Former WWE Star Says Vince McMahon’s Montreal Screwjob Decision Was The Right Move
It seems like everybody has an opinion on the Montreal Screwjob involving Bret Hart & Vince McMahon including a former WWE star that is from the area.
In the opinion of former WWE superstar Jacques Rougeau aka The Mountie, Vince McMahon did the right thing at Survivor Series 1997 when he called for the bell to ring during Bret Hart’s WWE Title match against Shawn Michaels.
As the story goes, Bret Hart had creative control for the end of his WWE run before going to WCW. Since Shawn Michaels had told Bret that he would never put Bret over, Bret refused to put Shawn over clean in Bret’s home country of Canada with Survivor Series taking place in Montreal.
The documentary “Wrestling With Shadows” showed that Bret Hart and Vince McMahon agreed to a “schmozz” ending meaning that Bret’s allies like Owen Hart, The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart would interfere leading to a DQ finish. Instead, when Shawn went for a Sharpshooter (Bret’s move) during the match, Vince called for the bell to ring and Bret was “screwed” out of the title.
Jacques Rougeau, who was billed as being from Montreal, worked for WWE from 1986 to 1994 and actually beat Bret Hart as The Mountie to become the Intercontinental Champion in 1992. That two-day title reign was only done because “Rowdy” Roddy Piper beat The Mountie for the IC Title, which led to Bret beating Piper at WrestleMania 8.
While Jacque Rougeau worked for WCW while the Montreal Screwjob happened in 1997, he supports what Vince McMahon did that night. Here’s what Rougeau told Wrestllingnewsco about it.
“After everything that was given to Bret, all the opportunities, the titles, the exposure, Bret had to give the belt back in an honorable way.”
“That was the only decision to do, and I think Vince did the absolute right thing to do. He worked it with Hebner. He worked it with Earl Hebner. He worked it with Shawn Michaels and said, ‘Hey, Bret doesn’t want to do business. We have to do it in a different way’, and I agree a hundred miles an hour with what happened because you have to give back the belt honorably after holding it and everything Vince did with him and gave him.”