Wrestling with Shadows

Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
10th anniversary edition cover.
Directed by	Paul Jay
Produced by	Paul Jay Sally Blake David M. Ostriker Silva Basmajian (NFB)
Written by	Paul Jay
Starring	Bret Hart Vince McMahon Shawn Michaels Stu Hart Owen Hart Davey Boy Smith Jim Neidhart Stone Cold Steve Austin The Undertaker Triple H
Edited by	Manfred Becker
Distributed by	Vidmark/Trimark
Release date	December 20, 1998 (1998-12-20)
Running time	93 minutes
Language	English

Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows is a 1998 documentary film, directed, produced and written by Paul Jay, which follows World Wrestling Federation (WWF) superstar Bret "The Hitman" Hart during his last year in the WWF, from his World Wrestling Federation Championship victory at SummerSlam to his final match with the company and the infamous Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series on November 9, 1997.

As his contract nears expiration in March 1996, professional wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart was torn between two companies, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) during the Monday Night Wars. On one hand, the WWF was his home. The chairman of the company, Vince McMahon, is a father figure to Hart and takes credit for Hart's rise to international wrestling stardom. However, the company's new creative approach to marketing professional wrestling, the "WWF Attitude" marketing brand which relies on an emphasis on sex, extreme violence, and the replacing of heroic wrestling characters with disaffected anti-heroes in effort to compete against the already-popular WCW, has left Hart disillusioned.

Ted Turner's WCW, on the other hand, was willing to pay him a great deal to "jump ship" as well as give him a fresh start in a company that offers a more wholesome approach. Hart chooses to remain loyal and signs a twenty-year deal with the WWF, despite the fact that WWF's Raw Is War is losing the Monday Night Wars to its rival Nitro. McMahon soon retracts the deal, and encourages Hart to move on to WCW, citing financial reasons. This leaves him with no choice but to take WCW President Eric Bischoff's offer and prepare to leave the WWF. As the still-reigning WWF Champion, conflicts arise regarding his final match with the company, including Hart's unwillingness to drop the WWF Championship. To be more precise, Hart is not willing to lose the title to Shawn Michaels, with whom he holds a bitter, real-life rivalry, in his home country of Canada. This leads to one of the most infamous events in professional wrestling as the Montreal Screwjob.