[5] This shift led to McMahon featuring as a villainous on-screen character on WWF television broadcasts, and has been used as a theme in matches and storylines across the wrestling industry.

Between his third and fourth reigns, Hart took a seven-month leave of absence from the company after WrestleMania XII, during which he considered contract offers from both the WWF and its rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Michaels also pointed out that he had lost cleanly to Hart several times in the past, most notably in the WWF's first ever ladder match at a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, 1992, which would subsequently be made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases,[13] and in the main event of the 1992 Survivor Series.

At this time, McMahon reviewed the WWF's plans for the future, and saw the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and D-Generation X (DX) leading what was to become "The Attitude Era".

At the time, Hart felt as though his career had been sabotaged by changes to his character, which had been retooled as an anti-America Canadian nationalist; as a result, he drew significant ire from American audiences, but remained a hero in his native Canada, as well as throughout Europe.

Convinced that McMahon's future plans did not include him, Hart resigned from the WWF and signed an agreement with WCW, which had just offered him a large $3 million per annum contract on November 1, 1997.

[9] Hart's imminent move to WCW created a tense situation, as he had won the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1997 from The Undertaker, which had featured Michaels as a special guest referee.

Hart, however, refused to give up the title to a member of The Kliq (a group that included Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Sean Waltman that had previously held enormous backstage influence), apparently standing up for the rest of the locker room.

[9][23] On November 8, 1997, one day before Survivor Series, McMahon met with Pat Patterson and Michaels in a hotel room in Montreal and planned the screwjob.

While both men had been cordial with each other backstage, WWF officials ordered the deployment of a large number of company agents around the ring as a precaution if Hart decided to attack Michaels or McMahon in reaction to the double-cross.

[28] The palpable anger of the fans was converted into raucous cheering as Hart entered the ring carrying the Canadian flag and wearing the championship belt.

Pat Patterson reacted in a similar way, and Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, who were waiting for their cues to run in, remained backstage in a state of confusion.

"[30] After an initial moment of shock, Hart got to his feet, approached the apron where McMahon was standing and spat directly in his face, while Michaels feigned confusion.

[31] Fans in attendance also began to vent their fury on McMahon and WWF officials; a few even heaped garbage on them and some who were close enough pushed Michaels as he hurried backstage.

[9] While much of the live Montreal audience immediately understood what had happened and responded angrily, television viewers had been left largely confused as Jim Ross promptly wrapped up the event on commentary and Survivor Series went off the air four minutes ahead of schedule with the parting image of Michaels holding the belt aloft as he disappeared backstage.

[9] Observers of professional wrestling speculated whether the entire episode would result in WCW becoming the dominant promotion in Canada, where a large majority of fans had remained loyal to WWF, especially as the Hart family was working with the company.

[37] While Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and Owen Hart had flown out of Montreal with Bret, McMahon faced a major revolt in the WWF locker room.

By refusing to drop the title in Montreal, McMahon claimed Hart was jeopardizing the company's future by creating a potentially embarrassing situation that could affect its fortunes.

[9] In protest, Mick Foley did not attend the next night's Raw show, but returned to work after that due to a phone call from Jim Cornette, as well as his contract stipulations.

[42][43] At the next night's Raw in Ottawa, Michaels appeared carrying the WWF title belt and performing a segment where he boasted before the audience of how he beat Hart with his own trademark move in his own country.

The Rock was declared the winner by submission and the new WWF Champion, fully re-enacting the Hart double-cross, this time with a switch between the respective face and heel characters.

Several accounts claim that McMahon had originally proposed that Hart drop the title at December's In Your House pay-per-view in Springfield, Massachusetts, or at January's Royal Rumble in San Jose, California.

[17] Hart would later return to WWE television on the June 11, 2007, edition of Raw, where he appeared in a taped promo spot mocking Mr. McMahon's "appreciation night.

In a November 17, 2008, radio interview, Hart mocked Michaels's version of the incident, saying, "Shawn's this Christian today; and in his book, he wrote that Vince took a dive and that I never even hit him and I thought, 'This guy is such a liar'.

[61] On December 16, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Hart had signed a four-month contract with WWE, and would debut as the guest host of Raw on January 4, 2010.

[66] Hart appeared on the September 10, 2012, episode of Raw at the Bell Centre in Montreal, marking his return for the first time to the same building where the Screwjob occurred, where he took part in an interview segment featuring John Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk.

He also briefly appeared during the 2013 Royal Rumble, giving a pep talk to Alberto Del Rio before his Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship with Big Show.

"[70] Adding to this confusion, Vince Russo states in his book Forgiven that it was he who proposed the match's ending to McMahon: "'Vince – we're making this way too difficult,' I said.

[84] Longtime pro wrestling journalist Bill Apter,[85] along with industry veterans Kevin Nash,[86] Scott Hall,[87] Bam Bam Bigelow,[88] Road Dogg,[89] George Steele,[90] Chris Kanyon,[91] Steve Corino,[92] Tony Mamaluke,[92] Justin Credible,[93] Paul Bearer,[94] and Sunny,[95] have gone on record saying they believe this to have been the case (Sunny reported that her former boyfriend, Chris Candido, also subscribed to this notion).

[95] Shawn Michaels recalled people backstage saying that the screwjob "had to be a work", and claimed that McMahon "took a dive" and "sold like he sells on TV" when struck by Hart following the incident.