The Von Brauners
| The Von Brauners | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tag team | |
| Members |
Karl Von Brauner Kurt Von Brauner#1 Eric Von Brauner Kurt Von Brauner#2 Saul Weingeroff (manager) |
| Name(s) | The Von Brauners Kurt & Karl Von Brauner |
| Billed from | Germany |
| Debut | 1960 |
| Disbanded | 1974 |
| Promotions |
AWA NWA WWA |
The Von Brauners were a professional wrestling tag team/stable that operated from the 1950s through the 1970s. The teams consisted of Karl Von Brauner (Doug Donovan), Kurt Von Brauner#1 (Jimmy Brawner), Eric Von Brauner (Red Donnan), and Kurt Von Brauner#2 (Willy Rutgowsky). The chosen gimmick was that of a team of evil German twins.
The four members worked as the Von Brauners for approximately fifteen years. The team of Karl and Kurt #1 captured World Tag Team gold 20 times. All versions of the team captured a total of 35 World Tag Team titles plus 5 regional tag team titles.
Jimmy Brawner and Doug Donovan began tag teaming together in January 1960 as Kurt and Karl Von Brauner, respectively, with the gimmick of evil German twins. Some promotional material cited them as descending from Teutonic royalty. Fellow professional wrestler Dick Steinborn suggested the two wrestle together after noting that they resembled each other. The duo first teamed together in Oklahoma. They were paired with Saul Weingeroff as their manager in the early 1960s, and Weingeroff frequently interfered in their matches by wielding his cane against the Von Brauners' opponents. Later, they were booked by Nick Gulas in NWA Mid-America. When Jimmy Brauner and Doug Donovan split up in 1965, Donovan's real life brother Ron "Red" Donnan began teaming with him as Karl and Eric Von Brauner. Eric retired in the late 1960s and was replaced by the second Kurt Von Brauner, played by Willy Rutgowsky. The teamed together in San Francisco with Gerhardt Kaiser as their manager. The team disbanded in 1974.
Doug Donovan played the Karl Von Brauner character. He was born Doug Donnan on a dairy farm in Stirling, Ontario. He played junior football in Edmonton, Alberta. While working at a gym, Stu Hart "discovered" Donovan and trained him to be a professional wrestler. During his wrestling years, he changed his name to Donovan, and at 5′10″, he weighed 215 pounds. Donovan had some early success with Pacific Northwest Wrestling as a singles wrestler, winning the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship once, as well as the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship five times (including twice with his brother Red). Later, Donovan legally changed his name to Karl Von Brauner.
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