The Three Count by Jimmy Korderas

Author:Jimmy Korderas
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2013-11-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Montreal from My Vantage Point

Whenever I speak with wrestling fans, especially those who were fans back in the ’90s, one question almost always comes up: “Were you there for the Montreal Screwjob. Was it a work or was it real? What was the reaction like backstage?” There are many more questions but these are the ones most often asked. The Survivor Series 1997 in all likelihood spawned more debate and became the most infamous moment in professional wrestling or sports entertainment history. The events of that evening are still talked about. I can remember it as if it just happened. We all knew that Bret was leaving the company for the competition in a month or so. He and Shawn had well-documented disagreements in the past. These two even came to blows in the locker room one night in Hartford, Connecticut. So everyone was curious how things would play out on this night.

I guess people either don’t remember the entire match or just forgot that I was involved in the early part of the match. As Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart battled all over the arena in Montreal, we followed them everywhere. Our main duty was to keep the fans away from the boys as they fought all over the building. It was part of the match. So, to answer the question about being there that night, yes I was there. After our little part was done, we retreated back to the Gorilla Position and waited for the finish of the match. The finish as it was told to us by Pat Patterson was that the match would end with a non-finish. Members from both D-X and the Hart Foundation would get involved and the match would be thrown out. Pat would send us, the referees, to the ring at the right time to break up the brawl and restore order.

Watching the match unfold on the monitor, I was preparing myself for when we would be sent to the ring. Also at Gorilla were Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. They were also waiting for their cue to go to the ring. A funny thing happened on the way to the finish, though. Well, it was not funny but it was definitely unexpected.

Earl Hebner, who was the referee for the match, had just taken his planned ref bump. With the referee down and out, HBK applied Bret’s own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, on him. Here is where things got bizarre. I heard someone in my earpiece say, “Okay, Earl, get up. Get up now!” I looked over to the microphone that the producers use to communicate to the referees and the instructions were not coming from there. I can only speculate that whoever told Earl to get up was in the production truck or ringside. Either way, the call didn’t come from Gorilla that I saw. Earl then made his way to his feet and acted as if he was checking to see if Bret would submit to the Sharpshooter.

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