Viceland’s take on the Montreal Screwjob sheds little new light on WWE’s signature controversy

The story of the Montreal Screwjob has been told and retold for two decades. But, as Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring proves, we’re still waiting on an unbiased take on what went down.

Viceland continued with the second episode of their Dark Side of the Ring series, which highlights some of the more outrageous moments in professional wrestling history. Episode 2 focuses on the trials and tribulations of Canadian superstar, Bret “The Hitman” Hart. The episode features interviews from a series of wrestlers, bookers, producers and, yes, even notorious referee Earl Hebner, all recapping the events that occurred in regards to the incident known as “The Montreal Screwjob.”

The episode begins by establishing the importance of the Hart family on professional wrestling, starting with patriarch Stu Hart, Bret’s father, who ran the infamous Dungeon at The Hart House in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where Stu would torment bodybuilders, football players and others looking to learn the craft of professional wrestling.

A young Bret Hart (of course trained by his father), along with Jim Neidhart (also a Dungeon product) would soon be a part of an exclusive deal with the (then-) WWF in 1984 once Stampede Wrestling was bought out by McMahon’s company. Hart lived up to his “excellence of execution” tagline and soon received a huge push to stardom. Hart seemed to be the best choice to transition to WWF Champion after Flair and to feud with another of the company’s biggest stars, Shawn Michaels.

It was easy to see the instant chemistry between Hart and Michaels from an early on. A power-struggle between Hart and McMahon is foreshadowed in this episode as McMahon’s looming presence shadows over The Hitman, as a visual cue. We are left with a negative representation of McMahon, both in his absence from this series, along with the heel persona that he would later develop, being not the leader of a family, as McMahon was often referred to in relation to his roster during the 1990’s, but rather as a shrewd businessman who will save his company at all costs.

The dialectic clash between the technician, Hart, and the gymnastic show-stopper, Michaels, made for one of the most memorable WrestleMania main events, their iron-man match. Hart was the WWF’s champion, but he decided to jump ship to World Championship Wrestling after McMahon backed out of the long-term contract he had offered Hart. As a result, Hart was told three weeks before the 1997 Survivor Series that he would be dropping the belt to Michaels. The real hate between Michaels and Hart came to a boiling point.

And disrespect from Michaels or not, Hart absolutely refused to lose the belt. He grew suspicious that he would be screwed out of the title, and confronted Hebner, who would later referee their match. At the time, Hebner was a trusted associate of Hart’s and one of the few referees he would allow him to officiate his matches. Compounding matters, Hart was also being filmed for the documentary, Wrestling with Shadows, which led to Hart being secretly wired during private meetings with McMahon and creating a new source of tension.

Those tapes, though, reveal a non-committal McMahon being confronted by a demanding Hart, who wasn’t backing down about his unwillingness to drop the title to Michaels, instead wanting to retain in the match and then relinquishing the title before he left for the competition. Clearly, that was not McMahon’s plan.

Gerald Briscoe would soon notify Hebner to ring the bell once Michaels executed a Sharpshooter (Hart’s own finishing move), leaving Hebner morally conflicted. Should he choose loyalty to his friend, and honesty, or should he choose job security? As soon as the lock was applied by Michaels, McMahon called for the bell despite Hart not submitting, and Hebner acquiesced, noting in the Viceland documentary that McMahon would have rung the bell himself had he not complied.

In the documentary, Vince Russo and Jim Cornette describe the events that unfolded surrounding the Screwjob, and predictably the two have different takes on how, what and why things happened as they did. Russo remains disliked by many people within the wrestling community, including Cornette, for reasons which include Russo taking credit for most of the Attitude Era and his objectively awful booking. Once Hart turned down McMahon’s pitches to lose to Michaels, declining to drop the WWF championship, Russo recalls being responsible for pitching the Montreal Screwjob to McMahon, which he “miserably regrets.”

As others have warned in the wrestling business, Russo is an untrustworthy narrator when he describes the role that he played. His notorious reputation makes his presence in the documentary sour and unnecessary. Bruce Pritchard, who was not involved in the planning of the Screwjob, claims to have felt “very alone and betrayed,” as he did not know what was going on.

Very soon after the Screwjob occurred, McMahon arrived in Hart’s dressing room, looking to talk over what happened and to take the punishment he knew was coming to him (Hart had already spit in McMahon’s face at ringside following his loss). After showering, Hart punched McMahon square in the jaw with an uppercut. In his retrospective interview with Viceland, Hart continues to play his cool, humble persona which leaves the viewer wondering if he can really psychologically distance himself from his character. Hart shows psychological complexities of a method actor who has become so intwined with the character that he plays that he is unable to be himself.

Despite coming across as soft-spoken and humble, Hart’s egotistical insistence that he was the man who carried the company only for that company to turn his back on him certainly looks as though Hart is trying to put himself in the role of a martyr who believes he’s been betrayed by those who he trusted most.

The episode does not feature any legal experts who could have provided a more thorough analysis on the events that unfolded or what Hart’s or McMahon’s rights were as performer and promoter, respectively. Because everything surrounding the Screwjob and its planning was verbally agreed to, the truth of the story is blurry. McMahon is the only one with all the answers, and he’s not speaking.

Instead of letting this side of the business stay hidden, WWE leaned into the Screwjob angle, with McMahon sitting down to an interview with WWE commentator Jim Ross and delivering the iconic line, “Bret Hart screwed Bret Hart,” to describe the events in Montreal. That line became synonymous with McMahon’s game-changing heel turn that would follow, which led to McMahon becoming a major character in storylines rather than a behind-the-scenes boss. He became one of the most hated heels in pro wrestling history, later feuding with Steve Austin. The wealthy businessman power-trip strut that characterizes McMahon today was born as his backstage persona came center-stage.

Both Hart and Eric Bischoff both agree that Hart’s WCW debut was lackluster. With the fourth wall collapsed, the alienated Hart’s morale did not get any better after moving to WWE’s competition. The echo of the Screwjob also haunted Hebner like a monkey on his back as fans would continue to express their dislike for him by chanting “You screwed Bret!”

The Viceland take on the Screwjob does not contain much else about Hart’s time in WCW, or anything from McMahon himself who could have provided more in-depth analysis (but also another biased take) on the situation. The Montreal Screwjob endures in pro wrestling lore mostly because there are so many versions of the truth to pick from. We’ve known this for over 20 years, and the Viceland documentary only serves to drive that point home.