The Montreal Screwjob is regarded as WWE's most bitter and controversial scandal ever. It dealt with Bret Hart's acrimonious exit from the company when Vince McMahon ordered the bell be rung from ringside, thus granting Shawn Michaels the World Heavyweight Title at the 1997 Survivor Series. It was Hart's last match before he headed to WCW, and salt was rubbed in the wounds as it occurred when Michaels had the Hitman in his own signature move, the Sharpshooter.
It would be talked about for decades, with Dark Side of the Ring in its first season detailing the behind-the-scenes drama prior to the outcome and the altercations occurring in its wake. Eventually, things were patched up, and Hart entered the Hall of Fame in 2006, but still, it's never been confirmed what transpired and where true blame lies. But as much as that seems to be the biggest middle-finger a wrestler could have gotten, the VICE TV docuseries has confirmed the biggest screw job ever was actually done to Bart Gunn.
This is revealed in Episode 4, "The Brawl For All," which sheds light on the 1998 shoot fighting tournament that had wrestlers boxing and brawling for real. Bart and his brother, Billy, were the Smoking Gunns, but when they were split, Bart was brought into the tournament, which Vince Russo envisioned to boost ratings. Backstage creatives like Jim Cornette were against it, but McMahon loved the idea. As risky as it was, Bart saw an opportunity to revitalize his character after his tag team ventures had ended.
It took some time for fans to get into it, but Bart beat the likes of the Godfather and Bradshaw (aka JBL) in the final to claim the title. Bart won $75,000, but this tournament really felt like an eliminator, with many contestants leaving the company within the ensuing year. Still, for him, it was a huge plus as he was promised a program with Stone Cold had he won. And this is where the backstab comes in because as guys like Jim Ross would admit, Bart had never been built for this showcase, so he just wasn't going to get the shot.
It was set up for Bradshaw and other popular wrestlers to win, but they never planned on Bart, a wildcard, knocking out the favorite to win," Dr. Death" Steve Williams, which infuriated McMahon. The show alleges McMahon wanted Bart to pay. After sitting at home waiting on his in-ring reward, rather than a clash with Stone Cold at the subsequent WrestleMania, he was placed in a boxing match against Butterbean, the mammoth heavyweight who knocked professional boxers out left, right and center.
At WrestleMania XV, Bart was knocked out 35 seconds into the bout and was fired by the WWF right after, which his former tag partner, Bob Holly, said was indeed punishment for beating Williams and ruining creative's plans. In other words, Bart paid the price for being good at his job. That's a real disappointment for someone who risked life and limb in the ring, especially when many wrestlers who took part in the Brawl for All were injured in its aftermath, including Williams. Another, Droz, was paralyzed in a spot with D-Lo Brown as creative tried to build him back up.
In other words, Brawl for All was a death sentence, and it ruined people's careers, which is why Cornette hates Russo for conceiving this ill-advised tournament. And to make it worse, the real prize didn't involve any storylines but instead was about placing Bart in the line of fire where Butterbean could have killed him. There wasn't any script or referees who could control what happened in these fights, so to hear Bart himself admitting this is truly heartbreaking. He confesses he got screwed but unlike the Hitman, his career came to a grinding halt, as well as so many others. WWE's creative and even Russo never seemed to care because Bart and others like him were never A-list material, even if they became underdogs that triumphed.
Dark Side of the Ring airs Tuesdays at 10 PM ET on VICE TV.