THIS INFO IS TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA. IT GIVES A DETAILED BACKGROUND ON THE MONTREAL SCREWJOB.
Hart had one major caveat: he would not lose the WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels, with whom he had personal animosity that had spanned for years. The legitimate backstage ill-feeling between Hart and Michaels, which had been bubbling for years, meant that neither man was willing to lose face in or out of the ring to the other, but they agreed to work together for the sake of the business.
At the time, Hart and Michaels had radically different lifestyles and attitudes out of the ring and had clashed previously. One such incident was provoked when Michaels implied that Hart was sleeping with WWF valet Sunny. This led to Hart attacking Michaels backstage during a taping of RAW after they had gotten into a verbal argument (Hart claimed several years later in a 'shoot' interview that the real reason for the fight was due to him expressing his concern that Michaels' drug problems would affect his ability to protect Hart's injured knee during a match).
Hart has claimed on his own website that he never said he would not lose in Canada, as he had lost in Canada several times, his only demand was that he refused to lose to Michaels. However, Shawn Michaels said in his biography that Bret's excuse was that he was a hero in Canada, and that the fans might riot.
The relationship between both men was very rocky at best. Hart was angered about how much booking power The Clique, of which Michaels was a part, had apparently gained during the mid 1990s.
Hart regained the WWF title at SummerSlam 1997 (strangely enough, due to interference from special guest referee Michaels, who hit Undertaker with a chair most likely aimed at him, but he ducked), but McMahon began seeking a way to move the belt off of him when Hart began talks with WCW. Michaels was booked as the number one contender to Hart's title in the fall of 1997. Of course, Hart took immediate issue with the idea that he would lose the title to Michaels, in Montreal, at the Survivor Series 1997 PPV event on November 9, 1997. He did not believe that Michaels would have offered a loss in return had he stayed in the WWF.
McMahon tentatively agreed to end the match in Montreal with a planned disqualification finish, which would involve various cohorts of both Hart and Michaels running in and disrupting the match. Hart said that he could make a live speech the next day on the November 10, 1997 edition of RAW and then hand the belt back or that he could lose the title to Ken Shamrock who had, in the weeks leading to Survivor Series, made both Hart and Michaels tap out to his Ankle Lock finisher
McMahon, however, felt that Bret was lying to him and would instead appear on WCW Monday Nitro with the Title the next night, despite Bret being legally unable to do so. There is a common misconception that Bret's WWF contract expired at the Survivor Series, it actually expired several weeks later. McMahon was actually concerned that Eric Bischoff, WCW's Executive Vice President, would announce on the live Nitro, which aired prior to the WWF RAW program, that they had just signed the reigning WWF Champion to a contract. The fear also came from an incident that had occurred in 1995, where then-WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze had signed with WCW. Bischoff coerced Alundra Blayze to show up on Nitro with the Women's Title Belt, which she did. She proceeded to drop the belt in a trash can in full view of the live audience.
The Wednesday before Survivor Series, Vince McMahon devised what would become the Montreal Screwjob. As Gerald Brisco allegedly sat in a hotel room showing Michaels how to defend himself should Bret attempt to shoot on him, McMahon decided, with counsel from others, that he had no alternative other than to make sure that Survivor Series would end with Michaels as champion.
On the day of Survivor Series, Hart and McMahon sat in a room and discussed the different possibilities. Vince apparently seemed to agree to everything that Hart wanted to do. Hart left feeling a little more relaxed, despite being warned by several wrestlers (including Vader, who was a veteran of the Japanese scene and knew the prospect of a screwjob could be looming) never to let himself be pinned for more than a count of one or be put in any submission moves.
However, Hart was deeply aware of the possibility of a last minute change of plan behind his back and, fearing a double cross, went as far as asking the match's referee, Earl Hebner to swear an oath on his children's lives that he would not participate in such an incident. Hebner agreed. The match plans detailed to Hart on the day discussed the planned disqualification finish. Michaels would put Hart in the Sharpshooter, and Hart would reverse, only for D-Generation X and the Hart Foundation to run down for a big brawl to end the match.
During the match, after an arena-wide brawl before the match had even officially started, Hart allowed Michaels to place him in the Sharpshooter, his famous finishing leglock hold. Michaels then gave Hart his foot to reverse the hold. McMahon, positioned at ringside, elbowed the timekeeper and screamed at him to "Ring the fucking bell!" Hebner then signalled to the timekeeper as if Hart had submitted to the hold, then bolted backstage from the ring and left in a waiting car. Michaels was quickly awarded the match and the title as his theme music began to play, all while Hart remained in the ring in shock.
Astounded by the unexpected turn of events, Hart was immediately outraged. As Hart stood dazed in the ring, Triple H and Gerald Brisco came out to escort Michaels backstage as the fans threw garbage at him and relentlessly and loudly booed at him. As ringside commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler quickly departed their announce position, Hart looked down at McMahon from the ring, spat right in his eye, and shortly after destroyed several TV monitors at ringside before climbing the turnbuckles and signing the letters "WCW" to the rabid crowd. Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Davey Boy Smith hit the ring to try and calm him down.
Backstage, after cooling off, he learned that many of the other wrestlers were disgusted and were forcefully pressuring the now-in-hiding McMahon to face up to Hart and explain himself. (Hart even proclaimed to his wife, "The piece of shit's locked himself up in his office.") Hart's son was physically upset at what had happened, and his wife laid a verbal onslaught onto Triple H (whom she believed knew about the whole thing), while the Undertaker confronted McMahon and demanded that he meet with Hart face-to-face. McMahon, along with Brisco and son Shane, went to see Hart, and the incident ended up as a physical confrontation in the Montreal locker rooms. After McMahon tried to apologize to Hart, he was told to get out or get punched in the face. McMahon refused to leave and got punched in the face (in Mick Foley's book, Have a Nice Day, he had a conversation with Owen Hart...from in which Owen heard that Bret went into the shower and told him that he would "punch (McMahon) in the fucking mouth" if he was still there when he came out). With Shane and Brisco also there, one of them accidentally trampled onto McMahon's ankle and broke it.
Several wrestlers threatened to walk out on the WWF after the event (Foley and Undertaker being two of them) and were only calmed by a backstage meeting in which McMahon lied in order to soften the pain of the wrestlers, fearing that if it could happen to one of the most loyal and popular members on the roster, it could happen to anyone. Owen Hart (claiming a knee injury) left out of loyalty to his brother, but would eventually return a month later when he was unable to get out of his contract. Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy also quit, and were formally released soon afterwards. The late Rick Rude, who was a manager of DX and worked on a per show basis, left a week later after appearing on Nitro the same night as a pre-taped RAW (Rude chastised the WWF and mentioned Shawn Michaels by name on the live Nitro). Brian "Crush" Adams left two weeks after Survivor Series using the "screwjob" as an excuse. In reality, he felt the WWF was losing the war to WCW, and he would fare better there. Mick Foley walked out, but returned after realizing he would have been in breach of contract. Barry Windham also no-showed demonstrating how angry he was. However, he returned to the WWF a week later after believing that he had made his point.
