1. It’s been 25 years since Vince McMahon screwed Bret Hart at the Survivor Series.
The incident, which took place on Nov. 9, 1997, at the Molson Centre, became known as the Montreal Screwjob and changed professional wrestling forever.
For those who don’t know the backstory of the incident, Vince McMahon concocted a plan that the match’s ref would ring the bell in the middle of Hart’s match with Shawn Michaels and declare Michaels the winner and new champion. Hart had no idea this was coming. Why? McMahon had to get the title off Hart, who was leaving the company for WCW and had refused to agree to any story line or finish that would end with him dropping the belt to Michaels.
Many wrestling fans will argue that Hulk Hogan joining the New World Order is the most impactful moment in pro wrestling history. I couldn’t disagree more. The nWo had a massively successful run and gave the WWE a run for its money during the Monday Night Wars, but the nWo ended up fizzling out, and WCW eventually went out of business and got bought by McMahon.
The creation of the Mr. McMahon character, which is what the Montreal Screwjob ended up being all about, led to Vince McMahon’s feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin and helped turn around the WWE’s struggles at the time. The Austin-McMahon feud anchored the Attitude era, which was a catalyst for Vince being a billionaire and the WWE getting to a level of success never seen before in wrestling history.
The Screwjob also had such a detrimental impact on Hart that he was never the same wrestler in WCW. The company never knew how to use him, and he ended up getting seriously injured by Goldberg, which finished his career.
Despite the Montreal Screwjob remarkably being 25 years old, wrestling fans still love to consume content regarding that infamous night in Canada, when Vince McMahon did not follow the script and there is a ton of it out there.
From people who still today think the whole thing was a work to Bret Hart pulling back the curtain on everything that happened and the fallout from McMahon making referee Earl Hebner ring the bell so Hart would be stripped of his title before leaving for WCW to Vice’s excellent Dark Side of the Ring episode about the screwjob to the extraordinary Wrestling With Shadows documentary.
I’ve said this many times over the years, but, in my opinion, the single greatest piece of Montreal Screwjob content, by far, is former manager Jim Cornette’s behind-the-scenes recall of all the events that led to McMahon’s screwing Hart. It’s a master class in how to tell a story while also providing inside details that any wrestling fan would eat up.
And just remember one thing: Bret screwed Bret.
2. The final ratings report is in for the World Series. The Astros-Phillies six-game series is now the second least-watched Fall Classic ever. The only World Series that generated fewer viewers was Dodgers-Rays in 2020 (9,946,000 viewers), which was impacted by COVID-19.
Houston and Philly averaged 11.784,000 viewers, down just over 1% from last year’s World Series between the Braves and Astros.
3. While explaining his three-interception game in the Packers’ loss to the Lions on Sunday, Aaron Rodgers told Pat McAfee on Tuesday, “I don’t give a s--- what any of these experts on TV have to say.”
This was amusing because there probably isn't a player in the NFL who cares more about what the media says than Rodgers.
4. I have no idea whether this is true, but I absolutely positively hope it is, because it’s an outstanding way to insult a ref.
5. What a moment here between Lamar Jackson and a young fan.
View the original article to see embedded media.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features a conversation with Jim Nantz.
It was recently announced that Nantz will step down as the lead voice of the NCAA tournament after this year, and Ian Eagle will take over that spot. Nantz reveals what went into his decision, what the tournament means to him, how he feels about Eagle getting the No. 1 gig and whether this means Nantz’s time doing the NFL and golf could be winding down. Nantz also discusses the NFL season, why he’s fine with the Lions playing on Thanksgiving every year, a possible Bills-Chiefs AFC title game rematch and much more.
Following Nantz, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY in New York joins Jimmy for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Jimmy and Sal talk about Twitter charging $20 for verification, the Kyrie Irving controversy, the NFL’s penalty for taking off your helmet and more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Here's some good news: Larry and Leon are together again.
