If you’ve been part of the internet wrestling community for long enough, you know exactly what moment we are going to mention when it comes to what WWE decision ruined Bret Hart’s career; it’s the Montreal Screwjob. The night where Vince McMahon, Shawn McMahon, Earl Hebner, and various other people depending on who you ask screwed “The Hitman” out of the WWE Championship at Survivor Series 1997 because he didn’t want to lose the title before heading to WCW. It’s been talked about to death, which is why we wanted to look at the call to screw Bret from a different perspective, and how it inadvertently led to him being forced into retirement.

In a classic case of one flap of a butterfly’s wing changing the course of history, had Vince and WWE let “The Hitman” do things his way, which was reportedly beating Shawn at Survivor Series but dropping the WWE Championship to him before the end of the year, Hart would have likely gone to WCW in a much different way. His appearance at WCW Starrcade 1997 was showered with Montreal references, as was his entire WCW run, which sadly led him right to the boot of Bill Goldberg who became the metaphorical straw that broke the camels back and concussed Bret so badly he had to hang up his boots.

That concussion, as well as Bret’s career coming to an end and even the long-standing feud between Bret and Goldberg might not have actually happened had Hart’s exit from WWE been less dramatic. Things could have gone exactly as they were meant to in the grand scheme of things, but when you talk about wrestlers’ careers that were forever changed by a decision or decisions made by WWE, Bret Hart should be the poster child for that discussion.