The Wrestling Observer recently revealed some
 fascinating information on the events leading up to Bret
 Hart's signing with WCW during a phenomenal 8-page
 article. For information on subscribing to the Observer,
 the authority in pro wrestling newsletters since 1983, go
 to www.Powerbomb.com

According to the Observer, on September 8 of this year,
Vince McMahon told Hart that the WWF is in some
trouble financially and requested Bret's permission to
defer approximately half of Hart's annual salary (of around
$1.5 million per year) to later in his contract. Hart
declined, as he apparently was suspicious that he would
never be payed the amount he was owed in this case.

Before the Raw in Madison Square Garden, McMahon
told Hart that the company needed to breach his contract
and that he should go to WCW and get the best offer
possible out of them, which was made possible by the
escape clause in Bret's contract. Earlier in the day, Shawn
Michaels had claimed that he would not do a job to
anybody in the "territory". Vince wanted the two to meet
at the Survivor Series with Undertaker interfering to cause
a non-finish. Hart would then lose a title match to the
Undertaker at the December In Your House. Hart said he
would be happy to put Michaels over at the end of their
run, but Michaels still refused to ever job to Bret.

A month later, on October 21,Vince suggested a scenario
that would see Bret lose the title to Michaels at the
Survivor Series, only to win it back at the December In
Your House. Hart felt that Michaels, despite claiming to
have changed his mind and saying that he would do the
job, would not really do the job once the time came.

A few days later, Vince told Bret that the WWF was
better off financially and that he would be able to stay
after all. Bret was still reluctant to do a job to Michaels,
and a few days later, Eric Bischoff called and made a
huge offer to Hart, who could not give a straight answer at
that point. Just before the opportunity to use his out clause
was about to expire, Bret called Vince, and after
McMahon gave him the same offer that he had on the
21st, Bret asked him to extend the "window" period in his
deal, only to be called by Bischoff with a huge offer an
hour later. Hart called Vince, who once again changed his
mind and urged Bret to accept the WCW deal by
proposing several storylines that would obviously get Hart
to jump. At this point, Hart decided to sign the WCW
deal.

Later, Vince demanded that Bret drop the title in
Montreal. Bret said that he didn't want to drop the title at
the Survivor Series but would drop it to anybody later on.
The two finally agreed to do a DQ finish, with Bret
dropping the belt in a Final Four match at In Your House.
He would then go out on Raw the next night, turn
babyface, and bid farewell to the WWF. Vince would
change his mind again later on, saying he wanted Bret to
win in Montreal, then lose to Michaels at IYH with a
screwjob. Michaels was apparently against the idea, so
the finish was reverted back to a DQ ending. 

On November 8, Vince had a meeting with Shawn
Michaels, where he concocted the double-cross finish.
Hart got Earl Hebner, one of his closest friends in the
world, to be the referee for the match so that nothing
funny happened. The day of the show, Vince and Bret
came up with the idea of having the match end in a DQ
with Bret walking out on Raw the next night and handing
over the title. 

After the double-cross occured, as we reported,
Michaels denied that he knew of the finish, although in
reality he did, and claimed to not know of it so that he
would not suffer the same fate that Vince eventually did.
Bret eventually was confronted by Vince, who
apologized, saying that letting Bret leave with the title
would be a huge embarassment for the WWF. After Bret
called McMahon a liar, Vince said this was the only time
he had ever lied to Hart. However, Hart was able to
come up with 15 lies right on the spot.

Vince refused to leave the room, and after Bret got
dressed, their infamous fight took place. Hart landed the
punch, as reported, possibly breaking Vince's jaw. Vince
was not knocked unconscious, as we had heard. Shane
McMahon apparently jumped on Bret's back before
being pulled off by the British Bulldog, and was never hit
by Hart. 

In the locker room, Hart came off as the hero, with 95%
of the WWF's wrestlers threatening to boycott the
company. Hart told them not to, but Owen, Bulldog,
Neidhart, and Foley were so upset that they boycotted
anyway.

Reader reaction continues to be negative toward Vince
and the WWF for the most part, with many people saying
that they will never watch the WWF again. Others
claimed that Vince showed his "true colors", remembering
the 80s, when McMahon was looked upon as the
industry's biggest villain. Hart's contract with WCW goes
into effect on December 8. {credit:The Ring Chronicle}