Could Bret Hart sue the WWF for...

[Hugh Mungus]

...the Montreal Screwjob (i.e., breach of contract), at the then-current timeframe (late 1997-2001)?

Hulk Hogan tried to sue WCW for the Bash at the Beach 2000 incident, but he lost.

Since, at the time, Bret was given "reasonable creative control" over his matches for the (I believe) last 30-31 days of his contract, and invoked that to try to get a DQ finish at the 1997 Survivor Series.

I'm also looking at the possible factor: any legal liability waivers.

[Big L]

He could try but he's over it now he's cool with vince again

[Twincest]

Damages in a breach of contract action are based on what it would cost to put the injured party in the position he would have been in had the contract been fully performed. Bret had a multi-million dollar contract in place with WCW regardless of what happened that night, and he even brought his "Vince screwed me" story into WCW. Thus, it would be very difficult to apportion damages, and damages are not awarded if they would be too remote or speculative.

Had Bret not already signed a deal with WCW, and had the incident been clearly detrimental to his bargaining power, such a case would be more compelling.

<- Currently in my final year of law school.

[Mr Captain Falcon]

I'd say no simply because in actuality, what did he have to lose? He was on his way out of the company and IT'S NOT REAL LIFE ANYWAY! Bret was given the opportunity to be displayed as the company's champion, which is not a real thing. I hate to put it this way but it's make believe. It's when you pretend that make believe is real that you start getting some problems. Vince told him to lose the belt and he said NO. When your boss says something, if you say no, that's insubordination. So technically, no bret can't sue.

[corndog]

I guess it might have held up with the creative control clause in his contract, but since most people regarded him as the victim in the situation this might have changed people's view of him. Also with Vince's resources and the fact that Vince's reasoning was pretty solid I doubt Bret would have won the case.

[SAJ Forth]

Nov 22, 2009 12:44:02 GMT -5 Twincest said:

Damages in a breach of contract action are based on what it would cost to put the injured party in the position he would have been in had the contract been fully performed. Bret had a multi-million dollar contract in place with WCW regardless of what happened that night, and he even brought his "Vince screwed me" story into WCW. Thus, it would be very difficult to apportion damages, and damages are not awarded if they would be too remote or speculative.

Had Bret not already signed a deal with WCW, and had the incident been clearly detrimental to his bargaining power, such a case would be more compelling.

<- Currently in my final year of law school.

Cool, In all seriousness, thank you for the information.

[Jay Peas 42]

Yeah, do you think Brett Hart would expose the business like that? Vince got punched in the face, Bret got his money. End of story.

[Vice honcho room temperature]

I'm not lawyer so who knows if one can say what's reasonable or not

[wrestlecrapcrap]

Even if he did have reasonable creative control, Vince's argument always was that refusing to drop the belt in the situation he was told to do it in (considering he was leaving for their biggest rivals) wasn't reasonable. So even on that front Bret hasn't really got a leg to stand on.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Nov 22, 2009 15:06:58 GMT -5 wrestlecrapcrap said:

So even on that front Bret hasn't really got a leg to stand on.

Yeah, but that's because Owen kicked his leg out from under his leg.

[Deleted]

Assuming the Montreal incident was legitimate (I still personally think it was worked), Bret would probably have been unable to sue for the reasons others have brought up.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Given that McMahon could easily have pressed charges for assault, I think it was in Bret's best interest to keep things out of the courtroom.

[Abadebe]

In his book, Bret mentions that he thought about taking Vince to court, but decided not to because it could jeopardize Owen's future.

[diegorivera]

The fact that Bret was not under a WWF contract at the time, that he punched Vince and that Owen was still employed by WWF kept any charges from the screwjob from being filed. Honestly, Vince would have probably taken Bret to the cleaners and left him impoverished had it gone to court.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

It could be argued, and quite loudly, that letting your champion leave the company with the championship after he'd already signed a contract with a competing promotion is not a reasonable thing to ask for, and therefore would not fall under the auspices of "reasonable creative control". It was a greater than reasonable risk to ask Vince to take.

[Hugh Mungus]

Nov 22, 2009 15:13:21 GMT -5 Abadebe said:

In his book, Bret mentions that he thought about taking Vince to court, but decided not to because it could jeopardize Owen's future.

Speaking of that, after Hogan quit WCW, Horace Hogan was released from WCW, and Mike Awesome was BERRIED~! in bad gimmick after bad gimmick (Fat Chick Thriller, That 70s Guy, etc.).

[Deleted]

Nov 22, 2009 17:16:33 GMT -5 Hugh Mungus said:

Nov 22, 2009 15:13:21 GMT -5 Abadebe said:

In his book, Bret mentions that he thought about taking Vince to court, but decided not to because it could jeopardize Owen's future.

Speaking of that, after Hogan quit WCW, Horace Hogan was released from WCW, and Mike Awesome was BERRIED~! in bad gimmick after bad gimmick (Fat Chick Thriller, That 70s Guy, etc.).

If only they'd made him That 70's Fat Chick Killer, he'd have probably won the Undisputed title instead of Jericho.

[Rick Mad]

Nov 22, 2009 16:40:47 GMT -5 Back to being Cenanuff said:

It could be argued, and quite loudly, that letting your champion leave the company with the championship after he'd already signed a contract with a competing promotion is not a reasonable thing to ask for, and therefore would not fall under the auspices of "reasonable creative control". It was a greater than reasonable risk to ask Vince to take.

Just have to point out, Bret would have dropped the Title to HBK the next night at Raw, so he wouldn't be leaving the company with the belt or anything like that.

["The Rated XXX Superstar" Jed]

Why would he sue the World Wildlife Fund for the Montreal Screwjob?

[Back to being Cenanuff]

Nov 22, 2009 18:00:06 GMT -5 Rick Mad said:

Nov 22, 2009 16:40:47 GMT -5 Back to being Cenanuff said:

It could be argued, and quite loudly, that letting your champion leave the company with the championship after he'd already signed a contract with a competing promotion is not a reasonable thing to ask for, and therefore would not fall under the auspices of "reasonable creative control". It was a greater than reasonable risk to ask Vince to take.

Just have to point out, Bret would have dropped the Title to HBK the next night at Raw, so he wouldn't be leaving the company with the belt or anything like that.

Yeah, because something like that, you can just take someone's word for it. Get real. He can say he would have until he's blue in the face, but until he actually did it, it's coulda woulda shoulda.