The Bizarre WWE Star Bret Hart Offered To Lose His Title To
Perhaps the most unlikeliest star in history could have become WWE Champion if Bret Hart had got his way in 1997.
The Montreal Screwjob is the most told story in wrestling history which culminated in Vince McMahon demanding referee Earl Hebner ring the bell during the Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels WWE Title match at Survivor Series 1997 with Michaels declared the winner.
Bret Hart had not wanted to lose to Michaels ever since The Heartbreak Kid told his hated rival that he wouldn’t be willing to lose for him. As Hart was heading to WCW after McMahon reneged on a 20-year contract for the star, many believed McMahon had to do whatever it took to get the WWE Championship off Hart before he left.
But Bret Hart had offered to lose to absolutely anyone else in the company on his way out.
Bret Hart Offered Brooklyn Brawler WWE Title
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, perennial enhancement talent The Brooklyn Brawler Steve Lombardi explained that Bret Hart had even offered to lose the title to him before leaving the company:
Bret Hart said to Vince, and you could ask Bret this. He said ‘I will not drop the belt to Shawn Michaels’, that’s the Montreal Screwjob. ‘But I will drop it to Steve Lombardi.’ And he said that, I quote him, and he would tell you if you interviewed him, he will tell you that he said that. But of course, Vince wouldn’t do it.
The Brawler continued noting that Hart told him he wouldn’t kick out if they had wrestled but Brawler cautioned that it would have been him rather than The Hitman that would be blamed:
He goes to me ‘If you did wrestle me in The Garden I wasn’t gonna kick out.’ I said, ‘You know what would have happened Bret? I would have got fired. Because if I didn’t throw my body off for you, Vince would have said it was my fault for pinning you.’ He goes, ‘That’s not fair.’ I said, ‘Life isn’t fair.’
A WWE Title run for The Brooklyn Brawler never happened and the Montreal Screwjob is seen by many as the launching pad of the Attitude Era as Vince McMahon emerged from the mess as a hated character.