Jim Ross wrote a new article for FOX Sports in which he talked about the Montreal Screwjob at the Survivor Series on November 9, 1997. He said that neither himself nor Jerry Lawler knew about the match’s finish ahead of time. Here are highlights:
On those who claim he and King knew about the finish: “Not so fast my friends. The King and I were working off the Saturday night production meeting finish, which was simply described as going to be a “DQ.” Who or why was not discussed and it did not affect Jerry or me in our prep and our presentation of broadcasting the bout. So the truth of the matter is that neither of us knew was was gong to transpire in the main event. Not knowing the minutia of a match including all the nuances of the finish was commonplace for the King and I. We felt that we did a better job when we called the matches like a sporting event and the less we knew about the endings, etc the more natural and spontaneous we could make it.”
On what Vince McMahon told him when he was upset about not being told: “‘I wanted to keep you clean of this matter,’ he told me then. ‘You have to continue to communicate and support the talent roster and they have to trust you. You knew nothing on-purpose because you can honestly tell each and every one of them how you feel about what went down and be honest with them and that you did not know. Your role in restoring a productive and professional locker room is going to be a challenge we have to meet.’ the WWE Chairman told me.”
On the rumor that it was finalized long in advance: “Not true. Vince McMahon had wrestled with the decision to take the title from Bret without Bret’s knowledge or cooperation to protect the WWE from the title showing up on WCW TV. After the production meeting concluded, all three hours of it, we finally got out of there, grabbed some food, had a beverage or two and, for some of us, to partake in the hideous habit of smoking a cigarette. As we exited the room, Vince asked agent and long time confidant Jerry Brisco to stay behind and that Vince and Brisco needed to talk. I am under the impression that it was at that two-man sit down where the plans were refined as to what had to be done on Sunday night.”
