After the original Hart Foundation split in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), both members focused on their singles careers; Bret Hart challenged for and won the Intercontinental Title, while Jim Neidhart faced a much tougher road as a singles competitor. In November 1991, Neidhart had a match against Ric Flair, which Neidhart lost via submission to the figure four leglock. The move incapacitated Neidhart so much that he had to be helped from the ring; as he exited the arena the Beverly Brothers made their entrance for a tag team match. The arrogant brothers took an opportunity and jumped Neidhart, further aggravating his injury. When Neidhart returned about a month later, he was determined to get revenge and he even had back up. Bret's younger brother, Owen, had been signed with the company and he was revealed as Neidhart's back up. They then formed a team in the hopes of recreating the magic of the Hart Foundation and the duo was subsequently dubbed The New Foundation. Owen was soon nicknamed "The Rocket" and the duo became instantly recognizable for their unique parachute pants attire and bright colored jackets.
Their first feud was naturally with the Beverly Brothers but they also had matches with The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) and The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon). The team had their one and only pay-per-view match at the 1992 Royal Rumble, where they defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato). Only weeks later, Owen Hart would be on his own as Neidhart left the federation. They were undefeated at the time of Neidhart's departure.
Owen and Jim reunited in 1994, this time as villains and without the New Foundation moniker. Owen had turned on his brother Bret in early 1994 and was deep in a feud with him. Jim Neidhart turned up at the King of the Ring tournament first to accompany Bret as he faced Diesel, but then also made a surprise appearance at the end of the night to help Owen win the tournament, resulting in Owen dubbing himself the "King of Harts". It was later confirmed that Neidhart was helping Owen. The brothers-in-law teamed regularly throughout 1994, feuding with Bret and Davey Boy Smith. At SummerSlam 1994, after Bret retained the WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Owen in a steel cage match, Neidhart attacked Bret; when Smith tried to make the save for Bret, Neidhart attacked him as well. On the November 7 edition of Raw, Bret and Smith defeated Owen and Neidhart in a tag team match.
The team disbanded when Neidhart left the WWF in late 1994.