Bret and Owen got their shot at the Tag titles in the 1994 Royal Rumble from the Quebecers, Jacques and Pierre. The brothers did extremely well, and were on the verge of taking the straps. However, during the match, Bret severely injured his leg, but fought on, giving it all he could. As
Bret tried to clamp the Sharpshooter, his leg gave way, causing the referee to stop the match. The titles did not change hands. Furious by this, Owen verbally berated his brother, then kicked his injured leg, leaving him laying in the centre of the ring. Owen was determined to step out of Bret's shadow and show the world what he was all about. Later that night, both men were enrolled in the Royal Rumble match. Owen was eliminated early, but Bret, knee injury
and all, impressively lasted till the end, and the battle royal ended in a draw between Bret and Lex Luger. The two of them would go on to each recieve a title shot at WM10. As for Owen, he was finally establishing himself as a top solo competitor. In his first contest since the Rumble, he upset Marty Jannetty in a great match. Owen would then challenge Bret to a match at WM10 in Madison Square Garden to see who the better Hart was. Bret accepted the challenge. In what turned out to be a very close contest, Owen cleanly pinned his Bret, thus jumping out of the shadow. Later that night Bret wrestled again, this time, for the WWF title held by Yokozuna, and came out victorious, winning the WWF title for a second time. The ring soon filled up with stars like Lex Luger, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly, and Macho Man to congratulate the new champ. Owen was seething with jealousy.
Determined to win the title from his brother, Owen went on a tear. At the 1994 King of the Ring Bret would square off against a 7 foot monster named Diesel, the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels who stood in Diesel's corner. Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart made his long awaited return to the
WWF as he stood in Bret's corner. Neidhart interfered in the match to make sure Bret held on to the title....but were his intentions to HELP Bret? Later that night in the KOTR finals, Owen and Razor Ramon went at it. Suddenly, Anvil appeared at ringside attacking Ramon, securing Owen the KOTR championship, revealing that his actions earlier that were to make sure Bret kept the gold so that Owen could win it from him at Summerslam. As
their plan unfolded Owen won the 1994 King of The Ring and declared himself the King of Harts. At Summerslam '94, Owen would get his shot at Bret's title in a 15 foot high steel cage match. The whole family was there in front row to witness it. Their parents Stu and Helen Hart, along with brother Bruce, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart (in support of Owen), a few more brothers, and the British Bulldog, making his WWF return was there with his wife Diana (Bret and Owen's sister). In what turned out to be a very close contest, Bret defeated Owen in the gruelling match. After the match,
Neidhart viciously attacked a battered Bret as Owen joined him, the British Bulldog and Bruce Hart came out of the crowd to Bret's aid, and a brawl ensued within and out of the cage. The hatred within the Hart family was very obvious from that point on. Owen and Neidhart continued to feud with Bret and Davey from that point on. At Survivor Series, Bret was to defend the WWF title against Bob Backlund, who had Owen in his corner in a "Throw in the Towel Match". After Bret's cornerman the British Bulldog was knocked cold, Owen fooled his parents into throwing in the towel costing Bret the WWF Title. Fueled by this, Bret demanded a series of No Holds Barred matches against Owen in which he destroyed his brother in every one. Neidhart soon left the WWF again leaving Owen partnerless.