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

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

brothers best known for their

professional wrestling 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 or ...

careers with promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling,

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 ...

, and 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 ...

. They are now co-presidents of the

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

-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 establish ...

. They wrestled under their birth names and a variety of

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name 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, or project ...

s, including Don Bruise and Ron Bruise (the Bruise Brothers); and 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 state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. In the 1980s, Ron and Don relocated to

in order to become professional wrestlers. Ron worked as a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

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, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

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 Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), an ...

, debuted in the

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually re ...

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 The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrest ...

in 1989, the Bruise Brothers remained in the

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. 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 Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

-based

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as 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. Thou ...

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.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1993-1994)

In 1993, the Harris Brothers joined

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...

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 SMW Tag Team Championships. The Bruise Brothers remained in SMW until early 1994, participating in hardcore matches such as

Street Fights Street fighting is hand-to-hand combat in public places, between individuals or groups of people. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight sometimes results in serious injury or occasionally even death. Some street fig ...

and steel cage matches.

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994)

The Bruise Brothers appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling 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

(WWF) in 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 at 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 wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for h ...

and

The British Bulldog David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...

in the opening match of WrestleMania XI. Following a series of losses to the

Smoking Gunns The Smoking Gunns were a professional wrestling tag team of kayfabe brothers Billy Gunn (Monty Sopp) and Bart Gunn (Mike Polchlopek). They portrayed cowboys in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1996, where they held the WWF Tag Te ...

, 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.

World Wrestling Federation (1996-1999)

Don and Ron Harris returned to the WWF in 1996, as the short-lived "Grimm Twins," Jason (Ron) and Jared (Don). 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 livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

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. 8-Ball also competed in the WWE's

Brawl For All WWF Brawl for All was a shootfighting tournament held in the then World Wrestling Federation that lasted from June 29, 1998 to August 24, 1998 and was the creation of then-WWF writer Vince Russo. Brawl for All resulted in a number of legitimate ...

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 Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

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 defeated. The brothers were released soon after. It was later revealed by

Vince Russo Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling booker, writer, and pundit. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total No ...

, that the Harris Brothers were fired from WWF for refusing to legitimately hurt The Legion Of Doom during a match.

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 media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the ...

'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. They remained in WCW throughout 2000, feuding with

Sid Vicious John Simon Ritchie (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at age 21, he remains an icon of the ...

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

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 (previously NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Championship) was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

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 Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

World's Strongest Tag Determination League __NOTOC__ The , more commonly known in the West as the Real World Tag League, is an annual professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling since 1977, usually, run on the first weeks of December. The first tournament was actually ...

2001, an eight-team tag tournament. They defeated

The Varsity Club The Varsity Club was a professional wrestling heel stable in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The stable was formed in 1987 and lasted until 1989. The stable was briefly resurrected in 1999–2000. Histor ...

( 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 Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the prom ...

(TNA) promotion, joined

'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 Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federati ...

World League Wrestling Harley Race's Wrestling Academy is a professional wrestling school located in Troy, Missouri. It was established in 1999 by former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race. Students of the school are incorporated into the professional wres ...

promotion, and, in a match refereed by

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...

, 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 located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

promoted by the

Pro Wrestling Noah (stylised as Pro Wrestling NOAH) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2000 by former All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) ace Mitsuharu Misawa after he had led a mass exodus in which 24 of AJPW's 26 contracted wrestlers left th ...

promotion. In late 2003, Ron Harris began working for wrestler and burgeoning rap artist Randy Savage as a

tour manager A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour deta ...

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

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

, 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

biker Biker or bikie may refer to: * A cyclist, a bicycle rider or participant in cycling sports * A motorcyclist, any motorcycle rider or passenger, or participant in motorcycle sports ** A motorcycle club member, defined more narrowly than all motor ...

s 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 Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

's team

Phi Delta Slam Phi Delta Slam (ΦΔS) is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Big Tilly and Bruno Sassi. They wrestle principally on the Floridian independent circuit. History When Sassi began wrestling on the Floridian independent circuit, he f ...

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 music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

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 Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

SS symbol. They also displayed their SS tattoos (which were later covered up). TNA apologized for the incident after the PPV. In 2018, the CEO of Aroluxe denied the brothers had Nazi ties, claiming the shirts were worn because they were in character as bikers.

Championships and accomplishments

*Championship Wrestling International Alliance **CWIA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) *

CWA Tag Team Championship The CWA Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It lasted from 1988 through 1990, when it was abandoned and replaced with the United States Wrestling Association T ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *

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) *

** SMW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) *

** 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 Edward Lynn "Len" Denton (born August 25, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Grappler. Professional wrestling career Len Denton worked early in his career under a few different monikers and wre ...

** USWA World Tag Team Championship (

) – with Brian Lee

Ron Harris

** NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship (

) *

** USWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Jimmy Harris *

WLW Heavyweight Championship The World League Wrestling (WLW) Heavyweight Championship, is a professional wrestling championship in independent professional wrestling promotion World League Wrestling. It is the promotion's primary championship. The championship is generally ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris Brothers 1960 births Living people All Japan Pro Wrestling teams and stables American male professional wrestlers Extreme Championship Wrestling teams and stables Identical twins Impact Wrestling teams and stables People from Apopka, Florida People 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