The Piledriver Report 05.20.10: The Shawn Michaels Story Part Six- The Screw Job (Part One of Two)

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 05.20.2010

For the final time in this column’s history, “The Piledriver Report” presents an in-depth look into the most controversial match off all-time. The sixth installment of the Shawn Michaels Story takes a look back at the 1997 Survivor Series Montreal Screwjob.

PREPARING FOR A BRET-FREE WWF



Around June, Vince McMahon started talking to Bret Hart about possibly deferring some money in his contract, because the WWF was in bad financial shape. On September 8th, Vince told Bret that he wanted to cut Bret's salary in more than half, and defer that money towards the end of their deal. Bret rejected this suggestion by McMahon out of fear that he would never see that money. Around this time, Vince McMahon asked Hart about working with Shawn Michaels. Hart said that he would have a problem a program against Shawn. He reasoned that Michaels had yet to apologize to him for the "Sunny days" comment. Bret felt it would be hard to trust Shawn in the ring due to their past. Hart told McMahon that he thinks Michaels would have the same concerns. Especially because Michaels had said that he would never work with anyone in the Hart Foundation, except for Davey Boy Smith.

On September 22, 1997 before that evening's RAW IS WAR from Madison Square Garden, McMahon told Bret Hart he was going to intentionally breach his contract. He told Bret that he couldn't afford the deal that he agreed to less than a year before. Vince told Bret that he had permission to work out a deal to wrestle under the World Championship Wrestling banner. According to Bret Hart in "The Wrestling Observer" newsletter, "I didn't feel comfortable doing it. I feel like an old prisoner in a prison where I know all the guards and all the inmates and I have the best cell. Why would I want to move to a new prison where I don't know the guards and the inmates and I no longer have the best cell? I felt really bad after all the years of working for the WWF." According to the Observer, Bret had an escape clause in his contract that said he could leave the company giving 30 days notice, and that he would have "reasonable creative control" of his character during that final thirty-day period. This would prevent his character from being unreasonably buried on the way out. There was a window period for giving that notice and negotiating elsewhere that hadn't begun yet. McMahon, to show Bret that he was serious about letting Hart go, gave him written permission to begin negotiating with WCW.

In his autobiography, Bret Hart said "I was summoned to Vince's office for a private chat. He rocked me with the news that he wasn't just thinking of breaching the terms of my contract, but was going to actually going to do it; in the weeks ahead, he wasn't going to pay me my full salary because of problems he attributed to Ted Turner. He told me that I was the Cal Ripken of the WWF and that he fully intended to pay me what he owed me on the back end of my twenty-year deal instead.

In a fatherly tone , he then confided, ‘I have no problem if you want to see if WCW will make you that same deal as before. I hear that Hogan is finishing up there soon. Your timing couldn't be more perfect.' He went on to say that if I left, I would actually be doing him a favour because he was about to downsize into a northeastern U.S. promotion. Because of my fourteen years of loyal service, he said, he wanted to give me the opportunity to be able to approach WCW before everyone else did, since he'd be letting a lot of wrestlers go."

In a meeting with Hart, Michaels and McMahon earlier that day, Shawn told both Hart and McMahon that he wouldn't do any jobs for anyone in the WWF. When Bret and Shawn finally agreed to work together, Michaels once again told Hart that he wouldn't job to him. McMahon proposed a scenario where Michaels and Hart would have their first singles match at the Survivor Series in Montreal. The ending of the match would come about when the Undertaker would interfere thus causing a non-finish. Hart would then fight the Undertaker at the December pay per view, where Michaels would interfere causing Bret to lose the title. This would have been a case of poetic justice since Shawn's chair shot to the Undertaker helped Bret capture the belt from the deadman at SummerSlam 1997. At the Royal Rumble in January, the Undertaker would fight Shawn. During the meeting, Hart told Michaels that he'd be happy to put him over at the end of the run. However, Michaels told Hart that he wouldn't put Bret over. Michaels repeated this sentiment to Hart on October 12th in San Jose.

Bret recalls, "I made a short speech to Shawn , knowing that it was official that we would face each other in a title match ar Survivor Series '97, which was going to be in Montreal this time. ‘I just want you to know that despite any differences we've had this past year, I have no problem working with you. You can trust me in every way to be a professional. What you need to know, Shawn, is that you're not in any danger.' I added,'I also want you to know that I have no problem dropping the belt to you if that's what Vince wants.' He glared back at me, ‘I appreciate that, but I want you to know that I'm not willing to do the same thing for you." And then left.

Jim snorted, ‘I can't believe that he just said that!'

There was no way I could ever drop the belt to him now: he'd just showed complete disrespect not only to me, but to the position of champion, which was an affront to old-school traditions and a betrayal of each and every wrestler who ever looked to me as a leader in the dressing room, or who had been a leader himself. What kind of arrogant little prick would say that to a champion offering to put him over? Since my deal with Vince was that I had creative control of my character for my last thirty days in the WWF, it was up to me whom I lost the championship to. I figured I'd drop the belt to Stone Cold instead."

On October 21st, Vince McMahon talked to Bret about dropping the title belt to Shawn at the Survivor Series, and that he would regain the strap at the December pay per view. Bret wasn't too keen on this idea. First, Shawn was already on record saying that he wouldn't do anymore jobs. Second, Bret's angle was that of being a Canadian patriot. He didn't feel it was right to have his character lose in Canada after the way he was being portrayed as that country's hero. When asked about dropping the title to Shawn in December at their pay per view in Springfield, MA, Bret said that he wasn't comfortable dropping the title to someone who was refusing to job to anybody in the company.

According to the Observer, "McMahon, Pat Patterson, Michaels, and Hart had another meeting where Michaels, teary eyed, said that he was looking forward to returning the favor to Bret and once again talked about his mouth saying the stupidest things. Hart still refused to lose the title in Montreal. The night before, he had been asked to put Hunter Heart Helmsley over in Oklahoma City via pin fall due to Michaels' interference." Hart asked Vince if this was going to set up a future program or title match between himself and Hunter. McMahon said that it wasn't. Hart didn't feel the champion should get pinned in a match where it didn't lead to anything down the line. He had the match outcome changed to a countout loss. The night of the meeting, he was asked to tap out to Ken Shamrock, before the DQ ending involving Michaels. Bret had no problem doing this, because he liked and respected Shamrock, and wanted to help elevate him.

Bret recalls, "Later that night, Vince called us both into his office, and when we sat down he blurted out, ‘Shawn, I'm putting the belt back on you!'

Shawn began to cry, thanking me and telling me how much he respected me.

I said, ‘Shawn, you just told me four days ago, in San Jose, that you'd never put me over.'

Shawn brushed away his tears, sniffling. ‘Sometimes I say the stupidest things. I always put my foot in my own mouth.'

I had to get out of there. ‘I don't know what's going to happen at Survivor Series, and I'm not agreeing to anything yet,' I said. ‘We'll see where all of this is going, and, Vince, you know what I'm talking about."

Shawn's attitude towards Bret at this time, according to Michaels' autobiography was "From my perspective, I had won the battle with Bret. I was main eventing Pay Per Views while he, as champion, was working Tag Team matches. My confidence was back. There wasn't anything that he was going to do or say that I worried about. People had turned on me because they had heard a lot of untrue stories, many of which were made up by Bret. I never once gave my side, because it seemed so transparent to me, and I was taught the guy who is talking the loudest and defending himself the most must be hiding something.

At this point, I really didn't know what the situation with Bret was. My feeling was that Vince wanted to get the title off him. His contract was taxing the companyway too much if he wasn't going to be the man. I didn't know where Steve Austin was in his talks with Vince. I'm sure they already had an idea of where they were going long-range. The ideal situation for Steve was to win the title from a white-hot heel. Bret certainly wasn't one. I, on the other hand, was there. It made sense to me that Vince would want to put the title on me and then have Steve beat me."

At this point, the WWF was starting to change the company's direction to be a more adult oriented product. Bret wasn't happy with the new company philosophy. He was so unhappy that he no longer allowed his children to watch the RAW telecasts.

As part of their agreement to work together, Bret and Shawn agreed to no longer bring up their families or their personal lives in their promos. This agreement lasted a whole week as Michaels next promo talked about "Stu Hart being dead but walking around Calgary because his body and brain hadn't figured it out yet." Since Bret no longer watched the show, Owen and Stu told him that the line upset them.

Before their October 24th show at Nassau Coliseum, Vince McMahon told Bret Hart that "the money situation in the company had changed and they would have no problems paying him everything promised in his contract." Hart told McMahon that WCW didn't make him a serious offer. He also let Vince know that he didn't want to leave. However, Bret said that he was still uncomfortable doing the job for Michaels. Bret left for the tour of Oman believing that he was staying with the WWF. However, he knew that if he was going to make the jump, he needed to give notice by midnight on November 1st.

THE HITMAN MAKES A CHOICE



On October 31st, Eric Bischoff finally made him an offer in the neighborhood of $3 million a year. Bret did not accept or reject Bischoff's offer. However, he did let Eric know that Bischoff had a shot to sign him. The next day, Bret called Vince to let him know that Bischoff called to make an offer. Bret told Vince that he didn't want anymore money from him. All he wanted was to know what direction that Vince had for his character. Hart admitted that he was leaning towards the WCW, but he wanted to know what Vince's plans were for him. Vince told the "Hitman" that he would call him back in an hour with some scenarios.

McMahon called back four hours later from his barber, after Bischoff had called a second time to try to close the WCW deal. Vince told Bret that he wasn't sure what he was going to do with the "Hitman" character. He told Bret to trust him due to their past. He reasoned that he helped to turn Bret into a superstar. Vince asked Bret about his ideas for the future of the "Hitman" character. Vince's brainstorm on the future of the Bret Hart character worked like this: Bret would drop the title to Shawn at the Survivor Series, but would then get the strap back at the December pay per view. In the "Wrestling Observer" newsletter, Bret said "I realized he had given the top heel spot to Shawn, but to turn back babyface it was too soon." McMahon told Bret that he was willing to extend his deadline for giving notice. Bret Hart wanted written permission for the extension. However, Vince was going out for the evening. He told Bret that he is giving him a verbal extension, and that Bret can get the written extension from the WWF's chief financial officer. When Hart called to get the written notice, Bret was told he couldn't get it in writing "in such short notice." At 7pm, Bischoff called again and presented a deal that, according to Hart, " would have been insane not to be taken".

At 9pm, McMahon called an emotionally torn Bret Hart. Instead of giving Bret reasons to stay, McMahon told him to take the WCW offer. Bret told Vince "it would break his heart to leave, and that he appreciated everything McMahon and the company had done for him." According to David Meltzer, "McMahon told Hart that he wanted him back as a babyface, and had been wanting him to turn babyface for two or three months but just hadn't brought it up until this point." McMahon gave Bret some ideas for the immediate future. Once again, Vince wanted Bret to drop the title to Michaels. At the December pay per view, there would be a final four match between Michaels, Undertaker, Ken Shamrock, and Hart. Michaels would win that contest, as well. At the Royal Rumble, Bret would fight Shawn in a ladder match, with Michaels winning again. On the January 19th Raw, Bret would open the show and say that if he couldn't beat Michaels for the title that night, he would retire from wrestling. Bret would finally beat Shawn for the belt, and then drop the strap to Austin at WrestleMania XIV.

According to Dave Meltzer, "Hart looked at the scenario of four major losses with only one win and before his midnight deadline, gave official notice to the WWF and signed the contract WCW had sent over, with the agreement from all parties that the word wouldn't leak out until 11/10 to protect the Survivor Series PPV. Hart went so far as to have his few confidants sign written confidentiality letters to make sure word of his negotiations and signing with WCW didn't get out until 11/10."

Bret talked about the night he finally signed with World Championship Wrestling in his autobiography. "So on Saturday, I called Vince and told him what WCW had offered. ‘I want to stay with you, Vince, and my contract is fine just the way it is, but I need you to tell me where I'm going and what I'm doing. What's the rest of my story going to be?'

Vince told me he'd think about it and call me back. But as the deadline crept closer, he still hadn't called. I finally tracked him down getting his hair cut in Manhattan. ‘Vince, I only got until midnight.' He told me not to worry about the deadline and to call him Sunday morning.

Minutes later, I had my lawyer on the line telling me that Vince's word over the phone meant nothing in the court of law.

It was nearly midnight on the east coast when Vince finally called back. His message to me, expressed with smug good humor, was that I should think with my head and not my heart. When I asked him what he had in mind for me, he gave me that stupid laugh of his and told me that first I'd put Shawn over at Survivor Series, then I'd put him over at a final four pay per view next month that would lead to a ladder match at the Royal Rumble, where I'd put him over again. Finally, I'd challenge him to one last match on RAW, where I'd promise that if I didn't win, I'd quit forever. Everybody would think I was going to lose but, Vince chuckled, ‘We'll fuck him and you'll get your hand raised.'

‘You've got to be kidding,' I said. ‘I thought you'd come up with something to make me stay!'

Vince got irritated with me now. ‘I dunno, you tell me, what do you want to do?'

‘Hell, Vince, you're the genius. You made me turn heel, made me say all kinds of things about Americans, and they all hate me now. You turned off my heat and gave it all to Shawn , and all I am any more is a lukewarm heel. I don't even know what to do with me.'

Vince told me again to think with my head, not my heart, and take the WCW offer.

After we hung up, I checked my fax machine and saw the WCW contract coming in. I sat alone, in the dark, with tears in my eyes. I signed, put the contract back into the feeder, dialed the number and pushed send. I found myself reciting the Lord's Prayer as my fourteen-year career in the WWF passed before my eyes."

PLANS TO SCREW BRET



On November 2, 1997, McMahon told Bret that he wanted Michaels to win the title in Montreal. He suggested that they do a screw job ending to "steal" the title from him. The next night on Raw, Vince can get into an "argument" with Bret. During the argument, Bret would punch Vince hardway while blaming McMahon for the screw job. Hart still insisted that he would not lose in Montreal or in Ottawa the next night. Bret said that he would put Michaels over in Madison Square Garden on November 15th, at the pay per view in December, or anywhere else. Bret said he would put over Vader, Shamrock, Mankind, the Undertaker or even Steve Lombardi. McMahon made legal threats to Hart if he wouldn't lose in Montreal. Hart countered that he had a "reasonable creative control" clause in his contract. Vince tried to argue that refusing to drop the belt at the Survivor Series wasn't "reasonable". After arguing all day and night about the Survivor Series finish, they agreed to end the match as a disqualification. At the December pay per view, Michaels would then win the title in the final four match. Bret would go out to the ring on the final night's Raw where he would give a farewell interview as a babyface to the WWF fans and put the company and McMahon over as big as possible. Bret would then apologize to the American fans and try to reasonably explain his "anti-American" actions in a way to end his 14-year association with the WWF. Bret's WCW contract began on December 1st. Bret called Bischoff, who agreed to allow him to work in the WWF through December 8th..

McMahon called Bret the next day to let him know that he now wanted Michaels to win clean in Montreal, then he would "steal" the title with a controversial finish at the December pay per view. Hart would get to do his farewell speech in Portland the next night before leaving for WCW. Vince said he was going to call Michaels and present the scenario to him.

Despite trying to keep Bret's WCW deal a secret, the news was leaked the night before and reported on the Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Torch hotlines. In response to the leak, WWF Canada released a press statement denying the story. They claimed it was propaganda being spread by WCW. However, as the word got out, Titan Sports in Connecticut said that Bret Hart was exploring all his options.

On November 5th, the Calgary Sun, the Toronto Sun and the Montreal Gazette reported the news about Bret's departure. McMahon called Hart to let him know that Michaels had agreed to the previous day's scenario. However, since the news broke out that Bret was leaving, Hart needed to drop the belt before the RAW after the Survivor Series. Vince's biggest fear was Bischoff going on television on November 10th, announcing the signing of Bret Hart, the current WWF World champion. Hart said that he would get Bischoff to postpone the announcement. However, Bischoff was on a hunting trip all week in Wyoming, and Hart couldn't get a hold of him. Vince asked Bret to drop the title on November 8th at his final WWF house show in Detroit. Hart again refused. He believed that with the build up, and in the wake of all the insider publicity, he didn't want the match to be anti-climatic. He felt that he needed to go into Montreal as champion. He agreed to drop the title any time after November 12th. He mentioned doing it at the house shows in Youngstown, OH, on November 13th, Pittsburgh on November 14th, or in Madison Square Garden, if they wanted it that soon rather than waiting for the December pay per view.

Later that evening, Vince had a conference call with Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, as per his usual Wednesday night routine. According to the Shawn Michaels autobiography, "Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story," Vince told Shawn, "Barring some miraculous change this weekend, we are going to work a DQ. The next night Bret had promised me that he will come out and give up the title. He will go off to WCW, and we can work some sort of tournament or something like that. I'm not comfortable with that, but Bret had given me his word. Regardless of the relationship that you and he have, I've always asked him to do business, but he's just not willing to do it for you. I can't change the match with someone else."

Shawn asked Vince why doesn't Bret just drop the title to someone else on RAW the next night. Vince explained to Shawn that Bret had creative control during the last thirty days of his contract. "So it's not really just me, is it? He doesn't want to drop the belt before he leaves?," Shawn asked. Vince agreed, "No, he doesn't. It would be one thing if it were in the States, but especially in Canada. He just doesn't want to do it."

Shawn questioned, "All of Canada is his? We're not in Calgary. What if I didn't want to do any jobs in the United States?" Vince repeated, "I know, I know, but that's the situation. He has creative control."

At this point, Hunter Hearst Helmsley spoke up. "I know I'm not supposed to be talking here. Maybe I'm out of line, but what kind of business is that? Who in the world says ‘I don't want to drop the belt'? You helped him get a better deal there, and he's leaving. That isn't right. That's b.s. How in the world can you trust him? This is the same guy who while he was off, after dropping the title to Shawn, went behind your back and negotiated a deal with WCW only to come back and renegotiate a twenty-year way-out-of-bounds contract with you. He has not done good business since, and now he is leaving to get even more money, by you giving them the impression that you wanted to keep him. We have people leaving in the middle of the night and taking their belts and dropping them in trash cans on WCW. We can't afford for that to happen with the World Wrestling Federation Championship!"

Vince said, "There's nothing we can do about that. My hands are tied. What can we do about that?"

Shawn told Vince, "I'll do whatever you want. We'll just take it off him. I'll swerve him or whatever I have to. You tell me what needs to get done. You and this company have put up with so much from me. My loyalty is here with you. I will do whatever you want." Vince asked, "What are you talking about, Shawn?"

Shawn continued, "Whatever it takes. If we have to do a fast count or get him in a hold and tell someone to ring the bell, I'll do whatever you want me to do." Vince responded, "That's pretty serious. That has to be a last resort. I still have until Saturday to talk to Bret. That may have to be a real option. This cannot be discussed with anyone. Pat can't know, nobody can know about this but the three of us right now. It's something we will have to talk about."

Shawn and Hunter both believed that Vince was already thinking about swerving Bret, however he would never ask Shawn to do it. He needed Shawn to volunteer to do it. Shawn just did.

The Internet portrayed Bret's signing with WCW as a power struggle between Bret and Shawn, with the "Heartbreak Kid" coming out as the victor. Another reason being given for Bret's departure was due to his unhappiness over the current direction where the WWF's product was heading. The top reason for the Bret Hart/WWF split was that McMahon wanted to get out of a contract that in hindsight he wished he'd never offered. According to the "Wrestling Observer" newsletter, "In the vast majority opinion on-line from people who really had no clue as to what was really going on, Titan, McMahon and Michaels were coming off as major heels. The WWF's own on-line site, said to be the domain of young kids with no clue about wrestling, was besieged with reports about Hart leaving and the so-called marks were reacting very negatively toward Titan to the point Titan pulled all it's folders by the early afternoon which caused another outcry of censorship of opinions from wrestling fans. On November 7th, McMahon responded publicly on-line with a letter of his own stating- ‘Over the past few days I have read certain comments on the internet concerning Bret Hart and his "alleged" reasons for wanting to pursue other avenues than the World Wrestling Federation to earn his livelihood. While I respect the "opinions" of others, as owner of the World Wrestling Federation I felt that it was time to set the record straight. As it has been reported recently on line, part of Bret Hart's decision to pursue other options is allegedly due to his concerns with the "direction" of the World Wrestling Federation. Whereby each and every individual is entitled to his, or her, opinion, I take great offense when the issue of the direction of the World Wrestling Federation is raised. In the age of sports entertainment, the World Wrestling Federation refuses to insult it's audience in terms of "Baby Faces" and "Heels". In 1997, how many people do you truly know that are strictly "good" guys or "bad" guys? World Wrestling Federation programming reflects more of a reality based product in which life, as well as World Wrestling Federation superstars are portrayed as they truly are--in shades of gray...not black or white. From what I am reading it has been reported that Bret may be concerned about the morality issues in the World Wrestling Federation. Questionable language. Questionable gestures. Questionable sexuality. Questionable racial issues. Questionable? All of the issues mentioned above are issues that every human being must deal with every day of their lives. Also, with that in mind, please be aware that Bret Hart has been cautioned--on "numerous" occasions--to alter his language by not using expletives or God's name in vain. He was also told--on numerous occasions--not to use certain hand gestures some might find offensive. My point is, regardless of what some are reporting, Bret's decision to pursue other career options IS NOT genuinely a Shawn Michaels direction issue, as they would like you to believe! In the personification of DeGeneration X, Shawn Michaels character is expected to be living on the edge--which I might add Mr. Michaels portrays extremely well. The issue here is that the "direction" of the World Wrestling Federation is not determined by Shawn Michaels, OR Bret Hart for that matter. It is determined by you--the fans of the World Wrestling Federation. You demand a more sophisticated approach! You DEMAND to be intellectually challenged! You demand a product with attitude and as owner of this company--it is my responsibility to give you exactly what you want! Personally, I regret the animosity that has built up between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, but in the end, it is the World Wrestling Federation that is solely responsible for the content of this product--NOT Bret Hart --NOT Shawn Michaels--NOT Vince McMahon for that matter. May the best man win at the Survivor Series!' This only made the situation worse in regard to how fans were viewing McMahon and the company even worse."

Hart was booked on a half hour TSN (The Sports Network, the Canadian version of ESPN) talk show called "Off the Record." Host Michael Landsberg said he had received more than 1000 calls to ask Hart if he was leaving for WCW. Hart would not commit to saying that he was leaving. He told Landsberg that he had given his 30-day notice to the WWF. He said that he was reviewing offers from both groups and is strongly leaning going one way. Bret was quoted, "I'd like to really come more clean on this as I can, you know, that I have, but I have to do this thing by the book kind of thing." Hart said his decision wasn't a monetary one. He explained that he and the WWF had, "reached kind of a crisis or we've reached professional differences as to what direction that the wrestling shows are taking. You know, I'm not saying I'm always right, but I feel that some of the content of the shows goes against my belief in what wrestling should be and can be." Bret talked about his dislike for the WWF's new direction. "Wrestling is often scoffed at as a form of entertainment sometimes. Or it used to be. I believe it came way up and I was very proud in the direction, which has a lot to do with where I am right now today. Wrestling was cleaned up and it became something families could watch." Bret talked about the having to trust the guy you are working with because you give them your body and said the real animosities and hatred that exists have to be set aside. Everything he has said about Shawn Michaels is about the Shawn Michaels character, but he believed that Michaels has said things that have hit a raw nerve with him to the point it's unprofessional. When talking about a racial angle on RAW, which implied that Hart was a racist, Bret said, "I think that racial tension is something to be very, very careful with. When you start messing around with racial things, that I don't like." Hart admitted that he stopped watching RAW about five weeks earlier because he didn't like the direction of the product. Bret said, "I don't mind if anyone pokes fun at my dad. Jerry Lawler's made a living the last two or three years saying comments about my mom and dad but he's always fairly humorous about it. Actually I used to get offended at some of the things he used to say about my mother--until I realized that my mother thought they were humorous and then it was kind of OK with me."

On November 8, 1997, the WWF ran a house show in Detroit at Cobo Arena, that would Bret Hart's final match in the United States for the World Wrestling Federation. According to David Meltzer, "Tensions were really high and the prospect of a double-cross were looming by this time in many of the more paranoid types. But really, this was 1997 and this was the World Wrestling Federation. That's stuff from the 20's where the real bad guy low-lifes were running the business. The days of making Lou Thesz world champion because you needed someone who could handle himself in the case of a double-cross had been over for more than three decades." Bret Hart talked to his most trusted front office contact, Earl Hebner.

Bret and Earl Hebner had been genuinely close friends for years. Hart actually use his influence to get Hebner to referee the match, specifically because he wanted someone in the ring that he could trust. Hebner told Hart "I swear on my kids lives that I'd quit my job before double-crossing you."

According to Michaels' autobiography, there was a production meeting at the hotel the night before the pay per view. "As everyone was leaving, Vince asked me, Hunter, and Jerry Briscoe, a longtime agent and close confidant of Vince's to stay. We sat down and talked."

"He's (Bret) not willing to bend. Are you willing to do what we discussed?" Vince asked Shawn. Michaels responded, "Yeah, I'm willing to do what it takes." Vince continued, "This is serious. I don't know what's going to happen, but he is going to flip. Jerry can show you some holds." Shawn told McMahon, "I'm not worried about that. We can run Hunter down to the ring if anything happens."

Vince told Shawn, "I don't want you telling anybody about this. When it happens, you deny you knew anything about it until the end. This is my decision, but I can't physically do it. I don't want the heat going on you. Some is going to go on you inevitably because of your history with Bret, and because you are the guy doing it, but this is my decision. I don't want you telling anyone. If anyone asks you, you didn't know anything about it. When it's over with, it's over with. Bret's going to be hot. You have to put the heat on me. He needs to be mad at me. He's going to be mad at me, and he's going to want to hit me. I'm going to let him. I owe Bret that much."

Vince told Shawn that Earl Hebner didn't know anything about the swerve, so Shawn offered to clue him in. Later in Shawn's hotel room, Jerry Briscoe told Shawn, "I'll be in the Gorilla position if anything goes down. I'll get down there, but I'm not as fast as I used to be. Is there anything I can do for you?" Shawn declined, "No. Jerry. If it happens, it happens. I'm not worried about it." Briscoe informed Michaels, "You've been a bear to deal with, Shawn, but this is different. You've never done anything like this. This is wrong, what Bret's doing. I'll be there." "I'll be there too," Hunter let Michaels know.

Bret talked about that final night before the Survivor Series. "I kept reminding myself that if I'd stayed in the WWF, Shawn and Hunter would have done all they could to drive me out anyway, Jack Lanza pulled me aside to tell me that I was doing the right thing for the business: ‘I wouldn't drop the belt to that little motherfucker either!' I never knew whether Jack meant what he said or was trying to provoke a reaction out of me that would somehow play into his boss's hands.

I called Earl Hebner into a dingy dressing room bathroom. I looked him right in the eyes and said, ‘Tomorrow, Earl, they're going to ask you to fuck me.' His mouth twisted and his eyes filled with tears as he promised, ‘I swear on my kids' heads, I won't do it. I'll quit first! If they ask me to do that, I'll tell them to go fuck themselves, Bret, I swear!' I told him that I was going to insist that he be the ref because I trusted him to watch my back."