Donald Harris and Ronald Harris (born October 23, 1960) are American

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brothers best known for their

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

careers with promotions including

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

(ECW),

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). They are now co-presidents of the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

-based Aro Lucha professional wrestling promotion. For the majority of their careers, the brothers performed as a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

. They wrestled under their birth names and a variety of

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

s, including Don Bruise and Ron Bruise (the Bruise Brothers); Eli Blu and Jacob Blu (the Blu Twins); Jared Grimm and Jason Grimm (the Grimm Twins); Skull and 8 Ball (the Disciples of Apocalypse); and Patrick and Gerald (Creative Control).

Early life

Don and Ron Harris were born in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In the 1980s, Ron and Don relocated to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, in order to become professional wrestlers. Ron worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

, prior to moving to Tennessee with his brother.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1987–1993)

Don and Ron Harris, with support from the country music group Sawyer Brown, debuted in the Continental Wrestling Association in December 1987 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 Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

-based

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

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. On January 27, 1992, the Harris Twins received a tryout match with the WWF at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Lubbock, Texas, defeating Khris Germany and Todd Overbow. They beat the duo again the next night in Amarillo. In March 1993, the Twins worked a few matches for

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1993–1994)

In 1993, the Harris Brothers joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the Bruise Brothers, managed by

Jim Cornette James Mark Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American author, sports historian, and podcaster who previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, photographer, promoter, tra ...

. On June 28, Cornette led them to a victory over the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, for the SMW Tag Team Championships. The Bruise Brothers remained in SMW until early 1994, participating in hardcore matches such as Street Fights and steel cage matches.

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994)

The Bruise Brothers appeared in

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, The Public Enemy. The Bruise Brothers went on to participate in some of the first ECW hardcore matches, and feuded with Shane Douglas.

World Wrestling Federation (1995)

The Harris Brothers were signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January 1995, where they were renamed "The Blu Brothers", Eli (Ron) and Jacob (Don). They retained their trademark bushy beards and long hair and donned garb to resemble mountain men, and were managed by Uncle Zebekiah. They made their WWF debuts shortly before the 1995 Royal Rumble and were defeated by

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...

and The British Bulldog in the opening match of WrestleMania XI. Jacob Blu competed in the King of the Ring 1995 tournament losing to Razor Ramon in the qualifying round. Following a series of losses to the Smoking Gunns, the Harris Brothers left the WWF in October 1995.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)

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.

Return to the World Wrestling Federation (1996–1999)

Don and Ron Harris returned to the WWF in September 1996, as the short-lived "Grimm Twins," Jason (Ron) and Jared (Don) where they had matches with the Smoking Gunns and the Godwinns. In June 1997, were repackaged as "8-Ball" (Ron) and "Skull" (Don), members of the Disciples of Apocalypse

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

with Crush and their cousin, Chainz. The DOA participated in the "gang wars" of 1997, feuding with the Nation of Domination and the Puerto Rican stable Los Boricuas. They went on to compete in the tag division throughout 1998. They feuded with the Legion Of Doom. 8-Ball also competed in the WWE's Brawl For All tournament on July 20, 1998, but lost to 2 Cold Scorpio in the third round. Their last match in WWF as a tag team was at a house show, which was a loss to Ken Shamrock and Mankind on May 14, 1999. Skull's last match was in a singles match at a house show against Ken Shamrock on May 15, 1999, in which he was defeated. 8-Ball's last match was in a singles match at a house show against Ken Shamrock on May 16, 1999, in which he was also defeated. The brothers were released soon after.

World Championship Wrestling (1999–2001)

In November 1999, the Harris Brothers joined

(WCW) as "Gerald" (Ron) and "Patrick" (Don). The names were shots at Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco who worked for WWF as

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

's 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 Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling promoter. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he both wrestles and serves as Director of Business Development. He is also ...

. 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 The WCW World Tag Team Championship, originally known as the NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'', was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling ...

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.

Late career (2001–2005)

In November and December 2001, Don and Ron Harris took part in the

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

World's Strongest Tag Determination 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 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

(TNA) promotion, 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 The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wres ...

promoted by the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion. In late 2003, Ron Harris began working for wrestler and burgeoning rap artist

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

as a tour manager. The Harris Brothers were reunited in November 2004 when Savage debuted in TNA and, following a backstage altercation with his rival

Hulk Hogan Terry Gene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as a brand ambassador. Known for his flamboyance and massive physiq ...

, 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. Savage had his final match in the promotion in a 6-man tag team match with Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles in a victory over Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall on December 5, 2004, then immediately left the company, but the Harris Brothers were retained to act as road agents. In March 2005, the Harris Brothers reappeared onscreen as "The Disciples of Destruction", two bikers as a nod to their previous WWF gimmick. They were managed by Traci Brooks and had three final victories, one over Buck Quartermain and Lex Lovett, one over

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

's team Phi Delta Slam and one over the team of Cassidy Riley and Shark Boy.

Retirement

Don Harris effectively retired from the ring in 2005, and began working backstage with TNA as production manager. In the same year, Ron Harris retired from professional wrestling and began working for the

Christian music Christian music is a genre of music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christianity, Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its f ...

record label Beach Street Records. In 2007 Ron, Don and Frank Miller formed the Nashville-based management company O-Seven Artist Management. They work for Aroluxe, a marketing and production company. In January 2016, TNA hired Aroluxe to pay for its TV tapings.

Nazi symbol controversy

In 2002, the brothers appeared on a TNA PPV wearing shirts with the Nazi SS symbol. TNA apologized for the incident after the PPV. In 2018, the CEO of Aroluxe (a company who partnered with the brothers behind a new wrestling promotion) denied the brothers had Nazi ties, claiming the shirts were worn because they were in character as bikers, but did not specifically address why the pair had the notorious "SS" symbol tattoo'd on their bodies.

Championships and accomplishments

*Championship Wrestling International Alliance **CWIA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) * Continental Wrestling Association ** CWA Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) *

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...

** NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship ( 6 times) *''Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter'' **Tag Team of the Year (1991–1992) * Smoky Mountain Wrestling ** SMW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) * United States Wrestling Association ** USWA World Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) *

( 3 times) * Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards ** Worst Feud of the Year (1997) – vs. Los Boricuas

Don Harris

** NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with The Grappler * United States Wrestling Association ** USWA World Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with Brian Lee

Ron Harris

** NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) * United States Wrestling Association ** USWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Jimmy Harris * World League Wrestling ** WLW Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)

References

External links

* *
Cagematch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris Brothers 1960 births Living people All Japan Pro Wrestling teams and stables American male professional wrestlers Extreme Championship Wrestling teams and stables American identical twins Total Nonstop Action Wrestling teams and stables People from Apopka, Florida Professional wrestlers from Nashville, Tennessee Smoky Mountain Wrestling teams and stables New World Order (professional wrestling) members American twins United States Wrestling Association teams and stables World Championship Wrestling teams and stables WWE teams and stables USWA World Tag Team Champions WCW World Tag Team Champions 1987 professional wrestling debuts Identical twin males Twin performers