Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
Encyclopedia
Curt Hawkins
and Zack Ryder
were a American
professional wrestling
tag team
who appeared on the independent circuit
and WWE under a variety of evolving names.
While in New York Wrestling Connection, the two wrestled as Brian Myers and Brett Matthews, both as a tag team and as singles wrestlers. During their time in WWE, they would become almost exclusively tag team wrestlers. From May 1, 2007 to December 16, 2007 the team was known as the Major Brothers, until they were repackaged and renamed to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder as fans and associates of Edge on December 21, 2007, on an episode of SmackDown.
tweaking their ring names to Brett and Brian Majors, appearing collectively as The Majors Brothers. They lost their debut match on June 1 to Montel Vontavious Porter and Eric Pérez
. They picked up their first wins on June 15 against Francisco Ciatso and Cru Jones but lost a Four Way title contendership match in July to Urban Assault (Peréz and Sonny Siaki
. They continued to feud with Ciatso who changed partners frequently but never defeated The Majors Brothers. After a six match winning streak they were given a match against The Untouchables
(Dice Domino
and Deuce Shade) who were reigning as DSW Tag Team Champions. On 12 October, The Majors Brothers became the new champions after the match was restarted following a double pin situation.
As champions, the team became targets for aspiring champions and after their first title defence were attacked by Urban Assault. A scheduled match against them in November ended in double disqualification when The Gymini
interfered in the match to attack both teams while a defence against The Gymini the following week saw another disqualification when Urban Assault made a return interference. The following week on November 30 The Majors Brothers lost their titles to Urban Assault. Their rematch went to a no contest when Urban Assault's manager G-Rilla
began fighting with The Freakin' Deacon
who was in The Majors' corner. After the DSW Tag Team Championship was vacated when the encumbents were released, The Majors were placed in a Three Way Tag Team match on January 19, 2007 for the titles, defeating The Samoan Fight Club (Afa Jr.
and Siaki) and The Blue Bloods (Darren Matthews and Dave Taylor) to become two time champions. They held the championships briefly, losing them on 8 March to Team Elite (Derrick Neikirk
and Mike Knox
). The Majors stayed in DSW until April, exchanging victories with The Blue Bloods and teaming with Kofi Nahaje Kingston
to defeat The Next Generation Hart Foundation (Harry Smith and TJ Wilson) and Shawn Osborne
.
. As a team they debuted on May 9 to pick up a win against Los Locos (Ramon and Paul) with a slightly tweaked name of The Major Brothers. After defeating Gothic Mayhem (Johnny Punch and Pat Buck) in successive matches they went on to defeat the reigning OVW Southern Tag Team Champions
"The Hammer" Charles Evans and "The Ox" Justin LaRouche
(future La Familia
stablemate Bam Neely) twice in non-title matches, once by disqualification. These series of victories led to them facing Evans and LaRouche, joined by Dr. Thomas in a three-on-two handicap tag match on June 15 and winning the OVW Tag Team Championship.
The former champions defeated them in a Four-Way Elimination Tag Team match the following week but a title match between the two of them on June 22 saw The Major Brothers retain. This was short lived though as they lost a non-title and subsequent title match to The James Boys (K.C. James
and Kassidy James
) on 29 June. Their rematch ended in a double countout and after this The Major Brothers won only by disqualification, by which titles can't change hands, but ultimately lost a decisive rematch on July 13. In October they shared a rivalry with Paul Burchill
, initially winning against him and Drew McIntyre and then again against Burchill and Stu Sanders
and finally The Empire (Sanders and McIntyre). They continued to win in a Four Corners Tag Team match against Los Locos, The Empire and LaRouche with Andrew Vain. They took this momentum into a tournament for the Southern Tag Team Championship defeating Gothic Mayhem and Los Locos in successive rounds before finally being defeated by Burchill and Sanders, thus failing to recapture the titles.
Marcus Cor Von
in a tag team match. They were depicted as an unknown team and their initial victory was the only win the team had in ECW. Following their debut match, they lost to the team of Elijah Burke
and
Marcus Cor Von
, as well as both losing singles matches to Burke and Striker.
The Majors were drafted from ECW to SmackDown! on June 17, 2007, as the eighth pick in the 2007 Supplemental Draft. Vignettes aired hyping their impending debut on the brand. On their July 6, 2007 SmackDown! debut, the Majors defeated Jeremy Young and Mike Foxx. The following week, the Majors were victorious again, defeating the team of Chavo Guerrero
and Jamie Noble
. After a loss to Deuce 'n Domino on August 17, 2007, The Majors would not compete on the show again until October 12, 2007, when the debuting Drew McIntyre defeated Brett. The following week, McIntyre defeated Brian. On November 9, 2007, they received a tag title match after winning a number one contender's battle royal, but could not defeat the champions, Montel Vontavious Porter and Matt Hardy
.
At Armageddon
, the duo dressed as Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship
match, taking bumps in Edge's place to help him win the title and thus turning heel
for the first time in their WWE career. On December 21, 2007, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero
. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, as Brett Major's name was changed to "Zack Ryder" and Brian Major to "Curt Hawkins". Occasionally teaming with their mentor Edge and/or their "La Familia
" associate Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown, they even went on to be featured in the main event on multiple occasions. With this new gimmick, they were sometimes referred as "The Rated-R Entourage" by commentators Michael Cole
and John "Bradshaw" Layfield
. They also dropped the short trunks the team wore as the Major Brothers and started wearing long tights identical to Edge's tights. To differentiate between the two, Hawkins wore his hair in a ponytail. Later on, the team updated their attires, with Ryder debuting tights with new designs while Hawkins switched back to short trunks with new designs, and they began wearing sunglasses and a hoodie
, respectively, to the ring.
At The Great American Bash
on July 20, 2008, Hawkins and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship
from John Morrison and
The Miz in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse
and
Festus
and Finlay
and Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse. Their victory meant that they collectively became the youngest tag team champions in WWE history. At SummerSlam
, La Familia seemed to have ended when a returning Undertaker sent Edge to Hell and then refused to forgive Vickie - prompting all the members to abandon Vickie, who would later align with Big Show. On the September 26, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder lost the titles to Carlito
and
Primo Colón
in their first televised title defense. On December 5, 2008 edition of SmackDown, they returned in a tag team gauntlet match against Jeff Hardy
and Triple H
where they were the first and only team eliminated. They also participated in the battle royal for the last spot in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, but were eliminated by The Great Khali.
On April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.
Curt Hawkins
Brian Joseph Myers is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Curt Hawkins. He is currently signed to WWE working on its Raw brand...
and Zack Ryder
Zack Ryder
Matthew Joseph Cardona, Jr. better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE and works on the Raw brand as a wrestler and the SmackDown brand as an assistant to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag...
were a American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
who appeared on the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
and WWE under a variety of evolving names.
While in New York Wrestling Connection, the two wrestled as Brian Myers and Brett Matthews, both as a tag team and as singles wrestlers. During their time in WWE, they would become almost exclusively tag team wrestlers. From May 1, 2007 to December 16, 2007 the team was known as the Major Brothers, until they were repackaged and renamed to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder as fans and associates of Edge on December 21, 2007, on an episode of SmackDown.
New York Wrestling Connection (2004–2006)
The two debuted as a team in New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) during 2004 with Matthew Cardona using the name Brett Matthews and Bryan Myers using his real name. By 2005 they were a regular tag team and after briefly tagging with other people for a two night tournament they reformed to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige by disqualification. At the next event on June 4 they won a rematch decisively to become Tag Team Champions. Later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington). Though they initially defended their titles against them in July, on August 27. On September 23 they were entered into a three way match with the champions but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the belts. After continuing to win matches they re-earned a match against the champions and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006. They held the titles until they faced The B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma & Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the gold on March 26.Deep South Wrestling (2006–2007)
Matthews and Myers moved to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) in GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
tweaking their ring names to Brett and Brian Majors, appearing collectively as The Majors Brothers. They lost their debut match on June 1 to Montel Vontavious Porter and Eric Pérez
Eric Perez
Eric Alexander Pérez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler who currently performs under the ring name Eric Escobar. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment , where he spent most of his career in developmental territories...
. They picked up their first wins on June 15 against Francisco Ciatso and Cru Jones but lost a Four Way title contendership match in July to Urban Assault (Peréz and Sonny Siaki
Sonny Siaki
Sonny Siaki is a retired American professional wrestler. Unlike many Samoans in professional wrestling, he is not part of the large Anoa'i or Fatu family.-Early life:...
. They continued to feud with Ciatso who changed partners frequently but never defeated The Majors Brothers. After a six match winning streak they were given a match against The Untouchables
Deuce 'n Domino
Deuce 'n Domino was the name of a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Deuce Shade and Dice Domino, who were managed for the majority of their run by Cherry Pie and briefly by Maryse. The pair teamed together in World Wrestling Entertainment and Ohio Valley Wrestling from 2006 through 2008...
(Dice Domino
Cliff Compton
Clifford "Cliff" Compton is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Domino. He is signed with Ohio Valley Wrestling , where he is a former two–time OVW Heavyweight Champion...
and Deuce Shade) who were reigning as DSW Tag Team Champions. On 12 October, The Majors Brothers became the new champions after the match was restarted following a double pin situation.
As champions, the team became targets for aspiring champions and after their first title defence were attacked by Urban Assault. A scheduled match against them in November ended in double disqualification when The Gymini
Shane Twins
The Shane Twins are a professional wrestling tag team that consist of twin brothers Mike and Todd Shane. They were best known for their appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment as Gymini.-History:The Shane Twins debuted in the Florida based Independent Pro Wrestling promotion in 1998...
interfered in the match to attack both teams while a defence against The Gymini the following week saw another disqualification when Urban Assault made a return interference. The following week on November 30 The Majors Brothers lost their titles to Urban Assault. Their rematch went to a no contest when Urban Assault's manager G-Rilla
Brodus Clay
George Murdoch is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Brodus Clay. He is signed to WWE, where he wrestles on its Raw brand and its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling...
began fighting with The Freakin' Deacon
Drew Hankinson
Andrew "Drew" Hankinson is an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment , where he appeared under the ring names Festus and Luke Gallows...
who was in The Majors' corner. After the DSW Tag Team Championship was vacated when the encumbents were released, The Majors were placed in a Three Way Tag Team match on January 19, 2007 for the titles, defeating The Samoan Fight Club (Afa Jr.
Afa Anoa'i, Jr.
Afa Anoa'i, Jr. is an American professional wrestler of Samoan descent. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he competed on its Raw brand under the ring name Manu.-World Xtreme Wrestling:...
and Siaki) and The Blue Bloods (Darren Matthews and Dave Taylor) to become two time champions. They held the championships briefly, losing them on 8 March to Team Elite (Derrick Neikirk
Derick Neikirk
Derick Lee Neikirk is an American professional wrestler and former minor league baseball player. He has competed for several promotions, and currently competes for Impact Zone Wrestling , a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance based in Phoenix, Arizona...
and Mike Knox
Mike Knox
Michael Shawn Hettinga is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment as Mike Knox. He is also an avid fisherman, and fishes in his spare time.-Independent circuit :...
). The Majors stayed in DSW until April, exchanging victories with The Blue Bloods and teaming with Kofi Nahaje Kingston
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...
to defeat The Next Generation Hart Foundation (Harry Smith and TJ Wilson) and Shawn Osborne
Shawn McGrath
Shawn McGrath was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Shawn Osborne. He is best known for his stint with World Wrestling Entertainment as a developmental talent, most recently wrestling for its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.-Early career:On...
.
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007)
Brian Majors pre-empted the tag team's first appearance in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on April 25's TV tapings in a 15 minute time limit draw against Jay BradleyBrad Bradley
Brad Bradley is an American professional wrestler, best known for working for World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Ryan Braddock.-Early career:...
. As a team they debuted on May 9 to pick up a win against Los Locos (Ramon and Paul) with a slightly tweaked name of The Major Brothers. After defeating Gothic Mayhem (Johnny Punch and Pat Buck) in successive matches they went on to defeat the reigning OVW Southern Tag Team Champions
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
The OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. As of 2011, the current champions are Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver, known as The Elite in their fourth reign...
"The Hammer" Charles Evans and "The Ox" Justin LaRouche
Justin LaRouche
Justin Bruce Rocheleau is an American professional wrestler, who worked on World Wrestling Entertainment's ECW brand under the name Bam Neely...
(future La Familia
La Familia (professional wrestling)
La Familia was a villainous alliance in the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment that existed from the end of 2007 until the middle of 2009. The group consisted Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder and Bam Neely...
stablemate Bam Neely) twice in non-title matches, once by disqualification. These series of victories led to them facing Evans and LaRouche, joined by Dr. Thomas in a three-on-two handicap tag match on June 15 and winning the OVW Tag Team Championship.
The former champions defeated them in a Four-Way Elimination Tag Team match the following week but a title match between the two of them on June 22 saw The Major Brothers retain. This was short lived though as they lost a non-title and subsequent title match to The James Boys (K.C. James
Kasey James
Kurt Sellers , better known as K.C. James or James Curtis, is an American professional wrestler who was best known for working in World Wrestling Entertainment.-Early career:...
and Kassidy James
Cassidy O'Reilly
Cassidy Riley is an American professional wrestler, also known as Cassidy Reilly and Cassidy O'Riley best known for work with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment....
) on 29 June. Their rematch ended in a double countout and after this The Major Brothers won only by disqualification, by which titles can't change hands, but ultimately lost a decisive rematch on July 13. In October they shared a rivalry with Paul Burchill
Paul Burchill
Paul Birchill , better known by his ring name Paul Burchill, is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment , where he signed after training and debuting for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance in his home country.-Frontier Wrestling Alliance...
, initially winning against him and Drew McIntyre and then again against Burchill and Stu Sanders
Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett is a retired American soccer player. He is currently an assistant coach at Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo-College:...
and finally The Empire (Sanders and McIntyre). They continued to win in a Four Corners Tag Team match against Los Locos, The Empire and LaRouche with Andrew Vain. They took this momentum into a tournament for the Southern Tag Team Championship defeating Gothic Mayhem and Los Locos in successive rounds before finally being defeated by Burchill and Sanders, thus failing to recapture the titles.
The Major Brothers (2007)
The Major Brothers made their WWE television debut on the May 1, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci Fi defeating Matt Striker andNew Breed (ECW)
The New Breed was a professional wrestling stable that appeared on the ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2007. It was initially composed of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel...
Marcus Cor Von
Monty Brown
Monty Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von...
in a tag team match. They were depicted as an unknown team and their initial victory was the only win the team had in ECW. Following their debut match, they lost to the team of Elijah Burke
Elijah Burke
Elijah Samuel Burke is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the name of "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero; a gimmick in which he portrays a Harlem street preacher...
and
New Breed (ECW)
The New Breed was a professional wrestling stable that appeared on the ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2007. It was initially composed of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel...
Marcus Cor Von
Monty Brown
Monty Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von...
, as well as both losing singles matches to Burke and Striker.
The Majors were drafted from ECW to SmackDown! on June 17, 2007, as the eighth pick in the 2007 Supplemental Draft. Vignettes aired hyping their impending debut on the brand. On their July 6, 2007 SmackDown! debut, the Majors defeated Jeremy Young and Mike Foxx. The following week, the Majors were victorious again, defeating the team of Chavo Guerrero
Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
Salvador "Chavo" Guerrero IV also known as Chavo Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero, Jr., is a third generation Mexican-American professional wrestler and member of the famed Guerrero wrestling family who was well known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling...
and Jamie Noble
Jamie Noble
James Howard Gibson better known by his WWE ring name Jamie Noble, is an American former professional wrestler currently working for WWE as a trainer. He is best known for his work from 2002 to 2009 when a severe back injury forced him to retire from competition...
. After a loss to Deuce 'n Domino on August 17, 2007, The Majors would not compete on the show again until October 12, 2007, when the debuting Drew McIntyre defeated Brett. The following week, McIntyre defeated Brian. On November 9, 2007, they received a tag title match after winning a number one contender's battle royal, but could not defeat the champions, Montel Vontavious Porter and Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
.
Hawkins and Ryder; La Familia; Split (2007–2009)
Armageddon (2007)
Armageddon was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on December 16, 2007 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the eighth event produced under the Armageddon name and starred wrestlers from the Raw,...
, the duo dressed as Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
match, taking bumps in Edge's place to help him win the title and thus turning heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
for the first time in their WWE career. On December 21, 2007, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero
Vickie Guerrero
Vickie Lynn Guerrero is an American professional wrestling personality, manager, shifting authority figure and occasional wrestler. She is the widow of professional wrestler Eddie Guerrero, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand...
. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, as Brett Major's name was changed to "Zack Ryder" and Brian Major to "Curt Hawkins". Occasionally teaming with their mentor Edge and/or their "La Familia
La Familia (professional wrestling)
La Familia was a villainous alliance in the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment that existed from the end of 2007 until the middle of 2009. The group consisted Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder and Bam Neely...
" associate Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown, they even went on to be featured in the main event on multiple occasions. With this new gimmick, they were sometimes referred as "The Rated-R Entourage" by commentators Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
and John "Bradshaw" Layfield
John Layfield
John Charles Layfield is a former American professional wrestler, a former commentator/host for mixed martial arts promotion Vyper Fight League and financial analyst for Fox News...
. They also dropped the short trunks the team wore as the Major Brothers and started wearing long tights identical to Edge's tights. To differentiate between the two, Hawkins wore his hair in a ponytail. Later on, the team updated their attires, with Ryder debuting tights with new designs while Hawkins switched back to short trunks with new designs, and they began wearing sunglasses and a hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
, respectively, to the ring.
At The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2008)
The Great American Bash was the fifth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
on July 20, 2008, Hawkins and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
from John Morrison and
John Morrison and The Miz
John Morrison and The Miz were a professional wrestling tag team and former WWE Tough Enough contestants. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand, but also appeared on the SmackDown and Raw brands due to ECW's talent exchanges with those brands during their tenure as a team...
The Miz in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse
Ray Gordy
Terry Ray Gordy, Jr. is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment appearing on its SmackDown brand under the ring names Jesse and Slam Master J...
and
Jesse and Festus
Jesse and Festus, also once known as The Dalton Boys, were an American professional wrestling tag team made up of Ray Gordy and Drew Hankinson . As of April 22, 2010, Ray Gordy was released by World Wrestling Entertainment...
Festus
Drew Hankinson
Andrew "Drew" Hankinson is an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment , where he appeared under the ring names Festus and Luke Gallows...
and Finlay
Dave Finlay
David John "Fit" Finlay Jr. is a Northern Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and WWE as an active wrestler and later as a road agent...
and Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse. Their victory meant that they collectively became the youngest tag team champions in WWE history. At SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2008)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on August 17, 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the 21st annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands.Seven...
, La Familia seemed to have ended when a returning Undertaker sent Edge to Hell and then refused to forgive Vickie - prompting all the members to abandon Vickie, who would later align with Big Show. On the September 26, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder lost the titles to Carlito
Carly Colon
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both...
and
The Colóns
The Colóns were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of real-life brothers, Carlito and Primo. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment...
Primo Colón
Eddie Colon
Edwin "Eddie" Carlos Colón is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed by WWE wrestling on its Raw brand as Primo. He is the son of Carlos Colón, Sr. and the younger brother of wrestlers Stacy and Carly Colón, better known as Carlito in WWE...
in their first televised title defense. On December 5, 2008 edition of SmackDown, they returned in a tag team gauntlet match against Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...
and Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
where they were the first and only team eliminated. They also participated in the battle royal for the last spot in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, but were eliminated by The Great Khali.
On April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.
Brief Reunion (2011)
Hawkins and Ryder had a brief reunion in 2011, when Hawkins helped Ryder defeat Vladimir Kozlov on the May 12 episode of WWE Superstars. On the May 19 episode of WWE Superstars. Hawkins teamed with Ryder in a losing effort against Kozlov and Santino Marella, but the tag team didn't reform beyond this.In other media
In 2011, Hawkins began making occasional appearances on Ryder's web show, Z! True Long Island Story in comedic segments.In wrestling
- Double-team finishing moves
-
- Double lifting DDT – 2008
- Heat Stroke (NYWC) / Long Island Express (DSW / OVWOhio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000...
) (Samoan drop / Diving neckbreaker combination) - STO / Russian legsweep combination
- Double-team signature moves
- Double hip toss, sometimes preceded by a double leapfrogLeapfrogLeapfrog is a children's game in which players vault over each other's stooped backs. The first participant rests hands on knees and bends over, which is called giving a back. Games of this sort have been called by this name since at least the late sixteenth century.The next player places hands on...
or transitioned into a backbreaker - Double spear – 2008
- Double hip toss, sometimes preceded by a double leapfrog
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "What I WantWhat I Want (Daughtry song)"What I Want" is the second U.S. rock single from the band Daughtry from their self titled debut album, and the third overall. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on April 23, 2007. The song features Slash on guitar....
" by Daughtry (DSW / OVW) - "In the Middle of it NowWWE The Music, Vol. 8WWE The Music Volume 8 is a compilation album released by WWE on March 25, 2008. Unlike its predecessor, which was released exclusively on iTunes, Volume 8 was sold as a CD in addition to being offered on iTunes....
" by DiscipleDisciple (band)Disciple is a Christian metal / rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee, formed in 1992.-History:Disciple was formed in 1992 by high school friends Kevin Young, Brad Noah, and Tim Barrett. The band released their first CD, What Was I Thinking in 1995...
(WWE; as Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder; also Hawkins theme in singles competition.) - "Radio" by Watt White (2011)
- "What I Want
Championships and accomplishments
- Deep South Wrestling
- DSW Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- New York Wrestling Connection
- NYWC Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- Ohio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000...
- OVW Southern Tag Team ChampionshipOVW Southern Tag Team ChampionshipThe OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. As of 2011, the current champions are Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver, known as The Elite in their fourth reign...
(1 time)
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI ranked Hawkins #141 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008
- PWI ranked Ryder #140 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Tag Team ChampionshipWWE Tag Team ChampionshipThe WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
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- WWE Tag Team Championship