Vince Screwed Bret

[mr.davidson]

Bret Screwed himself

He has always been a winning Bitch.... even before everything happened with Vince.... He complained when hogan wouldnt drop the belt to him.... and wined evertime things didnt go his way....

He didnt want 2 drop the tittle..... but he didnt have creative control in his contract.... sooooooooooooooooooo years later after hogan would job him... now he doesnt want 2 job shawn......

all he does is whin and complain...

if u watch his off the record segment.... he only complains about how everyone in the industry has never had a good wrestling match cause they were not real wrestlers.....Hulk Hogan Ric Flair and the rest... Breat Hates on the greats.......

Iam glad he got the screws put 2 him.....

He was way 2 cocky for his own good....... Breat was never as great as he thought he was........ Vince did the right thing in what he did.... good 4 him.

In the end had bret done what he was told to do.. then the situation would have been way different.... He never had creative control... and should do what he was told.

I remember he stated he didnt want to lose the belt cause he was in canada at the time... soooooooooooooooo does this mean that stone cold should have never dropped the belt cause his matches were in the states?????????

NO it does not........ Anyways in my opinion.... Bret Is a Whinning Baby... and Need to realize that had Vince not felt srry for him in the begining then he would have stayed a mid-card player were he belonged!!!!!!

 

[One Punch Doug Crashin]

in the end they both screwed each other. BUT in the business world why would you want somebody who was signing with a rival company to have momentum when they debut? Vince knew this and tried his best to screw WCW out of Bret's momentum. it wasn't that he was trying to screw bret. he was trying to screw WCW.

Bret Screwed himself

he would have stayed a mid-card player were he belonged!!!!!!

that is the most asinine statement I have ever read about Bret Hart. mid card? MID CARD? if he was only a mid-card player as you say they he would't have been as succesffull as he had been. vince obviously felt he had Main-Event potential and he was over with the crowd with his anti-american gimmick.

 

[Bring Back the Great One]

u can saw bret screwed bret or vince screwed vince but in the the end vince will always come out on top, WHY, because that night was that the night that the Mr.McMahon character was born and if it was not for that character we would have never had an Austin vs McMahon, The Corperation,The year after the montreal screwjob when he did it again with the Rock and Mankind and many many more even the sx reuinion a couple of years ago. but the bottom line we wouldnt have alot of things today if the Mr.McMahon character had never been made that night by bret spitting on vince. who knows would there even be a WWE still sround or would WCW be on today????

 

[Scott Free]

Lol. We are pathetic cause we are TIRED of the whiny little fucking crybabies of the world,, crying cause somebody was lied too? Cause he felt betrayed? Cause HE, Hart, DIDN'T get his way? WAHHHHH cry me a damn river. He was paid to do a JOB. His job was to entertain fans, who paid for his salary. He was asked to drop the title to Shawn, he refused. He refused? Excuse me? Vince made you, you ungrateful shit. Did Ric Flair bitch cause he had to put over a tag team wrestler who happened to win the IC title? NO. He did what was ASKED of him.

I know this might be a a tad too much to ask, but, ever considered the actual facts without injecting your opinion, insight, biases, or phobias ? Question was, did Vince screw Bret ? Answer is on DVD, watch it. There's no buts, even Vince knew it, that's why he stood there and got spit on, that's why he went backstage and got punched without doing shit about it.
Want to believe the bullshit he came up with later on to cover his ass ? Fine by me, but it doesn't change the facts. Frankly, you seem the one doing the crying, with all those excuses and explanations. Fact is, Vincent K. McMahon used that incident to make himself into the biggest heel in the history of the company, and he wasn't just playing a part. Feel free to worship the man though, it's your problem, not mine.

Peace out.

 

[Megadeth]

Everyone who keeps arguing creative control doesn't matter in the case of who would be the next champ clearly think the title has much more meaning than it really does. There have been plenty of meaningless title reigns lasting only a couple days. It was less than a year later Kane had his big 1 night reign. It really would not have been that big a deal to drop the belt to someone else before Survivor Series and let them lose it to Michaels. Vince himself winning the title did far more to destroy the titles credibility than Harts refusal to drop it to 1 out of the 64 people on the roster at the time is not unreasonable.

And anyone who says Hart was jealous of HBK, why would he have been. Bret had just signed the largest contract in the WWF at the time so he was making more money that HBK. The fact is he personally didn't like Shawn, and thus wasn't about to do anything to help Michaels career. Who can really say they would make a business deal that would only help a person you genuinely loathe and hurt your own career. Plus I have heard that Michaels is the one who actually came to Vince with the idea of putting him in the Sharpshooter and doing the screwjob. This hatred goes both ways and anyone who says HBK would have done the job, I have trouble believing that. There are some in the company who still think HBK faked the injury just to get out of losing to Hart at WM13, and Michaels allegedly had to be threatened by the Undertaker before he agreed to lose to Austin at WM14. Michaels only real defense for these claims was the fact he lost to Hart plenty back in 1992, but HBK and Hart where actually on good terms at the time and HBK was still only a mid carder without any real stroke at the time while Hart was WWF Champ.

Even though Bret only officially signed with WCW on Nov. 1st that year, you know Vince had to have known for months before that be wasn't going to be able to afford Bret's contract and thus should not have put the title on him in the first place, or had him drop it sooner. He kept telling Hart off and on to talk to WCW, so he knew that this was a possibility. I think it really comes down to the fact that Vince is stubborn and has this ego that makes him think he always knows what is best for the business and any other plan someone else comes up with just wont work. He signed a contract with Bret he never should have offered him if the company was in such bad shape, and the biggest mistake in this whole thing was Bret ever trusting McMahon's word, and the fact he got the creative control clause if he ever leaves on what was suppose to be a 20-year contract shows he did at least have some doubts about Vince..

 

[willross]

#1 - If Vince does not "screw" Bret than the Austin/McMAhon rivalry never happens....this event gave Vince the opportunity to play Evil Boss and get Austin to his peek

#2 - IT IS A WORK.....the biggest work in the history of the business and millions have fallen for it. Think about it. Shawn needed extra heat to help Austin get that much more momentum with WM14 win and got it from this.
Vince needed a reason to be a heel to make Austin the legit Anti-Hero character and allow the biggest rivalry in history to occur. And finally, Bret needed momentum to go into WCW after bashing American's for 9 months. He needed the fans to have a reason to cheer him again and this gave him that opportunity.

#3 - If you really hated someone as much as Bret/HBK claimed.......would they ever work together and have anything but a no sell match to make each other look bad........millions of fans didn't even know they had backstage problems so putting them against each other for that reason makes no sense.......Vince is the smartest mind in wrestling and this is just another way to prove it

 

[Mustang Sally]

#2 - IT IS A WORK.....

I have to admit that I always suspected this. Since the Attitude Era, we've become accustomed to seeing Vince McMahon appear at ringside. In those days, though, he was the announcer and never got involved with anything going on in the ring.

On that night, I wondered why he wasn't doing the announcing. Then, when I saw him come down to confront Bret Hart, I wondered what the hell was going on. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to his actions. If he had just orchestrated a "screw-job" on Bret, why in the world would he be going to ringside to face him?

Later, it occurred to me that the reason he was there was so Bret Hart could spit at him. I think the whole thing might have been a work, although I admit that it hardly makes sense for Bret to have spent so many years whining about it after he left WWE.

 

[BooCocky]

Arguable - Hart didn't even have full creative control, he had it to an extent. When it comes down to the fact he was leaving the company, and McMahon got to choose the next champion, he should've laid down and done what was asked.

The same thing could be said for Shawn Michaels. Michaels has vacated several titles, the most out of any WWE wrestler if I can recall. Michaels was a little picky when it came to losing, and if Michaels was a professional, he would have laid down for Bret, but he didn't, so in return Hart refused to drop the belt to him on his way out.

In the end, Vince the big business man that he is should have honored Bret's contract. So, in the end, it was Vince who royally fucked Bret Hart.

 

[Razz]

I have to admit that I always suspected this. Since the Attitude Era, we've become accustomed to seeing Vince McMahon appear at ringside. In those days, though, he was the announcer and never got involved with anything going on in the ring.

On that night, I wondered why he wasn't doing the announcing. Then, when I saw him come down to confront Bret Hart, I wondered what the hell was going on. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to his actions. If he had just orchestrated a "screw-job" on Bret, why in the world would he be going to ringside to face him?

Later, it occurred to me that the reason he was there was so Bret Hart could spit at him. I think the whole thing might have been a work, although I admit that it hardly makes sense for Bret to have spent so many years whining about it after he left WWE.

If it was a work, it was only a work on Vince's part. He probably planned the screwjob as a way to use it to further him being an evil boss on screen character and his potential feud with Austin. I highly doubt Bret was on it. Bret knew what might happen, but probably didn't think it would go down the way it did. Bret seems too genuine of a person. His reactions and the way he talked about the said issue at his hof induction pretty much showed his genuine emotion about the whole thing.

 

[jrcongine]

it doesn't matter what anyone thinks when it comes down to it vince is the boss you do what he says or you get fired or black balled.....macho. If you don't do what your boss says you get fired period or not welcomed back to that company in the future. Bret was to prideful and ignorant. He was a great wrestler but treated this like a true sport and the win loss column actually meant something. That loss would have never hurt his career and in retrospect helped him out a ton to just do the job, curtain call, and leave.

 

[Emmet]

For me the screwjob has little to nothing to do with HBK, other than the fact that Vince knew HBK would do it because he hated Bret. The issue is between Vince and Bret.

Vince gave Bret reasonable creative control, which was fair enough, Bret wasnt flatout refusing to lose the belt until the day and hour he left, he wanted to lose the belt the next night, a forfeit or whatever, I remember him saying he would have even put HBK over in a RAW the following week or maybe it was the Monday after Survivor Series I can't remember. His contract expired December 5th 1997, jesus surely Vince could have kept the belt on Bret for a little while longer and gave him some dignity and leave with his head held high? What was the big deal about not dropping the title on RAW? Its been done manys a time since 1997.

Vince apparently could not afford to keep Bret yet 5/6 months late he payed Mike Tyson 3 million for a few weeks work in the build up to WM 14. Bullshit or what? He got rid of the best worker he had and replaced him with a boxer for a few weeks? crap decision.

Vince played Bret and HBK off each other, which was sad because they could have made so much money together, as Bret has said many times since. Vince did the same with Hogan and Bret in 1993.

Vince without question screwed Bret. They had nearly a month to resolve the thing. there was no need for what he did, he was just getting a kick out of screwing a guy as well respected as Bret was.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Finished reading Bret's book this weekend, and it has led me to the conclusion that Vince screwed Bret.

I read the book too, and I couldn't disagree with you more. Hart's book truly does so how much of a mark he is/was for himself. Ironically though, I consider it to be one of the most important wrestling books ever written, as it serves as a cautionary tale to all those who hope to either break into the business or make it big. Its ultimate message? Professional wrestling is first and foremost a business, so don't delude yourself into believing that the poetic justice that reigns in the ring reigns backstage.

a) Bret had a creative control clause in his contract that gave him power over his character for his last 30 days in the company.

This was nothing more than a measure to make sure that Hart wouldn't be squashed on his way out. If memory serves me correct, this clause was qualified with "reasonable," or, at the very least, that is how the clause is/should be interpreted. The only unprofessional thing Vince ever did in regards to Bret was have a dwarf come out dressed up as The Hitman shortly after Bret left for WCW.

b) Bret did not demand to walk out of the company having not been beaten. He said he would lose to Austin or Taker (even Brawler)...but not Shawn.

Unfortunately for Bret, this is just not the way creative saw things. Also, Hart only gave notice to the WWF nine days before Survivor Series 1997, which was too late to find Hart another person to drop the belt to at the aforementioned event, given that Michaels has already earned a title shot against Hart at Badd Blood.

So, what does Hart want instead? He wants his match with Michaels to end in a DQ and then he wants to give a farewell address the next night on RAW where he would forfeit the title.

This desire of Hart's is what really made me come to the final decision that Hart himself, rather than Vince McMahon, screwed Bret Hart. So, Hart wants to go to a company that is soundly beating the one that currently employs him, and he doesn't even want to help this company, which gave him a nice, fat paycheck for more than ten years, by doing something that will do nothing more than hurt his own pride? I mean, no one would have given a hoot if Hart had lost the WWF championship to Michaels, save for himself; his credibility would not have been hurt one bit. Furthermore, Hart wanted to do all of this after Alundra Blayze had totally screwed over the WWF's women's division by throwing its belt in a trashcan on WCW television.

McMahon had a business to run that looked to be on its last legs. Why on earth should he have to cater to the desires of an (admittedly loyal and good) employee when, in doing so, he might put both his and his other employees' interests in jeopardy? McMahon made the right decision. It's not his fault Bret couldn't come down from his high chair of self-righteousness and delusion and see things as they really were. Therefore, McMahon was totally in the right in using means to get the title off of Hart that would, in any other situation, have been totally wrong.

c) Vince made many references to the "time-honored tradition" that people leaving would put someone over and go out like that. Well, the time-honored tradition went out the window when Vince guaranteed Bret the creative control in his contract.

I believe Hogan had a similar clause in his contract. But, he had no problem going out in a quite embarrassing fashion by losing the title to Yokozuna. Kind of strange how someone with such an allegedly huge ego knows that the "time-honored tradition" you speak of should always, in fact, be honored.

d) He said he'd put Shawn over if Shawn put him over. But Shawn would have none of that.

Who puts over whom should not be a decision that is left solely to the wrestlers. Hart should never have thought in the first place that he actually had the power to make such a decision.

There are many other reasons that stem from Vince's dealings with Bret in previous encounters...but these are the prime ones.


I've read Bret's book, Shawn's book, watched all the videos, read Sex, Lies, and Headlocks, read Meltzer's reports, etc...and that's what I've concluded. I've long since been an advocate that Bret screwed Bret. But in fairness to Bret...having read his entire story...it all makes sense as to why he refused to do the job that night in Montreal.

Not only that...Vince screwed Vince. How could any worker ever trust Vince again? What does Vince have to back himself other than money and a monopoly on the business?

Vince has screwed himself over plenty, but this is not an instance where he did so. If anything, this was one of the greatest decisions he ever made. It brought all of his employees back to reality, and it made them realize that they were working for an organization that had rational interests of its own. Goodness, I can't even think of the state the WWF would have been in if it had actually honored Hart's request.

 

[notorious102]

I just love how these kids all sit down and pretend they know everything ...

Most of them weren't even watching wrestling when the Screwjob happened.

Vince & HBK both screwed Bret. Bret would have easily lost to Taker or Sustin or someone else.

HBK REFUSED to give Bret the rub when Bret gave him the rub in arguabally the Greatest WM match of all time ... Did Shawn return the favor ... NOPE!

I just love how throughtout the years Bret seems like he was the one that's wrong while Vince & Shawn are perfect in this incident.

Yes Bret grew into a bitter old man, but HBK & VInce both screwed him plain & simple!

 

[jericho3150]

Vince gave Bret reasonable creative control,

EVEN...EVEN it was the case that Bret legally had the right to do it... It still doesn't mean that Bret was doing what was right. It comes down to Vince was looking out for the company.. and Bret was looking out for himself. And Ive read Brets book and loved it.. But I don't agree with him on everything

I remember him saying he would have even put HBK over in a RAW the following week or maybe it was the Monday after Survivor Series I can't remember. His contract expired December 5th 1997, jesus surely Vince could have kept the belt on Bret for a little while longer and gave him some dignity and leave with his head held high?

Part of the issue also was that Brets confidentiality agreement he sign with WCW expired the night of Survivor Series. Now at the time WCW was playing dirty ball and would have been able to go on TV five minutes earlier than WWF at the time and announce to the world that WCW has just signed THE CURRENT WWF CHAMPION!! That is a huge blow to the WWF's credibility and it basically says WCW just took WWFs #1 guy... Shawn going over Bret means that WCW is not getting their #1 guy.. Which doesn't make WWF look second rate.

Vince apparently could not afford to keep Bret yet 5/6 months late he payed Mike Tyson 3 million for a few weeks work in the build up to WM 14. Bullshit or what? He got rid of the best worker he had and replaced him with a boxer for a few weeks? crap decision.

It was actually a really great business decision.. Bret at that time was being paid the most money in the company but was no longer "the guy". Bret even said in his book that Shawn became the #1 heel in the company and he was a luke warm heel at best at the time. It was very simple Bret leveraged a great deal for himself but Vince felt he was forced into overpaying for Bret. And paying him twice what Vince was paying the actual top heel and babyface makes no sense. Especially when Bret Hart was not the future of the company..and not only that but fought against the direction of the company. A direction that ultimately saved the company.

Paying Mike Tyson was a genius move. Austin received a HUGE push from his wrestlemania fued with Shawn and Tyson added the mainstream attention that he needed at that time. They played Austin pushing Tyson on every news outlet..sportscenter.. and was all over the mainstream news. And in the end in a year they went from WM 13 with Bret/Austin drawing a .77 buyrate which was the lowest WM buyrate of all time to WM14 HBK/AUSTIN/TYSON drawing over 3 times as much a 2.3. So it was actually one of the best things Vince ever did

Vince played Bret and HBK off each other, which was sad because they could have made so much money together, as Bret has said many times since. Vince did the same with Hogan and Bret in 1993.

I agree 100% with this.. I think both sides let the office work them up..

Vince without question screwed Bret. They had nearly a month to resolve the thing. there was no need for what he did, he was just getting a kick out of screwing a guy as well respected as Bret was.

Without Brets choice to not do the job there could be no screw job.. Bret was the cause and Vince was the effect.

 

[Tim_Seraphim]

NorCal Edit: So shut the fuck up and STAY OUT if you dont like the conversation

What language for a moderator. It's obvious you're not a real member of management, but I'll digress from the immaturity and return to elaborate the purpose and point of my post. After all, if people are free to discuss something then I firmly believe it's part of my freedoms as a citizen of the United States of America to state that it's being discussed at unbenefitting level, and I'll state why.
We can all watch the DVDs, read the rumors, interviews, etc. but the fact of the matter is none of us were there. None of us felt what they were feeling during that time period, nor probably have had anything similar to happen to us at our workplace. This is never a discussion, it's a pissing contest of opinions, which is what apparently fuels forums to begin with. He screwed him, she screwed him, he screwed her, etc. etc.
As far as the "Old School" section, there's a difference between discussing wrestling and discussing a backstage political fiasco that exploded onto camera. I think too many people like to pretend they know what's really going on in the world of professional wrestling behind the scenes when they haven't got a clue, and nor do I, hence I don't comment on stuff such as that. Nobody screwed anybody, including themselves. They did what they did and everything worked out, like it always does.
It doesn't matter because I'm sure some moderator somewhere will get offended by something and delete my post completely ignoring constitutional rights and all that jargon.
But to wrap up: I'll post wherever I please to post, that's my right as a forum member if I'm not mistaken, and I'd appreciate a bit more intelligence and maturity from those that are SUPPOSED to be playing "supervisor" over posters. That is all.

 

[jayp_1984]

its entirely obvious to me that bret hart just didnt want to do the best thing for the business. aka being selfish. and he should have, regardless of petty feelings he had at the time. its not about one individual or one match, its about the company wwf/e, continuing on for decades to come. vince protected that by doing what he did, and its still the best business decision hes ever made in his life.

you cant blame vince, or shawn...its was 100% bret harts fault.

 

[Slam Master]

I just read both books. I can see both points of view. I felt bad for Bret after I read his book, but then I got thinking its one of the most ridiculous things Bret could hold a grudge against.

I'm a huge Bret Hart fan, but he took himself so seriously it hurt the business. He didn't want to do anything that would hurt his self image or against his moral values. The WWF was going in a direction that Bret didn't agree with so he caused a stink in the back. He was also the son of a promoter as well, so he was basically the wrestler version of Vince McMahon. They were both spoiled, selfish guys who wanted their own way. His contracted officially ran out the day after Survivor Series 1997 so he didn't have to show up if he didn't want to. Razor, Diesel, and Luger gave Vince their words and look what happened to them.

Now moving on to Shawn. He hurt his knee in a tag match against Bret at a house show in the Meadowlands. He saw Dr. James Andrews who told them he either needed surgery now, or take time off and rehab. he took the latter so he could return full force. He didn't refuse to lose at WM13. He wasn't asked to lose, it was suggested he work with him. HBK dropping the title was Bret's own angle. Vince never ever said to Bret "Shawn will job to you for the title". Bret Hart beacame jealous, resentful, and angry that Shawn was more popular and was the top guy in Vince's eyes. Shawn didn't want to job to Bret in late 1997 because he knew Bret was leaving, felt Bret didn't support him as champ, used his leverage against Vince and was signed to the biggest contract in WWF history when HBK was on top, and took personal jabs at him. Granted Shawn also took persona; jabs back, but felt it was justified cus Bret started it. This is iffy cus Shawn was on hard drugs that screwed with his perception of things. They were both guilty of taking cheap jabs. Bret didn't like Shawn's attitude or habits(drugs) so he lashed out at him and felt he wasn't the right guy to lead the company.

The outcome of that match made Bret Hart white hot. He could have went to WCW with a bang and really hurt the WWF. Instead Bret pulled a "why me", felt sorry for himself, and was totally irrational. Vince was his boss, the guy who made him and wrote his checks. They all are guilty of lacking communication cus if they really tried they coulda worked out something better. Bret took himself and his legacy way too seriously that he put personal gains before the team, company, or business(whatever you want to call it). If he didn't react the way he did at the end I don't think the other wrestlers would have caused the uproar that happened afterwards. Vince made the only decision he could. The WWF was in trouble and the current champ was leaving. Bret leaving the WWF without losing the belt and going over on HBK, the top guy would have killed the WWF's credibility.

 

[Slam Master]

Shawn Michaels only forfeited the belt once. He jobbed to Sid, Steve Austin in his last match ever (until the comeback) and HHH. He gave up the IC belt cus he got the crap kicked out of him by a bunch of marines. The thing with Undertaker and Michaels is bogus. He didn't have to threaten Michaels to get out there. He was just there as a presence. Shawn himself said that was untrue. I've also read where Dr. James Andrews talked about seeing Michaels and said he had a legitimate knee issue. He was really hurt at the time.

Vince also played a major role in their animosity. He made them work with each other when he knew there was tension, egged on each of them with back and forths, and made up stuff to each of them behind their backs and acted like he took sides with both of them that caused more anger. The office played a major role. You can also say that both Bret and Shawn acted unprofessional.

 

[LamaNamaneumi]

I think it was a work on both sides, The "screw job" was the best work ever it's still being talked about and it's 12 years later.

WWE got what they wanted out of it , Bret and WCW dropped yet another ball by waiting like 4 weeks to have Bret show up on Nitro.

Why would Owen have stayed if vince fucked his brother? I'm sure WCW would have threw him money to jump, and had both Harts, it's not like Owen was getting a push so why would he not have quit?

 

[Emmet]

I just read both books. I can see both points of view. I felt bad for Bret after I read his book, but then I got thinking its one of the most ridiculous things Bret could hold a grudge against.

I'm a huge Bret Hart fan, but he took himself so seriously it hurt the business. He didn't want to do anything that would hurt his self image or against his moral values. The WWF was going in a direction that Bret didn't agree with so he caused a stink in the back. He was also the son of a promoter as well, so he was basically the wrestler version of Vince McMahon. They were both spoiled, selfish guys who wanted their own way. His contracted officially ran out the day after Survivor Series 1997 so he didn't have to show up if he didn't want to. Razor, Diesel, and Luger gave Vince their words and look what happened to them.

Now moving on to Shawn. He hurt his knee in a tag match against Bret at a house show in the Meadowlands. He saw Dr. James Andrews who told them he either needed surgery now, or take time off and rehab. he took the latter so he could return full force. He didn't refuse to lose at WM13. He wasn't asked to lose, it was suggested he work with him. HBK dropping the title was Bret's own angle. Vince never ever said to Bret "Shawn will job to you for the title". Bret Hart beacame jealous, resentful, and angry that Shawn was more popular and was the top guy in Vince's eyes. Shawn didn't want to job to Bret in late 1997 because he knew Bret was leaving, felt Bret didn't support him as champ, used his leverage against Vince and was signed to the biggest contract in WWF history when HBK was on top, and took personal jabs at him. Granted Shawn also took persona; jabs back, but felt it was justified cus Bret started it. This is iffy cus Shawn was on hard drugs that screwed with his perception of things. They were both guilty of taking cheap jabs. Bret didn't like Shawn's attitude or habits(drugs) so he lashed out at him and felt he wasn't the right guy to lead the company.
.

I stopped reading your post after that. Bret's contract with the WWF ended on December 5th, 1997, thats a well known fact and if you did a bit of research on the internet you find that out yourself. No point reading your post further as you cant even get little facts right.

 

[Slam Master]

I stopped reading your post after that. Bret's contract with the WWF ended on December 5th, 1997, thats a well known fact and if you did a bit of research on the internet you find that out yourself. No point reading your post further as you cant even get little facts right.

Just because something's written on the internet doesn't mean its true. Read Bret's book, chapters 40-41. He signed his WCW contract on October 31, 1997. There was a 30-day grace period, but he wasn't obligated to anything for the WWF after the Survivor Series in 1997. If he was contractually obligated, Vince could have made him show up to RAW the next day and the following weeks, or in turn sue him for no-showing. Everything that he would have done after Montreal was after his contract was up. This is straight from his new book.

 

[Emmet]

Just because something's written on the internet doesn't mean its true. Read Bret's book, chapters 40-41. He signed his WCW contract on October 31, 1997. There was a 30-day grace period, but he wasn't obligated to anything for the WWF after the Survivor Series in 1997. If he was contractually obligated, Vince could have made him show up to RAW the next day and the following weeks, or in turn sue him for no-showing. Everything that he would have done after Montreal was after his contract was up. This is straight from his new book.

I have read Bret's book 3 times (and indeed he signed it for me). And nowhere does it say his contract ended the day after Survivor Series. Bret has said in tons of interviews that his contract ended in early December, giving him plenty of time to drop the belt to anyone. He would have dropped it to HBK the week after Survivor Series, just not on that day.

 

[Slam Master]

I have read Bret's book 3 times (and indeed he signed it for me). And nowhere does it say his contract ended the day after Survivor Series. Bret has said in tons of interviews that his contract ended in early December, giving him plenty of time to drop the belt to anyone. He would have dropped it to HBK the week after Survivor Series, just not on that day.

I know he said he would drop it to Shawn anytime after Survivor Series, but he would have technically been doing it by his word and not by contractual obligations. He gave his 30 day notice November 1st. Thats why they wanted the belt off him that night because he wasn't obligated to show up again after that nite. I've seen the interview where both Vince and HHH said he was no longer under contract the next day(granted that might be a stretch cus they are defending their side). Bret's WCW contract didn't require him to start until December 1997. If he was still under contract during that period, Vince could have made him show up on TVs and sue him if he didn't. Either way, they could have worked something out but wanted to de-value Bret's character and put the WWF way over with that match.