| Don and Ron Harris | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Don Harris[1] Ron Harris[1] |
| Name(s) | The Blu Brothers (Eli and Jacob)[1] The Bruise Brothers (Don and Ron)[1] Creative Control (Gerald and Patrick)[1] The Disciples of Apocalypse (Skull and 8-Ball)[1] The Disciples of Destruction (Don and Ron) The Grimm Twins (Jared and Jason) The Harris Boys (Don and Ron) The Harris Brothers (Don and Ron)[1] The Harris Twins (Don and Ron)[1] |
| Heights | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[2][3] |
| Combined weight |
595 lb (270 kg)[2][3] |
| Hometown | Apopka, Florida, United States [2][3][4] |
| Billed from | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
| Debut | 1988[2][3] |
| Disbanded | 2005[4] |
| Promotions | AJPW CWIA CWA ECW NWA: PNW Noah (Ron Harris) SMW TNA USWA WCW WLW (Ron Harris) WWF |
| Trainer | Rocky Montana [5][6] |
Donald "Don" Harris and Ronald "Ron" Harris (born October 23, 1961) are American twin brothers who achieved fame as professional wrestlers.[1] Throughout their careers, the brothers teamed together under a variety of ring names.
Both Harris Brothers have retired from wrestling and currently manage Country singer Bucky Covington under the Nashville based O-Seven Artists Management Company. Don usually tours with Bucky while Ron stays in Nashville.
Ron Harris was married and subsequently divorced on three occasions, remarried by his third wife- Amanda, and has three daughters. In 2005, he became a Christian.[4]
Don and Ron Harris were born in Florida. In the 1980s, Don Harris relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in order to become a professional wrestler. Ron Harris worked as a police officer in West Palm Beach, Florida until moving to Tennessee to form a tag team with his brother.[4]
Don and Ron Harris debuted in the Continental Wrestling Association in 1988 as The Bruise Brothers, where they became two-time World Tag Team Champions. When the CWA became the United States Wrestling Association in 1989, the Bruise Brothers remained in the promotion. Don and Ron won five more Tag Team Championships, with Don winning two additional USWA World Tag Team Championships with Brian Lee and Ron winning an additional USWA World Tag Team Championship with Jimmy Harris (no relation) as "Beauty and The Beast". The Harris Brothers made a final appearance with the USWA in 1996 as "The Grimm Brothers".
In 1991, the Bruise Brothers debuted in the Oregon-based National Wrestling Alliance Pacific Northwest promotion, where they became six-time Tag Team Champions. Don Harris was also part of the last match in that promotion's television show, defeating Jon Rambo.
In 1993, the Harris Brothers joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the Bruise Brothers, managed by Jim Cornette. On June 28, Cornette led them to a victory over the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, for the World Tag Team Championships. The Bruise Brothers remained in SMW until early 1994, participating in hardcore matches such as Street Fights and steel cage matches.[7][8]
The Bruise Brothers appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling later in 1994. On February 5, the ECW Tag Team Championships were held-up after a controversial ending to a match between the Bruise Brothers and the incumbents, Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac. The Bruise Brothers went on to participate in some of the first ECW hardcore matches, and feuded with Shane Douglas.[7][8]
The Harris Brothers were signed by the World Wrestling Federation in 1995, where they were renamed "The Blu Brothers". They retained their trademark bushy beards and long hair and were managed by Uncle Zebekiah. They made their WWF debuts at the 1995 Royal Rumble and were defeated by Lex Luger and The British Bulldog in the opening match of WrestleMania XI.
They eventually left the WWF and returned to ECW in 1996 as the Bruise Brothers, competing once more in the tag division, and briefly joining Raven's Nest.[7][8]
Don and Ron Harris returned to the WWF in 1996, as the short-lived "Grimm Twins," and in June 1997, when they returned to the WWF as "8-Ball" (Ron) and "Skull" (Don), joining the Disciples of Apocalypse stable with Crush and their cousin, Chainz. The DOA participated in the "gang wars" of 1997, feuding with the African American Nation of Domination and the Puerto Rican stable Los Boricuas. They went on to compete in the tag division throughout 1998. Ron Harris also competed in the WWE's Brawl For All tournament on July 20, 1998, but lost to 2 Cold Scorpio in the third round.[7] They continued wrestling in the company until the summer of 1999, in which they then left.
In 1999, the Harris Brothers returned to World Championship Wrestling as "Gerald" (Ron) and "Patrick" (Don). The names were shots at Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco who worked for WWF as Vinces stooges. They were known collectively as "Creative Control". They went on to join the nWo 2000 in 2000 using their real names, acting as enforcers for Jeff Jarrett. They remained in WCW throughout 2000, feuding with Sid Vicious, Terry Funk and many of the younger tag teams, such as The Mamalukes. After winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, the Harris Brothers began wrestling in singles matches in 2001, but WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, and they were not hired.[7][8]
In November and December 2001, Don and Ron Harris took part in the All Japan Pro Wrestling Real World Tag League 2001, an eight-team tag tournament. They defeated the Varsity Club (Mike Rotunda and Steve Williams) before losing to Mitsuya Nagai and Toshiaki Kawada in the tournament semi-finals.
In June 2002 the Harris Brothers were hired by the upstart Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. They joined Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction in December 2002, and remained with the stable until it disbanded in mid 2003.
On July 19, 2003, Ron Harris appeared in Harley Race's World League Wrestling promotion, and, in a match refereed by Ricky Steamboat, won the WLW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Ron Powers (he was substituting for Trevor Rhodes, who had been injured earlier that evening). He lost the title on September 12, 2003 to Takeshi Morishima in a Tokyo title defence in the Nippon Budokan promoted by the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion.[9] In late 2003, Ron Harris began working for wrestler and burgeoning rap artist Randy Savage as a tour manager.[10]
The Harris Brothers were reunited in November 2004 when Savage debuted in TNA and, following a backstage altercation with his rival Hulk Hogan, requested that he be accompanied by two bodyguards at all times. The job was given to Ron Harris and Savage's tour bodyguard, Brian Adams.[11] Savage left the promotion in December 2004, but the Harris Brothers were retained to act as road agents. In February 2005, the Harris Brothers reappeared onscreen as "The Disciples of Destruction", two bikers a nod to WWE days at the DOA. They were managed by Traci Brooks and engaged in a short feud with Trinity's team Phi Delta Slam in which they were victorious.
Don Harris effectively retired from the ring in 2005, and began working backstage with TNA, heading the security team.[12] In the same year, Ron Harris retired from professional wrestling and began working for the Christian music label Beach Street Records.[4]