My recollection is that Bret had no problems losing the belt to HBK, but he didn't want to in Montreal at the PPV. He wasn't gonna pull a Madusa and drop the WWE Belt in the garbage at Nitro. He was gonna do the right thing, but he and supposedly McMahon agreed, NOT at the PPV. Vince double crossed him. It really was the most real thing you'll see in Wrestling. HBK did one of the great acting jobs in wrestling history because for years he had everyone(me too) convinced he wasn't in on it and was pissed it happened.
In many ways, it saved WWE. The Mr McMahon character became unbelievably huge, one the the greatest, most enduring heels in history, with Stone Cold as his antagonist, and they stareted kicking WCW Nitro's ass not too long after and eventually put them out of business.