The Wrestling Observer Yearbook '97: The Last Time WWF Was Number Two

by Dave Meltzer

I’ve heard two versions of what was discussed as rules of this match, one that it would be the first pinfall scenario in that the man who scored the first pin would become the champion. The other is the final survivor, as with the Final Four match earlier this year on a PPV, after eliminations going over the top rope, would be the winner. In either case, the basic gist would be that either Undertaker or Shamrock would put Michaels over in the end. This was a scenario created by the WWF, discussed and agreed upon at a meeting that Hart wasn’t involved in, to give Hart an out in the storyline world to say that the WWF in his final match put three guys, instead of one, in the ring against him and that he actually was never beaten by Michaels since the two had their personal issue with one another.

  Part of the reason it was booked like this is because as of 12/1, Hart was under contract to WCW. For Hart to work in Springfield and Portland, ME, Eric Bischoff had to okay the scenarios and he had agreed to allow that basic scenario to take place, which actually is where the story gets even more interesting. Hart would then do the interview in Portland, where he’d apologize to the American fans, thank the organization for 14 great years (actually Hart started with the WWF in late 1984, so it’s really 13 but everyone has been using the number 14 for so long I guess it’ll always be 14), and leave on a high note. Supposedly as of that point, McMahon wasn’t even considering the double-cross and nothing of the sort was brought up at that meeting.

  That does leave two questions: Why did McMahon decide not to announce the show, as that decision was definitely discussed at the meeting, and why did Ross go on the hotline and hint that the match could be Hart’s final match in the World Wrestling Federation?

  By all accounts, everything else was just fuel for a fire that would explode just six hours later when Hart arrived in Montreal at about 4 p.m. after coming in from Detroit. Hart and McMahon had the discussion. Where Saturday’s scenario fell apart was in that discussion. Supposedly McMahon suggested he had another change in plans, and that he wanted Hart to lose the title to Michaels in a singles match instead of a Final Four match in Springfield. Hart supposedly balked, because that wasn’t the scenario he had sold Bischoff on, which is where Hart brought up the scenario of just handing the belt back to McMahon in Ottawa that according to Hart, McMahon at the time agreed to but later McMahon portrayed to the wrestlers two days later as that being Hart’s demand and not suggestion.

  Hart was still going to finish out his contract by working all the house shows through the end of the month. This could be confirmed because he had people contact friends in various cities to meet him after matches for the remainder of the month for his final hurrah in the promotion. Hart at this point said he was still amenable to dropping the title to anyone after 11/13, including Michaels. Supposedly Hart didn’t turn down McMahon’s proposal, only say he’d have to get Bischoff’s permission since he’d be under contract to Bischoff at that point.

  Clearly you can see the position McMahon felt he had been put in with the idea that his most hated enemy actually could have decision making power over his championship belt and this may be what caused the decision, perhaps an overreaction to that fact. But at the same time, all these time frames were created and known by McMahon and in hindsight, he should have gotten the belt off Hart long before telling him they wanted to cut his contract, let alone before asking him to negotiate with WCW. As it was, they were suggesting to restructure his contract informally at least, even before putting the belt on him in the first place at SummerSlam. No doubt with visions of Madusa throwing the title belt in the garbage can at Nitro, this is where those close to McMahon claim he later said where he came up with the double-cross idea.

  Only two people were involved in this, ultimately, the most important of all the conversations that supposedly led to the ultimate finish. McMahon portrayed it to his staff and later to the wrestlers that Hart told him this would be his final match with the company, that he wouldn’t drop the title, and that he wanted to hand McMahon the title the next night on Raw, and McMahon felt this was his last chance to get his title back. “The only thing I asked for and after 14 years, I thought it was a fair request, is that they didn’t beat me in Canada.”

  Hart said he turned down the request to put Michaels over for the title in an unannounced match in Detroit the night before the PPV because it would defeat the whole purpose of what the match had been built up for if he showed up for that match without the belt. “He knew full well I’d be happy to drop the belt at the Garden. I even suggested to him taping the show at MSG and airing the match (as a special event) on Monday and show everyone the title change. Vince shot that down because it would cost too much to film there (Madison Square Garden charges around $40,000 for rights if a television event is filmed there). I really told Vince I’d even put over Lombardi. It was a problem between Sunday and Wednesday in putting Shawn over, but as long as I could get out of Canada, I’d put Shawn over anywhere he wanted.”

  McMahon told his staff after the fact that he did it because he couldn’t allow the WWF champion to show up the next night on Nitro (the Madusa vision, even though it is exceedingly difficult to believe this would actually happen), or be announced on Nitro, as coming to WCW. However, the WWF was at the meeting the night before planning on using that very information as a way to build its December PPV show.

  “He gave Bret a lot of options, all of which Bret turned down,” said one of the members of the inner circle. “Bret said he wouldn’t do it (the job). Vince said his back was against the wall. Vince wasn’t happy with the decision he had to make and takes full responsibility for the decision. It was Vince’s decision. Nobody else had input. It was to protect the business from his standpoint. He had to protect his title. Bret wouldn’t do business (the job). We were told (by McMahon) he was going to show up in Memphis (the Nitro on 11/10, the day after Survivors) with the belt. Vince claimed Bret didn’t want to make the December PPV. Bret took away every opportunity to get the belt back. The only people who really know the whole story are Bret and Vince.”

  Yet another person close to the situation said that McMahon really didn’t believe Hart would be on Nitro but was more worried since he’d agreed that afternoon to allow Hart to relinquish the belt on Raw in Ottawa and afterwards was worried about what Hart would say in his last interview about why he was leaving, given what he had said in the newspaper and on the TSN television show over the previous week and since it was live TV, or talk in positive terms about where he was going. McMahon could call for a commercial in the middle of the interview, but that also would make the company look like they were hiding something and the word of what he said would get out everywhere anyway. “Vince was desperate because he didn’t want Bret to put over WCW on (his) television.” He also told supposedly told the staff that Hart never offered to lose the belt in Madison Square Garden or anywhere else and that Montreal would be his last chance to get it back.

  The Madusa story is another that wrestling history seems to have distorted. The prevailing view appears to be that Bischoff offered Madusa big money to walk out on the WWF, show up with the belt, and drop it in the garbage. The actual story is that McMahon fired Madusa without having her drop the belt five days earlier. Bischoff, who clearly loves nothing more than rubbing McMahon’s face in it at every chance possible, saw his opportunity and the end result was the end result. This is not to say Madusa was right, or McMahon was wrong (in hindsight once again he should have gotten his belt back if it meant so much, and if the belt is just a prop, than everyone in the industry on both sides certainly overreacted to the Madusa incident), just that since the Madusa story was brought up by so many people, including high-ranking WWF officials, in the days following the double-cross, the actual story needed to be clarified.

  I guess for curiosity and historical reasons, people want to know how many were involved in the double-cross. It is in the WWF’s best interest to keep the number low, because all those involved will be viewed warily by the wrestlers, and the already low
trust level in a business that to be successful has to be built around trust, would be even worse when any of those parties are involved. The circle admitted to were McMahon, obviously, Gerald Brisco, Hebner and perhaps Michaels. Michaels has since told his friends in WCW, if his actions on Raw the next night didn’t prove it, that he was involved in it, despite his reactions that night trying to prove to the world that he wasn’t, I guess figuring that had he acted differently, Hart might have slugged him in the ring right at his moment of realization. Clearly more knew. Pat Patterson was the one who suggested the spot. The guy who cued the music had to know, because Michaels music played immediately and Hart was the one scheduled to go over. The production people in the truck had to know. They pulled away from Hart almost immediately once he spit at McMahon. If they didn’t know, they should have assumed that was part of the angle and would have kept the camera on him and McMahon. They also had to know to abruptly end the television show, which actually ended seven minutes, not five, ahead of the theoretical schedule.

  We incorrectly reported last week that the ring announcer made the announcement of the title change immediately, as in fact, the show went off the air without such an announcement being made. Hebner did run “faster than Donovan Bailey” according to a ringside fan out of the ring and through the dressing room into the awaiting car, but did not fly home, nor as reported did he miss both Raw tapings. One could assume the double-cross had a back-up plan when you think about the spot Patterson offered in the match. If Hart had reversed the sharpshooter before Hebner and Vince could get the bell rung, Hebner still would have been able to fast count him from the superkick, which he probably should have done because at that point the finish wouldn’t have come off to the public as smelling so bad.

  We’ve talked with four eye witnesses to “the fight.” Two had similar stories, basically exactly how it was reported on last week. Clearly, Hart threw one punch. It hit McMahon’s left temple and not his jaw. McMahon went down and on television on 11/17 claimed to one week later still have blurred vision and suffered a concussion from the punch and had a nasty black eye most of the week, which on television was somewhat covered up by make-up.

  The others had very different stories, saying there was no fight, just a punch. That McMahon was never helped out, but walked out on his own power, although McMahon definitely did suffer an ankle injury after the punch that wasn’t as a result of Hart but in his either leaving or being helped out and someone stepping on it. One even confirmed the story McMahon had on television and that two days later he tried to get across to the wrestlers, basically that McMahon let him punch him, and as he portrayed to the wrestlers, he was taking the punch for “all the boys” since Hart wouldn’t do the right thing on the way out and he had to make the right thing happen for the boys and the future of the company.

  There have been denials that Shane McMahon ever jumped on Hart, or that Davey Boy Smith ever jumped on Shane McMahon and that neither was involved at all. On 11/13 Smith’s attorney faxed a letter to McMahon saying that he had injured his knee in breaking up the fight and might need surgery. One eye witness maintained there was no fight, only one punch, and Smith was never involved to have gotten hurt.

  For whatever reason, and I guess this involves the machismo nature of the business, because the fight was an unfortunate after-effect of the double-cross, but that people on the WWF side, and even McMahon himself, are trying to give people the impression that had it been a fair fight, whatever that constitutes, that McMahon would have won, and/or that Hart backed down after the altercation from Shane McMahon and not visa versa. Almost as if somehow the end result of the fight was more of a figurative instead of a literal black eye on Vince McMahon and the powers that be in the WWF, because he was the one with the concussion, than the double-cross.

  The weirdest part of McMahon’s speech on Raw on 11/17 was his broaching that subject, almost like a kid in a schoolyard who got decked and claiming it was a sucker-punch, and maybe it was, one week later after replaying it in his mind, decided that really he could kick the other guys butt. It really shouldn’t matter. Clearly when it comes to the fight, both men were in the wrong. McMahon to precipitate the situation after what happened and not walk away from trouble when he had good reason to expect it would happen. Hart because he threw the first and only punch, even though he had warned McMahon earlier that he would.

  Yes, it made Bret Hart a cult hero to the wrestlers, and the next night McMahon’s former employees in WCW were all smiles, not just in the ring. It was described as the climactic moment from the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” when Nurse Ratchett finally got it, and that somewhere in Pittsburgh, Bruno Sammartino was going to have a big smile on his face. Hart wasn’t apologetic about it and McMahon on television described him as “crowing” about it. Many wrestlers, who in their dreams would have liked to have done it, were celebratory.

  It was the right thing to do in the fantasy wrestling world, where the babyface gets screwed for so long that he finally decks the heel that screwed him. But the cameras were off and this was the real world, and the real world doesn’t operate that way. With all the pressures and paranoia on both sides, a lot of it justified, one could see how things ended up as they did, but you are talking about a 40-year-old and a 52-year-old, both of whom are very intelligent, albeit very stubborn, and everything up to that point was business. Bad business to be sure, but business.

  The end result was two nine-year-olds, and the one who got the black eye going on television and crying about it. It was so weird to see McMahon, on television, try and get over the idea that if they were to fight again, that even though he’s 52-years-old, the result might be different. Whether he believes it to be true, or because he’s trying to somehow save face with the boys as a kid on the schoolyard does in the same situation, or even if true makes an issue of professional differences turn into nothing more than “my daddy can beat up your daddy” on the Kindergarten playground.

  To the millions of wrestling fans watching, what does it say for the business McMahon was so intent on protecting when the television announcer and company owner says publicly that he thinks he could kick butt on the supposed five-time champion of the world? Earlier in the week many in the company were thinking McMahon wouldn’t say anything that negative about Hart and certainly not from that perspective, because they knew it would come off badly. Let alone focus on the fight in that vain because even though most fans know pro wrestling is worked, they like in their own imaginations to believe that the wrestlers, particularly the main event wrestlers, really are tough guys, whether true or not, and not violating that is another of pro wrestling’s time honored traditions. Why, in Syracuse, NY a few years back, when Michaels was beaten up or whatever actually happened, that the WWF tried to put the word out it was by eight or nine people, rather than by one person who had three friends with him who were largely run off the scene by Davey Boy Smith?

  Anyway, on 11/17, Ross, on the 900 line, said that Smith injured his knee in breaking up the altercation after the show in Montreal. As far as the tapings themselves and the supposed boycott, we were contacted throughout 11/10 as to what was going on. Nearly all the wrestlers didn’t feel like going to television in Ottawa. Upper management was literally on the phone all night long after the show trying to pacify an upset crew of wrestlers who felt that they had all been double crossed. Many wrestlers talked of quitting the promotion. According to Hart, eight wrestlers called his room the morning of the show and he told all of them not to breach their contracts and to do what was best for their families and to attend the show. One of those who called was Rick Rude.

  As it was, only Owen Hart, Smith and Mick Foley flew home rather than worked the TV in Ottawa. Neidhart was there, although he didn’t work since his appearing would call too much attention to the fact the other members of the Hart Foundation weren’t there and would likely get the Canadian crowd more up in arms on a live television shoot. Foley, after one day, flew back and wo
rked in the second night in Cornwall. Clearly, Hart and Smith were furious about what happened and for family reasons were wanting to leave the promotion. McMahon had made it clear that he isn’t going to let either out of their respective contracts, which in both cases have a little less than four years left. Reports that one or both had an out clause in their contracts similar to Bret were untrue, as Bret, due to his negotiating leverage at the time he worked out the deal, was the only Titan wrestler under contract who had such a provision.

  Smith hasn’t returned, with his only communication to Titan being the fax that his lawyer sent about his knee injury. Owen Hart was talked into working on 11/12 in Barrie, ONT, en route to a meeting in Connecticut the next day with McMahon. Hart wanted some sort of an apology, and as McMahon later showed on Raw a few days later, he has in his own mind worked out that all the problems were Bret’s fault and wouldn’t do so. Hart left the meeting and went home, and was removed from all of his house show bookings. McMahon and Owen had a second meeting on 11/16, again not reaching a satisfactory ending. The Titan position on the matter is that Hart is taking a hiatus to work everything out due to the family situation. Others portray it as Owen being given a deadline, either 12/1 or 1/1 depending on the source, to return to work but he has until that time off to work everything out since the company realizes that he is in a bad position and that in no way is he at fault. The bottom line is that both Owen Hart and Smith have families and can’t work anywhere else, and whether they would like to leave or not, ultimately they don’t seem to have much of a choice.

  Yet another scenario to convince Bret to do the job in Montreal was proposed on 11/5. In this one, proposed by Neidhart, Bret would have Michaels beaten in the middle. The Hart Foundation would come out and attack Bret and put Michaels on top leading to the title change. This was proposed to Bret as a way to put a lot of heel heat on his family after he left, to where he didn’t lose clean, and his family could explain it on television as being mad at Bret for deserting them and going to the other promotion. Bret nixed that one saying, “I’m not dragging my family through that crap again.”