The Montreal Screwjob

Mr.Nice Guy

Seeing as Bret has been in the news lately with his induction into the Hall of Fame set to happen, it's occurred to me that the Montreal incident hasn't really been discussed much on this forum even though it's probably the most controversial wrestling incident in history.

Therefore I've added a poll to find out your views on it.

Personally, I think Bret was hard done by and that he was in the right. Shawn wouldn't drop thee belt to Bret so there was no reason for Bret to drop the belt in Montreal when there was plenty of time to drop the belt before he left for WCW.

What's your take on it?

Lita Forever

Can I add a third option? " I'm so sick and tired of hearing about it that I don't care who was in the right or wrong anymore " Lol.

Roar

Vince and Shawn were in the right

I think it's far more complex than "bret was right" or "vince and shawn were right".

let's be honest, bret acted like a spoiled child coming to the end of his tenure at WWF, REFUSING to drop the title at SS, and when you consider he was contracted to WCW at that stage, you cant blame vince for getting itchy feet. Bret could have basically walked away from WWF that night and appeared on Nitro the next night with the strap, Ric Flair stylee..

Vince though assasinated the Hitman character long before that night, turning him heel in the States and basically devauling the character, starting the night he turned on Stone Cold.

As soon as Vince knew he wouldnt be keeping bret he made shure he wasnt worth a damn when he got to WCW.

The whole incident is sort of like wrestling itself these days - there's no clear cut bad guy or good guy here, it's 50 50. I think Bret was right, but Vince was right too.

I dunno..

J.R.HARTLEY

or a fourth option,
Vince was looking after his business espcially after the nitro alundra blaze incident, but bret was run over in a way unfitting for a longtime and loyal servant of the wwe.

Vince135792003

Vince and Shawn were in the right

I'd disagree with a few of the things people have written. But I have n't got the heart to get into it. Heres a link for the observer newsletter which Dave Meltzer go's into huge detail about it. Its a good bit down the page so you have to scroll down.http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/wwf/wwemontreal.htm


PS. (Bret got screwed)

Terry

i always thought of him as a whining pussy even before the screw job.
i was just never a fan of his.

yak_kadafi

I dont think that you can "blame" one side for it..........
bret should have known better than to leave the wwe as champion.........
It would have seemed so **** for wwe-having your world heavyweight champ go to a rival company while champ......

so I personally wouldnt blame either side for it......at the end of the day.....wouldn't you wanna be champ if you were in the same position?

moongoose

forget the discussions plain & simple vince screwed bret & it was right for business after the blaze incident. nuff said

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

yak_kadafi wrote:

I dont think that you can "blame" one side for it..........
bret should have known better than to leave the wwe as champion.........
It would have seemed so **** for wwe-having your world heavyweight champ go to a rival company while champ......

so I personally wouldnt blame either side for it......at the end of the day.....wouldn't you wanna be champ if you were in the same position?

Bret wasn't going to leave as champion. Read the link supplied on this thread by Vince1537:

The Prelude - Imagine giving into the most anticipated match on the inside of pro wrestling in years and on the day of the show not having any semblance of a finish? McMahon and Hart met that afternoon and McMahon said something to the effect of "What do you want me to do? You've got me by the balls." Hart said that he just wants to leave the building with his head up. Hart said to McMahon "let me hand you the belt on Raw (the next night in Ottawa). Everyone knows I'm leaving I'd like to tell the truth on Raw Monday. At this point the "truth" wouldn't include talking about finances, contract breaches, arguments about finishes, or anything that would make McMahon or the company look bad publicly. McMahon said he agreed, that it was the right thing to do and the two shook hands on it. Hart and Michaels were dressing together putting together a match. Both were professional with one another and talking about putting on the best match possible in Hart's last hurrah. Agreeing to a DQ finish in about 17:00 after a lengthy brawl before the bell would even sound to start the match

yak_kadafi

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Bret wasn't going to leave as champion. Read the link supplied on this thread by Vince1537:

damn thanks for that...i didnt know that he agreed to tell the world about it on raw etc

Fozzy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

Bret did nothing wrong in my opinion. I don't think he should have had to drop the title in a place where he was extremely over to a man he did not like, given that he would not be able to fight to regain the title. He had already done Vince the favour by signing for WCW, he should have been allowed his input. He's also one of the most loyal and respectful people I know of, I could never imagine him actually bringing the title to Nitro

Although, if it was Vince's intention to create controversy, get people talking, and get himself over as a heel, then he did the right thing

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

Fozzy wrote:

Bret did nothing wrong in my opinion. I don't think he should have had to drop the title in a place where he was extremely over to a man he did not like, given that he would not be able to fight to regain the title. He had already done Vince the favour by signing for WCW, he should have been allowed his input. He's also one of the most loyal and respectful people I know of, I could never imagine him actually bringing the title to Nitro

I agree and there's also the fact that Shawn wouldn't return the favour to Bret and drop the belt to him at WM13 as Bret did for Shawn the year before, and Shawn even told Bret he would not lose cleanly to him.

The Wrestling with Shadows documentary is a great documentary I think about the incident, it can be seen on Youtube also, and it shows just how sinister it all was. You see Vince laughing and smiling with Bret only hours before he screwed him.

It's too bad that Mick Foley was the only wrestler who went on strike over the incident. Fair play to him for that though.

Charlie

I uesd to be of the opinion that Bret was right, but the more that I thought about it I believe vince was right.

The WCW had been playing dirty tricks over the wwf ovver the previous 18 months (leading upto montreal), the Alundra Blaze incident, stealing many wrestlers with billionaire Ted's money, nWo(making ou it was wwf invasion) to name a few. Therefore Vince couldn't take the risk that the then WWF champion could appear on nitro with the strap. He would be justified in being paranoid that WCW would try and pull such a stunt .If Bret had of apperared on nitro as WWF champ it could have truly burried the WWF and all the wrestlers and people that worked for them. The company was in a very precarious financiaal and ratings poition at the time, and such an event could have truly been the death of the company (in the longrun). Therefore bottom line vince had to do what was best for his business and for the people that he was accountable to (his employees). If Bret's ego couldn't accept that then Brets ego would have to deal with the consequences that flowed from his refusal to drop the belt. Also, lets remember that bottom line Vince was the promoter, and the way it is suppose to be is that the promoter calls the shots and decides who wins and who dosen't. Therefore, in essence Bret should have done what he was told. Bret was trying to exercise creative control, and if we can learn anything form WCW and its many istakes, its that when wrestlers succeed to exercise creative control then everything crumbles.

I think in a sense it was a lose lose situation, bret was screwed, but Vince had good reason to do what he did, and in the end it was the fans who truly lost out.I think what made matters worse was Owen's death. It only drew divisions between bret and vince further apart, and in a sense led to more animosity over the Montreal incident then was productive. If Owen had not tragically died I believe that Bret and the WWE would have settled their differences 4-5 years ago.

p.s sorry about the long rant.

Vince135792003

Vince and Shawn were in the right

I think you can have different interpretations of who was right and who was wrong but I think its good to have the most information you can about the subject.
From what I have read Bret was being totally reasonable and from Mick Foley's book would have dropped to anyone but Michaels (Austin, Foley, Vader etc) I think thats totally reasonable.

I think it would be unfair to compare him to others who had similar clauses in WCW who were anything but reasonable.

And where they in a precarious financial postion? I know they were n't in good shape. I can't find any histroy of their finances at that time, if anyone has it I'd appreciate a link to it. But it was n't a case of Vince saving all of Bret's money from his contract for a rainy day. He used it to bring in Mike Tyson and this was really at the point where WWE were turning the corner.

I promised myself I would n't get into this! But I'll repeat myself people should read whats out there. It's not the whole story but its alot of it.

J.R.HARTLEY

Vince135792003 wrote:

e and from Mick Foley's book would have dropped to anyone but Michaels (Austin, Foley, Vader etc) I think thats totally reasonable.

yes but foley also stated that wcw would try anything to sink mcmahon and vince would have looked a right tool if bret had appeared on nitro with the belt.
as foley say elsewhere in his book and i'm paraphrasing, ted turners pockets were never too deep when it came to hitting mcmahon where it hurt.
personally i don't think bret would have shown up on nitro with the belt, but vince couldn't take the risk.
there is no straight down the middle right and wrong in this case and anyone who argues there is is a fool. i felt really badly for bret but i can easily see vinces side.
Bret was hard done by, but imagine the state the wwf would have been in IF bret had done what vince feared.
you have to remember vince has an entire promotion to protect, bret only had one character to look out for, "The Hitman". plus bret was walking to a guaranteed nice payout, i believe it was something like 2 million a year for three years, he was hardly fired and left destitute.

Roar

Vince and Shawn were in the right

Vince135792003 wrote:

And where they in a precarious financial postion?

Its in the Wrestling with Shadows doc, when voince calls bret and tells him he cant afford their agreed contract, and tells him to ask WCW for their deal..

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

J.R.HARTLEY wrote:

yes but foley also stated that wcw would try anything to sink mcmahon and vince would have looked a right tool if bret had appeared on nitro with the belt.

I doubt he would have done that. Bret would have been worried about his legacy and how Vince would have treated him. In the Wrestling with Shadows doc, you see Bret quite upset at the D-X parody of him. Things would have been ten times worse if Bret had shown up in WCW with the belt. Also, his brother Owen was still in the WWE so it would have been highly unlikely that he would do something like that to the WWE when his brother would have been still in the company and left at the mercy of Vince.

J.R.HARTLEY wrote:

Bret was hard done by, but imagine the state the wwf would have been in IF bret had done what vince feared.
you have to remember vince has an entire promotion to protect, bret only had one character to look out for, "The Hitman". plus bret was walking to a guaranteed nice payout, i believe it was something like 2 million a year for three years, he was hardly fired and left destitute.

You seem to overlook the fact that Vince WANTED Bret to take WCW's offer and that Bret wasn't originally interested in it.

Charlie

Vince135792003 wrote:

I think it would be unfair to compare him to others who had similar clauses in WCW who were anything but reasonable.

And where they in a precarious financial postion?

It has been stated on numerous occassions by vince and many of the wrestlers that between 96-97 the company was close if not very close to going under.

Also on the point about Bret dropping the belt to anyone else but Shawn, I find that a weak argument. Dropping the belt to Shawn was the best business for the WWF at the time, as shawn was arguably their biggest star in the company at the time. Bret was refusing to do what was best for the WWF because of personal animosity. In many professions and sports people have to job to someone they dont want to, but they do it because thats what they have been told to do. Could you imgine a footballer refusing to be substituted because he didnt want to give his place to a player he dislikes, but argues that he will substitute himself for any other player. It just wouldn't fly.

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

charlie mchugh wrote:

If Bret had of apperared on nitro as WWF champ it could have truly burried the WWF and all the wrestlers and people that worked for them.

One of those WWF wrestlers was Bret's own brother!

charlie mchugh wrote:

Therefore bottom line vince had to do what was best for his business and for the people that he was accountable to (his employees).

You make out that Vince was some great businessman by doing this. Bret had missed something like two shows in his years with the company and you think screwing him is doing what's best for the employees? Taker was an employee and demanded Vince apologise to Bret. Foley went on strike. Alot of Bret's friends quit the company. Tell me again how this was good for the employees? Tell us how the Kliq wielding power was good for employees?

charlie mchugh wrote:

If Bret's ego couldn't accept that then Brets ego would have to deal with the consequences that flowed from his refusal to drop the belt.

Bret's ego? He was aksed to drop the title in his own country were he was a national hero to a guy who refused to do the same for him and you think it was down to ego?

charlie mchugh wrote:

Bret was trying to exercise creative control, and if we can learn anything form WCW and its many istakes, its that when wrestlers succeed to exercise creative control then everything crumbles.

Sorry but you'll find that WWE wrestlers today have creative control too. Hogan has some, Austin has some, Foley reportedly has some, I imagine Taker does, and Triple H, well he sits in on creative meetings!

Vince had no good reason to do what he did.

Charlie

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

One of those WWF wrestlers was Bret's own brother!



You make out that Vince was some great businessman by doing this. Bret had missed something like two shows in his years with the company and you think screwing him is doing what's best for the employees? Taker was an employee and demanded Vince apologise to Bret. Foley went on strike. Alot of Bret's friends quit the company. Tell me again how this was good for the employees? Tell us how the Kliq wielding power was good for employees?



Bret's ego? He was aksed to drop the title in his own country were he was a national hero to a guy who refused to do the same for him and you think it was down to ego?



Sorry but you'll find that WWE wrestlers today have creative control too. Hogan has some, Austin has some, Foley reportedly has some, I imagine Taker does, and Triple H, well he sits in on creative meetings!

Vince had no good reason to do what he did.

WWE wrestlers dont have creative control written into their contracts anyomre like wrestlers used to have in the past.

Yeah he was asked to drop the title in the country where he was a national hero, but he was asked by the man who paid his checks and ran the show, bottom line he should have done what was asked of him even if he wasn't happy with it.

How was Vince not to know that owen wasn't going to jump ship aswel. In fact in the documentary Bret states that Bischoff had originally agreed to sign Owen aswel. Im not denying that Bret wasn't screwed but I just cannot accept that he had no part to play in bringing it about himself by refusing to do what he had been asked to do. Turner had very deep pockets, and Bischoff has stated that he loved playing dirty and wanted to be the man who killed the WWf. It was therefore very concievable that Bischoff could have used Turners money to make it worth Bret's while to Bring the belt over to Nitro.

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

charlie mchugh wrote:

WWE wrestlers dont have creative control written into their contracts anyomre like wrestlers used to have in the past.

Um, they do actually. Hogan does, Foley reportedly does and I imagine alot of the other big names do.

charlie mchugh wrote:

Yeah he was asked to drop the title in the country where he was a national hero, but he was asked by the man who paid his checks and ran the show, bottom line he should have done what was asked of him even if he wasn't happy with it.

But Shawn didn't so why should Bret? And reportedly, at WM14, Shawn didn't want to drop the belt to Austin but he did so when Taker promised to beat the snot out of him if he didn't.

charlie mchugh wrote:

How was Vince not to know that owen wasn't going to jump ship aswel.

Uh, the whole reason Owen didn't was because he was under contract and he would have been sued.

charlie mchugh wrote:

Im not denying that Bret wasn't screwed but I just cannot accept that he had no part to play in bringing it about himself by refusing to do what he had been asked to do.

Do you not believe that people should have principles and that they should stand up for them when the time is required?

charlie mchugh wrote:

Turner had very deep pockets, and Bischoff has stated that he loved playing dirty and wanted to be the man who killed the WWf. It was therefore very concievable that Bischoff could have used Turners money to make it worth Bret's while to Bring the belt over to Nitro.

You think that's conceivable when Bret originally had TURNED DOWN the option of going to WCW and when Bret's brother Owen would have been there?

dinjo

your poll says "vince and shawn", but at the end of the day, it was all down to vince. He was looking after his company. He is the boss and if you dont do what the boss wants, in any job, your gonna get in trouble. it was vince's decision and i think he lad to lay down the law. Bret thought he was bigger than anybody and vince put him in his place.....

Charlie

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Um, they do actually. Hogan does, Foley reportedly does and I imagine alot of the other big names do.



But Shawn didn't so why should Bret? And reportedly, at WM14, Shawn didn't want to drop the belt to Austin but he did so when Taker promised to beat the snot out of him if he didn't.

Your wrong. after the montrel incident and wcw, vince made it a principal that a wrestler cannot have a creative control clause written into their contratc. As Hogan isn't contracted to the WWE he may only do the appearences he does on certain conditions, but wrestlers as it stands do not have creative contol written into their contracts.

Yeah Shawn was being an asshole, but just because shawn was acting in a certain manner didnt mean Bret had to do the same. If vince wanted to deal with Shawn he could have, but that was Vince's perogitive not Bret's.

And yes I still think it was a possibility, at least in Vince's mind, that Turner could tempt Bret with enough money to bring the strap over to Nitro. Turner had used his money against vince enough times before, and you'd be supised how peoples attitude change when money is put in front of them.

Also lets not forget the golden rule in wrestling, dont trust anybody.

Vince135792003

Vince and Shawn were in the right

By asking was the WWE in a financially bad way I'm not for a second suggesting they were n't in trouble. They were but unless we have the precise figures you can't really interpret how bad things were. My point was that Vince said he needed to get out of the deal with Bret because he was in "financial peril" according to Bret in the Wrestling with Shadows documentary.

Bret Hats wife at the time did n't believe that and I dont beleive it either. 1 month later he reached an agreement, a multi million agreement funded by Vince renaging on his 20 year contract with Bret, to get Tyson.

But look you could be here forever debating this shooting down other peoples arguments. A large bulk of the information is out there with the documentary, the observer and with other peoples take on it.

And from reading about it, I could not tick a box saying Shawn Michales was right for doing what he did and lieing about thereafter.

I could not tick a box saying Mc Mahon was right for doing what he did to one of his most loyal, valuable and dependable employees for well over a decade.

Its all about business. Vince did what he thought was right for business. Like what he's doing with the Eddie angle? Like what he did to JR making a skit out of him having cancer? Like what he did to Bret?

What a ****ing business.

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince and Shawn were in the right

charlie mchugh wrote:

Your wrong. after the montrel incident and wcw, vince made it a principal that a wrestler cannot have a creative control clause written into their contratc. As Hogan isn't contracted to the WWE he may only do the appearences he does on certain conditions, but wrestlers as it stands do not have creative contol written into their contracts.

Sorry but YOU ARE WRONG and the proof is right here on PWInsider.

In your 1/25 column you stated that, "Hogan has creative control over any angle he does and wants to win." Is this in a contract Hogan has? If so, I thought WWE refused to give any talent "creative control" after the Bret Hart fiasco. Or is it just a matter of him not being willing to work unless he gets to win. Do you think Hogan refusing to jab to younger, more talented superstars, give his age and semi-retirement should be allowed?

My understanding is that Hogan's deal with WWE is that he does have say of how he will be used. WWE doesn't give it to active (non-family) wrestlers, but makes an exception with legends. I have heard that Mick Foley has a similar clause in his new contract. Frankly, much like I said above, I have no problem with Hogan setting his own course at this point in his career. He has earned that right.

Care to admit you were wrong?

charlie mchugh wrote:

Yeah Shawn was being an asshole, but just because shawn was acting in a certain manner didnt mean Bret had to do the same. If vince wanted to deal with Shawn he could have, but that was Vince's perogitive not Bret's.

When it's in Bret's own country it IS his prerogative. He had been a respectful employee, unlike Shawn who you admit was being an asshole, and so only an idiot would agree to lie down to such a man when he was in his own country where he was idolised.

charlie mchugh wrote:

And yes I still think it was a possibility, at least in Vince's mind, that Turner could tempt Bret with enough money to bring the strap over to Nitro. Turner had used his money against vince enough times before, and you'd be supised how peoples attitude change when money is put in front of them.

I don't think any amount of money in the world would have convinced Bret to leave Owen's career at the mercy of McMahon.

Vince had been the one who urged Bret to call up Bischoff. This is a significant point which you will not acknolwedge.

J.R.HARTLEY

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

I doubt he would have done that. Bret would have been worried about his legacy and how Vince would have treated him. In the Wrestling with Shadows doc, you see Bret quite upset at the D-X parody of him. Things would have been ten times worse if Bret had shown up in WCW with the belt. Also, his brother Owen was still in the WWE so it would have been highly unlikely that he would do something like that to the WWE when his brother would have been still in the company and left at the mercy of Vince.



You seem to overlook the fact that Vince WANTED Bret to take WCW's offer and that Bret wasn't originally interested in it.

i already stated in my post that i don't believe bret would have done it, you must have missed that bit, i simply stated that vince couldn't take the chance, and even foley acknowledged that.i still believe bret wouldn't have done it.
as i saw it vince offered bret the chance to leave as he couldn't afford it, it was a business decision. but that doesn't mean he wants bret to walk straight accross to nitro, vince still needs a quality product to sell and is losing a key component, so he obviously saw the need to devalue that component before it was lost to him, i.e. take the belt from him, the other factor is bret wanted to leave on raw the next night, problem with that is that without intending it or even mentioning it, it would inadvertently be an advert for WCW, i stated already i think bret was har done by but i understand what vince was thinking,not what he did. as for michaels i see it as maybe an oppertunity into vinces good books afte the clique incident of 96.
end of the day there's no good guy and bad guy in this story, it's not black and white.

Vince135792003

Vince and Shawn were in the right

I agree its not black and white issue. But a large bulk of the information is out there and my interpretation of it is that Bret was largely in the right and Vince was in the wrong.
But theres information out there, I'll give the link again http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/wwf/wwemontreal.htm. The belt issue is way to complexed an issue to say Vince was afraid would walk with the belt. Bret offered to drop the belt before Montreal and even after Montreal at the next ppv. The information is out there, I want to force everyone to read it ! lol

Roar

Vince and Shawn were in the right

also stuff on it here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Screwjob

read the article from meltzer before, it's a cracking read...

J.R.HARTLEY

Vince135792003 wrote:

my interpretation of it

which is why we all keep disagreeing i think, we all just have different interpretations:D

Vince135792003 wrote:

Bret was largely in the right and Vince was in the wrong.

thats pretty much on the money for me, not any one persons truley to blame, some more than others, but noone was a saint.;)

as for the belt issue my brother made a very interesting point to me earlier about bret turning up on wcw with the belt, the champs are given replica belts to hold onto. so bret didn't need the actual wwf belt to show up on nitro with "the wwf belt" so vince didn't really need to worry about getting it back, ok this is awkwardly put but basically if bret was going to dump the wwf belt on wcw television, he could have easily used one of his replica belts that he had from his previous runs whether vince took back the current belt or not.

what that article did show me though was the reason vince thought bret might turn up with the belt, and it's nothing to do with bret.
in one line it says....

McMahon tried to say that in 14 years this was the first time he'd ever lied to him and Hart rattled off 15 lies over the last year alone without even thinking about it. Those in the dressing room watching were stunned listening to Hart rattle those off and McMahon not offering a comeback

Mcmahon had obviously been dishonest to bret and being a dishonest person, he obviously assumed everyone(bret included) was as dishonest as he was.
like i said before i don't believe bret would have done it.but i can see how mcmahons warped mind was working.

Terry

as for the belt issue my brother made a very interesting point to me earlier about bret turning up on wcw with the belt, the champs are given replica belts to hold onto. so bret didn't need the actual wwf belt to show up on nitro with "the wwf belt" so vince didn't really need to worry about getting it back, ok this is awkwardly put but basically if bret was going to dump the wwf belt on wcw television, he could have easily used one of his replica belts that he had from his previous runs whether vince took back the current belt or not.

he could have brought one of the replica belts, but it wouldn't have held much sway if he wasn't the actual champion at the time.

J.R.HARTLEY

but what he was saying was, if bret retained the belt and then walked off, he wouldn't even have needed the belt to do the stunt, and who could say if it was the wwe belt or not, it would be his word against vinces ( as vince couldn't retort til next week, by which time if bret had binned the belt, vince could easily have gotten a new one) it's a complicated thougth but it just goes to show how complicated vinces dishonesty made the entire situation

theAwakening

Having seen Wrestling with Shadows, read Shawn's recent biography, and meltzer's article its is as people have been pointing out, not as much of a 'black and white' situation as it has been made out to be year after after.
Given the relationship between Bret & Shawn, you can see why neither want to give an inch to each other. Bret did believe that Shawn exaggerated his injury in 1997 so that he would have to drop the title to him. Shawn was adament in his book that this is false and the injury was initially diagnosed as a career ending one, as Shawn had been wrestling without an ACL in his knee for quite some time.

Understandably bret did not want to lose in his hometown, but at the end of the when you're getting 1.5million a year, you realise that maybe you should do what the boss says and business is business, even though bret had "reasonable creative control" for his last 30days.

In Shawn's book he outlines exactly how Vince went about organising the 'screwjob' on the day Survivor Series was to air. Its extremely interesting. He told Shawn & HHH in a meeting during the afternoon, refused to tell Pat Patterson as he knew Pat would oppose. Earl Hebner was told by Shawn in the locker room minutes before the PPV began.

One cannot BUT sympathise with Bret seeing his documentary. It was sad to see such a dedicated & loyal man finish his career in such a sour way. I don't believe bret would have showed up on Nitro with the WWF belt, had he beaten Shawn, but from a business standpoint it couldnt be risked as it would without question have been yet another nail in the WWF coffin for Vince.