Harrison Norris Jr. (born August 22, 1966), is an American

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

veteran, retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and former 2001 Toughman heavyweight champion, best known by his ring name Hardbody Harrison and sometimes Hardbody Harris. In 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison for his part in a sex trafficking and

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

ring.

Career

Harrison graduated from high school in Pensacola, Florida, after which he enlisted in the United States Army and saw action in

Operation Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. He served as a platoon and motor sergeant, and received an honorable discharge in 1995. He then trained at the

WCW Power Plant The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school in Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The school was founded by wrestler Jody Hamilton, who opened the training center in 1989 in Lovejoy, Georgia ...

and later in 1995, debuted in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (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 Nati ...

as a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

. He appeared on ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

'' as well as 1997's

Starrcade Starrcade was a recurring professional wrestling event, originally broadcast via closed-circuit television and eventually broadcast via pay-per-view. It was originally held from 1983 to 2000, first by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 1 ...

. In 2000, he was a party to a multi-plaintiff lawsuit filed by

Sonny Onoo Kazuo Sonny Onoo (born July 29, 1962) is a Japanese-American professional wrestling manager, and actor better known by his ring name Sonny Onoo. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1999 as the m ...

, Bobby Walker and several other former WCW talents against former parent company

AOL Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

alleging racial discrimination; the suit was settled out of court for which Harrison received a sizeable payout. In 2000, Harrison also appeared in Toughman competitions which broadcast from 1999 to 2001 on FX show ''Toughman''. In 2000, he was the show's heavyweight champion. In March 2001, WCW was bought by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

and Harrison's contract was not retained.

Later life

On August 18, 2004, Harrison was arrested by the Smyrna Police Department in

Smyrna, Georgia Smyrna is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is located northwest of Atlanta, and is in the inner ring of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs–Alpharetta MSA, which is included in the Atlant ...

on three counts of false imprisonment and after spending one night in jail, he was released on a $55,000 bond the next day. On August 23, 2005,

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

agents served a search warrant and raided Harrison's two homes in

Bartow County, Georgia Bartow County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, ...

. On October 18, 2005, he was arrested by the FBI on a nine count federal indictment for false imprisonment and trafficking women for commercial sex acts. On November 22, 2007, he was found guilty and convicted by a federal jury in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

on charges related to keeping eight women as sex slaves. During proceedings, for which he served as his own attorney, Harrison contended the women lived in his homes with his wife and child because they wanted to train as professional wrestlers, and that he had helped them quit drugs. Witnesses contended that Harrison manipulated the women psychologically, forced them to have sex with him, and required them to participate in large sex orgies involving up to eight men at a single time. The victims contended that Harrison's rigid training regimen, consisting of a wide variety of exercises and household chores, and having to memorize a series of "commandments" was designed to make them attractive

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

, and that he pimped them out to nightclubs, trailer parks, apartments, hotels, in the back of Norris’ truck, and in other locations in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and northern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

until a few of the women went to the police. Failure to complete chores or breaking rules required the women to pay money to Harrison, creating a never-ending debt cycle. After conviction, Harrison was sentenced to life in prison on April 1, 2008.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Hardbody 1966 births Living people 21st-century American criminals African-American male professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers United States Army personnel of the Gulf War American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Criminals from Florida Criminals from Georgia (U.S. state) Professional wrestlers from Tennessee United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people People convicted of sex trafficking