Brian Myers (April 20, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and promoter currently signed with WWE under the ring name Curt Hawkins on the Raw brand. Hawkins initially competed in WWE from 2006 to 2014, and returned to the company in 2016 after wrestling on the independent circuit.
Myers is a two-time World Tag Team Champion being a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with Zack Ryder and one-time TNA World Tag Team Champion with Trevor Lee.
Professional wrestling career
New York Wrestling Connection (2004-2006)
After being trained by Mikey Whipwreck, Myers made his debut in 2004, using his real name. He wrestled for the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) promotion, and on June 4, 2005, he teamed with Bret Matthews to win the NYWC Tag Team Championship when they defeated Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige. They held the championship until August 27, when they were defeated The Dead Presidents (Boogalou and Low – Ryda). Myers and Matthews regained the championship on January 25, 2006, by defeating Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi), and held the championship for two months before losing it to The B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma and Mike Spinelli) on March 26.
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
Tag team; SmackDown! and La Familia (2006–2009)
On February 24, 2006, Brian Myers signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was given the ring name Brian Majors and teamed up with his former tag team partner Bret Matthews, who was renamed Brett Majors, to form the tag team the Majors Brothers. Together they won the Deep South Wrestling DSW Tag Team Championship on two occasions. They later won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once.
The team was moved from the developmental league to the main roster, changing their last names from "Majors" to "Major". The team worked on WWE's ECW brand. The team won their first match but since then failed to win any matches in ECW, in either singles or tag team competition They moved from ECW to SmackDown! on June 17, 2007, as the eighth pick in the 2007 Supplemental Draft. On SmackDown the team had only slightly more success than on the ECW brand, defeating the team of Chavo Guerrero and Jamie Noble. 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 up like Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match 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 acquaintances to Edge and his lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed as Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, with Brian Major becoming "Curt Hawkins" and Brett Major now "Zack Ryder". Hawkins and Ryder were also, occasionally referred as "The Rated-R Entourage" by commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. Occasionally, the pair teamed with their mentor Edge and/or their "La Familia" associate Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown on several occasions.
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 were 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 April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.
Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)
Following the draft, Hawkins would spend months on hiatus from television before voluntarily leaving the main roster and going to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) for more training. He made his debut losing to Dawson Alexander. In the following weeks, Hawkins would go on to win an 8-man battle royal to become the number one contender for Justin Angel's FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship but subsequently lost the championship match. He would later join a stable called "The Dude Busters" alongside Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta on November 1, 2009. In late November, Hawkins and Croft won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. While they were champions, Croft and Hawkins would defend the title with Barreta via the Freebird Rule. On January 14, 2010 at an FCW television taping, The Dude Busters lost the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship to The Fortunate Sons (Brett DiBiase and Joe Hennig).
Return to SmackDown (2010–2011)
Hawkins returned to the SmackDown roster in May 2010, forming a tag team with Vance Archer. They made their television debut as a team on the May 13 edition of WWE Superstars, defeating two local competitors. After the match, Hawkins stated that he and Archer had been given a 30-day contract to "make an impact". The team made its SmackDown debut on the May 21 episode, winning another squash match. In an attempt to make an impact, the duo attacked Montel Vontavious Porter and Christian on consecutive episodes of SmackDown on June 4 and June 11, which they followed up on by defeating both in a tag team match on June 18. The next week the duo was officially named "The Gatecrashers". The pair also competed in a battle royal on the June 4 episode of SmackDown to replace The Undertaker in the World Heavyweight Championship fatal four-way match at Fatal 4-Way. Hawkins was one of the four final participants in the match, but was eliminated by the eventual winner, Rey Mysterio. After their 30-day contract expired, they were signed to new long-term contracts in storyline. The team came to an end on the October 7 airing of Superstars after a match between Archer and Chris Masters. Archer accidentally struck Hawkins outside the ring after which the two argued and a distracted Archer lost the match. Afterwards, Hawkins assaulted Archer.
Hawkins moved to singles competition the following week, defeating Trent Barreta. A rivalry then began between the two shortly after, with Barreta getting the win on the November 18 edition of Superstars. In a rematch the next week, Hawkins defeated Barreta, claiming Barreta's win the week before was a fluke.
Raw and reunion with Zack Ryder (2011)
On April 26, Hawkins was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. On the May 12 edition of WWE Superstars, Hawkins helped Zack Ryder pick up a victory against Vladimir Kozlov. The following week on WWE Superstars, Hawkins teamed up with Ryder in a losing effort against Kozlov and Santino Marella.
Teaming with Tyler on NXT Redemption and others (2011-12)
The pair began tagging in 2011 on Superstars. Moving to NXT, they claim they are neglected and have been feuding with the Usos and Matt Striker. Announcer William Regal admires their tenacity.
After MCM was hired as guards, the duo later were moved onto Raw and Smackdown until they broke up in August 2012 when Reks quit to spend time with family.
Singles competition (2013-2014)
He was released from the WWE on June 12, 2014.
Return to independent circuit (2014-present)
Pro Championship Syndicate (2014)
In June 2014, Hawkins signed with Pro Wrestling Syndicate.
Global Force Wrestling (2015–present)
On July 9, 2015, Myers was announced as part of the roster of the Global Force Wrestling (GFW) promotion.
Myers first wrestled on January 22, 2016 at GFW Amped Live, in a six-man tag team match with Andrew Everett & Nick Aldis, defeating Kevin Matthews, Pat Buck & The Amazing Red. Eight days later on January 30, Myers wrestled a GFW/Pro Wrestling Syndicate event, defending PWS Television Championship in a successful Falls Count Anywhere title match against Chris Payne. Four months later on May 13, Myers wrestled in a MCW Pro Wrestling/GFW event known as MCW/GFW Collision Course, losing a title match against the GFW Global Champion Nick Aldis. On May 15 at GFW/AML Confrontation 2016, Brian Myers teamed with The Washington Bullets (Jon Williams & Trey Williams) defeating The Heatseekers (Elliot Russell & Sigmon) & Kevin Matthews in a six-man tag team match. Myers wrestled his latest match on June 11 at WrestlePro/GFW in a ten-man elimination match won by CPA.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2015)
Myers made his Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut representing GFW on the July 27, 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling, where he teamed with Trevor Lee and lost to The Wolves. On the September 2, 2015 edition of Impact Wrestling, Myers and Lee defeated The Wolves in a rematch to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. The next week on the September 9, 2015 edition of Impact Wrestling, they lost the title back to The Wolves, ending their reign for only 1 day. On the September 16 edition of Impact Wrestling, Team GFW (Brian Myers, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Chris Mordetzky and Sonjay Dutt) faced Team TNA (Drew Galloway, Lashley, Eddie Edwards, Bram and Davey Richards) in a Lethal Lockdown Match where they lost. At Bound for Glory, he and Trevor Lee had a rematch for the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the Wolves but failed to win the titles.
Create A Pro Wrestling (2014-present)
Myers operates the training school called Create A Pro Wrestling Academy with fellow WWE alumni Pat Buck. Both Myers and Buck serve as the academy's head trainers and members of the academy's roster.
Myers wrestled his first CAP match on February 13, 2015 at CAP Create A Pro Wrestling Show, where he and Pat Buck wrestled in a three-way tag team match won by The Beaver Boys (Alex Reynolds & John Silver). Myers and Pat Buck teamed with Max Caster to defeat Jared Evans, Joe Bronson & Maxwell Jacob Feinstein in a six-man tag team match at CAP Create A Pro Wrestling Show II on April 3. On May 31 at CAP Create A Pro Wrestling Show III. At CAP Create A Pro Wrestling Show IV, Myers defeated Maxwell Jacob Feinstein. At CAP The Good Fight, Myers also defeated Dickie Rodz. At CAP The Places That You've Come To Fear The Most, Myers teamed with Pat Buck & Vinny Spano in a six-man tag team match won by Dickie Rodz, Mark Sterling & Matt Striker. Myers finished out 2015 in CAP with a tag team victory shared with Pat Buck against Cliff Compton & Dickie Rodz at CAP The Best Deception.
On January 31, 2016 at CAP Cap Bowl, Myers teamed with Pat Buck to wrestle in a Cap Bowl Ten Team Gauntlet match won by the team of Massage NV (Dorian Graves & VSK). At CAP Create A Bro held on March 13, Myers & Buck defeated the team of The Reynolds Brothers (Alex Reynolds & Kyle Reynolds). On June 5, Myers was set to wrestle Maximus Sex Power.
Return to WWE (2016–present)
On July 21, 2016, Myers signed to make his return to WWE and joined the SmackDown brand. Myers returned to WWE under his Curt Hawkins ring name in vignettes in similar vein of the well-known Chuck Norris facts]], beginning in August. This continued until it was announced that he would make his televised in-ring return at the No Mercy pay-per-view. At the event, he "stepped into the ring" and announced his debut match to take place on that week's episode of SmackDown. However, the scheduled match was bumped from the show due to time constraints. The week after on SmackDown, Hawkins was scheduled to face Apollo Crews. After Crews punched Hawkins, Hawkins left the ring before the match could start. Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net described Hawkins' gimmick as an "obnoxious heel" that "bounces from being funny to groan-inducing", while praising Hawkins' performance. Hawkins' character was also widely compared to that of Eva Marie, in which Marie would fake unfortunate events to avoid in-ring competition. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Hawkins accepted Dolph Ziggler's first open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, losing to Ziggler in seven seconds. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Hawkins earned his first televised victory since returning by defeating Apollo Crews. On the TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs pre-show, Hawkins made his pay-per-view in-ring return, when he teamed with The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) against The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley), American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) and Crews in a losing effort. In a backstage segment, airing online during the March 14th edition of Smackdown Live!, Hawkins declared he would be competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33.
Personal life
While he was inactive in WWE, in 2013, Myers and Pat Buck opened a wrestling school in Hicksville, New York, Create A Pro wrestling academy.
Myers married his long time girlfriend, Lizzie Karcher on October 9, 2015.
He is also good friends with Zack Ryder and Trent Barreta in real life as they trained together during the early years of their careers.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Hangmans facebuster 2008- 2009
- 'The Laugh Riot '(Lifting DDT) 2008 - 2009
- Attack Of The Clones
- Heatseeker Elbow Drop 2010–present
- Long Island Express
- Arm Twist Swinging Samoan Drop
- Double DDT
- Tag teams and stables'
- Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
- La Familia
- Curt Hawkins and Vance Archer
- MidCard Mafia (with Tyler Reks)
- Curt Hawkins (with Trevor Lee)
- Nicknames
- "The Party Starter"
- "The Prince of Queens"
- "The Captain of the Star FACTory"
- Entrance themes
- "What I Want" by Daughtry featuring Slash (DSW / OVW)
- "Gasoline Upcharge" by Chris Weerts and Daniel Holter (DSW / WWE)
- "In the Middle of it Now" by Disciple (WWE; February 1, 2008 – June 12, 2014)[109]
- "Black Fury" by Jim Johnston (WWE; May 13, 2010 – October 7, 2010; used while teaming with Vance Archer)
- "Up All Night" by Hinder (Independent circuit)
- "Face the Facts" by CFO$ (WWE; 2016–present)
Championships and accomplishments
- DSW Tag Team Champion (2 time) - with Brett Majors
- NYWC Tag Team Champion (2 time) - with Brett Matthews
- OVW Southern Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Brett Majors
- WWE Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Zack Ryder
References
See also
- Brian Myers’ event history
- Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks
- Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer
- Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
