Cody Rhodes has added a new layer of intrigue to one of the most infamous incidents in wrestling history, revealing that he has a conspiracy theory that the Montreal Screwjob may have been a work.
The Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997, which saw Vince McMahon conspire with Shawn Michaels to take the WWE Championship from Bret Hart, has long been accepted as a legitimate, unscripted event. However, while speaking on The Ringer, Rhodes explained that the unprecedented presence of a documentary crew backstage at a WWE event makes him question the official story.
“Whenever I tell somebody high level confidential stuff, I use Chris, who’s in the corner, has probably heard me say this. I say Bret-Shawn level. I have never heard from either that it wasn’t as real as it possibly could get, and maybe it was. It certainly ended up being real, no doubt, however, I have questions. There was a documentary crew backstage at a company that never, ever allows anything like that. There’s mics in the room.”
Rhodes, who grew up in the business as the son of Dusty Rhodes, explained his belief in the “work within the work,” suggesting that making something appear real on a show that is otherwise scripted is the ultimate form of performance. He even suggested that Vince McMahon getting punched by Bret Hart could have been a necessary part of the deception if it was planned.
“My position, to me, is always the work within the work. And Sean, Sean Michaels was my favorite wrestler growing up… then you get to him and Hogan, when they wrestled SummerSlam, and they’re like, ‘Oh, you can tell he’s mad at Hogan’… But is he or is this just seemed like the one real thing on the show where you knew everything else was fictional… We’re talking about, you saw Rhea and Bianca talking about, there’s no way to pull that. It’s coming. It’s coming… If the whole thing was a work from beginning, and yeah, then part of it is he has to hit him.”
The aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob had massive, real-world consequences, including Bret Hart’s departure for WCW and the birth of the villainous “Mr. McMahon” character, which became a cornerstone of the Attitude Era. Despite being dissected for nearly 30 years, Cody Rhodes’ theory adds a fresh perspective on the controversy from one of today’s top stars.