Former WWE/TNA referee Earl Hebner spoke with WrestlingNews.co’s Steve Fall for a new interview. During it, he revealed he has made peace with Bret Hart following The Montreal Screwjob.
The Montreal Screwjob at the 1997 Survivor Series PPV event was where Vince McMahon rang the bell while Shawn Michaels had Hart in the Sharpshooter. This was done to have Michaels win the WWE Title as Hart was leaving for WCW. Here are the highlights.
On whether he felt something would go wrong heading into Survivor Series:
“Not really. Truthfully, I thought everything had been worked out and settled and was okay. Time to go to the ring.”
On his relationship with Hart:
“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.”
On being worried about running into Hart 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…”