Two of wrestling’s greatest legends have seemingly mended fences.
The Montreal Screwjob will forever remain one of wrestling’s most infamous moments, as Vince McMahon ensuring that Bret Hart did not leave WWE Survivor Series 1997 with the WWE Championship, asking for legendary referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell as Shawn Michaels had Hart in a sharpshooter.
Speaking to Steve Fall of WrestlingNews.co, Hebner was asked if he thought there was any chance that something could go wrong before the match.
“Not really. Truthfully, I thought everything had been worked out and settled and was okay. Time to go to the ring,”
-Earl Hebner
Hart then went on to leave WWE for WCW, and the Montreal Screwjob would continue to be referenced for years. Michaels and Hebner would frequently be subjected to “You screwed Bret!” chants in Canada, although HBK, Hart, and McMahon would later make up in 2004.
Hebner’s reconciliation with Hart would come far later, however, as the legendary referee revealed that the pair made up following the passing of his brother Dave Hebner in 2022.
“I have a merch shirt that says ‘Damn right I did.’ And a lot of people want me to say, Can you write on it ‘I screwed Bret?’ I go, ‘No. I can’t do that.’ A while back, maybe three or four years ago, I would do it but Bret and I made up. And before my brother passed, we were at a house show, or indie show and he was there and he called us into the ring and he put us over like big time. So now Bret calls me now and then and I’ll call him and we got a good relationship back and I’m not gonna screw it up by writing something over a dumb ass shirt. It’s gonna destroy our friendship.”
-Earl Hebner
Hebner was then asked if he was worried about bumping into Bret prior to reconnecting with him, to which the 74-year-old revealed that that cloud hanging over him had bothered him for years.
“For a long time it honestly it bothered me. It was bad for me, you know, cuz I carried it with me for a lot of years. We met one time an airport, and I wanted to talk to him and he said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ … I said, ‘can I talk to you for a minute?” He goes, ‘I don’t want to talk.’ I said okay, so I let it go and that was it. And as time went on, you know, it finally worked out well. We got to see each other [and] communicate…”
-Earl Hebner
Earl Hebner’s new book titled “Earl Hebner: The Official Story.” is available to pre-order here, with shipping set for late December.
