The Top 10 Moments in WWE Survivor Series History

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1. The Montreal Screwjob: November 9, 1997

No single night in WWE history has as many questions and wide-ranging opinions than Survivor Series 1997’s main event.  It will live on in infamy forever and in one way or another, it helped shape the WWE’s future.

The main event of Survivor Series 1997 pitted WWE Champion Bret Hart against Shawn Michaels in a battle between not only on-screen rivals, but real-life rivals as well with many differing opinions.  Hart was set to leave for WCW following the event after Vince McMahon realized he couldn’t afford to keep Hart and gave him the push he needed to go to WCW.

But Hart’s personal disdain towards HBK and pride of his home country of Canada put the WWE between a rock and a hard place.  Hart refused to drop the title to Michaels at Survivor Series despite the WWE coming up with countless creative directions.  This led McMahon and his inner circle to devise a plan to get the belt off of Hart.

The WWE didn’t want to risk Hart leaving the company and bringing the championship belt onto WCW TV, so McMahon had referee Earl Hebner ring the bell when Michaels had Hart in the sharpshooter despite Hart never tapping out.  Michaels won the WWE Championship and the faces of every person inside the arena that night told the entire story.

Hart, realizing he was screwed, was incensed after the match.  He spat in the face of McMahon and after destroying several monitors around the ringside area, he went backstage where he punched McMahon in the face.  Hart went to WCW and didn’t step foot in a WWE arena again until 2010.

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The Montreal Screwjob is arguably the most infamous moment in sports entertainment history and despite it being a real-life situation that is viewed negatively by most, it is the most memorable moment in Survivor Series history.