A lot of INSANITY goes on backstage in the wrestling world. From backstabbing, to wrestlers refusing to do “what is right” for business, to acts of adultery, all the way to wrestlers ”POOPING” in gym bags. Now while people like Wade Keller, Dave Meltzer and Dave Scherer try to bring us all the news and backstage happenings that go on, sometimes they don’t always get the full scoop. Sometimes, to protect certain wrestlers for acts of wrong doings, they decide not to spill the dirt because some of it reaches out beyond the wrestling world. For example, some backstage shenanigans can affect those not in the business of professional wrestling, meaning innocent family members. Luckily for you, we at GumGod.com have no morals. Who cares if Little Timmy finds out that his dad is sleeping with a WWE Diva? Who gives a damn if “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” is exposed due to the fact that one of their celebrity spokesmen enjoys leaving steaming piles of crap in gym bags? WE SURE DON’T~!~!~! So in the next few paragraphs, find out some of the unknown ”dirt” that I guarantee you have never heard.

(DEREK BURGAN NOTE:  Folks, as the editor of GumGod, please know that Matt Aponte has no factual information to prove that any of the below is true. It probably is, but then again, we can’t prove it. So take it, along with anything else Matt ever tells you, with a grain pound of salt.)

Let’s bring it back to WWE (then WWF) 2000. The top draw during the attitude era was a redneck who was RED HOT by the name of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

Austin was at the peak of his in ring career. He easily surpassed Hulk Hogan as the top merchandise selling wrestler in history. He was on top of the world when it came to appearances as his popularity gave him a guest spot on CBS’s Nash Bridges TV show. He was the single highest draw during the Monday Night era and quite possibly the best all around performer in that time frame. Yet somewhere in all of this, he ”suffered” a ”major” neck injury. Or did he……..

After digging through my most reliable sources and leaving no stone unturned, I found out that Steve Austin never had neck surgery. Instead, Austin was asked to stay home due to a special investigation not unlike another World class athlete we all know that “retired” at the top of his game. Turns out that World Wrestling Federation Head Honcho, Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon was involved in a multi million dollar lawsuit. See, Steve Williams, the man who played the “Stone Cold” character was using the Steve Austin name fraudulently for many years. The Steve Austin name was actually owned by this man.

He sued the then World Wrestling Federation, successfully I might add, and then negotiated a settlement for them to use the name. Instead of changing Austin’s name during the top secret court proceedings, Vince McMahon decided to write him out of the WWE by concocting a neck injury story. Truth is, Austin was just fine physically. Mentally is another issue since he decided to embark in a relationship with Debra McMichael but that is another story for another column. So Austin was paid to stay home, hunt, drink beer and get out of shape. Fact is, Austin is still milking the neck injury to his benefit today.

Another secret pact caused one of, if not thee, most memorable story in wrestling history. I am sure all of you have heard of it. It is well documented. But today, I bring you the REAL story of……

THE MONTREAL SCREW JOB

I am sure you all know the story and you can click on the link above to get it, but the gist is that it involved Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon.

Bret Screwed Bret?

Bret Screwed Bret?

Bret Screwed Bret?

I think not. It turns out that after some fact finding, spending some of the Derek Burgan GumGod.com expense account to pay off sources (and also pay for my travel, expenses, strip club visits and lodging), I now present to you all the stuff you didn’t hear involving ”The Montreal Screw job”

First, you have to consider the sources of any information you have heard on the incident in the past 8 and a half years. Every bit of information on the story, every interview that has been conducted, every word spoken on the incident has come from the following people:

Vince McMahon

Bret Hart

Shawn Michaels

How come we haven’t had a sit down interview with Earl Hebner? Tell me, from everything that you have ever heard about Vince McMahon, do you think for one second that he would have allowed a camera crew not owned by his company to be backstage after the incident if it was a shoot? Contract or no contract, McMahon would have rather been sued then allow someone else to air HIS FOOTAGE. Another interested issue is the fact that you heard about the punch that Bret knocked out McMahon with. Who were the witnesses to punch? Let’s review, Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, Vince’s loyal confidant Pat Patterson, Bret’s brother in law Davey Boy Smith and Shane McMahon who happens to be Vince’s son. No independent, impartial, non-WWE employee in sight.

Now before I continue bombarding you with information, you are probably asking yourself, Why Matt? Why? Why would Vince McMahon and Bret Hart conspire in such an elaborate work? I’ll tell you why. It was beneficial to both of them at the time. By painting Vince McMahon in such an ugly light, it forced him to be officially established as the owner of World Wrestling Entertainment and was the cornerstone that the “Mr. McMahon” character was built on. With that Mr. McMahon character, the perfect foil was created for the anti-authority budding superstar “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The Austin vs. McMahon feud carried the WWE to their eventual victory in the wrestling war. How did Bret Hart benefit from this? Well he didn’t. But he was supposed to. Bret Hart, with the Montreal Incident, should have become the hottest commodity in wrestling. He should have been elevated into a feud with the New World Order. He should have dethroned Hogan for the title. Instead, he was just another victim of the politics that killed WCW.

Now you are probably asking yourself why Vince McMahon would want to help the competition. He didn’t. He wanted to help his lifelong friend Bret Hart. He wanted to give him a chance to leave the company and since he was willing to sacrifice tons of money to do so, he might as well help Bret keep his heat so he could get over in WCW. It was supposed to be a win, win situation. A handful of people knew. A handful of people who were all loyal to McMahon and could keep it a secret. It was supposed to all end up happily ever after. Bret would become successful in WCW and eventually return home to the WWE. Vince turns heel, gets his company tons of wrestling press and helps bring WWE out of the rut they have been in. Controversy = Ratings. But that end didn’t come for Bret. His brother died on McMahon’s watch, his career died in WCW instead of taking off like it should have and it strained their relationship. Bret was forced into premature retirement and has not been back to WWE. A sad story but a true story. No one screwed Bret because it was all a work.

GumGod Icon Matt Aponte is the franchise of GumGod.com. His columns are the reason you even visit this site. Derek Burgan was quoted telling his girlfriend just last week that when he was a son, he wants him to grow up to be half the man that I am. Matt also moonlights as a professional wrestler/manager in the NY/NJ indy scene. If you have any questions, corrections, feedback, comments and ideas, he can be reached at infamous_aym@hotmail.com.

Copyright © 2005 Derek Burgan. All rights reserved.