"They Had To Do It..." The Undertaker Talks Montreal Screwjob

What do you think WWE could've done differently with The Montreal Screwjob?
#undertaker #wwe #wrestling #ufc #wwesuperstar #sixfeetunder #podcast

[@jamesibz]

I enjoy watching old wrestlers talk about the 90s more than I like to watch wrestling now

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

You and the rest of the world that actually loves wrestling for what it should be and once was. I can't watch any of it now for a variety of reasons, the surrender of kayfabe chief among those reasons. It was so much more fun with the storylines being stuck to properly.

[@jdb8383]

Conrad Thompson has built an empire off of it, and I agree with you.

[@mike_datzmag1c21]

Completely agree, I’ll sometimes watch PPVs depending if it looks watchable but I’ll still run back episodes from ‘96 - ‘03(at the latest)

[@kingkoopa8616]

Thats not a wild statement at all

[@kingkoopa8616]

Raw vs nitro is still the best era of wrestling

[@JRebels]

One of my favorite quotes is “don’t party like a rockstar if you can’t wake up for the concert”

[@jpVari]

What's the connection to this event lmao

[@murphylhunn]

As Ryan Locte says, "if youre gonna be a man at night, you gotta be a man in the morning"

[@JRebels]

@@jpVari ha ha so funny, I guess you didn’t watch the entire clip, if you did it would make sense…

[@kaineshigaraki5253]

@@JRebelsI guess you just can’t explain it yourself.

[@kaineshigaraki5253]

@@jpVari​​⁠They ask Taker if he took wrestling as seriously as Bret did. Taker said yes. He then shared the idea that if you were going to be out all night, you better still perform the next day.

[@TheRealBanner64]

I'd give anything to just sit down and bring a bottle of Jack and just have a conversation with Mark Calaway.

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

God you sound dorky lol. He wouldn't want to talk to you, why would you think he would?

[@moejassimm]

@@jarlwhiterun7478 you good bro?

[@cockynanderson]

@@jarlwhiterun7478 Everything ok? Did someone hurt you? Go get some fresh air, take a walk or something. Just relax. It's not that serious.

[@glenmorgan4597]

​@cockynanderson the Internet brings out many a nutter

[@HI-DEF100]

Get an audience, some paper and reach out. Don’t think about it, DO IT

[@monkeyboy6590]

It's a shame that Montreal overshadows their careers. A Master Gunnery Seargent once told me, "One thousand attaboys can be knocked out by one Oh Shit moment."

[@herbythechef7624]

It doesnt really overshadow hbk becauae hbks career continued on a lot longer. People will always remember his wrestlemania matches

[@mimoe7587]

I definitely feel his matches are as remembered as the screw job. Especially in more recent years the hype of the screw job has died down compared to his great performances.

[@HurrikaneBEA5T]

Not really. He lasted maybe 4-5 months after. Karma came quick. He then gave us the best 8 years to finish his career and redeem himself. ​@@herbythechef7624

[@TheSophisticatedSavage]

It doesn't

[@wordonthestreetpodcast5472]

@@TheSophisticatedSavage😭at all they trying my to create a fake narrative

[@soul_Link12]

Man, every time I see Taker or hear him speak, I just respect him more and more. Mark is such a class act. Got through that entire career with his nose clean and his reputation intact, and anyone who knows anything about wrestling, that's really, REALLY saying something.

[@riptydeco]

It has been such a joy seeing him open up about the business in retirement. He is such a great storyteller and seems like a guy you’d love to just chill with for a day.

[@JRAYDABEAST]

This podcast has been awesome hearing all these stories

[@levimcdaniel]

This channel is just what I needed to get through my shoulder surgery/recovery. Taker was my favorite, and awesome to see him finally speaking on so many programs now that he is retired. Way more interesting than other wrestlers who always talked and did interviews during their careers.

[@froggyfrog93]

Hope you're doing well in your recovery ❤️

[@dashingdreww1185]

Remember Brett said he would have dropped the belt to Shawn but right after Brett told him that Shawn immediately said if the roles were reversed he wouldn’t drop it to him 😂

[@jarlwhiterun7478]

Bret*

[@joetamburello6292]

Doesn’t sound like he wanted to drop it to anyone to be honest

[@ericdemby4644]

Shawn was selfish. Bret was way more professional than Vince or Shawn. And I could understand Bret not wanting to drop the title in Canada if it was Texas Shawn wouldn't drop it. Bret got screwed whenever he wrestled Michaels

[@joetamburello6292]

@@ericdemby4644 Bret had vagina pain

[@jest3167]

@@ericdemby4644 If Bret was as professional as you claim there wouldn't of been a screwjob.......

[@Poppin023]

July 31 is the anniversary of Roddy Piper's passing. Would love to hear some Piper stories from Taker in a future episode around that date.

[@CONCERNEDcitizenforever]

No thanks… piper was a 🤡

[@SpaceGhost92]

Also my birthday

[@danielturner4394]

​@@CONCERNEDcitizenforeverblasphemy. 😂

[@CONCERNEDcitizenforever]

@@danielturner4394 3 likes to your 0

[@Gigadenza]

Mark is quite correct in his claim that Brett did not want to leave, according to a Storyville documentary. I saw some years ago, the negotiations were extremely protracted and even though Bishoff’s offer was for more money than Vince was able or prepared to match, Brett was willing to compromise with a set of stipulations in return for his commitment to the company he’d remained loyal to throughout his career. These included a reduction to his compulsory working hours and a specific number of reigns/or time as WWE champion (I think!) Vince initially accepted these terms only to then renege and suggest to Brett that it would be in his interest to reopen contractual discussions with WCW. After that, it became an acrimonious battle over whether Brett was going either to “surrender” or lose the belt before departing. Brett wished the latter, and I believe would have honoured such a pledge after his SSeries title bout, which could have just as easily ended in a DQ or count out victory for Michaels as a “clean win” for Brett. Though from Vince’s perspective, none of these scenarios would have avoided precipitating the promotionally damaging notion that Hart was voluntarily “resigning” as an undefeated champion and in so doing, affording “unearned lustre” to his arch rival brand. Personally, with or without hindsight and regardless of any subsequent legal developments, I’m still on Brett’s side, though purely from a business standpoint I can understand why Vince made the decision he did. Quite honestly, considering Brett’s consummate professionalism and passion for conveying his sport’s intricate story arcs and deep rooted drama, WCW must have felt like walking onto the set of a Starwars movie.. after Disney bought the franchise!

[@mmaduniya]

Bret has said that he had a month remaining in his contract after the screw job. He made his wcw debut on dec 16 while the screw job happened on Nov 9th. He could have easily dropped the belt to Taker in that month.

[@Gigadenza]

@@mmaduniya Then I guess had Vince been a little more circumspect he could have sanctioned an immediate rematch between Bret and Taker, at one of the interim PPVs between Summer Slam and the Survivor Series had Hart lose the belt then, or allow Bret to defeat Shawn in their SSeries clash and arranged a title changing bout with Taker before his contract expired, both of these would have compromised Taker’s storyline with Kane and likely meant either a very short title reign for UT..or delaying Kane’s debut at Taker & Shaun’s Hell In A Cell Match by at least two months…which might well have lessened the narrative’s momentum and thunderous impact of its central character! Nonetheless, it I’ve no doubt that Bret would have graciously accepted both of these scenarios despite Vince’s apparent duplicity in their negotiations to retain him, since it was evidently Hart’s perpetually fractious relationship with Michaels which most incurred his reluctance to relinquish the championship on native soil, whilst Bret and Mark’s mutual respect has barely wavered throughout their respective careers on a professional or personal level.

[@mmaduniya]

@@Gigadenza During this time, Kane regularly attacked Taker to get him to fight him. At "IN YOUR HOUSE PPV" instead of Taker vs Jeff Jarret and HBK vs Shamrock. We could have got HBK vs Taker with Kane costing Taker the championship. Shawn would be the champion. Kane vs taker story would have further progressed.

[@Alan-ms3kp]

The renegotiation was publicized as Bret getting a million dollars a year to stay. Afterwards it was publicized as Vince being unable to pay it given the market situation.

[@Gigadenza]

@@mmaduniya That would have been possible, however the PPV you’re referring to took place in December, almost two months after Kane’s debut at Taker & Shawn’s inaugural HIAC match, meaning that for Taker to be defending champion at that stage, he’d have had to have won the belt back off Bret in a rematch held at either of the In Your House events after Summerslam or the Survivor Series. This would have meant either; Delaying the Cell Match and Kane’s explosive introduction until December…when it would have still cost Taker victory over Shawn, but the storyline could well have lost momentum and left much less time to develop a credible ARC for Taker to return and fight Kane in their first ever match at WM14 Or Leaving the Cell Match scheduled at October’s Bad Blood (presumably still against Michael’s or possibly Hart) and allowing Kane’s first appearance and active interference to occur without costing Taker the title, which would again have lessened the character’s impact.

[@AB-ez4rm]

I would like to believe Bret would have done the right thing, but one can never know for sure. Plus I wasn't there and had no idea what the environment felt like.

[@shiningwizard202]

I think Bret is a genuinely good and honorable dude but I can also see from a business standpoint why Vince, in his mind, couldn’t afford to test that out. When you couple that with pilled up Shawn and Hunter in his ear, feels inevitable.

[@inviduallytwisted5423]

@@shiningwizard202 Also remember Nitro came on an hour before RAW, Vince didn't want Bischof starting off Nitro saying that WCW had signed the current WWF champ, even though Bischof gave Bret a verbal "I won't do that" but even to this day, Bischof remains very non-committal if he would have kept his word, Bischof usual response is "guess we'll never know"

[@peterjones2834]

Shawn was meant to lose to Bret the following mania but Shawn refused. Bret put him over but he would return the favour.

[@shiningwizard202]

@@peterjones2834 true. They talked about this in that documentary they did. Shawn owned up to mouthing off about “I would never put you over” and apologized. Bret acknowledged that he just wanted Michael’s respect. Shawn basically said the same thing. It’s a shame it took so long because another program with those two would’ve been stellar.

[@TL2354]

Bret wouldn't even do the right thing at Survivor Series

[@thomasdaddio741]

Always thought Brett was the best worker in the business... Hands down. Give the guy a gold watch and a pension, not a disrespect in his home town. Could of went down a few ways. Respect to Taker and his opinion, I can emphasize.

[@josephbauman1793]

Nah Shawn or perfect were better

[@jackwhitbread4583]

​​@@josephbauman1793they weren't though, even Shawn himself acknowledges between the 2 of them Bret was the much better wrestler but that he was the better entertainer. You can hate on Bret all you like but he was the best technical wrestler of all time and many pro wrestlers have stated so as well.

[@RKsolid5586]

I agree with your comment, except "his (Bret's) hometown". Montreal? I was born, raised, and still live in New Jersey. That would be like saying my hometown is Las Vegas.

[@TL2354]

Bret

[@jeffkearney3932]

You mean home country

[@hang1893]

And the fact that Bret was 40 when he left.... meaning.. if he stayed healthy. He could have easily gone til he was 50.we could have gotten ANOTHER 10 years of Bret Matches in WWE. I get mad just thinking about it.

[@cliffjones9922]

Yeah, we'd of get more Bret v Austin. Could of had Bret V Rock. Even Bret V Angle, what a match that would of been!

[@jaro4742]

Bret on Smackdown in 2002-2003 with Heyman booking and surrounded by talent like Angle, Rey, Eddie, Edge, Benoit, Brock, Taker, Rhyno, Tajiri, Prototype Cena, Orton, etc would have been incredible

[@LordBarros]

to be honest, I don't think Bret had 10 years after 40 regardless of the injury. A good five? Sure.

[@hang1893]

@@LordBarros based on what ? He still had a lot left the only reason he didn't is cjz he got his head kicked off by Goldberg . He had every chance to last til he was 50...freakin Sting lasted til 60. Stop it.

[@i2a7-of2ju]

​@@hang1893bret lost the passion in wcw some time before he got hit by goldberg he alr thought he would do it for some time more and then quit and he hated where wwf was going with sleazy storylines n stuff

[@dewiwilliams4821]

Bret didnt want to leave and in the contract Vince gave him Bret insisted on clause for last 30 days should vince want to terminate, which was mutual creative control, to avoid getting ruined on way out. Bret was 100% honest.

[@mindyourbuisness8104]

Losing the belt to the guy you don't want to is not being ruined it was an egotistical move that WCW should of capitalized on like the wwf did

[@dewiwilliams4821]

@mindyourbuisness8104 no, the clause was there as a safeguard against being ruined. Refusing to do business for Shawn, given his contractual right and Shawn's ridiculous behaviour, is understandable in my opinion. I always understood, and the more I heard from Shawn, vince Hunter, and other stooges since, has only made me more sympathetic.

[@hiddensword9387]

@@dewiwilliams4821 Absolute crap. Bret was 40 and going off to get paid millions of dollars, he should of done business. His ego got in his way and he was a mark for himself. Nothing about getting beat would have ''ruined'' him, just an excuse to get one back at HBK. Not saying HBK wasn't being an arse but this is two grown men acting like children. Period.

[@dewiwilliams4821]

@hiddensword9387 what I said was actually fact mate, except the part about what I sympathise with.

[@nunyafuckinbizniz]

​@@hiddensword9387 you are a CLOWN

[@MikesGigDiary__]

Bret was under contract with the Fed until 23:59 December 7th. Survivor Series was not considered by anyone involved to be Bret's last day with the company. Bret had told Vince he would lose to belt to literally anyone from Steve Austin all the way down the the Brooklyn Brawler. He initially had agreed to lose to Shawn until Shawn told him there was no way he would lose to Bret. There was literally no way Bret was going to appear on the Nitro after Survivor Series. The proof of this is thay he did not, in fact, appear on thr Nitro after Survivor Series when he clearly would have had no greater motivation to do so.

[@alainsemaine9897]

Well said - finally, the facts ✅

[@italianstallion389]

Yea, taker could have been the transitional champion.

[@dxtremecaliber]

lmao "fed" but ye its right

[@joetamburello6292]

@@alainsemaine9897 you do what your employer tells you to do that’s just life

[@alainsemaine9897]

@@joetamburello6292 Bret had “reasonable creative control” in the final 30 days of his contract so….NO.

[@theodorelong9762]

I like to think that The Montreal Screw Job was a canon event in the world of wrestling. For WWE to be where it is now, it had to have happened.

[@THEDIVISIONbythedivisionbell]

It literally is. The screwjob and the following "Bret screwed Bret" promo by Vince were the sparkle for the birth of the Mr. McMahon character and the following global success and victory of the Monday Night War thanks to the Austin feud

[@seanhaxer5636]

The crappy thing about the Screwjob, the thing that stung the worst for Bret out of all of the injustices, angry phone calls, contentious meetings, fights with Shawn, is that the Screwjob only negatively affected him. WWE soared to new heights with Heel Vince and Anti-Authority Austin, Shawn got his karma for his actions later on sure, but still had a much longer career in spite of his retirement. Bret's career ended in just over two to three years, he was never used correctly again, given the respect he deserved, etc. Montreal only badly hurt Bret and to a lesser extent, his family. Everyone else benefitted from his suffering, which has got to be the worst injustice of them all. Edit: I don't even have to mention how bad 1999 was for Bret and his family do I?

[@wintertrooper7918]

And if the screwjpb didn't happen Brett would have still gone to WcW but would have struggled with how much of a clown show it was and would have gone back to WWF and that would have been a massive W for the federation one of wwf biggest stars left to the co.petition and came back he could have had all kinds of hammed interviews about how pathetic the biz was over there

[@jolenelutyck1422]

Bret, Undertaker & Randy Savage are my absolute favourites 👏🏻💕

[@jackwhitbread4583]

Bret, Taker and Mr Perfect for me. You have good taste though, Randy was an awesome wrestler too but Mr Perfect was my absolute favourite as a kid. Such a great wrestler to watch, all those men put on great performances every single time. Even the times they had to practically carry other wrestlers through matches.

[@ashtonthompson7154]

Huge fan taker ty so much for 30 years of the dead man...dead man ink was my favour tho

[@thezerowulf2046]

But not one night of the Dead man spinning

[@QCS_AdamCole]

1:03 1000% yes, I believe Bret would've done the right thing. He's too old school to do something that shady.

[@joshuabowen6919]

Then why not put his pride to the side and do business the right way? I'm just asking. I've always wondered how a son of a promotor doesn't want to do business and gets business done for him, but he is the one you should sympathize

[@QCS_AdamCole]

@@joshuabowen6919 it was the series of disrespectful behaviours from Shawn to Bret. This business is VERY mafia-like & respect is a HUGE aspect. I've personally snapped bones, removed piercings the hard way, etc over a matter of respect. Bret was in the right. You don't have the respect for me, I'm not gonna show you the respect by doing the favours for you...

[@joshuabowen6919]

@@QCS_AdamCole business is business and at the end of the day Bret didn't want to do it. I know Shawn was a disrespectful shithead, but you gotta man up and do the right thing and don't look at it as helping Shawn but helping the company that you have worked for how ever many years

[@QCS_AdamCole]

@@joshuabowen6919 it's a lot more convoluted than "business is business". The only way to fully understand it is to live it. I spent 17yrs living it. I stand by what I said, Bret did the right thing. Vince was in the wrong for forcing Shawn. As Taker said, it would've been an easy detour. Bret would have zero issue dropping it to Taker & if Vince wanted, they could've done some gaga with Hunter & Chyna, get the belt on Shawn & everyone could go their happy way. I firmly believe that Vince backstabbing Bret, followed by Owen is what broke Bret. And as bad as it is to say, the sloppy kick from Greenberg looks these days like a mercy killing.

[@mexmexican8619]

It’s not like Bret was on WCW the next day or even the next week. There was plenty of time for Vince to work something out with him.

[@shiningwizard202]

Bret already signed the contract.

[@lunarianpaladin6980]

How does Bret signing the contract prevent Vince from working something out with Bret? He still had the rest of November and December to figure something out. Bret deserved better than he got. Vince was the one that broke legal contract with Bret. The SS97 ppv could’ve ended in multiple different ways. Instead Vince decided to treat a decade+ employee like trash. Vince actually thought people would take his side after the screwjob and tried to make himself look like the innocent party in all this but it failed when people responded negatively. He responded by creating the heel character Mr. McMahon.

[@HarleyQuinnSoldier]

​@@shiningwizard202his last date for WWF wasn't that night or even the following Raw. They legit could've figured something out before he showed up on Nitro

[@pwnranger3496]

Jim Cornette broke it down better than any of us ever could. Vince trusted Bret but did not trust Eric Bischoff. The night after Survivor Series, Eric could legally say the current WWF Champion was signed to WCW, had Bret still had the title. The time for Vince to work it out with Bret was before he allowed Bret to negotiate a contract. If he was gonna let Bret leave, he shouldn't have put the belt on him so close to the end of his run

[@HarleyQuinnSoldier]

@@pwnranger3496 Eric couldn't even show the title on Nitro anyways because it'd be a legal issue they had legal fallout from Alundra Blaze/Medusa showing up with the WWF Women's Championship on Nitro

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

I said on here a few days ago, Bret must be the next guest....after this title? We can forget that now 😂

[@Thedearster]

🤣🤣

[@babydahl9424]

Honestly, if they do have him as a guest, I don't think they would want to talk about this. It's been talked to death and even they are saying he is likely sick of hearing about it. Better to have him and just tell fun stories.

[@jp3813]

I remember storylines in which Jack Tunney announces that the new champion has been stripped of the title due to the controversial nature of a match. So I never bought the idea that there was nothing that Vince McMahon could do at that point. I think he could've told Bret that "okay, you get to win tonight but you're gonna give me that belt before you get out of this building". Especially since Bret was still under contract for a month after Survivor Series. Heck, Shawn got to forfeit the belt when he "lost his smile", and I don't even think he had creative control included in his contract. It makes more sense that Vince wanted to damage Bret's credibility first before the latter could be utilized by Bischoff, which is still a business decision.

[@EGarrett01]

Bret just didn't want to drop the title to Shawn. All Vince had to do was do an angle where a third person (Undertaker obviously) was inserted into the match then have Undertaker win the belt, that was even IIRC what Bret suggested. For some reason, maybe what you said, Vince insisted that Bret lose to Shawn Michaels. Vince was also terrified, for good reason, of having Eric Bischoff come out on Nitro and announce that he had signed the WWF Champion to a contract.

[@jp3813]

@@EGarrett01 True, that's pretty much what happened in the 1999 Survivor Series where the title match was supposed to be Austin vs Rock vs Hunter. Instead, they did the angle in which Austin gets taken out by a car and then inserted Big Show into the main event. Hence, the claim that Vince was backed into a corner simply doesn't hold any water.

[@van2.060]

We don't know the business like they do so how can you narrow his options? Real easy to couch manage when you have no idea of the ends and outs or the real options they had at that time...every situation is not a apples to apples comparison...the SC incident is completely different than Brett's because of Brett's departure...so you can't say they did it here simply do it there...business doesn't work like that

[@jp3813]

​@@van2.060 The screwjob is one of the most talked about events in wrestling history. Countless interviews, documentaries, articles, etc... have covered it in detail including those who were directly involved. Hence, simply dismissing the analysis of those outside of the industry isn't valid anymore (there are even mysteries in the business that were solved decades later by fans). Might as well dismiss history class just b/c nobody today was alive before the 1900s. Everyone knows that Vince McMahon is no angel when it comes to his business.

[@GeoGuy388]

@@van2.060 We know putting the title back on Taker was an option at the time because Taker had...just held the belt a few months before this. He also main evented the Badd Blood PPV against Shawn a month before the screwjob, so having Bret drop the belt to Taker and then booking a Shawn vs. Taker rematch where Shawn wins the belt was a completely viable option.

[@Isabella-hd1gt]

Bret losing the title to The Undertaker makes so much more sense and I'm sure he would have no problem at all doing that.

[@jackwhitbread4583]

Bret has said publicly that he would have loved to drop it to Taker, even in Canada. His hometown was never the issue and he didn't care about losing in Canada. Taker was one of Brets best friends and he hasn't ever said a single bad word about him.

[@bryanmack4054]

@@jackwhitbread4583 I always thought Bret should’ve lost it to Taker at One night only in England and then have Taker lose it to Shawn at In your house: Bad Blood…I mean. It was just two days after One night only that Vince told Bret that he couldn’t afford his contract

[@AD-ur1fk]

@@jackwhitbread4583yet he’s taped saying he wants to retire the belt in Canada and leave as hero on his own documentary

[@dnice2000]

​@@AD-ur1fkwhat someone wants to do and what they're willing to let happen are 2 different things

[@Isabella-hd1gt]

​@@wolfman210Shawn was the number one contender because he beat The Undertaker at Badd Blood. If something had happened to Shawn before Survivor Series, it would logically make sense that The Undertaker would take his place. Obviously, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch because The Undertaker brought it up 25 years later.

[@Gintello9]

0:25 I'd like to think that Bret was similar to yourself, Deadman... Regardless if he was bitter, upset and had those negative feelings towards the company, he respected the business and above all, respected his legacy of carrying himself with pride/integrity.

[@TL2354]

Except doing what's right at Survivor Series

[@Gintello9]

@@TL2354 We'll never know bc they did double cross Bret in the end. I doubt the planned ending all parties talked about was him tapping to the sharpshooter.

[@tmthylthm]

@@TL2354 what was right at SS was not having him lose the belt in his hometown and letting him relinquish it the next night.

[@williamseneyjr.6277]

​​@@tmthylthmMaybe "right"...but risky. If Bret decided to change his mind about being honorable, which realistically could have happened, Vince and his company take the hit. The honor system really isn't a sustainable concept in business.

[@tmthylthm]

@@williamseneyjr.6277 what Bret could've done was nothing. He had more time left on his contract. The scare was that WCW (and more specifically Bischoff) would announce that they signed Bret since Nitro started an hour earlier. Bret couldn't have shown up on Nitro even if he wanted to because his current contract wasn't up yet.

[@ryukothesimp5034]

Bret said he would drop the belt to ANYONE but HBK. He definitely would have done the right thing.

[@redrick8900]

Bret was a liar.

[@dcpunisher4781]

​@@redrick8900and you're clearly a fruitcake for Shawn Michaels

[@TeeAiDee]

@@redrick8900 And you know this how? You a mind reader? There some piece of evidence that confirms Bret is a liar? Cause if not, then all we have has already been confirmed; Shawn was a jerk and Bret didn't want to reward jerk behavior.

[@redrick8900]

@@TeeAiDee Because I listened to what he said and I'm not a rube.

[@wintertrooper7918]

​@@redrick8900no you are a rube if you listened to him and still think he wouldn't have dropped it Brett is known fir being one of the most professional people in the industry he has been forced into the ring with incompetent stonebrained idiots and still made them look like goddamn super stars Shawn meanwhile was known for being incredibly unprofessional and disrespectful constantly being out of his mind on drugs and notoriously whiney

[@imaratspal]

The problem is that Bret never wanted to leave and had an agreement with Vince already to work for 1/5th of what WCW offered him on a per year basis, but Vince still didn't feel as if he could pay Bret, so he told Bret to get in contact with Bischoff for a deal to leave. Then he comes back after increasing the price on the In Your House PPV with more revenue to Bret that he has the money to stay but by then, Bret already made the deal with Bischoff (again, because Vince). Bret was also given creative control on how he left, and Bret said he'd lose to anyone BUT Shawn. There were so many other possibilities for how that all would end up and Vince just didn't adapt to the circumstances HE CREATED.

[@Joreel]

Yeah I've heard interviews with Brett where he said he'd drop the belt to anyone but Shawn and Vince refused to do it that way. Vince just wanted to be in control no matter what. There were so many people who would have loved to get the belt, even if it was only temporary until Vince gave it to someone else.

[@williamseneyjr.6277]

I'm sorry, that just clearly shows Bret valued himself over the business. You really think if 'Taker was on his way out to join another company, he'd resist doing what was asked of him in the meantime? Not a chance. If Vince asked Mark to drop the belt to D'Lo Brown or Bob Backlund, he would have.

[@williamseneyjr.6277]

@@Joreel You don't put the belt on who you "like", you put the belt on the most consistent performer that is also making you money and that was Shawn Michaels at the time. Bret is the only performer to ever create serious problems for an entire company just because he wanted to cater to his ego over the actual business.

[@crashpal]

​@Joreel actually Bret wanted to drop the very next night on raw because he didn't want to lose in front of the Canadian crow at survivor series while the raw that needed to take place was in u.s.

[@Joreel]

@@williamseneyjr.6277 We all know that already, the issue was that Brett didn't think Shawn deserved the belt. He felt there were others who deserved it more. Vince wouldn't even consider anyone but Shawn which was the problem.

[@commanderjoj6426]

Bigger question: What if Shawn/Bret 2 happened at WM 13? What if Bret went over while turning heel to win? The butterfly effect with this would have been enormous.

[@cheesecakemousetrap]

Steve Austin might have been left out in the (stone) cold.

[@FacelessWarrior86]

You're so so right. Only what would have been...

[@jackwhitbread4583]

​@@cheesecakemousetrapyou know Austin owes his WWE career to Bret right? Austin has even confirmed it on his podcast, it was Bret who convinced Vince to take a chance on Stone Cold to begin with.

[@shoryadhameja8617]

The host is really nice and listens to the fans and knows his stuff ..can we have bret in person on the podcast..

[@alecbrinker7268]

Brett didn't want to drop it to Shawn because of Shawn's attitude and things Shawn said/did to him. Brett had no problem dropping the belt, just dropping it to Shawn. (Brett said he wanted to drop it Taker)

[@joeibarra4134]

Suck it up. Do business. Bret’s ego wouldn’t let him

[@alecbrinker7268]

@@joeibarra4134 Not ego, anger. Read up on what Michaels said and did to him.

[@joeibarra4134]

@@alecbrinker7268 I know what he did. Big deal. Get over it.

[@alecbrinker7268]

@@joeibarra4134 You get over it. You seem more upset, using more emotional language than I am. I think you are the emotional one who needs to move on.

[@joeibarra4134]

@@alecbrinker7268 you okay?

[@BruceMichaelFilms]

There’s no way in hell you have Bret vacate the belt to go to another company. That’d be horrible for business.

[@joetamburello6292]

Exactly. The Bret hart fangirls can’t comprehend that

[@BruceMichaelFilms]

@@joetamburello6292 imagine if Roman gave up the belt and went to AEW the following day.

[@GeoGuy388]

He didn't have to vacate. He could have just lost the belt to Taker, with Shawn beating Taker to win it sometime between Survivor Series and WrestleMania.

[@Bubba__Sawyer]

There was really no need for Bret to win back the title at Summer Slam. What sense did it make for Undertaker and Shawn to be feuding at the top of the card in main-events while Bret defends the title against The Patriot on the undercard?

[@johnholladay9769]

It didn't matter how it turned out Bret was going to complain about something. I know every great wrestler has their faults one way or another, but good Lord.....Idk if there's one person in the business Bret didn't have an issue with or bitch about at some point in his career.

[@redzzder7951]

The best podcast out there I love Mark and Matt’s humor and chemistry

[@tomtalker2000]

The problem is Bret may have left for "greener pastures" so to speak. But i always felt they shit on him his entire time in WCW. Totally misused someone of his caliber. I also wish the screwjob didn't happen and something could have been worked out. It was a bad move on WWE's part "business wise". But they were also boxed into a corner at the same time.

[@peteharper3299]

Imagine sitting in front of The Undertaker and say "I can hardly imagine anyone better than Bret and Shawn." Amazing.

[@brentleedy79]

Taker is one of, if not the best big men, all time, but even he knows, Shawn and Bret could run circles around him.

[@kaledafif7972]

Lmao 🤣 🤣

[@Derek70388]

Even Taker would admit Shawn and Bret were better than him. It’s not an insult

[@rodycaz8984]

@@brentleedy79 They didn't draw $$$ though. WCW was kicking their ass with them on top.

[@TheAstralCatastrophe]

Bret and HBK are regarded as some of the biggest legends in the history of wrestling. They're absolutely on the same level if not greater than Taker and even he knows that.

[@daveincognito]

Vince was all about Shawn at that point. Shawn won both encounters, and there's no reason to believe that would have changed if Brett had stayed.

[@knowur10sand18s]

Why wasn't an angle with Hitman/Taker a thing up to Survivor Series and Bret could loose to Taker? Only reason Bret wouldn't drop it to HBK was because Shawn did he wouldn't drop it for him.

[@irishviking383]

There've been a few times in the past where Taker has said he spoke to Vince in the lead-up to Survivor Series and offered to be the one Bret dropped the title to and then he could drop it to Shawn, but Vince was just too stubborn to do it that way.

[@josephbauman1793]

So it’s ego?

[@irishviking383]

@@josephbauman1793, what else? The plan Vince had was for Shawn to win the championship at WM 12 and then Bret would win it from Shawn at 13. In January of 1997, Shawn decided that didn't work for him, brother, so he ended up losing the title to Sid before WM which eventually led to Bret not wanting to lose the title to Shawn in Montreal, but we all know how that turned out.

[@That90sShow]

​@@josephbauman1793it's Vince giving it to his boy toy. HBGay had major blackmail on Vince

[@jackwhitbread4583]

​@@That90sShowyes I can easily believe that, because of HBK's insufferable ego we all missed out on the best there is, the best there was and the best there will ever be.

[@bobnichols3233]

I always found it funny that McMahon was worried about Bret showing up on Nitro with the WWF belt. Yet he had no problem letting Flair show up with the big gold belt on his TV!

[@filmbuff2777]

McMahon is a greedy hypocrite.

[@jamescooper3324]

3 things that WWE has tried to re-write history. Bret did not show up in WCW the next night. That is false! That was never going to happen. Bret had creative control in his contract which is Vince’s fault for agreeing to that. And Vince gave Bret permission to negotiate with WCW, again, Vince’s fault. Bret didn’t debut on WCW tv until December 15th 1997… more than TWO WEEKS after the screwjob. They had time to have him drop the title… they chose to screw him instead… those are facts.

[@PhenomsServant4]

He didnt debut until a couple weeks later, but Vince feared that if they didnt get the title off Bret beforehand, Eric was going to announce that WCW had signed the WWE champion away from them. Not trying to defend WWE, but knowing Bischoff, he absolutely wouldve said that on Nitro.

[@pikkon899]

Bret refused to drop it to Shawn in Canada. He refused all of their ideas because they all invloved Shawn. Bret wanted to give it up the next night on Raw instead because he was a "Canadian Hero" & didn't want to lose in Canada. I'm sorry, but if you're told to drop it on the way out, just drop the damn belt. He was going to make more money in WCW anyway. What does it matter if it's in Canada? I love Bret but it's ridiculous how he handled it as well as Vince. Vince screwed up by giving Bret creative control. Undertaker made a good point when he told Vince that he could have had Bret take on Taker instead but no, Bret had to continue the nonsense with Shawn backstage, instead of being the bigger man. It's a work & you're leaving anyway. Everyone is at fault regardless of who's trying to change history, including Bret.

[@jacobsaunders9264]

The host has already failed us fans by not having the GodFather on. No one is promised tomorrow! Get it done!

[@robertmartin6238]

Brett screwed Brett. He should have drop the belt. Imagine if Americans say they won’t lost to a Canadian in America.

[@jasongill5390]

​@robertmartin6238 they both are North AMERICANS no big deal. Plus Bret Hart is half Canadian and half American. Mom was born in NY and married Stu Hart in NY.

[@georgedevine4130]

I'm so jealous that you get to sit there and just talk and hang out with Taker everyday. He was a God to me as a kid. But now as a 44 year old man with 4 kids, and 2 grandkids, this is so nostalgic for me to see him so human.

[@hotrock5834]

Why didn't they just make it a multi-person match at the last minute to get the belt off Bret without a screwing taking place?

[@LeathafaceTV]

Yep a triple threat match or a fatal four way in a steel cage.

[@cheesecakemousetrap]

The draw is Bret vs. Shawn….not some ridiculous battle royal with everyone from the New Blackjacks and the hairy guy from Los Borriquas watering down the main event.

[@hotrock5834]

@@cheesecakemousetrap I didn't say anything about a battle royal.

[@cheesecakemousetrap]

@@hotrock5834 same difference. You’re talking about adding random men to a one on one match. Three ways, 4 ways, etc. weren’t even a regular thing back then anyway.

[@Smush7711]

@@hotrock5834

[@dripking4871]

I wish we could have had bret hart in WWF longer. Imagine the matches we missed out on. Bret Hart vs Eddie Guerrero, Bret vs Kurt Angle, or even Bret vs Chris Benoit. Imagine if he would have wrestled until like Shawn Michaels retired we could have seen so many more matches with Edge, Randy Orton, CM Punk, John Cena, ect.

[@Epsilonsama]

I respect Taker but he is completely wrong on this. Bret Hart still had dates in his contract and it wasn't a situation where he was showing up the next day on Nitro. Bret would have definitely put over anyone other than Shawn at Montreal btw. Also Bret had a creative control exit clause on his contract to prevent what ended up happening from well happening. Had Bret wanted he could have easily sued WWE for breach of contract. Vince was 100% in the wrong and he did this not because some worry about Bret going to the opposition with a belt but because he wanted to fuck over Bret.

[@matsong5134]

I think everyone trusted Bret to do what he said he would do, but nobody trusted Eric Bischoff 😂

[@matsong5134]

I heard that Bret’s WWF contract expired that night so they needed to get the belt off him before Monday because NYTRO goes live before Raw and Eric Biscoff would have said they’ve already sighted the WWF champion. That would make the WWF title worthless. Vince did what he had to do because Bret didn’t wanna do what every other champion who was leaving a territory did before him.

[@mykoniichistorychannel]

@@matsong5134His contract didn’t expire until December.

[@Thurs1t0]

L take

[@briantime9880]

@@Thurs1t0so you hate the truth huh

[@jolenelutyck1422]

Bret’s bar in Calgary “Hitman’s” is doing an UNDERTAKER trivia night this week.

[@Lancun]

Forget Bret and Shawn's matches. Bret being there means Owen's accident doesn't happen. Bret then has matches with Angle, Benoit, and Guerrero and so does Owen. That's the real legacy of this hypothetical.

[@filmbuff2777]

Another thing to consider is Bulldog & Neidhart would have stayed as well. Bulldog got a serious back injury in WCW at Fall Brawl. I think he may have gotten a drug addiction because of that. His life would have played out differently too.

[@dnice2000]

​@@filmbuff2777bulldog was a drug addict far before wcw... he came back to wwe 2 years after the screwjob.

[@jorgelugo9473]

We waited almost 30 years for this man's thoughts on the Screwjob

[@TheSlick112]

I think Shawn breaking his back was his karma idk though

[@thairie78]

During the Rivals DVD with Bret vs Shawn and JR was the interviewer, Bret knew after Summer of 97' that him and Shawn would be at Survivor Series 97'. He approached Shawn and told him despite their differences and beef, he had high respect for him as a talent, what we brought to the business and will always protect him in the ring and never has issues putting him over. And Bret Explained how Shawn looked at him and said thanks for saying that but I don't think I would do the same for you. And it left Bret feeling the way he did and telling Vince I'm not putting him over again until he shows that he respects me. And Vince was more on Shawn's side because he wasn't willing to pay Bret the reminder of his contract and also Bret being a family man wasn't for the adult theme storylines the attitude era were starting to produce, and Shawn was willing to go there with DX and ratings talked.

[@dereklambert5145]

It's funny how there are no witnesses to that incident apart from Bret Hart himself. The simple fact is Shawn put Bret over in dozens of matches, but Bret only put Shawn over once and then spent the next quarter century whining and crying about it

[@thairie78]

@dereklambert5145 sure it's a hard pill to swallow not being the top guy but Bret coming from a wrestling legacy understands the importance of doing business and protecting the business. And Bret seems like a straight shooter when it comes to explaining or talking. And he was sitting next to Shawn during that Rivals Sit-Down Interview and Shawn didn't really deny it and agreed how them not putting animosity aside lost out on more main events.

[@dereklambert5145]

@@thairie78 yeah I saw the interview, and Shawn didn't seem to remember it, but gave Bret the benefit of the doubt. My guess would be that Shawn was pilled out of his head and forgot the whole thing. It was probably just a dumb comment made by Shawn in jest that Bret took too seriously. But I think at the end of the day, it's wrestlers actions in the ring that counts. I appreciate your reply though : )

[@thairie78]

@dereklambert5145 Bret was serious about wrestling but it's definitely how OGs before him took it serious and yeah Shawn's demons were at a heavy low. Which also contributed to a lot of Brets hesitant too given Shawn's state and looking at Vince like you trust this guy as the Top guy and Face of the company ? I honestly loved the match in Montreal fr and the fact that the whole match up until the finish was agreed by them both speaks to the professionalism by both of them. And enjoy talking wrestling all the time too lol

[@Extreme4LYF]

They didn't have to do it. Vince literally could've put Bret in the ring with anyone else and he would've put them over clean in the middle, except Shawn, But Vince only wanted HBK with the belt. Could've thrown Taker in there and Bret would've done the honours, and Taker could've lost it to HBK further down the line, who then would've put Austin over at WM 14. There was no need for the screwjob, none.

[@MusicGuyFK]

Then you diminish Taker or whoever else is going to lose to Shawn. The point of Bret doing the job is that since he is on his way out Shawn can win the title without burying any of WWF’s active wrestlers

[@dinosaursnstuff4453]

Maybe you're right. But when the panic stress kicks in people don't always make the best decisions.

[@Extreme4LYF]

@@MusicGuyFK Didn't diminish Mankind when he did the exact same thing for Austin after Summerslam '99 when he didn't want to lose the belt to HHH. Foley stepped in as the transition champ, but didn't cost him anything.

[@heavyd834]

Sorry, but when Undertaker himself said it had to be done, I'm gonna go with him over what any fan thinks.

[@hotrock5834]

Exactly! Why didn't they just make it a multi-person match at the last minute to get the belt off Bret without a screwing taking place?

[@brijor6ff7]

Angle vs Hart would've been cool in the early 00's

[@snoopaloop1219]

They didnt need to do it. Bret has always been straight up about the story and it hasnt wavered all this time. Said he would drop it to anyone but Shawn. Loyal company guy for 14 years. If there is anyone to blame for the entire situation it is Vince. He fumbled on the contract, he put the title on Bret at Summerslam. Bret had creative control on the last 30 days. If he didnt knockout vince he could have sued him for big money.

[@edwardcorey1071]

Hell he would've to Shawn if hbk wouldn't been dick and told bret he wouldn't do the same on

[@edwardcorey1071]

Vince never put his foot down on hbk and let him be a bastard although hbk is in my top 3 I still don't like how he was this times but I have been in addiction and do understand when your deep into using you don't give a shit

[@Speedyreedy1218]

Bret didn't have complete creative control. He had "reasonable creative control." What he wanted, was not reasonable. And he was not loyal 14 years straight. He went behind Vince's back before 97 to talk to Bischoff just to get Vince to up his salary. That ticked HBK off as Vince promised him, no one besides Undertaker would make more than him. Bret tricked Vince to do that 20yr deal. Once things started to flip with Austin's momentum, there was no need to keep Bret around anymore for that figure. Especially for his boring character having zero place in the AE.

[@zemox2534]

@Speedyreedy1218 Boring? Did you miss his fucking heel turn? Who the f are you to decide where he belong? You were not there so stop fucking talking like you know everything? A

[@portugahbk]

He had "reasonable creative control" is the way I have always heard it being said. We don't know exactly how the contract phrased it, but I'm guessing getting to choose who he dropped the belt to wasn't 'reasonable' neither should it have been in my opinion. Bret went complaining to the press after the screwjob, I think that if he had a contractual leg to stand on, he would have sued. Bret and Michaels didn't like each other, I get that, but if you have the title you drop it to whoever the booker tells you to drop it to, that's what wrestlers get paid to do.

[@jj8998]

I feel like a vet listening to another vets war stories. Anything like this is better than most wrestling today.

[@KamoMustafaWWE]

Without the Montreal Screwjob, there is no Attitude Era.

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

Of course there would be! One man wasn't going to change the course of how the world and the business was at the time. And remember Shawn had to stop wrestling only months after Montreal so that would have removed much of the drama around them.

[@lesterama6110]

@@MarcoNegrisEye Agreed, but at the same time it gave birth to the Mr. Macmahon character

[@Leo-yn5fx]

They showed attitude before the match started

[@brendanedwards6633]

There’d be no attitude era without wcw.

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

@@lesterama6110 I don't know, that character was developing with Austin before Montreal. The way Austin was acting you could see it coming a mile off between them. It maybe sped up the persona but they would have got there with those two anyway. I reckon.

[@JCAP9209]

Brett’s the perfect example of negative energy you put into the world will ultimately come back on you. He is and always has been a miserable human being and while maybe he didn’t deserve situations like the Screw job or what happened with Goldberg, he absolutely was responsible for them. The screw job doesn’t happen if he wasn’t such a bitter cancer, which he ultimately took with him to WCW and we know how that turned out. It’s fitting that all these legends, from Stone Cold to Taker are off doing great things while Brett just sits alone and whines and refuses to take responsibility. It’s the perfect end to such a sad human.

[@TL2354]

Bret

[@Maestro..]

The best solution was Shawn vs. Bret vs. Taker in a Triple Threat. Shawn pins Taker with help from Kane (again) continuing the Kane/Taker story. Bret loses the title, but is not actually beaten by Shawn. I think he accepts this finish

[@refinedsugar]

Taker is a skilled middleman. King of the locker room, respected, but also doesn't disrespect or bite the hand that feeds him. The only one who gets to act out his wild fantasies, sick ideas in storylines and stroke his ego is the boss. Vince is a POS and it often gets forgotten he won the wrestling wars not because he started putting out a superior product, but because the other side (WCW) fumbled the ball in the most fucktastic way thru greed & too many egos.

[@BreakingJP83]

😂 egos 😂😂😂 no not really they got bought out by a cable company that was more interested in being a cable company that ultimately didn't want a wrestling company. Smh.

[@BreakingJP83]

So a cable company buys out Turner and has a product in their stable that Vince would pay to outright own hmm yes on greed but not so much on egos.

[@m.michaels]

The screw job was completely unnecessary. Bret had creative control over his character the same way Hulk Hogan did. "that doesn't work for me brother" was what Bret gave Vince and Bret earned it. No matter how you feel, and I feel Bret was being the biggest embarrassing baby, he still had creative control on his contract. Because of that.... The blame is put on Vince. And Vince has always been on the wrong for what he did. Especially with Bret saying he would have dropped it to someone else. Doesn't matter if it works for you or not.

[@Rj-pw7zs]

Honestly making it a triple threat match with someone else eating the fall would have fixed the entire problem. Hell add Taker to the match since he got screwed out of the title and Summer Slam.

[@fredbFU]

“Vince was only in the locker room because of Taker” @Undertaker pounded on Vince’s door and demanded that Vince go in there and explain himself” - Bret Hart from a podcast and his book. Also Mick Foley quit and Rick Rude left the company after both good friends of the Hitman.

[@arthurmorgan7086]

Foley was back within hours 😂 and Rude was leaving anyway

[@mayavenuemisfit814]

Apparently, both Bret and Collette (Mick's wife) talked Foley into going back.

[@TL2354]

Foley didn’t quit so your whole post is meaningless

[@fredbFU]

@@TL2354 no bro Foley did quite like legit quite cornet and some other old schoolers had to talk him down cos he was really upset that Vince that to one of the boys. But he did came back.

[@arthurmorgan7086]

@@fredbFU no hahaha

[@gooner03]

Had to do it? No Mark, Bret had creative control for the last 30 days and it wasn't like Bret was leaving right after his match ended at Survivor Series, which is why Bret said that he'd lose it to Shawn or anyone else the next night on Raw.

[@thomasmiller8364]

Guys, without the Screwjob, there is no Mr. McMahon. That was the precursor.

[@genem3785]

Damn right. Even further impact is without Mr. McMahon, there is no Mr. Socko. That sh!t was great back in the day!

[@StuUngar]

Steve Austin made Vince a heel, not Bret. On an early episode of Thunder, Bret was getting boo’d and belted with USA chants bc many fans still treated him like a heel. Not everyone had internet back then.

[@christophersoto5144]

If this doesn’t happen we never get Vince boss man wwe attitude era dis jump started it

[@Toast960]

To quote Jim Cornette, "This was the biggest clusterf*** in the history of clusterf***s." As much of a fan of Bret as I am, yeah, they (WWF/E) could not have retained credibility having the main title vacated twice in one year. First with Shawn losing his smile, then with Bret going to the competition. I've always wondered since Vince knew he couldn't keep paying Bret what he promised, why did he put the belt on Bret? They could have easily done the spot at SummerSlam with HBK as the ref, he runs for his life after nailing Taker with the chair, a regular ref comes in and Taker kicks out, wins the match, and that starts the feud with Shawn and Taker and Shawn wins the belt at Hell in a Cell. Granted, its easy to "Monday morning quarterback" this stuff in hindsight, but Vince could have figured out a million different scenarios. And as soon as he told Bret to get a deal with Turner, they should have had a plan in place to remove the title from Bret before he talked to Bischoff.

[@hotrock5834]

Why didn't they just make it a multi-person match at the last minute to get the belt off Bret without a screwing taking place?

[@MrBlackenzo]

Both good points. Was it not true that at the time of summerslam, Vince thought he’d be able to do enough to keep Bret? And probably thought, Bret’s a class act, he’ll do the right thing on the way out. There’s stories from Cornette that Vince could be quite naive at times too

[@Toast960]

@@MrBlackenzo Cornette and Bruce Pritchard have both told stories that it was around SummerSlam that Vince realized he couldn't pay Bret what he promised and to go get a better deal with Turner. And they also brought the Patriot in to feud with Bret around this time and Bret was champion. Which begs the question, why is Vince telling his top champion to get a better deal with the competition whilst HIRING new talent specifically to feud with Bret? All while not considering that even the news of Bret as WWF Champ seeking a deal with WCW would be damaging in its own right or even considering the how, when, or where they should get the belt off the guy that's leaving the company. The more I look at this, the more I feel like Vince made this situation worse than it had to be. And then the cherry on top of this mess was HBK being a dick towards Bret while Bret was trying to clear the air being the final nail in the coffin.

[@MrBlackenzo]

@@Toast960 yeah. Vince kept making mistake after mistake it seems. I do think now that Vince just wanted to fuck over Bret. Bear in mind how much Vince loved HBK. He’d literally cream in his slacks every time he came out on RAW, to the point where it got weird. Vince was in love with HBK, I swear lol. I think those two were getting off on the plan of fucking over Bret all along. Taking in to account that Vince’s ego was the size of Venezuela, can you imagine how bruised it was when Bret told him he’s off to WCW. The anger Vince will of felt, while also worrying that WCW could dominate going forward. I think he wanted to break Bret mentally before he went. Anything to get a win, a small victory. It’s no secret what Vince was and is like. We know he gets off on humiliating people. So many things to take in to account, but I guess we’ll never know the full story

[@Toast960]

@@MrBlackenzo I don't think Vince ever intended to purposely screw over Bret, but I do agree that Vince's fascination with Shawn cost him for a short while. The roster in '97 was AMAZING and there was no reason they shouldn't have been neck and neck with WCW at that time. However I feel like Vince was too distracted for a bit with keeping Shawn happy after Hall and Nash left. I will say though that Vince absolutely saved Shawn from going down to WCW. I feel like had Shawn gone, the personal problems he had would have gotten worse and he would have definitely butted heads with Bischoff and Hogan. And that would have been a losing battle.

[@T2theG123]

Hate to defend Vince be he was right Brett screwed Brett

[@MaldingMan13]

im a simple man, I see Taker talking about the Screwjob, I click lol

[@benprewitt4600]

I'm glad this finally came up. Thanks for sharing!

[@tylerbushong3452]

The fact that Taker’s ok with Montreal ends the argument once and for all.

[@Joreel]

Not sure he's okay with it so much as it was what it was and it wasn't within Mark's control so he's trying to be neutral as much as possible because he's friends with both of them.

[@sarahfortune7760]

Bret goes over, Bret puts Taker over,Bret leaves for Wcw, Taker vs Shawn happens, Kane debuts and costs Taker the title and Taker vs Kane feud continues and Steve will still skyrocket.

[@trevorries6294]

Brett screwed brett

[@CyberBully420XXX]

🤡🤡🤡

[@TL2354]

Bret

[@That-guy-there1]

It really does suck that the Montreal Screwjob is probably the highlight of their careers that everyone will remember. Yet its such an important event because if that didn't happen so many things would be different. Theres no way to see what an alternate wwe timeline could be but Bret could have avoided his kick from Goldberg if he stayed, DeGen X would have still formed but they would have never gotten the center stage they got. Of course the character Mr McMahon would have never existed or not be what it was.

[@JCGaming13]

Easy for people to rag on Bret these days but it’s important to note Shawn prior refused to put Bret over & when Bret tried to bury the hatchet saying he’ll put Shawn over, Shawn responded “thanks but just know, I won’t do the same for you”. That along with all the other dickhead things Shawn was doing all the time, I completely understand why Bret when he supposedly had creative control over any potential exit in his contract, didn’t want to drop it to Shawn in Montreal after Shawn had constantly gone in on Canada in the feud. Not even mentioning the fact he was being pushed out by Vince when he stayed loyal to WWE to begin with, so it’s not like he was jumping ship & leaving them high & dry.

[@tormmac]

once you were in vince's boyfriend shawn's crosshairs your days were numbered

[@handleunavailable]

I like that Taker was pissed about how it went down but understands why it happened

[@Dannystateofmind]

Crazy to think how things could have played out differently if Bret and the WWF worked out a new contract to stay there. Screwjob doesn’t happen. Bret doesn’t go to WCW and shortens his career. Bret becomes part of the attitude era and wrestles well into his 40s. Matches with Angle, Mysterio, Lesnar etc

[@ryanturner9807]

I don’t think the attitude era happens if Brett stayed and things went differently

[@Dannystateofmind]

@@ryanturner9807 that’s also a possibility, I mean with DX in mid 97 they started to become a bit edgier. Austin was on the rise and inevitable. Rock was destined to be a star. Bret was more old school but I think he would have adapted with the times. He followed along in WCW lol

[@Speedyreedy1218]

You may not get all those signings if Bret stays.

[@MadMike1]

Oh man, Bret Hart vs Kurt Angle... don't tease me like that.

[@gordie1233]

Not sure vince still becomes a mega heel if it doesn't happen.

[@MedCityViking]

They didn't HAVE to do it. Bret Hart is the most honorable professional wrestler of all time. He would have 100% honored their handshake deal to relinquish the title on Raw.

[@lexkanyima2195]

But it doesn't make sense. How will Bret relinquish the belt and having somebody else to handed over ? It would losing credibility

[@GraemeCree]

The most honorable wrestler of all time wouldn't have broken kayfabe as badly as Hart did. And it wasn't just Hart who was an unknown factor, there was Bischoff too. Before he even had a chance to say that they'd signed the WWF Champion, they had to make sure that Bret wasn't champ any more.

[@JamesCavanagh-d6q]

Brett wanted to drop the belt the next night to Austin, Foley or Undertaker. He would have made sure the belt would have ended up on a long term worker.

[@GraemeCree]

@@JamesCavanagh-d6q Well, Austin won his first title at the next Wrestlemania, so they wanted to save that. Undertaker sounds good, but I guess they were thinking in terms of who they wanted Austin to beat for the title. That storyline where Mike Tyson was Sean's Special Enforcer wouldn't have worked as well with the Undertaker. Foley, maybe. Did Brett have it in his contract that he got to approve his successor? In hindsight, maybe Brett should never have gotten that last reign at all. Instead, extend the Undertaker's reign, let HIM lose to Michaels, and then have Michaels lose to Austin.

[@lexkanyima2195]

@@JamesCavanagh-d6q I doubt that

[@cfcdaviddcfc]

I could listen to this big dude talk wrestling all day everyday , legend dosen't cover him , he truly is one of a kind.

[@northernking4787]

For as much credit that Vince gets for being a handshake deal done guy if he would’ve just honored Bret’s contract things would’ve been so much better!

[@davass82]

When Bret went to WCW it felt like WCW didn't want Bret they wanted WWF to not have him.

[@drea_the_warhammer]

exactly

[@projectgraham414]

That's a great way to look at it

[@devangpatel5227]

100%

[@KODELINER]

Agreed

[@Lonewolf_665]

Bingo.

[@bigfootanon6896]

Start having more wrestlers on! You want success for the podcast and crave the content! Hopfully Matt or Mark see this!

[@stevemccullagh36]

Except Bret wasn't going to vacate the title the next day. He was booked to lose it at the December PPV and had been granted a one week contract extension by WCW to do so. This whole "Vince had to do it" fantasy is nothing but bullshit and WWE propaganda.

[@edwardcorey1071]

I agree and Vince had ample time to get belt off bret

[@Konformation07]

​@edwardcorey1071 I bet Bret would have dropped it to Taker but Vince insisted on Bret dropping it to Shawn.

[@philwebb606]

@@Konformation07worked out perfect for Vince, we’re still talking about it nearly 30yrs on

[@tomeddie14]

It worked ​@@philwebb606

[@mibuspirit976]

​@@philwebb606 Vince's sleazeball antics are out. So, it didn't work out so well for him now, did it?

[@mindofmadness5593]

I knew WCW and WWF were different companies and there would be some trying to outdo one another but I always thought the wrestlers could go back and forth depending on who had the spot for them at whatever time.

[@2yLiteThaTitan]

I am really sick of people saying that the screwjob is what Bret is remembered for . To me that is more so what Shawn is remembered for. Bret's catalogue of wrestling speaks for itself.

[@ImmortanDan]

So does Shawn's - and pretty objectively, more people saw those. Shawn came riding in on the tail end of the most lucrative and exposed period of the company's history and made himself known as somebody who - after years and years - could still go like hell. In the Montreal Screwjob, Bret was the one screwed. That mattered more than who screwed him - whether you hold HBK, Vince or both responsible for it. What exacerbated it was Bret's semi-work, semi-shoot "good guy who gets screwed" persona leading up to the event - and more recently, his length and vindicative hooks at anybody who'd ever wronged him in interviews with the likes of ITR. Bret is remembered as The Guy Who Got Screwed by anybody who wasn't a straight up core fan of his during his run, marking out about the excellence of execution style.

[@redrick8900]

It speaks for itself but it says "This guy is boring. He only has good matches with his brother."

[@pohmygod]

I disagree. All you have to do is watch interviews of both of them and listen to what questions they are asked. Bret gets asked about Shawn and Montreal nearly every interview he is in, while Shawn doesn’t asked about Montreal or Bret as much. I think the difference between the two is that Shawn created more big moments and topics to talk about in his career than Bret did. You also have to remember Shawn had a longer career, and he did a more stuff in his career after Montreal. Shawn also is still in the business, running NXT. Meanwhile Bret is retired and didn’t retire too long after Montreal, and spent a lot of his retirement complaining about Montreal, Vince, Shawn and Triple H. It’s similar to how everyone asks Bret about Goldberg now.

[@diontaedaughtry974]

As a Washington fan I can't get mad he dogged my team because he's right 😔🤣. Great interview 👍👍

[@CannedHam2479]

Vince shouldve chosen Bret over Hbk and just let Chickenbottom go to WCW with his Kliq buddies in 97 Couldve done Bret vs Austin at Wm 14 with Tyson affiliated with the Hart Foundation instead of DX

[@Speedyreedy1218]

No one is buying Tyson with the boring Harts.

[@CannedHam2479]

@@Speedyreedy1218 Why are you pretending that the Hart Foundation werent 100x more entertaining than Chickenbottom, Triple Schnaz, and Rockabilly/The Really FAKE Double J? lol

[@PolishCarbon]

​@@CannedHam2479Dx was over as fuck while Harts only had a reaction in Canada. Stop lying to yourself. This is the most retarded take i've ever witness

[@ITSHIM1294]

@@CannedHam2479lmao Bret was a charisma vacuum. He had zero entertainment value. He was just a good fake fighter

[@CannedHam2479]

@@ITSHIM1294 lmao . You just described Chickenbottom

[@jayprimo]

Bret let his personal feelings get involved in business, plain and simple. Taker saying "they had to do it" and hearing People like Bret and the FanTrain still defend it just proves it to me more. Taker is the ultimate voice of reason and honesty in that business.

[@TheFirstJedi]

Not that my opinion is worth much, but I respectfully disagree with Taker on this. Bret was right, Vince was wrong. That's absolutely no way to do business.

[@redsealjourneymanreviews6647]

❤ Vince loves taker thiugh

[@ITSHIM1294]

Lol Bret was a bitter mark for himself. A belt is just a prop. Drop it and leave

[@Numbfoot]

Man I miss Bret. Those matches that involved family were epic. Bulldog and then Owen. Then they all got together. There was only ever one match that I didn’t care for with Bret and that was against Bob Backlund where he lost the title. Never hear that match talked about.

[@Speedyreedy1218]

"Fuck that! If Bret won't do business, we'll do business for him!" -HHH, 1997 💼 🎮🤝🏾

[@shiningwizard202]

Something you don’t hear people talk about a lot is that the screw job was Hunter’s introduction to booking control. Yes of course he married the bosses daughter and that helped but making that call is for sure part of the reason he has the job he has now.

[@TL2354]

He was right

[@Speedyreedy1218]

@@TL2354 Of course! #TeamTripsSince95

[@Speedyreedy1218]

@@shiningwizard202 H is an alpha about business. Only those kinds know how to get to and sustain ambitious success. Shawn cried about being a scapegoat. HHH had that dawg, that 'give zero fucks about your feelings' mindset to get business done. "The Game" isn't a mere character nickname. That's HHH 24/7.

[@shiningwizard202]

@@Speedyreedy1218 you are the only wrestler stan account that’s ever been funny

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Easiest way out of this would have been the same as when Bret dropped the IC title to Davey at Summerslam 92. Bret drops to Taker and then works a promo with Shawn.

[@JessicaChastainFan]

Oh, Taker. Sweet, simple, Taker. Then why did you order Vince to explain himself to Bret? Or did you have a Carl De Marco moment where you were magically manipulated by Vince and Triple H's lousy reasons for screwing Bret on a dime? They didn't have to do it. Bret had iron clad creative control. The only thing anyone can accuse Bret of, it was being naive. If it were me, I wouldn't let Shawn get me in any submission hold and I'd kick out at 1 every single time. Leaving them with no choice but to end the match in an awkward fashion. Punch Vince as planned, kick crying Shawn in the face as originally planned (and why not? Their scuffle months earlier proves that Shawn was a sissy, and a glass jaw in combat).

[@iconiclust]

BS. Bret screwed Bret and he was never better than HBK. HBK should’ve slapped him in the middle of the ring, pointed to the mat and ordered Bret to lay down and get pinned.

[@clarencegutsy7309]

Blame Alundra Blaze for making WWF paranoid about it to begin with.

[@dgeneratio1]

@@clarencegutsy7309 you mean Eric Bischoff not Blaze right? As when Eric came to WWE he said on TV that he forced Blaze to fetch the title to Nitro, She didn't want to but worked for Eric then made her throw it in the trash.

[@hang1893]

The fact that we missed out on Bret vs HBK Post montreal Bret vs Austin post montreal Bret vs Kane Bret vs Eddie Bret vs Beniot Bret vs Kurt Bret vs Edge Bret vs Orton Bret vs Cena Bret vs Brock Bret vs literally any one post 97 will never be forgiven.

[@MatthewMills.]

Bret faced Benoit in WCW

[@hang1893]

@@MatthewMills. my point remains the same.

[@herbythechef7624]

Yeah. Damn bill goldberg

[@TL2354]

And WWF doesn't get Tyson which brought mainstream media attention that took them to the next level

[@SalNiner]

See, that’s the problem. I love Bret but if some of his best friends don’t know if he would’ve done the right thing, from a business standpoint what needed to happen happened. I hate that it went down like that. Still a huge Hitman fan to this day

[@megadoomboy5412]

Shawn needed to be put in his place

[@joetamburello6292]

Sure but bret was in the wrong too

[@paulbeaver-e5d]

i love to see hulk hogan on here keep up the great work

[@kenny87ification]

A lesser known fact about Bret Hart is that Bret embraced Hinduism 🕉️🕉️🕉️🕉️ after he got a stroke.... His real name is Bret Krishnadas Hart

[@aydeniskind4556]

I knew about this

[@supermarionugget8657]

Indian bot detected! (This is false)

[@kenny87ification]

@@supermarionugget8657 This is a fact, I am an American White Hindu for your information

[@supermarionugget8657]

@@kenny87ification apologies, it looked like a bot comment in how it was structured. Can you please send proof? I can't find anything on it.

[@courve]

@@supermarionugget8657no one should help you. You threw out a “false” when you knew you had no idea. Go do your own homework

[@DubyaDaLastRepugPrez]

That Sting/Hulk Hogan Starcade match that Bret Hart was involved in at WCW was even a bigger disgrace than the Montreal Screw Job. That was just an epic fail, horrible in so many ways.

[@filmbuff2777]

Yeah, they thought copying that moment would bring them attention. It should have just been a Sting beating down Hogan match.

[@RetiredVet2020]

The revisionist history of what happened still blows my mind. Vince was wrong and is 100% at fault for all of it

[@redrick8900]

Vince was in the right.

[@donwestdot]

Deadman be fried up🔥🔥😂😂😂 mark got them pancakes on his mind fr lmao run it

[@ИванСтоянов-з2я]

Jesus loves us all repent for your sins

[@kenny87ification]

@@ИванСтоянов-з2я Jesus never existed, only Lord Krishna exists. 🕉️🕉️🕉️🕉️

[@TerranceFoster-kw4sw]

Amen

[@xReMi13x]

@@kenny87ificationits is unanimously agreed by scholars & academics that’s Jesus of Nazareth was a real person who walked this earth based on the historical record. Anyone who says otherwise has either never seriously studied & researched his existence, or they are simply lying. Outside of the Vedic texts, what historical evidence is there for Krishna as a person who walked this earth?

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

He's a funny way of showing it in the modern western world 😂

[@kenny87ification]

@@xReMi13x No one agreed on anything.... I don't take the version of any apologetics.... Had Jesus been real, show me the manger in Nazareth where he was born

[@smcgst]

Hey, I take offense to the Washington comment. Let's go Taker

[@adamirishconundrum851]

They had to do it. He thought he was bigger than the business and he was a 200 pound fart in the wind to Vince that couldn't talk

[@CFDavid847]

Who?!?! Bret?!? Bret Hart thought he was BIGGER than the business?!?!?!?!? You sound like a fool when you say things that have no basis in reality.

[@adamirishconundrum851]

@@CFDavid847 you are from Canada best thing to do is shut up

[@adamirishconundrum851]

@@CFDavid847 your national hero is a fake wrestler that could have not beat up the guys on the undercard

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

​@@adamirishconundrum851 what are you rattling about? "National hero"? How do you know which nationality the guy above is? 😂

[@adamirishconundrum851]

@@MarcoNegrisEye it's simple. Canadians get butthurt if you tell truth about Bret who was great in the ring. I'm American if you say Austin sucked or taker sucked I would not reply. Simple

[@mrplow8]

Bret should have just agreed to drop the title to Shawn. That was the right thing to do. He was leaving the company, and Shawn was the next guy they wanted to put the belt on. Bret should have just put him over.