Bret Hart Recalls Knocking Vince McMahon Out After Montreal Screwjob: The Story That Vince Gave Me A Free Punch Is Bullsh-t
Bret Hart calls bullshit on the idea that Vince McMahon offered him a free shot after the “Montreal Screwjob” at WWE Survivor Series 1997.
Most wrestling fans know the story of the 1997 Survivor Series. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels competed in the main event for the WWE Championship. Hart had decided to go to WCW. Vince McMahon wanted the WWE Title off of Hart that night, and since they had reached an impasse on an agreeable finish, the decision was made to make it appear as though Hart submitted to his own finishing hold, The Sharpshooter, in one of the most infamous endings to a WWE pay-per-view of all time.
After the match, Bret Hart and Vince McMahon confronted each other in the locker room. Hart knocked McMahon out and gave him a black eye. In some tellings of this story, Vince McMahon likes to say that he offered Bret Hart a free shot at him. Hart, in the new Netflix docuseries ‘Mr. McMahon,’ called bullshit on that story.
“There was no like, ‘Vince is going to give me a shot.’ Like, I don’t where they get that story, because that is such a bunch of bullshit. It was Vince and me came at each other, and we actually tied up like a wrestling match. Everybody’s ready to pounce on me as soon as we grab each other. I remember going, the only way I can get a shot in, one shot, maybe, is an uppercut, and I came right up between Vince’s arms, and it was like, you know when you hit the bell [at carnivals] when the thing goes up.
“He was out cold, like a starfish. It was probably the best thing I ever did. He deserved every bit of that.”
Vince McMahon admitted he got a pretty good concussion after the altercation.
Fans can now stream all six episodes of “Mr. McMahon,” a new docuseries produced by The Ringer and Netflix.
Elsewhere in the documentary, Bret Hart weighed in on the “ring boy scandal” and Mel Phillips. Read more here.
Janel Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit in January against Vince McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. The lawsuit accuses McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking. On May 30, Grant agreed to pause the lawsuit for six months while the federal investigation continued against McMahon, who resigned from TKO/WWE following the lawsuit.
Victim Resources:
National Sexual Assault Hotline
Hours: Available 24 hours
1-800-656-4673
