Bret Hart's 1997 departure from WWE remains one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history. Jim Ross, an announcer at the time, recently recalled how the company nixed an idea to make a DVD about the legendary wrestler.
At Survivor Series 1997, WCW-bound Hart refused to lose the WWE Championship to Shawn Michaels in his home country of Canada. As a result, former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon booked Michaels to win the match without informing The Hitman. The incident later became known as The Montreal Screwjob.
On his Grilling JR podcast, Ross addressed reports that Hart declined the chance to appear in a 2005 DVD about Survivor Series 1997. He also agreed with host Conrad Thompson that the Canadian would have struggled to make amends with WWE if the DVD made him look bad.
"I agree with that," Ross said. "It was not a good idea, in my opinion. I wanted nothing to do with it. Enough is enough. How much do we just keep beating the same horse over and over and over again? I don't blame Bret. Move on, or give me a different concept that I can live with, and that was not the case." [54:58 – 55:26]
Shane McMahon was allegedly the mastermind behind the DVD, which had a working title of Screwed: The Bret Hart Story.
In 2006, Bret Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame after mending his strained relationship with Vince McMahon. The company also released a positive DVD about The Hitman.
While the original DVD idea would have appealed to many fans, Jim Ross is glad WWE focused on Hart's illustrious career instead:
"I mean, the title itself I thought was crass, and Bret didn't deserve all that stuff, I didn't think. He was just such a solid citizen and we were trying to go against the grain on that deal. It just didn't work for me, anyway. Maybe a younger audience might have liked it better. I don't know. I certainly did not like it." [55:27 – 55:59]
Hart is widely viewed as one of WWE's all-time greats. In 2019, he received another Hall of Fame induction as a Hart Foundation member.
Please credit Grilling JR and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.