From Tag Team To Top Guy: Bret Hart's Ascension To The WrestleMania Main Event

When looking at the history of tag team splits, the dissolution of the Hart Foundation was rather unique.

So often, the split of a tag tandem sees one wrestler turn on the other, and then that pair embark on a feud. Of course, a classic example of this is one of the Foundation's greatest rivals, the Rockers. In the case of the Hart Foundation, though, the split was an amicable one that simply saw the pair go their separate ways.

This came in the aftermath of WrestleMania VII, where the Hart Foundation lost the Tag Team Championships to the Jimmy Hart-managed Nasty Boys. There would be a televised rematch against the Nasties, and a handful of house show contests, but for all accounts and purposes, 'Mania VII was the end of the Hart Foundation.

In a kayfabe sense, Neidhart and Hart simply wanted to test themselves in the singles ranks. While this would obviously work out fantastically for the Hitman, the split was far less successful for Jim.

To showcase just how different the second half of '91 was for these former partners, Bret Hart was the Intercontinental Champion by SummerSlam in August, whereas Neidhart was kept off TV for a couple of months, brought back only to be written off television after being attacked by the Beverly Brothers, and closed the year out back as a tag team act as the New Foundation alongside Owen Hart.

Unfortunately for the Anvil, the New Foundation would only last until February '92, with the team being broken up when Neidhart was fired for reportedly refusing to take a drug test.