Thread by @allan_cheapshot

#OnThisDay in 1997: WWF Survivor Series PPV:
Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart by "submission" to the WWF Title.
[Thread]

In the hours leading up to the match, Hart, Michaels, and Pat Patterson worked out the match finish: Shawn would hook in Bret's finishing maneuver, the sharpshooter, while referee Earl Hebner was knocked out from a ref bump. Bret would reverse it and Michaels would tap out.

While Bret tried to revive the referee, Michaels would hit Sweet Chin Music. A second referee would count the fall, but behind the referee, members of the Hart Foundation would run in and break up the pin. The first referee would revive and Hart would kick out at two.

A massive brawl would ensue between the Hart Foundation and Shawn Michaels' D-Generation X stable, resulting in a massive brawl and a double disqualification.

Despite Hart's reservations, he went along with the plan considering that the referee was longtime Hart friend Earl Hebner. Even Vince McMahon signed off on it, perhaps a little too willingly.

Hart was told prior to the bout from Leon White (aka Vader) and Davey Boy Smith, both of whom had seen similar situations play out in Japan, to look out for a screwjob. Don't stay on the mat too long, kick out quickly, and don't get in a submission hold, they would tell him.

Even with the headsup, Hart knew something was amiss when Vince McMahon wasn't at his usual place in the commentary table and more WWF officials than usual were surrounding the ringside area.

The bout went back and forth and went into the crowd (something that would become commonplace in WWF main events over the next few years), with the Montreal masses eating every second of it up.

Even if the two hated each other's guts, Bret and Shawn had incredible chemistry and talent and could have a great match with just about anybody separately and a classic together.

Eventually, the two would get back in the ring. The ref bump happened as planned, then confusion. Hebner went down, Mike Chioda ran in, but no Hart Foundation. Odd. Chioda might have run in a little early.

The two would go into the finishing sequence. Michaels hooked the sharpshooter in...well, as best as he could. Hart told him how to do it. If only Bret knew.

Michaels hooked in the sharpshooter, Hebner quickly got to his feet, and Earl Hebner and Vince McMahon gave the command: ring the fucking bell. Hart was in the midst of reversing the hold (as planned in the finishing sequence they first settled on), and Shawn fell.

Hebner took off and was in his hotel room less than a half hour later. He would not leave the room for the rest of the night. Triple H and security grabbed Shawn as he took off with the WWF Title belt.

For Shawn's part, he looked confused and angry. What's with the sudden finish, he probably thought. As for Bret: he was pisssed.

Hart caught on to the ruse immediately. Bret Hart was screwed out of the WWF Championship in front of 20,000 plus Canadians and a worldwide audience on PPV. Fans caught on not long after.

Garbage began to litter the ring. Hart spat at McMahon, flipped off the backstage area, smashed a few monitors, and mock drew "WCW" for all the world to see. While the meltdown didn't air on PPV, it was made famous-or infamous-in the wrestling documentary Wrestling with Shadows.

Once he got to the back, he ran into Michaels, who immediately denied any involvement or wrongdoing in the incident. Triple H also denied any involvement in the screwing. Eventually Bret and Vince got into a confrontation backstage, with Hart decking McMahon.

McMahon suffered an injured ankle, though how he ultimately got it remains up for debate. Backstage, many sided, unsurprisingly, with Bret, even threatening a full-on locker room mutiny.

Eventually cooler heads prevailed, and only Mick Foley and the remains of the Hart Foundation missed RAW. McMahon made a bold play to all involved outside of Hart: keep quiet so the blame could be placed squarely on him. He would take the heat, and everyone would be okay.

The beef would come to a definite conclusion in 2010. In January, Hart and Michaels had a heated discussion, after which, to the shock of many, the two men hugged it out.