On the latest Something to Wrestle With, JBL looked back at the tense atmosphere in the WWE locker room in September 1997 when word spread that Vince McMahon could no longer afford Bret Hart’s 20-year contract. The Hall of Famer admitted that, at the time, he feared he had made a mistake by signing with a company that appeared to be sinking.
“It became evident pretty quick,” JBL recalled. “And I remember thinking, ‘Man, I can’t believe I finally made it to the big time, and I chose the wrong company.’ I thought, ‘We’re losing Bret, we’re done.’”
This feeling of dread was amplified by the fact that WWE was losing the Monday Night War to WCW at the time. “Scott and Kevin had already created the NWO, and they were killing us in ratings. And like I say, Eric was a step ahead of us on everything at that time,” he said. “And all of a sudden, now we’re losing Bret Hart. I thought, ‘Man, we got no chance.’ It seemed like another nail in the coffin for us.”
JBL credited legendary road agent Jack Lanza for calming his fears with a simple piece of advice. “Lanza is the one that pulled me aside and he saw where it was, and he was sitting there with that cigarette, ‘Kid, you see that guy right there?’ talking about Vince. He goes, ‘long as that guy’s in the chair, we’re going to be fine.’ He goes, ‘I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen the warrior come and go. I’ve seen Hogan come and go.’ He said, ‘We’re going to be fine.’ And from that point forward, I felt pretty good about it. I was still nervous.”
The conversation between McMahon and Hart on September 22, 1997, set in motion the events that led to the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” at Survivor Series two months later.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
