WWE Hall of Famer John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield has said he does not believe the Montreal Screwjob was a work, but suggested that Vince McMahon may have played up his black eye.
At Survivor Series 1997, an irate Bret Hart punched McMahon backstage after being screwed of the WWF Championship in Montreal, Canada.
Over the years, some have said that the Screwjob was a work and that Bret was in on it the entire time a claim that’s been refuted by both Hart and Shawn Michaels.
Speaking on ‘Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw,’ the former WWE Champion gave his experience of the Screwjob, saying:
“After the punch, Vince sells it to the dressing room. Next day, we went in for just a little bit because we wanted to see what was going to happen.
“We got this flight to Japan, but I got to see what’s going to happen. We see Vince. Later that night, he has a black eye for one of the photos. He didn’t have it that morning. Now it may have developed during the day. Fair enough, and it may just be a work that he was building on what happened, which is my suspicion, but a few more little fuels for the conspiracy fire.
“I don’t think it was a work. I’m just telling you what I saw. What I thought from what I saw was that it was not a work because I saw the guys in the back, you know, before the match. If this was a work, this would have been exposed by now.
“The next day, when Vince didn’t have the black eye, but he appeared to have one on television, either it came along throughout the day, or he’s decided to make this something a little bit bigger. That’s what I thought it was.”
Hart had agreed to vacate the WWF Championship the next night on Raw before leaving for WCW.
The Hitman would eventually return to WWE in 2010 and has made sporadic appearances for the company since then.
