Montreal Screwjob Remains Close To Bret’s Hart

Twenty-four years have passed since WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was on the losing end of a title match north of the border, and it’s taken almost that long for “The Hitman” to move on from the now famous Montreal Screwjob.

In Screwjob, one of the most famous and controversial matches in wrestling history, Hart lost his title to Shawn Michaels in his native country. The loss came as a shock to Hart, who had previously been assured by WWF (now WWE) management that he would keep his title while performing in front of a Canadian audience for the final time before departing the company.

In an interview with the New York Post, Hart touched on the years of bitterness and stress he harbored for WWE Owner Vince McMahon and opponent Shawn Michaels, who was in on the “fix.”

Hart brought up a blood boiling moment when he and Michaels happened to be working events in the same area code some years later: “I got so stressed out that I thought I would see Shawn and that I would have to kill him, I’d have to go crazy.” said Hart. “I don’t know what I would have done. It was just this hate had been building up and building up.”

Now 63 years old, Hart has decided to put the Montreal Screwjob in the rearview mirror, saying: “It was an important lesson for me to send to everybody who knew me or knew my story (that): you can’t carry around the kind of anger and hate and bitterness for so long. I carried it around for a long time.”

Having now mended Bret’s previously broken heart, the WWE’s next chance for a screwjob will take place outside of Canada at the “Hell in a Cell” pay per view scheduled for June 20 in Tampa, Fla.