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Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder (formerly known as the Major Brothers, The Edgeheads, and the Rated-R Entourage) are an American professional wrestling tag team that are currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestling on its SmackDown brand.

The team consists of Curt Hawkins (the former Brian Major), real name Brian Myers (born 1985 in Glen Cove, New York), and Zack Ryder (the former Brett Major), real name Matthew Cardona (born May 14, 1985 in Merrick, New York). They were both trained by Mikey Whipwreck.

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 Friday Night SmackDown.

Career

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-current)

Developmental territories (2006-2007)

On February 24 2006, Brian and Brett Majors signed developmental contracts with WWE. The Majors Brothers are former two time Deep South Tag Team Champions winning the titles from the Untouchables and winning a triple threat match involving William Regal and Dave Taylor and The Samoan Fight Club. In early 2007 the Majors Brothers started working dark matches on Raw and SmackDown!.

On June 15, 2007 at Ohio Valley Wrestling's third Super Summer Sizzler Series event of the year at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, the Majors defeated Charles "The Hammer" Evans and Justin "The Ox" LaRouche (the latter who ironically later became their stablemate in La Familia as Bam Neely) to capture the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. However, on June 29 they dropped the titles to the James Boys (K.C. James and Cassidy James).

The Major Brothers (2007)

The Major Brothers (with the 's' dropped from the Majors name outside of plural reference) made their WWE television debut on the May 1 2007 edition of ECW on SciFi defeating Matt Striker and 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 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 part of the 2007 Supplemental Draft as the 8th pick. 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 #1 contender's battle royal, but could not defeat the champions, MVP and Matt Hardy..

Hawkins and Ryder (2007-current)

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 at times on multiple occasions. They also dropped the short trunks the team wore as the Major Brothers and started wearing long tights to match Edge's ring attire, for which sometimes Hawkins would have his hair in a ponytail to differentiate the two, though they later added their own names and Hawkins switched back to the traditional short trunks and began wearing a jacket 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. At Unforgiven, La Familia officially ended when The Big Show sided with Vickie and Chavo and Neely were sent their own way. 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.