Bret Hart Takes Issue With WWE's Post-Montreal Screwjob Narrative

The wounds from the Montreal Screwjob are still healing for Bret Hart. In an interview with The Ringer about the infamous incident during their 1997 WWF Championship match, Hart laments how WWE and its former owner "still try to lie" about the betrayal. 

For years, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels held real-life animosity over the match — which saw former WWF Chairman Vince McMahon prematurely call for the bell while Michaels held Hart in his own submission hold — but the two have since buried the hatchet. The unscripted finish sparked "The Reality Era," in which the business blurred new lines of fiction by pulling back the curtain for fans, buoyed by McMahon's follow-up interview declaring "Bret screwed Bret." Twenty-five years later, Hart maintains McMahon has been lying about the issue since day one.

"Vince was the one that was dishonest and lying to me and setting me up and playing games," Hart said. "If you watched that A&E special, you'll notice that they still try to lie and pretend that they were somehow in the right or they did the right thing. That I was unprofessional and I should have just done as I was told. I'd never refused in my whole life, ever, to lose to another wrestler. Never mattered to me. It doesn't matter to me now. I never refused. And it wasn't because I was in Canada or anything like that. I lost many matches in Canada. It was just personal pride between two wrestlers."

Hart maintains that he had "creative control" for the final 60 days of his WWF contract, but McMahon dishonored that agreement. "They didn't honor their contract and screwed me," he said.