Wikipedia

Harris Brothers

(Redirected from 8-Ball (wrestler))

Donald Harris and Ronald Harris (born October 23, 1960) are American twin brothers best known for their professional wrestling careers with promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). They are now co-presidents of the Nashville-based Aro Lucha professional wrestling promotion.

Harris Brothers
Statistics
MembersDon Harris
(AKA Don Bruise / Jacob Blu / Heavy D / Jared Grimm / Patrick / Skull)
Ron Harris
(AKA 8 Ball / Big Ron / Gerald / Eli Blu / Jason Grimm / Ron Bruise)
Name(s)Blu Brothers
Bruise Brothers
Creative Control
Disciples of Apocalypse
Disciples of Destruction
Grimm Twins
Harris Boys
Harris Brothers
Harris Twins
Billed heights6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Don Harris[1]
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Ron Harris[2]
Combined
billed weight		595 lb (270 kg)
HometownApopka, Florida[2][1][3]
Billed fromNashville, Tennessee
Debut1987[2][1]
Disbanded2005[2][1]
Years active1987–2005
TrainerRocky Montana[4][5]

For the majority of their careers, the brothers performed as a tag team. They wrestled under their birth names and a variety of ring names, 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

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Don and Ron Harris were born in Florida. In the 1980s, Ron and Don relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, in order to become professional wrestlers. Ron worked as a police officer in West Palm Beach, Florida, prior to moving to Tennessee with his brother.[3]

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (1987–1993)

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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-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. 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.[6] In March 1993, the Twins worked a few matches for World Championship Wrestling.[7]

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1993–1994)

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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 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.[8][9]

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994)

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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)

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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 and The British Bulldog in the opening match of WrestleMania XI. Jacob Blue 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)

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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.[8][9]

Return to the World Wrestling Federation (1996–1999)

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See also: Disciples of Apocalypse

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 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.[8] 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)

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In November 1999, the Harris Brothers joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Gerald" (Ron) and "Patrick" (Don). The names were shots at Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco who worked for WWF as Vince McMahon'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, 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.[8][9]

Late career (2001–2005)

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In November and December 2001, Don and Ron Harris took part in the All Japan Pro Wrestling 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 (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 promoted by the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion.[10]

In late 2003, Ron Harris began working for wrestler and burgeoning rap artist Randy Savage as a tour manager.[11] 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.[12] 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's team Phi Delta Slam and one over the team of Cassidy Riley and Shark Boy.

Retirement

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Don Harris effectively retired from the ring in 2005, and began working backstage with TNA as production manager.[13][14] In the same year, Ron Harris retired from professional wrestling and began working for the Christian music record label Beach Street Records.[3] 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.[15]

Nazi symbol controversy

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In 2002, the brothers appeared on a TNA PPV wearing shirts with the Nazi SS symbol.[16] They also displayed their SS tattoos (which were later covered up).[17] TNA apologized for the incident after the PPV.[18] In 2018, the CEO of Aroluxe denied the brothers had Nazi ties, claiming the shirts were worn because they were in character as bikers.[16]

Championships and accomplishments

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Don Harris

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Ron Harris

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Don Harris at Cagematch.de". Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ron Harris at Cagematch.de". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Dawson, W. (June 13, 2006). "Ron Harris: On the Ropes". CBN.com. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
  4. ^ "Ron Harris at Bodyslamming.com". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  5. ^ "Don Harris at Bodyslamming.com". Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  6. ^ "1992". www.thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  7. ^ "1993". Thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d "Ron Harris at Accelerator3359.com". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c "Don Harris at Accelerator3359.com". Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  10. ^ a b "The WLW Heavyweight Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  11. ^ Clevett, J. (November 25, 2003). "Savage turns to rap 'n' wrestling". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ Callis, D. (November 24, 2004). "WWE brings Raw to new MTS Centre". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Kapur, B. (September 29, 2005). "Tension, joy backstage at first TNA Spike taping". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "DGH"
  15. ^ "TNA UPDATE: MAJOR CHANGES COULD COME SHORTLY | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Satin, Ryan (March 21, 2018). "Aro Lucha CEO Says Ron and Don Harris Are Not "Nazi Sympathizers"". TheSportster.
  17. ^ Bills, John (July 16, 2016). "10 Most Successful Wrestling Brother Tag Teams Ever". WhatCulture.com.
  18. ^ Apology
  19. ^ "The CWIA International Tag Team Championship at Wrestling-Titles.com". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  20. ^ "The CWA World Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  21. ^ "The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  22. ^ Rodgers, Mike (2004). "Regional Territories: PNW #16 Page #2". KayfabeMemories.com.
  23. ^ "The SMW World Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  24. ^ a b c "The USWA Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  25. ^ "The WCW World Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved April 5, 2007.
  26. ^ "The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship at Solie.org". Retrieved March 29, 2007.
  27. ^ Hoops, Brian (January 18, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/18): Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for WWWF title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
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