if the screwjob didnt happen...
 

how would it have affected Bret Harts legacy? Do you think he would have faded out quicker from the minds of the fans ?

I guess what im trying to ask is did the screwjob help Bret in being remembered more?

Nah

If the screwjob didn't happen, Hart fans and Kliqtards would have a lot fewer knobs to slobber over.

I think his legacy would be better. He would have ended up back in WWE eventually and I bet Owen would still be alive.

If the screwjob didn't happen we probably would have never got the Attitude Era.

How would Owen still be alive?

Brett obviously would have talked him down from the ledge. :shifty:

... And taken his place. :shifty:

Maybe, but not in a good light. I'd rather remember him for the great matches, and being a champion that could fight anybody, and make them look good. The best fighting champion there has ever been.

People still spell it "Brett" instead of "Bret"? After all these years?

He'd be remembered alot more fondly, since he wouldn't be bitching 90% of his interviews for X number of years.

YES!

I thought the next thread about the screwjob is never going to happen!

It's a good question.

Given the fact that Austin had emerged as the #1 face while HBK had emerged as the #1 heel, I'm not sure what the WWE would have done with Bret.

My guess is that Bret would have become the equivalent of what Chris Benoit was in his final year of the company (sans murdering family). I think Bret would have been one of those guys that would have won most of the time in meaningless matches, but would have done the job for the right guys that were on their way up (i.e. Rocky Maivia, Ken Shamrock, etc.).

Keep in mind that if the whole 'Bret' thing didn't happen, then we may not have ever had a Vince-led 'Corporation' of any kind.

CONCLUSION: Bret would be remembered, but for all the right reasons (i.e. similar to the way Mick Foley is/was?).

Seems to me like every second Mac post/thread is about the screwjob.

Yeah we would have. The DX/Hart Foundation fued would has escelated 1,000,000 times over. And Stone Cold still would have gotten over like he did.

Th Attitude Era probably would have originated in a different direction with Harts vs DX for a longer time but most likely Stone Cold wouldn't have the feud with Vince that ended up being the most important start to the Attitude Era.

well lets add another question.. Is the screwjob the single most important moment in wrestling?

No, that's Vince Jr. taking the business from Vince Sr. is. It ushered in a new era, which we are still living to this day.

To be fair, only Bret was set to leave the WWF after Montreal since his contract was basically up by then. The fallout of The British Bulldog and Neidhart also leaving after Montreal was because of how disgusted they were with Vince after the screwjob and not because their contract was ending.

Its possible they could have resumed the feud with maybe Owen Hart as the leader of the Hart Foundation.

To be fair, the seeds were already there for the Mr. McMahon character. It may still have come to flourish, just would have taken a bit more to actually get over.

Yeah they could have (and most likely would have) But I doubt it'd have lasted very long.

Yup yup, and with Vince being as awesome in that role as he was, I'm pretty sure he would have. However, Montreal enhanced it tenfold and really kicked it off quicktime. Had Vince waited around building that character, Bret sails off to WCW happy, they don't botch his debut with some retarded finish at Starrcade linked to Montreal, WCW could have been even hotter and Vince might not even have a wrestling company today. Maybe he'd be general manager on Monday Night Nitro.

And as the Messiah, he would have merely floated to the ground.

Made up argument is made up.

Wait, what? How is that a made up argument?

I think it's fairly common knowledge that Bret is known for voicing his opinions on Montreal quite alot. That fact isn't all that disputable.

The reason for it is what differs between Hart marks/Kliquetards. Advocates of Hart say he only complains about it because he's asked about it all the time. Klique advocates say he brings it up because he can't get over it and it rips him apart.

True, Bret was leaving. But without the screwjob, I believe Owen would have taken charge, plus I think Bret would have been back before long anyway. As for Stone Cold, what Xero said.

if the screwjob didnt happen, TPWW wrestling forum would be minus a couple thousand " if the screwjob didnt happen... " threads.

well,

you are right in a way. But what else is there to discuss? John Cena's new t-shirt?

More than any other happening in wrestling, the screwjob is still perhaps the most discussed topic. Most, despite what they might say, are interested in it. Just look at how many views this topic got.

the problem is, it's not fact. It's "common knowledge." You nailed it the first time. The same "common knowledge" that tells us that America was always a Christian nation, Columbus proved the Earth was round, Cena is the greatest wrestler ever and DX outpopped CM Punk.

If you insist on calling that fact undisputable, I will be forced to insist that Cena is a great wrestler because he wins all the time. Or we can skip the "everyone knows" shit and go more for substance. People frequently claim he's whining about Montreal in interviews where it's not even brought up, which makes the claim absurd and outright stupid. It's reached meme status, and is about as meaningful.

What about the times he DOES bring it up? There HAVE been times he brings it up within the past few years. Yes, the IWC does exaggerate it, but to say he doesn't do it is silly.

people talk to bret about wrestling. Montreal comes up when They ask about montreal or when they ask about something else its usually linked to montreal like shawn michaels.

He talks about it more often than not definitely. Whether he brings it up on his own or is asked about it, he still has a history of talking about it alot. Not trying to paint this as positive or negative really but saying he doesn't do it is a little ridiculous.

If there was no screwjob, Austin would have finally beaten Bret at WM making his first title reign and Austins reign at the top that much better. Let's face it: Austin vs Hart was the big time match, the big time feud of that past year. He didn't have nearly the same chemistry or rivalry with HBK.
Plus HBK was hurting for realz this time(shocker, I know) and having Hart battle Austin at Mania would have made for a better match.

Let's face it: Hart had dominated Austin. Austin FINALLY defeating Bret at WM to start the Austin era at the top would have been a fucking phenomenal piece of work.


That's just one of many things that would have been affected differently.


On second thought, I just remembered that screwjob or not, Bret had agreed to leave for the wcw, so that match could not have occurred. All the same I will leave it up there because it is very true that a Hart/Austin main event at WM14 SHOULD have fucking happened, and would have killed. It's our loss.

Bret would have been remembered to a high proportion no matter how he left though. He has that status among the people.

I might have to disagree here Zen.

Austin/Hart had been done quite a few times (relative to HBK/Austin), and so the novelty of a Hart/Austin match wouldn't have been the same. Although the chemistry/rivalry wasn't the same, it wasn't exactly chopped liver either.

I think ultimately, the novelty of HBK/Austin (relative to Hart/Austin) outweighed the lack of chemistry/rivalry....which is why HBK/Austin was probably the bigger match and the hotter feud.

Survivor Series was Bret's last match regardless of how it ended. Let's not forget if the screwjob never happened, then Bret would have either left the WWF as champion or vacated it the next night on Raw before heading out. Neither really worked in WWF's favour to be fair and WCW would have inherited an undefeated ex-champ which would have been rammed down the throats of the wrestling viewers ahead of that massive Starrcade.

Whether that would have stopped the ridiculous finish to Hogan/Sting at Starrcade or not is debateable but it sure wouldn't have had that re-start that Bret did.

CSLi Manning brought up the best point about Vince McMahon's character. I do agree that he was heading in that direction anyway but Montreal pushed him over the edge as an equivalent Main Event heel.

I'm not convinced that they would have simply replaced Bret with Owen as leader of the Hart Foundation. Owen lost the IC title to Austin at Survivor Series and I'm not sure the fans would have bought him as the faction leader to counter Shawn Michaels. if I remember rightly, following Survivor Series, Owen went on to feud with the emerging Triple H and Jeff Jarrett which was at that IC level. The 'Hart Foundation' would have consisted of Owen, Bulldog, Neidhart and possibly Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon (if they were retained).

Also you could say that The Rock's title win and heel turn the next year might not have been as successful.

think i've seen like 30 bret Hart/screwjob related threads in the last month....I think these should be banned for a while...since I think everyone is getting tired of talking about the screwjob.

This one time....Bret whined about dropping the belt to shawn in Canada, shawn put bret in his own hold, earl rang the bell, and bret got screwed. The end....now lets move on.

:y:

Maybe you didn't see the footage, I saw it live unfortunately. What a fucked up way to find out the true identity of the Blue Blazer.

If there was no screwjob then bret would of gone to wcw and taken over the world eventually becoming the president of USA oh yes it's true it's damn true!

Woooooooooo!

If the screw job didn't happen none of us would have to listen/ read all the whiners who have nothing better to do than bitch over who screwed who.