It’s all over the internet this week. WWE Breaking Point reignited a rage that has lasted more than twelve years among professional wrestling fans. Whether it was the “You screwed Bret†chants that continue to plague Shawn Michaels or the controversial ending of the main event match, the people are angry.
I know that I say that I am all about the people and do my best to represent their views, however I must take a different perspective on the events of this week. The people who are complaining about the screwjob ending to Sunday night’s Pay Per View are wrong.
To begin this column I must first state my view on the original Montreal Screwjob. I believe that it may be the single greatest thing ever to happen to this business. Without the events of that fateful night in Montreal, the wrestling business would not be the same. I believe that this had to happen. Since then, we have not seen a champion refusing to drop the title to anyone on Pay Per View. Could you imagine what could have happened in Bret Hart would have been allowed to walk out of Montreal with the WWE Championship?
On top of that, it created the character of Mr. McMahon, which single-handedly revolutionized this business and led to the most profitable period that wrestling has ever seen.
Everytime this screwjob has been replayed, it has been entertaining. When The Rock placed Mankind in the sharpshooter at Survivor Series 1998, it was entertaining and created The Corporation, a great heel faction. When Vince screwed Hulk Hogan in Montreal at No Way Out 2003 it further the feud between Vince and Hulk while pushing The Rock further towards being the mega-heel that he was going into his match against “Stone Cold†Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIX. On the Saturday Night’s Main Event special before Wrestlemania 22 when Shawn Michaels was screwed, it was a great and ironic bit of television.
Now we come to the most recent point in screwjob history. Undertaker walked into Breaking Point for his first high profile match since his era-defining match against Shawn Michaels with the momentum of his big return. CM Punk went into Breaking Point with the momentum of his feud with Jeff Hardy propelling him on. CM Punk is the newest main event heel on the WWE scene. He needs faces to put him over. That being said, Undertaker does not tap out.
I covered this in my column two weeks ago. I said that Breaking Point would either be a night of all-face victory, or that it would have to end in shady means. The shadiest of means were used in Montreal in 1997. The WWE had the ending custom made from their own history.
Sadly this did take away what I believed would be a fantastic CM Punk vs Undertaker match. This match is still to come though, and when it does, it will be a phenomenal effort.
Until next time, keep enjoying wrestling and leave some comments.
