For several months prior to the 1997 Survivor Series, Hart and Shawn Michaels had several backstage arguments, culminating in a fight before a house show in Hartford, Connecticut (after Michaels had publicly accused Hart of having an affair with Sunny) that saw Michaels suspended for two months. After a show in San Jose, California on October 12, 1997, Hart claimed he spoke to Michaels about being professional and trusting one another in the ring; Hart allegedly said he would have no problem losing to Michaels if McMahon requested. He also claimed that when Michaels replied that he "would not be willing to do the same" to Hart, Hart was shocked and became angry. This led to Hart's outright refusal to lose the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Michaels at the pay-per-view event in Montreal, although in , Hart states to McMahon that he would happily drop the belt but not in Canada. However, in his own autobiography, Michaels refuted Hart's claim, saying that he would have cleanly lost to Hart had storylines demanded so (though others, including Jim Cornette in various shoot interviews, have often refuted this, saying that they knew first-hand that Michaels had no intention of losing cleanly to Hart). Michaels also pointed out that he had lost cleanly to Hart several times in the past, most notably in the WWF's first ever ladder match at a "Wrestling Challenge" taping on July 21, 1992, which would subsequently be made available on multiple Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases and in the main event of the 1992 Survivor Series. Michaels also lost to Hart in a Steel Cage match in December 1993.