At the 1997 Survivor Series, the infamous Montreal Screwjob took place. It wasn’t the first time a superstar supposedly got screwed out of their title, and it wasn’t even the first time a superstar got screwed by Vince McMahon. While fans of all of these superstars often times take the side of the performer or at least feel for him or her, there is another side to the story as well.
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While Vince McMahon seems like a power hungry control freak…that’s what he absolutely is. But he controlled his entire company, it’s his vision and the WWE’s (and his) destiny. So at some point, you have to understand that no matter how short-sighted we fans might think he is, we’ve also never controlled a billion dollar company before either.
10 Cody Rhodes
While right now, The American Nightmare is enjoying a mega level of superstardom, for a while, he was languishing the Stardust gimmick. Once Dusty had passed on, Cody had repeatedly asked to get out of the paint. The Chairman had said no repeatedly, pigeonholing Stardust into his cosmic wasteland. Instead of striking while the iron was hot, Vince decided that Cody wasn’t worth it.
9 Daniel Bryan
While it’s not quite the epic screwing that he gave everyone else on this list, not letting The American Dragon breath fire atop the WWE for a while did in fact cost Daniel Bryan and the fans. The entire storyline about how Bryan was seen as nothing more than a B-plus player wasn’t just kayfabe, it was the shoot the way Vince felt about the guy.
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When Vince feels a certain way about one of his employees it could take years to change that perception. Once he did, he was pretty much forced to give it all up and retire.
8 The Macho Man
Beginning in early 1993, when the WWE first launched Monday Night Raw, he enlisted the help of The Macho Man to do commentary. That meant relegating one of top performers of the prior decade to the commentary desk. Depending on which story you believe, this is not a position Randy Savage was ready for. But when Vince pegs you for a spot, you’re kind of stuck there. WWE was entering a “youth movement,” you know, one that involved bringing Hogan back (who was only a year younger than Savage). The move eventually saw Savage leave for WCW and once again reclaim his spot as world champion.
7 Kofi Kingston
It’s not the epic screwjob Vince McMahon would deliver over the years, but after catching the massive wave of KofiMania to see it all come crashing down in a Brock squash just felt disrespectful. Over the few years, several insiders have explained it that you’re not necessarily going to have a competitive contest between the two. While that does track, the loss (which took less time than their encounter at Beast In The East), also felt like iit invalidated Kofi’s history making run.
6 Dean Ambrose
In the completely strange and unusually department - it was clear that the WWE brass saw Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns as the two top men in The Shield. However, Dean Ambrose was the fans’ choice to be the next big breakout guy for the company.
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To make matters even worse for the brass, Ambrose flat out refused to be the kind of heel who make kayfabe lines about real life friend’s battle with cancer. He was given the germaphobe Bane gimmick for his supposed transgressions. The joke was on McMahon though as the ordeal was Moxley’s last straw and he decided to not renew his contract.
5 CM Punk
While Vince McMahon finally gave up the ghost and let CM Punk have fun with the WWE title, he seemingly was never quite sold on The Second City Saint as his top star. The only time he ever main evented a major PPV was if he was squaring off against John Cena. Things of course got even more contentious after Punk walked out on the company. Sure he quit the company in January, but Vince sent him the paperwork that fired him on his wedding day... in June.
4 The Dudley Boyz
For years Bubba Ray and Devon operated under the impression that Paul Heyman had secured them the rights to the Dudley Boyz name. They spent a little over five years in WWE as what they were always known from their days in ECW. But as it turned out, this entry is a two-for-one screwing. Heyman didn’t secure them a damn thing and on their way out the door WWE had let them know that they couldn’t use The Dudley Boyz name anymore - Vince bought the copyright.
3 Ricky The Dragon Steamboat
Is a screwjob when someone sort of screws with your plans first? After winning the now folklore-like Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania 3 against the Macho Man, shortly afterward, The Dragon wanted to take some time off to be with his family and newborn son. While that is a perfectly reasonable request in plenty of fields, there were huge plans for The Dragon and the title. So while Vince and WWE granted Ricky the time off, all of those “new horizons” Steamboat talked about prior to the match with Savage were never reached at all.
2 Wendi Richter
Whenever wrestling fans talk about Montreal and Survivor Series 1997, the conversations usually divert to “The Original Screwjob,” which certainly wasn’t the original screwjob to have ever happened in wrestling. But it is certainly in the running for one of the original WWE screwjobs.
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As far as the brass was concerned, Wendi Richter was getting too big for her britches and refused to sign a new contract. On November 25, 1985 at MSG, she defended the WWE Women’s Title against the masked Spider Lady. But whoever was supposed to be under the hood was replaced with The Fabulous Moolah who quickly snatched Wendi up for the very quick three count.
1 Bret Hart
Mulder and Scully couldn’t crack this case open. The long and short of it is that Bret Hart didn’t want to lose the WWE title to Shawn Michaels and was willing to leave it in the ring on the next night. Vince McMahon wanted Shawn to be crowned the new champion and decided the best thing to do for his company was to get the title off of Bret by any means necessary. Over the years, the stories surrounding the long and short of it are far more intriguing and exciting than the basic Vince McMahon screwed Bret Hart or even Bret screwed Bret narratives that are out there.
