In the nearly 30 years since it occurred, most have accepted that the “Montreal Screwjob” was, in fact, real. Cody Rhodes, however, has his doubts.
On Friday, the WWE superstar appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast to promote this weekend’s SummerSlam event. And a conversation about Netflix’s WWE: Unreal led to a natural discussion about pro wrestling’s ability to blur the lines between fiction and reality, with Rhodes admitting that he’s still not sure how real the famous incident involving Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon actually was.
“I have never heard from either that it wasn’t as real as it possibly could get,” Rhodes said of Hart and Michaels. “And maybe it was. It certainly ended up being real, no doubt. However, I have questions. There was a documentary crew backstage at a company that never ever allows anything like that? There’s mics in the room? Hmm.”
“This is amazing,” Simmons replied. “You’ve just activated Conspiracy Bill.”
“This to me is always the work within the work,” Rhodes continued.
For the uninitiated, the Montreal Screwjob occurred at the 1997 edition of Survivor Series, in which it was well known that it would be Hart’s final show before departing to rival WCW. But with Hart still the WWF champion, the company needed to get its belt back, and “The Hitman” wasn’t too keen on losing the title to his longtime (and real life) rival in Michaels in his home country of Canada.
As the story goes, McMahon and Michaels concocted a secret plan in which Michaels would put Hart in his own finishing submission move, the Sharpshooter, and McMahon would have the referee call for the bell before Hart could escape as planned. That’s exactly how the match played out, with all of the aftermath captured in the Hart-focused documentary Wrestling With Shadows.
Yet despite Rhodes’ skepticism, Simmons pointed to both Hart spitting at McMahon and later punching him out backstage as evidence that the entire situation was actually real. Rhodes, however, retorted that Hart actually punching McMahon is hardly evidence that the entire situation wasn’t a work.
“Well, it’s pro wrestling,” the former WWE champion said. “You wouldn’t have faked [the punch].”
In all likelihood, the situation was somewhere in the middle; not as staged as Cody Rhodes seems to believe it might have been, but also not as real as WWE and the participating parties have since portrayed it to be. Either way, that’s the magic of pro wrestling, where you never quite know where the reality ends and the fiction begins.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.