Arguably the most famous match in professional wrestling history was the 1997 title bout between Bret “Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels commonly known as the “Montreal screwjob.”
Hart was leaving the WWE for rival promotion WCW but was still the champion, so owner Vince McMahon organized to rob him of the title.
In the most obvious example of the otherwise “fake” sport becoming real, Hart reacted furiously, spitting in McMahon’s face and trashing the set.
But all that happened on camera.
What didn’t — and has just been revealed by Hart in an interview with Sports Illustrated — was the showdown he had with McMahon in the changerooms afterwards.
Hart was showering when he was told McMahon was waiting for him in the changerooms.
He told colleagues to tell the boss to leave but McMahon refused and after getting dressed Hart confronted him and landed one on his chin.
“It was the most beautiful uppercut punch you could ever imagine,” Hart said. “I broke my right hand just beneath the knuckle, and knocked Vince out cold.”
“He thought he would come out of that OK, but he didn’t plan on an uppercut. They dragged Vince out of the room and it was pretty much done.”
Hart revealed who McMahon’s accomplices were in the betrayal, but said he held no grudge against referee Earl Hebner, who was forced to help Michaels win.
“It was a pretty close-knit group who knew about the screw job,” Hart said.
“Vince, Triple H, and Shawn were the three who planned it, and they got Jerry Brisco to come up with a plan when to execute the finish.
“I was getting ready to go through the curtain when they circled Earl and basically told him this was how the match was going down. They also reminded him he was mic’d, with a microphone behind his ear, so they could hear everything he said. If he did anything to tip me off, they’d fire him.”