page_title: Monday Night Wars
section_title: 1997: The Montreal Screwjob
hierarchical_section_title: Monday Night Wars / History / The Monday Night Wars / 1997: The Montreal Screwjob
caption_attribution_description: A free use image of Bret Hart by JimmyTrump79 from the English Wikipedia. This photo was taken July 24th, 2005 in Windsor, Ontario at an autograph signing.
context_page_description: The Monday Night Wars were a period of mainstream televised American professional wrestling where the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw and World Championship Wrestling's Monday Nitro were broadcast opposite each other in a battle for Nielsen ratings each week. The ratings war lasted from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001.
  The rating war was part of a larger overall struggle between the two companies, originating in personal animosity between WWF owner Vince McMahon and WCW owner Ted Turner. The rivalry between the companies steadily escalated throughout the 1990s to include the use of cutthroat tactics and the defections of employees between the two companies. Throughout the wars, the WWF and WCW would both adopt different concepts and narrative techniques innovated by ECW; meanwhile, both companies would establish both formal and informal partnerships with the company, with ECW performers either appearing on WWF and WCW shows while still under contract, or outright leaving ECW to work for one of the other two promotions.
context_section_description: Throughout the 1990s, Bret Hart had been arguably the most popular superstar on the WWF roster since winning the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair in 1992, and one of the few performers to remain steadfastly loyal to the company through its numerous changes. After losing the title to Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, Hart took a hiatus from the WWF, returning in late 1996 at the Survivor Series soon after signing a 20-year WWF contract. Despite hesitation, Hart agreed to turn heel at WrestleMania 13, becoming an anti-American, pro-Canadian character who would deride the morals of US wrestling fans in increasingly cheering for heel wrestlers, which later expanded into more political anti-US remarks. Though Hart became strongly disliked in the United States, this had no effect on his popularity in Canada or Western Europe where he remained a babyface. Hart's heel turn in the US after WrestleMania 13 while remaining a face in Canada and Western Europe was another example of breaking new ground. From the point of view of Hart and the Canadian/European wrestling fans, it was the US wrestling fans that were the bad guys and whose morals had changed for the worse compared to previous years. Hart's feud against the aggressive, morally ambiguous yet patriotic Stone Cold Steve Austin, would dominate WWF storylines through most of 1997. During the year, as part of Hart's anti-American angle and his feud with Austin, Hart allied with his brother Owen Hart, his brothers-in-law The British Bulldog and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and with close Hart family friend Brian Pillman, to form the new Hart Foundation.
  Upon being told by Vince McMahon on September 22, 1997, that the WWF's current financial situation precluded the company from fulfilling his 20-year contract, Hart signed a contract with WCW in October 1997. At the time, Hart was the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, and wanted to part ways with the WWF amicably, and had agreed to vacate the title following a farewell speech on the November 10, 1997 broadcast of Raw Is War in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which would take place one day after the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal. Although McMahon agreed to the arrangement, he later decided to renege on the deal and have Hart unwittingly lose the title at Survivor Series, to real-life rival Shawn Michaels. The incident, which took place in Hart's home country of Canada, became known as the Montreal Screwjob.
  The incident severely demoralized the WWF roster, shaking wrestlers' faith in McMahon and resulting in a near strike the following evening, with Mick Foley (Mankind) actually going on strike for one day. Bret Hart's two brothers-in-law, the British Bulldog and Neidhart left with Hart for WCW, although Neidhart made one more appearance on Raw Is War as a quid pro quo before leaving, where Neidhart was beaten up by D-Generation X. Hart himself (who punched out McMahon in the dressing room following the match in Montreal) prevented a mass strike by asking his former co-workers not to risk their careers for his sake. Bret's brother, Owen, also attempted to quit the WWF, citing a knee injury but was unable to get out of his contract. Owen Hart remained with the WWF until his controversial death at Over the Edge on May 23, 1999.
  Rick Rude, a wrestler who had been popular amongst both fans and his fellow wrestlers during the 1980s and 1990s, who had recently made a comeback in the WWF and was one of the on-screen founding members of D-Generation X, left the WWF a week after the Montreal Screwjob, and followed Hart to WCW. As Rude was being paid by the WWF on an appearance-by-appearance basis, no extant contract prevented him from leaving the WWF without prior notice. Rude appeared on both the WWF's Raw Is War and WCW's Monday Nitro on November 17, 1997. A mustachioed Rude appeared on Nitro, which was live, and proceeded to criticize Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, DX, and the WWF, calling the WWF the "Titanic", thereby calling it a "sinking ship". An hour later on Raw Is War (which had been taped six days earlier), Rude then a
caption: Bret "The Hitman" Hart left the WWF for WCW amid controversy
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