Bret Hart contract situation in 97

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I am aware that when Bret came back to the WWF in late 96 he signed like a 20 year contract that paid him top dollar in the WWF at the time. This was a contract that would take him through the remaining years of in ring competition (probably another 3-5 years) and then carry him into a secure future working behind the scenes for the WWE (most likely as an agent/scout/writer/creative and the ocasional on screen stuff like being a GM maybe). Now as 97 was coming to a close Vince's financial situation was getting worse and from the reports out there it seems as though he couldn't afford to pay Bret the contract that they agreed upon. Also I have read that with the WWF starting to go public they wanted to rid themselves of long term finacial comitments and they don't come much longterm then Bret's 20 year deal. This is to the best of my knowledge what lead up to the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

Now the questions I have for those who may know more on this subject then I do:

Is my recap of the financial situation leading up to the Screwjob accurate?

If not is there something I missed?

If the length/pay of Hart's contract was so bad for the WWF was there any effort by either party to renegotiate to reduce the length of the contract, or the pay of the contract to keep Bret around?

Mods: Just noticed after I posted this thread that I placed it in the wrong forum. I though I was in old school wrestling but instead was here. I apologize for placing this in the wrong forum. Can anyone with the power to do so move this to its correct location?

 

[legendkiller1979]

Everything you wrote is accurate based on everything I have heard as well. I have heard that Bret made every attempt to stay with the WWF. He told Vince to make him an offer and Vince refused. I'm not sure why Vince would have refused to renegotiate a new contract. Maybe the WWF's financial situation was worse than anyone could have known. I don't know that anyone can be blamed for the situation ending up like it did. It was a situation beyond anyone's control. It's too bad really. But it's not Bret's fault Vince couldn't pay him. It's not his fault that Vince gave him a long term deal for big money. I wonder what would have happened if Bret would not have been able to get his WCW contract that was offered to him before.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

First things first, I HIGHLY reccomend that everybody purchase and read Bret Hart's book, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Not only is it the most interesting and insightful wrestling autobiography I've ever read, it's probably my favorite book and is were I got all the information I'm about to share with you.

Before reading his book, I thought Hart was a selfish crook. I couldn't believe he would be so unprofessional that night and not put Shawn over. But what I hoped for going into his book is that I would get his side of the story, and maybe I'd see it his way. And that's exactly what happened. Yeah the financial stuff and all sounds correct (to the best of my knowledge) but the biggest part that really led to the Montreal Screwjob, is that there was a clause in that big 20 year contract where if Bret were to ever leave the company.. he would have full control of how his character was booked on the way out. After reading that, I jumped my happy ass over to Team Hitman. Sure, it could have just been easier to drop the belt that night and let everyone walk away happy. But he had every legal and justifiable right to say "No, I don't wanna go out on a loss in Canada". It's Vince's fault for not following through with his end of the deal. Bret also went into detail about the relationship between McMahon, HBK, and Triple H. According to Hart.. the Screwjob was Triple H's idea.

It was a lot of politics, and Vince going against the original terms of Hart's contract that really led to the Montreal Screwjob. According to Hart, of course.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

You are in the most part correct with the contract status. If you have ever seen Hitman Hart: wrestling with shadows, then you can see how it came to be.

With Bret, he chose to stay with WWF in 1996 when he could have made super money in WCW. Bret, aged 39 in 1996, could have returned to the WWF, but took some time off in Summer 1996 after 14 years on the road for WWF and had been wrestling for 20 years in 1996. He was tired and needed some rest. His body was sore, and there was a chance he could make a separate career in TV, and still make a decent living but without the risks involved with wrestling. Bret eventually turned down mega money from WCW, and took a lower offer from Vince McMahon for a longer period of time.

Whilst Vince was right to expect Bret to drop the belt to anyone he wanted him to drop it to, Bret had a reasonable creative control clause inserted for the final 30 days of his contract as a wrestler. When it became clear to Bret that his character had been a good guy, and Steve Austin had taken that spot away from him, and then when his character became a bad guy, Shawn Michaels took that spot from him too - it became clear to Bret his character had been damaged. Vince then wanted out of the contract after 12 months and Bret didn't know what to do. So he asked for a new contract, with a reasonable pay rate, and Vince urged Bret to simply re-open negotiations with WCW.

Bret did just that, but then realised that if he left WWF with a clean pinfall loss of the WWF title to HBK, then his character would be damaged before arriving in WCW. The difficult thing for Bret here was that HBK had done some DX style things about Bret and Canada on TV, and Bret was scared of that. He was happy to drop the belt the following night on Raw to Stone Cold or Mankind. But Shawn had already refused to put Bret over, so Bret felt he shouldn't have had to do the same for Shawn.

They went to the ring in Survivor Series 1997 and the rest was history.

 

[luxferre]

The thing that has always bothered me about this is did Bret sue over the screwjob? Legally he'd be in his right's to do so with his 30 day creative control clause. If he did i've never heard about it, and if he didn't why not? surely he would have been able to sue for millions. If he didn't sue is this an indicator to suggest he was in on it?

 

[justinept]

A few things:

1) The WWE had no plans of going public in 1997. The company was getting trampled by WCW at this point, and most agree that the company was struggling to even keep the gatorade coolers filled at that point.

2) Though most state the company was nearing bankruptcy in 1997, others debunk that as an "excuse" since they immediately gave Mike Tyson $1 million after letting Hart go.

3) The reason the WWE didn't try to re-negotiate Hart's contract was because they didn't want him any more. The seeds to the Attitude Era had been planted and Hart was very outspoken against it. Adding further fuel to the fire was his very public, very intense feud with Michaels. The two couldn't co-exist anymore.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

A few things:

1) The WWE had no plans of going public in 1997. The company was getting trampled by WCW at this point, and most agree that the company was struggling to even keep the gatorade coolers filled at that point.

2) Though most state the company was nearing bankruptcy in 1997, others debunk that as an "excuse" since they immediately gave Mike Tyson $1 million after letting Hart go.

3) The reason the WWE didn't try to re-negotiate Hart's contract was because they didn't want him any more. The seeds to the Attitude Era had been planted and Hart was very outspoken against it. Adding further fuel to the fire was his very public, very intense feud with Michaels. The two couldn't co-exist anymore.

Vince obviously felt that the Tyson deal was better for WWF than Bret at that time and could only afford one, so he chose to let Bret go. You have to remember as well that Vince had no plan B, the whole situation was a massive gamble on his part. He gambled that Bret would be old school enough not to sue, that Tyson and Attitude was gonna work and that he could appease the talent. In the end WWF lost Davey Boy Smith and Rick Rude, which initially was damaging with the "two shows at one time" moment... but ultimately the gambles all paid off with the added bonus of the Mr. McMahon character.

Had any or all of them failed then WWF would have been dead in the water, imagine if Foley, Simmons et al had stuck to their initial decisions to quit? Imagine if Taker had quit in disgust?

 

[ted sheckler]

To answer your question Fabulous.. What you are missing is that Bret and Vince did try to work out the deal before he left. Originally Vince told Bret that he was in bad shape moneywise and had asked Bret to defer some of his money til later. Brets 20 year contract was a lot of money up front while he was an active wrestler and then less once he started more of a backstage role. Vince asked Bret to take a temporary paycut now but that money would go on the back end of his deal. Bret didn't want to do this because if Vince was in such bad shape maybe the WWE would have gone out of business and he would have lost that money. So Vince told Bret "Well I can't afford to pay you our current deal.. please see if WCW is still offering you that big contract I'll give you 30 days to negotiate with them" So Bret went back to WCW and didn't really hear anything back at first. A couple weeks later Vince got back to Bret and said Hey I got good news.. Our outlook has turned around and it looks like we will be able to pay you all your money after all. No need to go to WCW. Yay.. and there was much rejoicing. And Everyone left that meeting thinking Bret was staying. A couple days later WCW contacted him and made a huge offer. Bret went to Vince and asked if he stayed what where WWF's plans for him. Vince basically told him if he were to stay he wasn't going to be "the guy".. Vince had Austin.. Shawn.. Taker and was kicking attitude into full swing. So Bret chose to leave... and thats ALWAYS the number one thing people forget.. at one point Bret was going to get all his money.. he was going to get to stay WWE.. he just wasn't going to be at the very top anymore.. He probably would have had more a role like HBK did in the 2000's. But it was BRET who left.

 

[DemonToSome]

They DID try to renegotiate the contract. Vince wanted to have the same contract for the same money over the same amount of years but wanted most of the money to be paid on the back end of the contract. Bret said no, and they kept trying to figure out a finish for the match with Shawn.

Your information is correct for the most part.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Times were changing and the Attitude Era was beginning. Bret had problems with the sexual innuendo, the cursing etc. He had problems with HBK and his politicking and Vince turning a blind to it. Still, he deserved better treatment than what he got. I think if Bret had stayed he would have done a better job putting over Austin at WM than HBK did, and without being threatened by Taker to do so.

I don't buy the WWE was in financial hardship nonsense. You can pay Tyson 1-3 million dollars for WM to act as enforcer and referee one match, earned about 70 million that year (if I'm not mistaken) but can't pay Bret his contract which is considerably less ?

 

[TripleCrown]

From what I remember when all negotiating failed and Bret leaving became a certainty, he didn't mind losing the belt. All Bret asked was to not lose it in Canada. Whether any of us commenting here think he was talented or not, he had a HUGE fan base and made money on top of money for WWE over a number of years. Considering all he did for WWE, not losing the belt in Canada was a very small and extremely reasonable request. It never made sense to me why VKM was such a prick over that and why things turned out the way they did.

 

[Syborgg]

The thing that some people don't understand is that Survivor Series wouldn't necessarily have been Bret's last day in WWF/E. If he retained the title(under any means), they had some 20+ days to book another title match. Possibly even something along the lines of "loser leaves the company". However, like it has been said, Shawn wouldn't put Bret over, so Bret returned the favor.

As for the guy who asked about a possible lawsuit on Bret's behalf. I think when Bret legit knocked out Vince in the lockerroom, that put any lawsuit talk away. If Bret would have sued Vince for breach of contract, I believe a counter-suit for assualt would have been thrown on the table.

 

[ted sheckler]

Whether any of us commenting here think he was talented or not, he had a HUGE fan base and made money on top of money for WWE over a number of years. Considering all he did for WWE, not losing the belt in Canada was a very small and extremely reasonable request. It never made sense to me why VKM was such a prick over that and why things turned out the way they did.

I think you're mistaken. Bret occasionally overstates his "HUGE fanbase" and as far as making big money for them.. Evidence would prove otherwise.

You don't let a guy who's got a HUGE fanbase and makes you tons of money go over to your rival company who wants to put you out of business.. Not Only did Vince allow it.. he encouraged it!

The whole time Bret was on top of WWF Vince was always looking for someone else to take over.

Wrestlemania 13 is still the single worst drawing WM of all time and Bret and Austin although didn't go on last were the most high profile match on that card.

He also mainevented the least bought WWE PPV of all time IYH 5 against the bulldog.

He then got to WCW and didn't help their ratings or numbers at all.

As much as I LOVE Bret Hart in the ring I'm tired of people trying to rewrite history like he was this monster draw.. He was good.. decent draw.. but nothing like he would have you believe.

 

[akrassikauda]

Good topic great points all around.

The way how I see it is this. Bret's time was over and part of it was not his fault nor Vince's fault, the main reason was WCW was kicking ass, defections all over the place people who used to watch you are going over to Nitro and Vince needed a change he needed a game changer and that was Austin and DX and Bret was the spare tire. Was WWE in financial purgatory at that time they where coming out of it, the New Generation is still the lowest grossing era in the WWE since Vince took over and the leader of that era was Bret.

So Bret's contract is up. I remember the WCW and ECW 900#s (yes kids before the Internet and dirt sheets we used phones for backstage news) talking about it and some sort of deal was reached verbally then comes Montreal.

As someone posted there should've been a loser leaves WWE match me I would've put Austin as the ref being that HBK and Bret had beef with him ok ok let's go to the night after, in retrospect Vince was right Bret screwed Bret. Bret should've never trusted Vince if he knew where the product was going and Vince was and always is the one driving the bus and Bret was a spare tire on the Attitude Era Bus. It just brings me back to Bret's DVD Wrestling With Shadows and Vince is in his house negotiating with Bret and you get this feeling of don't trust him don't trust Vince because you know Shawn will not put you over and so does Vince and Vince hints that Bret could drop the belt on RAW and the rest is history.

A little side note: over the years I've heard vague stories about Taker standing backstage ready the hit Shawn if he did a fast one at WM14 and didn't put Austin over. Maybe that was Shawn's rep to go into business for himself and Taker wasn't having none of that and Bret should've nipped that in the bud early on.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

To answer your question Fabulous.. What you are missing is that Bret and Vince did try to work out the deal before he left. Originally Vince told Bret that he was in bad shape moneywise and had asked Bret to defer some of his money til later. Brets 20 year contract was a lot of money up front while he was an active wrestler and then less once he started more of a backstage role. Vince asked Bret to take a temporary paycut now but that money would go on the back end of his deal. Bret didn't want to do this because if Vince was in such bad shape maybe the WWE would have gone out of business and he would have lost that money. So Vince told Bret "Well I can't afford to pay you our current deal.. please see if WCW is still offering you that big contract I'll give you 30 days to negotiate with them" So Bret went back to WCW and didn't really hear anything back at first. A couple weeks later Vince got back to Bret and said Hey I got good news.. Our outlook has turned around and it looks like we will be able to pay you all your money after all. No need to go to WCW. Yay.. and there was much rejoicing. And Everyone left that meeting thinking Bret was staying. A couple days later WCW contacted him and made a huge offer. Bret went to Vince and asked if he stayed what where WWF's plans for him. Vince basically told him if he were to stay he wasn't going to be "the guy".. Vince had Austin.. Shawn.. Taker and was kicking attitude into full swing. So Bret chose to leave... and thats ALWAYS the number one thing people forget.. at one point Bret was going to get all his money.. he was going to get to stay WWE.. he just wasn't going to be at the very top anymore.. He probably would have had more a role like HBK did in the 2000's. But it was BRET who left.

I never heard this part of the story. This paints Hart a little less as the victim and more a little more greedy. Not saying that your account isin't accurate, but I have a tough time believing that in the span of a few weeks Vince went from tellin Bret I can't afford you to things changed and I can afford you. Just doesnt make sense to me.

 

[ted sheckler]

I never heard this part of the story. This paints Hart a little less as the victim and more a little more greedy. Not saying that your account isin't accurate, but I have a tough time believing that in the span of a few weeks Vince went from tellin Bret I can't afford you to things changed and I can afford you. Just doesnt make sense to me.

Don't just trust me on it... Its actually in Bret's own book..
pg 445
"When I arrived at Nassau Coliseum on October 24, Vince was there to greet me. He told me that he could pay me after all, that my money was no longer problem. I told him I hadn't heard a thing from Bischoff and that if the money problem was solved I'd likely stay." Bret Hart

give it a read its a pretty good read although I think Bret might have given himself quite a bruise with self patting on the back he does.

 

[HBKperfect23]

IMO Vince got out of the deal with Bret because he didnt want Bret anymore. Bret hated the direction they were going and in the end wasnt going to fit in in the attitude era WWF. That is not a knock on Bret, he did great in 1997 and was a part of starting the attitude era but he didnt like it and eventually it would have shown.

As for Bret not wanting to drop the title, he was wrong. Yes.... he did have the creative control in his contract, Yes....Shawn was a dick for telling him he wouldnt put him over, but he should have done the job for Vince and the company who gave him the stage to become a star and be in the position to ge that big money deal from WCW. Everyone jobs on the way out. Flair put over Perfect, Nash put over Shawn/Taker, even Hogan put over Yoko.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

IMO Vince got out of the deal with Bret because he didnt want Bret anymore. Bret hated the direction they were going and in the end wasnt going to fit in in the attitude era WWF. That is not a knock on Bret, he did great in 1997 and was a part of starting the attitude era but he didnt like it and eventually it would have shown.

As for Bret not wanting to drop the title, he was wrong. Yes.... he did have the creative control in his contract, Yes....Shawn was a dick for telling him he wouldnt put him over, but he should have done the job for Vince and the company who gave him the stage to become a star and be in the position to ge that big money deal from WCW. Everyone jobs on the way out. Flair put over Perfect, Nash put over Shawn/Taker, even Hogan put over Yoko.

Bret never had a problem doing the job on the way out. He just wouldn't job for Michaels. And that only happened after Michaels first told him that if the tables were turned, that he wouldn't do the job for Hart.

At that point, it was simply a matter of respect. Bret had his own rep to consider, and as an old school guy, if he jobbed to a guy that refused to follow the code like Michaels, he would have lost face.

I also don't believe that McMahon couldn't afford Bret's contract... and I always felt from everything I've read that McMahon wasn't being genuine when he said he could still afford Bret. I've always looked at the whole thing as the thing between Bret and Shawn had gotten so big that McMahon knew one of them had to go... and he was more concerned with HBK leaving for the NWO, than Bret Hart being in WCW. If Bret and Shawn could have gotten along, I don't believe we ever would have seen Bret Hart leave the WWF.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Bret never had a problem doing the job on the way out. He just wouldn't job for Michaels. And that only happened after Michaels first told him that if the tables were turned, that he wouldn't do the job for Hart.

At that point, it was simply a matter of respect. Bret had his own rep to consider, and as an old school guy, if he jobbed to a guy that refused to follow the code like Michaels, he would have lost face.

I also don't believe that McMahon couldn't afford Bret's contract... and I always felt from everything I've read that McMahon wasn't being genuine when he said he could still afford Bret. I've always looked at the whole thing as the thing between Bret and Shawn had gotten so big that McMahon knew one of them had to go... and he was more concerned with HBK leaving for the NWO, than Bret Hart being in WCW. If Bret and Shawn could have gotten along, I don't believe we ever would have seen Bret Hart leave the WWF.

I disagree. I do think Bret wanted to walk out an undefeated champion. Without trying to disrespect Bret, the guy is a mark for himself.

Yes, Shawn disrespected Bret by telling him he wouldnt job to him. Bret could have been the bigger man and did the job for the company. He wouldnt have lost face. Not saying thats an easy thing to do but Bret was in the wrong too. Bret is an old school guy and the old school way to leave is to put over the top guy. Everyone in the WWF wins. Bret puts over Shawn(hes built as the top heel), Shawn puts over Steve (gets the rub from the top heel). Steve is now the top guy.

I think Vince could afford Bret. You said it best "If Bret and Shawn could have gotten along, I dont believe we ever would have seen Bret Hart leave the WWF". This is why Bret left, McMahon picked Shawn.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I disagree. I do think Bret wanted to walk out an undefeated champion. Without trying to disrespect Bret, the guy is a mark for himself.

Yes, Shawn disrespected Bret by telling him he wouldnt job to him. Bret could have been the bigger man and did the job for the company. He wouldnt have lost face. Not saying thats an easy thing to do but Bret was in the wrong too. Bret is an old school guy and the old school way to leave is to put over the top guy. Everyone in the WWF wins. Bret puts over Shawn(hes built as the top heel), Shawn puts over Steve (gets the rub from the top heel). Steve is now the top guy.

I think Vince could afford Bret. You said it best "If Bret and Shawn could have gotten along, I dont believe we ever would have seen Bret Hart leave the WWF". This is why Bret left, McMahon picked Shawn.

Dude, read Hart's book. He gave McMahon a list of guys he'd job to. His first choice was Austin, but he also mentioned Shamrock, Foley, Taker and even Steve Lombardi at MSG (Lombardi had won a battle royal the month before that got him a shot).

He had no problem whatsoever doing the job... and even if you think that he just wrote that to save face, go back and look at how often Hart did jobs over the years. You would probably be surprised to see how often he did, considering his status in the company.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Dude, read Hart's book. He gave McMahon a list of guys he'd job to. His first choice was Austin, but he also mentioned Shamrock, Foley, Taker and even Steve Lombardi at MSG (Lombardi had won a battle royal the month before that got him a shot).

He had no problem whatsoever doing the job... and even if you think that he just wrote that to save face, go back and look at how often Hart did jobs over the years. You would probably be surprised to see how often he did, considering his status in the company.

I am interested in Harts book. I will check it out. But also check out Shawns book where they give Bret other scenarios and he doesnt want to do them.

You dont see my point of Bret not putting the company over. Shawn was the guy going to Wrestlemania. Steve was the guy Vince was going with after Wrestlemania. Vince wants Shawn to look as strong as possible going into Wrestlemania so Steve looks even stronger coming out of Wrestlemania. Its not Brets choice on who he puts over, its Vinces.

 

[ted sheckler]

I am interested in Harts book. I will check it out. But also check out Shawns book where they give Bret other scenarios and he doesnt want to do them.

You dont see my point of Bret not putting the company over. Shawn was the guy going to Wrestlemania. Steve was the guy Vince was going with after Wrestlemania. Vince wants Shawn to look as strong as possible going into Wrestlemania so Steve looks even stronger coming out of Wrestlemania. Its not Brets choice on who he puts over, its Vinces.

You should give it a read for sure. Just make sure you look at all sides of it because a lot of people on these forums like to refer to it like it's "the gospel according to Bret" Of course Bret is a big self congratulating in this book and there are a few too many stories of people who are no longer with us telling Bret in a private moment "Bret, you truly are the greatest wrestler in the world..and the beacon of light we should all hope to be!"

And as far as who Bret puts over I agree its not up to him but also there was no one else to put over. Austin was slated to win the Royal Rumble and win the belt at Mania.. If he won it from Bret on Raw that kills that amazing 4 month push. Taker was already in deep with his Kane storyline.. plus Bret had just beaten him at Summerslam.. Mankind..Shamrock..Lombarbi were not even close to main eventers.. They needed a credible top level guy who could take out the Hitman before he left the company and HBK was perfect for the job.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I am interested in Harts book. I will check it out. But also check out Shawns book where they give Bret other scenarios and he doesnt want to do them.

You dont see my point of Bret not putting the company over. Shawn was the guy going to Wrestlemania. Steve was the guy Vince was going with after Wrestlemania. Vince wants Shawn to look as strong as possible going into Wrestlemania so Steve looks even stronger coming out of Wrestlemania. Its not Brets choice on who he puts over, its Vinces.

Yeah I need to read Shawn's book still. The reason I haven't yet is that I've heard it wasn't always the most honest book, but it is something I'll get around to.

I'm curious though... what are some of the other scenarios that Shawn says that Bret shot down?

I do understand what you're saying about how it shouldn't have been Bret's choice on who he dropped the belt to, but you're forgetting the one thing that gave him that right...

the final 30 day creative control clause in his contract.

That did give him the right to pick the scenario that worked best for him, regardless if it made him seem selfish or not. Don't forget another factor that was at work here. Vince McMahon had a LONG history of lowering the value of his performers that were leaving the company, and this was something that Bret was legitimately concerned about.

I do agree that Shawn was the logical choice to drop the belt to, but I also agree with Bret's reasoning not to be the one to drop it to him. He was taking a stand against a spoiled primadona and standing up for what he believed in. The funny thing is... they could have used someone like Shamrock for example as a transitional champ, and had him drop the belt to Michaels immediately afterwards. They could have had Bret forfeit the title like Shawn did earlier in the year, and gone with an angle on RAW the next week to crown Shawn as the champion.

There is a lot they could have done to produce the desired effect of Shawn being champion without having to do the screwjob... which you have to remember was a HUGE gamble on McMahon's part. He sent one of the biggest names in the world to his competition at a time he was losing to them, and he made Hart the hottest commodity in the business while sending him there. Yes, McMahon felt that WCW wouldn't know what to do with a Bret Hart, but he was basically betting the farm on whether that hunch was right. If WCW had used Bret properly and been able to take advantage of the tremendous heat he had coming in thanks to McMahon... there's a good chance we're talking about this entire thing right now from WCW's perspective, since they would have won the war and been the ones writing the history.

I think Bret always realized that once the belt left him, it was going to end up with Shawn anyways, and there wasn't a think he could do about that. All he could control was him being the one to drop it to him, and that's what he tried his best to accomplish. Selfish? Yeah it was. Understandable given the circumstances? To me, it absolutely was.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Yeah I need to read Shawn's book still. The reason I haven't yet is that I've heard it wasn't always the most honest book, but it is something I'll get around to.

I do think it was pretty honest. It seemed like a coming clean/honest time in Shawns life. Either way its a good read.

I'm curious though... what are some of the other scenarios that Shawn says that Bret shot down?

I got to look it up but I remember one of them being him dropping the belt to (I think) Steve the night before and Bret saying everyone expects him to show up at survivor series as champion.

I do understand what you're saying about how it shouldn't have been Bret's choice on who he dropped the belt to, but you're forgetting the one thing that gave him that right...

the final 30 day creative control clause in his contract.

This is where Vince screwed up. I never got this. CC always becomes a problem

I do agree that Shawn was the logical choice to drop the belt to, but I also agree with Bret's reasoning not to be the one to drop it to him. He was taking a stand against a spoiled primadona and standing up for what he believed in. The funny thing is... they could have used someone like Shamrock for example as a transitional champ, and had him drop the belt to Michaels immediately afterwards. They could have had Bret forfeit the title like Shawn did earlier in the year, and gone with an angle on RAW the next week to crown Shawn as the champion.

And your not wrong when you agree with Brets reasoning. I totally get it. Shawn was out of line with his comment to Bret about not putting him over. At this point it could have not been about him and Shawn. Bret could have come out of feud smelling like roses by being the bigger man. Not sure what I would have done in his shoes but Id like to think id humble myself and put over the guy I dont like for the sake of the company that made me a star.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Is my recap of the financial situation leading up to the Screwjob accurate?

You are missing out a few little things but for the most part its accurate. Biggest thing was that they were trying to work something out but all in all Bret felt like he would take a back seat if he kept wrestling in the WWE to Shawn Michaels so he decided to go to WCW. From what I've read from his autobiography and watching Wrestling With Shadows I got the feeling Bret felt his career and spot was sabotaged so he left.

Personally I think what it all came down to was this:

Between the time Bret signed a 20 year contract and Bret leaving the guard and image of the WWE completely changed. Things became less family friendly and more Attitude, more in your face, more raunchy and I feel Vince felt that Bret was no longer worth the money he was paying him due to the direction the business was heading. Bret was very vocal in '97 about how he didn't like the direction the WWE was heading at the time as well so lets think about this for a second. We have a guy who is getting paid a monster contract for 20 years who doesn't fit in too well with the direction the company was heading in and outwardly complains about how he doesn't like the direction the company he works for is going in. Can you really blame Vince for wanting to get out of the contract?

If Bret stayed he would be apart of a product he doesn't believe in and would most likely be taking a back seat to the likes of Austin, Rock, Taker, Kane, Foley, ect. Even in '95 when he wasn't facing main event guys often he was still at the forefront of the company, in the Attitude Era Austin was their guy, not Bret so naturally Bret gets pushed to the side for Austin. If Bret stayed Vince wouldn't be happy, neither would Bret so unless you were able to get Bret on board with the new WWE and get him to accept he's not gonna be a top guy anymore or retire him early and have him work in the back there was really no reason to keep him.

Vince could have handled the Bret situation a little better I admit but ultimately I don't blame him one bit for wanting to get out of Bret's 20 year contract, it simply wasn't worth it to him anymore like it may have been a year earlier.