by Dave Meltzer
McMahon then asked Hart to drop the title on 11/8 at the house show in Detroit. Hart again refused, feeling the way everything had been built up, he wanted the match with Michaels, which in the wake of all the insider publicity was building up a life of its own like no match in the recent history of wrestling, to not come off as anti-climactic and for that to happen he needed to go into Montreal as the champion. He said that he would drop the title any time after 11/12, suggesting he’d do it at the house shows in Youngstown, OH on 11/13, Pittsburgh on 11/14 or in Madison Square Garden if they wanted it that soon rather than waiting for 12/7.
Jim Ross, on the company’s 900 line, acknowledged the statement that Hart was exploring other options, said that nobody knows the real story, and in hyping the big match, tossed in the phrase they’d be pushing in the final days leading up to the match—it will be their first meeting in 18 months, and most likely the final match between the two ever.
(November 6, 1997) In a story in the Toronto Sun, Tiger Ali Singh, at a press conference promoting the WWF house show the next night in Toronto said of Hart’s leaving, “It’s very disheartening. He’s not only been a mentor, but I’ve been a great admirer of him since I was a kid. And if he leaves, you’re going to see a whole bunch of other people leaving. And I’m not going to mention any names but WCW has been approaching a lot of people.”
(November 7, 1997) There is no question that the power of online services when it comes to influence of pro wrestling was established this past week. It was generally portrayed that it was a power struggle between Hart and Michaels, that Michaels had won out, and to a lesser extent Hart was leaving over the direction of the product. While there was some truth to all of this, probably the greatest truth of all is it was simply a manipulation by McMahon to get out of a contract that in hindsight he wished he’d never offered.
Whether Michaels, who the wrestlers feel has McMahon’s ear right now and has convinced him that what turned around WCW is Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, and not Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper, and that he should and the company should do what they did to get WCW over. There is also feeling among WWF wrestlers that Michaels pushed McMahon in that direction to rid the company of his hated rival who had apparently one-upped him when signing the new deal that made him so much higher paid. Maybe it was simply economic because the company is in financial straights. Hart did have a lot of problems over the direction of the company and his own decision was partially made based on that, but it’s clear, in hindsight, that McMahon had a strong hand in manipulating Hart’s decision to get out of the contract.
In the vast majority opinion on-line from people who really had no clue as to what was really going on, Titan, McMahon and Michaels were coming off as major heels. The WWF’s own online site, said to be the domain of young kids with no clue about wrestling, was besieged with the reports about Hart leaving and the so-called marks were reacting very negatively toward Titan to the point Titan pulled all its folders by the early afternoon, which caused another outcry of censorship of opinions from wrestling fans. Finally, McMahon responded publicly online with a letter of his own, stating:
Over the past few days I have read certain comments on the Internet concerning Bret Hart and his “alleged” reasons for wanting to pursue other avenues than the World Wrestling Federation to earn his livelihood. While I respect the “opinions” of others, as owner of the World Wrestling Federation I felt that it was time to set the record straight.
As it has been reported recently online, part of Bret Hart’s decision to pursue other options is “allegedly due to his concern with the “direction” of the World Wrestling Federation. Whereby each and every individual is entitles to his, or her, opinion, I take great offense when the issue of the direction of the World Wrestling Federation is raised.
In this age of sports-entertainment, the World Wrestling Federation REFUSES to insult its audience in terms of “Baby Faces” and “Heels.” In 1997, how many people do you truly know who are strictly “good” guys or “bad” guys? World Wrestling Federation programming reflects more of a reality-based product in which life, as well as World Wrestling Federation superstars, are portrayed as they truly are—in shades of gray...not black or white.
From what I am reading, it has been reported that Bret may be concerned about the morality issues in the World Wrestling Federation. Questionable language. Questionable gestures. Questionable sexuality. Questionable racial issues. Questionable? All of the issues mentioned above are issues that every human being must deal with every day of their lives.
Also, with that in mind, please be aware that Bret Hart had been cautioned—on “numerous” occasions—to alter his language, by not using expletives or God’s name in vain. He was also told—on numerous occasions—not to use certain hand gestures some might find offensive.
My point is: regardless of what some are reporting, Bet’s decision to pursue other career options IS NOT genuinely a Shawn Michaels direction issue, as they would like you to believe! In the personification of DeGeneration X, Shawn Michaels’ character is EXPECTED to be living on the edge—which, I might add, Mr. Michaels portrays extremely well.
The issue here is that the “direction” of the World Wrestling Federation is not determined by Shawn Michaels, OR Bret Hart for that matter. It is determined by you—the fans of the World Wrestling Federation! You DEMAND a more sophisticated approach! You DEMAND to be intellectually challenged! You DEMAND a product with ATTITUDE, and as owner of this company—it is my responsibility to give you exactly what you want!
Personally, I regret the animosity that has built up between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, but in the end, it is the World Wrestling Federation that is solely responsible for the content of this product—NOT Bret Hart—NOT Shawn Michaels—NOT Vince McMahon, for that matter. May the best man win at the Survivor Series! .
That only made the situation worse in regard to how fans were viewing McMahon and the company even worse. “You demand to be intellectually challenged?” By doing racial angles. The fans chose that direction? They asked to see Michaels pull his pants down and jump up and down on television?
Hart was booked for his first public appearance before the house show that night at the Sky Dome in Toronto. It was on a half-hour TSN (The Sports Network, the Canadian version of ESPN) talk show called “Off The Record.” Host Michael Landsberg opened the show saying the show had received more than 1,000 calls to ask Hart if he was leaving for WCW. Despite the word being out everywhere by this point, Hart would only go so far as to say that he had given his 30 day notice to the WWF, that he’s reviewing offers from both groups and is strongly leaning going one way. “I’d like to really come more clean on it than I can, you know, than I have, but I have to do this thing by the book kind of thing.”
Hart categorized the split as not being a money issue but said that he and the WWF had “reached kind of a crisis or we’ve reached professional differences as to what direction that the wrestling shows are taking. You know, I’m not saying I’m always right, but I feel that some of the content of the shows goes against my belief in what wrestling should be, and can be.” Later in the show he criticized Michaels, and then stated that “wrestling is often scoffed at as a form of entertainment sometimes, or it used to be. I believe it came way up, and I was very proud in the direction, which has a lot to do with where I am right now today. Wrestling was cleaned up, and it became something families could watch...”
He talked about inner workings of the business, having to trust the guy you are working with because you give them your body and said the real animosities and hatred that exists have to be set aside. He said that everything he has said about Shawn Michaels is about the Shawn Michaels character, but said that Michaels has said things that have hit a raw nerve with him to the point it’s unprofessional.
The show aired the footage of the Shawn Michaels interview where he blamed the Hart Foundation for trashing the NOD dressing room and insinuating that Hart was a racist. Hart said t
hat he doesn’t blame Michaels for that. “That’s obviously a promotional direction, and that’s a poor concept. I think that racial tension is something to be very, very careful with. When you start messing around with racial things, that I don’t like.”
Hart said that he stopped watching Raw about five weeks earlier because he didn’t like the direction, and agreed when the host brought up Michaels calling him the Grand Wizard (a KKK reference, not a reference to a famous wrestling manager of the 70s), and then brought up what Michaels said about his father that he didn’t see. “You know, I don’t mind if someone pokes fun at my dad. Jerry Lawler’s made a living the last two or three years saying comments about my mom and dad, but he’s always fairly humorous about it. Actually I used to get offended at some of the things he used to say about my mother...until I realized that my mother thought they were humorous, and then it was kind of OK with me.” He then spoke at length about Brian Pillman.
By this point, in certain circles and particularly within the industry, interest in the match on Sunday due to all the uncertainty, some of which was known and most of which actually wasn’t, had reached a level not seen in years. For all of Hart and McMahon’s wanting to keep the story quiet, word getting out was the greatest thing for the buy rate. There were 14,374 fans paying $296,674 at Sky Dome that night for the show. To credit the huge house to the interest in Canada since Hart leaving had been reported in the local newspapers would be incorrect, as WWF officials a week before the event had figured on a crowd of 15,000. Obviously some fans knew, and there were chants of “You sold out” directed at Hart. Although this should have been expected, and Hart has been a pro wrestler for 21 years and been around the business a lot longer than that, the chants in his home country knowing what he was going through did get to him.
The main event was a six-man tag with Undertaker & Mankind & Austin vs. Bret & Smith & Neidhart, subbing for brother Owen who was supposed to start back but still wasn’t ready to return after a severe concussion from a few weeks earlier. Bret was asked to do the job for the stone cold stunner, debated the question for a while, then refused, figuring he was the only Canadian in the main event in the U.S. vs. Canada type match with the big nationalistic angle, and Austin ended up using the stunner on Neidhart instead.
(November 8, 1997) The WWF ran a house show in Detroit at Cobo Arena for what would turn out to be Bret Hart’s final match in the United States as a wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation. Tensions were really high and the prospects of a double-cross were looming by this time in many of the more paranoid types.
But really, this was 1997, and this was the World Wrestling Federation. That’s stuff from the 20s when the real bad guy lowlives were running the business. The days of making Lou Thesz world champion because you needed someone who could handle himself in the case of a double-cross had been over for more than three decades.
That day, Hart went to the one member of the front office he knew he could trust, Earl Hebner. While there are what you call a lot of good acquaintances in the business, Hart and Hebner were genuine close friends for years. Hart said he’d use his influence to get Hebner to referee the match because he wanted someone in the ring that he could trust. Hebner said he understood the situation, and told Hart, “I swear on my kids lives that I’d quit my job before double-crossing you.” On a personal basis a little more than 24 hours later, remembrance of that conversation crushed him more than anything.
At about the same time, the WWF braintrust was in Montreal one day early. Vince McMahon held a meeting at the hotel with Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, Pat Patterson and Michaels. Reports are that at least two of the aforementioned names looked extremely uncomfortable leaving the meeting.
Ross, on the WWF 900 line, filed a report saying due to the tension between Hart and Michaels that there would be armed security backstage and the two would dress as far apart from each other as possible. That was a total work since Michaels and Hart actually dressed together and were on professional terms the next afternoon. He also said that McMahon was not going to announce the show, and instead would be handling any last minute problems backstage. Ross also hinted that it could be Hart’s final match in the World Wrestling Federation, something Hart at that point wasn’t aware of.
(November 9, 1997) Imagine going into the most anticipated match on the inside of pro wrestling in years and on the day of the show, not having any semblance of a finish? McMahon and Hart met that afternoon and McMahon said something to the effect of, “What do you want to do? You’ve got me by the balls.” Hart said that he just wants to leave the building with his head up. Hart said to McMahon, “Let me hand you the belt on Raw (the next night in Ottawa). Everyone knows I’m leaving. I’d like to tell the truth on Raw Monday.”
At this point the “truth” wouldn’t include talking about finances, contract breaches, arguments about finishes or anything that would make McMahon or the company look bad publicly. McMahon said he agreed, that it was the right thing to do and the two shook hands on it.
Hart and Michaels were dressing together putting together a match. Both were professional with one another and talking about putting on the best match possible in Hart’s last hurrah, agreeing to a DQ finish in about 17:00 after a lengthy brawl before the bell wound even sound to start the match. As they were putting their spots together, Patterson came in. He had a suggestion for a high spot in the match as a false finish. There would be a referee bump. Michaels would put Hart in his own sharpshooter. Hart would reverse the hold. Hebner would still be down at this point and not see Michaels tap out. Hart would release the hold to revive Hebner. Michaels would hit him when he turned around with the sweet chin music. A second ref, Mike Chioda, would haul ass to the ring and begin the count. A few paces behind, Owen Hart and Smith, and possibly Neidhart as well, would run down to the ring. Chioda would count 1-2, and whomever got to the ring first, likely Owen, would drag Chioda out of the ring. While they think they’ve saved the day on the pin on Bret, suddenly Hebner would recover, 1-2, and Bret would kick out. That would set the pace for about five more minutes of near falls before it would end up in a disqualification ending.
Before the show started, both Vader, with his Japanese experience, and Smith, told Hart to watch himself. He was warned not to lay down and not to allow himself to be put in a compromising position. He was told to kick out at one, not two, and not to allow himself into any submission holds. Hart recognized the possibility of the situation, but his thoughts regarding a double-cross were more along with lines of always protecting himself in case Michaels tried to hit him with a sucker punch when he left himself open. The idea that being put in a submission or one of the near falls while working spots would be dangerous for him would be something to worry about normally, but he put it out of his mind because he had Hebner in the ring as the referee.
People on the inside were watching this as close as on the outside. Would Bret do the job? Would Shawn do the job? Would Bret give Shawn a real beating before putting him over? The Molson Center was packed with more than 20,000 rabid fans, who up to that point had seen a largely lackluster undercard. While the fear going in about the word getting out of Hart leaving hurting the PPV most likely turned out to be just the opposite, the sellout was not indicative of that either as it was well known by the advance that the show was going to sellout one or two days early. It appeared that about 10 to 20 percent of the crowd knew Hart was leaving, and there were negative signs regarding his decision, and negative signs toward the promotion for picking Michaels above him or the direction that seemingly forced him to leave.
Some things were also strange, and not just the absence of McMahon from the broadcast. Hart, the champion in the main event, wasn’t scheduled for an interview building up the match. When his name was announced early in the show, there were many boos from fans who knew he signed with the opposition. Once he got in the ring for the introductions, Michaels wiped his butt, blew his nose and then picked his nose with the Canadian flag. He then
put the flag on the ground and began humping it. Hart was immediately established as the babyface.
The two began the match as a brawl all around ringside and into the stands. The crowd was so rabid that it appeared there was genuine danger they’d attack Michaels. At one point, they were brawling near the entrance, knocking down refs as planned, knocking down Patterson, as planned, and as planned, Hart and McMahon had an argument almost teasing the idea of a spot later in the match where Hart would deck McMahon. But it was also clear that everything going on was 100% professional and the only curiosity left at that point was how good the match was going to be (it appeared to be very good) and how would they get “out” of the match (with something nobody will ever forget).
But one thing was strange. Why were so many agents circling the ring, and why was McMahon right there, and acting so intense? About eight minutes before the show was “supposed” to end, Bruce Prichard, in the “Gorilla” position (kind of the on-deck circle for the wrestlers) was screaming in his headset that we need more security at the ring. Why? They had already done the brawl in the crowd. The finish was going to be a DQ and it was still several minutes away. Hart climbed the top rope for a double sledge on Michaels. Michaels pulled Hebner in the way and Hart crashed on him. Just as planned. Michaels for a split second, looked at McMahon and put Hart in the sharpshooter, just as planned.
The next split seconds were the story. Chioda, listening to his headpiece for his cue to run-in, heard the backstage director scream to Hebner that it was time to get up. Hebner, listening himself, immediately got up. Chioda started screaming that he wasn’t supposed to get up. Owen Hart and Smith, readying their run in, were equally perplexed seeing him get up. Prichard was freaking out backstage saying that wasn’t supposed to happen. Bret, still not realizing anything was wrong, laid in the hold for a only a few seconds to build up some heat before doing the reversal. Michaels cinched down hard on the hold, glanced at Hebner and then looked away, which more than one wrestler in the promotion upon viewing the tape saw as the proof he was in on it, but then fed Bret his leg for the reversal. Hebner quickly looked at the timekeeper and screamed “ring the bell.” At the same moment, McMahon, sitting next to the timekeeper, elbowed him hard and screamed “ring the f***in bell.” The bell rang at about the same moment Bret grabbed the leg for the reversal and Michaels fell down on his face on the mat.