the show. This was the absolute lowest point for the WWE, not just for ratings but also in morale. It could not have looked worse for Vince and company.
Slowly but surely, WWE climbed out of its hole. Ironically, the man who legitimately screwed Bret Hart became the biggest heel by doing working screwjobs on a semi-regular basis.
As for Mr. Vincent K. McMahon, he stated that “Bret screwed Bret” the RAW after Survivor Series, and the fans gravitated towards him. He was evil, seedy, plus his intentions were biased one way or another. No one was safe in his path of destruction. The clientele includes names amongst the likes of Steve Austin, Goldust, Undertaker, Kane, etc.
In another note of irony, another plot of double-cross worked to great effect in one of the highest points of 1998. At THAT Survivor Series event, the Deadly Game tournament culminated in The Rock, long-standing Corporation enemy, versus Mankind, a fully-made-over character perceived to be in cahoots with Vince. Rock put Mankind in the sharpshooter…
And it was revealed that Rock was a patsy for the Master Plan of Vince’s! It signaled the arrival of Dwayne Johnson in the upper echelon of the WWE, and Mick Foley was hot in pursuit. The Deadly Game solidified the future of the WWE, with establishment of the main event secure.
As for Shawn Michaels, he would pay the price of winning the WWE title, but in a different fashion. Over the next little while, Shawn would experience back pain getting a little more intense. Add in the casket bump from the Royal Rumble the following January, and we have a champ who was damn near immobile.
As for Bret Hart, he would pay the price of going to WCW almost immediately. Hart was misused from day one. A botched introduction at WCW’s Starrcade would only be ominous of signs to come. Numerous injuries took their toll, and a brutal kick from Goldberg sealed the deal.
Bret would also suffer a stroke, one that forced him to relearn how to talk. WWE and Bret Hart did put aside their differences to make a career retrospective. That DVD is (as of this moment) the best WWE compilation ever made.
Bret’s feelings towards Shawn wouldn’t budge, even with the revelations of Shawn’s lifestyle revamp. At WrestleMania 22 weekend in 2006, Bret was inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, Bret only did it with the knowledge he couldn’t see Shawn in the audience, and that he kept away from Shawn during the show. Bret’s no-show of the big show gave him heat that rivaled almost all the heels on that event!
It wouldn’t be until 2010 where the past finally came to rest. Shawn and Bret aired their dirty laundry for all to see on national television, capped off with an emotional embrace. The two became friends, and even agreed to do a DVD based on their rivalry. It’s an excellent production, and if you want to purchase that, click here.
How do you make an otherwise forgettable event the most infamous pay-per-view in professional wrestling history?
A simple answer: by orchestrating an event that would shake the very foundation of the business for years to come.
The legacy of the screwjob has, and will always be, measured in how the business has changed. Vince McMahon was able to make a smashing positive out of what should have been a crushing negative. Viva La Attitude!
No comments:
Post a Comment