6) Vince Russo Blames Himself
During the time of the Montreal Screwjob, Vince Russo had climbed the backstage ladder to become the WWE Head Writer. On an episode of WrestleZone Daily, Russo claimed responsibility for coming up with the idea of putting Bret in the Sharpshooter, which would lead to the bell ringing. Something that he says he regrets to this day.
“Bro, I’m the one who gave Vince the idea for Shawn to put Bret in the Sharpshooter. I’m the one who told him in a creative meeting days before it happened. When I was on two phone calls with Vince and Bret that Bret did not know I was on. Vince pitched Bret every storyline you could imagine. Bret turned every single one of them down. We are getting in to 8 or 9 o’clock at night now and we’d been at the creative meeting since about 9 in the morning. Out of pure frustration I turned to Vince and said, “Freaking screw it, Vince. Have Shawn put Bret in the Sharpshooter and have the referee call for the bell. That is the story. That is what happened.”
Russo says he was the one who suggested the Sharpshooter:
“All I know is days before Survivor Series at the creative meeting when the finish was being discussed out of frustration because Bret wouldn’t agree to anything I just said, “Screw it! Let Shawn put him in the Sharpshooter. Have the referee call for the bell.” Done. I had no contact after that”
He continued:
“This was probably on a Thursday. I did not know what he was going to do. I had no idea. He kind of kept his distance from me and looking back now I think that was an effort to protect me. I sat down next to Taker when the finish of the match took place and it was sure enough what I threw out at Vince at that booking meeting. I sat there and I was like, “Holy crap, I can’t believe he did that!” But he did. I had to talk to Bret Hart on the phone less than a week later”
Russo says that Bret wasn’t thrilled when he talked to him:
“He was not very pleasant when I told Bret, “Bro, I support what Vince did. I understand why Vince did it, Bret, and you’ll never understand this side of it.” One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. So when I tell you I wish it was a work… I wish it was a work”
An insight into the creative room at this time. It is rumored that they did pitch Bret several different options for him to drop the title to Shawn but he refused all of them because of their animosity towards one another.
5) The Real Person Responsible
From numerous interviews, the person who gets credit for coming up with the idea for the Montreal Screwjob is not Vince McMahon, it was Triple H. Vince Russo might have come up with the idea (at least according to him) to put Bret in the Sharpshooter but it was Triple H who instigated the entire incident.
Triple H at this time had some stroke within WWE and had the ear of both Vince and Shawn Michaels. After hearing that Bret would refuse to drop the title to Shawn, Triple H pitched the idea that they should do business for him:
“F*ck him. If he doesn’t want to do business, you do business for him.”
Vince would listen to this advice and eventually set the wheels in motion for the entire incident to take place.
Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels are the two names that get the most heat for the incident but Triple H is really the one to blame. We have seen Bret take a number of shots at Triple H over the years and we can assume that it has to do with his involvement in the Montreal Screwjob.
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