Curt Hawkins debuted in 2007 (with Zack Ryder), as the Major Brothers (Brett and Brian (Curt)) to work on WWE's ECW brand. The team won their debut match, but failed to win any consecutive matches in either singles or tag team competition following their debut on the brand. 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 (JBL). 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, and sending him off television.
Hawkins returned to the SmackDown roster on May 4, 2010, forming a tag team with Vance Archer defeating Chasyn Rance and JT Talent in a dark match. They made their television debut as a team on the May 13 episode 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 episode of Superstars. In a rematch the next week, Hawkins defeated Barreta, claiming Barreta's win the week before was a fluke. The feud ended with Barreta coming out on top when Barreta beat Hawkins on the December 9 episode of Superstars.
On April 26, Hawkins was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft. Hawkins and Ryder had a brief reunion on the May 19 episode of Superstars, where they teamed together in a losing effort against Kozlov and Santino Marella. After Hawkins beat JTG on the May 26 episode of Superstars, Hawkins would not see action again until more than three months later, when he teamed with Tyler Reks to defeat Percy Watson and Titus O'Neil on the September 8 episode of Superstars. Hawkins and Reks then began appearing on the fifth season of NXT, by attacking the Usos from behind on the September 27 episode NXT. Over the next two weeks on NXT, Hawkins and Reks faced the Usos in tag team matches, with Hawkins and Reks winning the first match and the Usos winning the second match. From October, Hawkins, claiming a broken ankle, began to carry around a metal walking cane. However, when Hawkins' injury had healed sufficiently for him to wrestle, he still brought the cane with him to the ring. Hawkins and Reks would then lose a non-title match to the tag team champions Air Boom on the December 22 episode of Superstars. He had his first match on Raw on January 9, 2012, and was quickly defeated by a returning Brodus Clay. Hawkins and Reks would feud with the duo of Trent Barreta and Yoshi Tatsu from December 2011. Both teams would play pranks on each other, with Tatsu being locked in a closet and Reks' hands being superglued onto an Xbox controller. Hawkins and Reks would beat Barreta and Tatsu on the January 18, 2012 episode of NXT.
Hawkins and Reks would then settle into the role of NXT's troublemakers, tormenting NXT host Matt Striker on his lacklustre career and how they should be main-eventing NXT, even once going to the extent of assaulting him after a match. This forced Striker to appoint William Regal as NXT's prime authority figure on the February 29 episode of NXT. Regal would employ harsh measures to keep Hawkins and Reks in line, including threatening suspensions for bad behaviour and condemning them to janitorial duty, this caused them much frustration. On the March 21 episode of NXT Redemption, Striker was knocked out with chloroform by Johnny Curtis and Maxine, and then Striker was kidnapped (kayfabe) by unknown persons, later revealed to be Hawkins and Reks, who intended to blackmail Maxine into using her charms to get Regal to leave them alone. Unfortunately for Hawkins and Reks, Striker was rescued by Derrick Bateman and Kaitlyn. On the April 18 episode of NXT, the freed Striker confronted Hawkins and Reks about the kidnapping, and Hawkins admitted the crime. As punishment, Regal put Hawkins and Reks in a match against each other with Striker as referee and the loser of the match would be fired. Even though Reks won to supposedly save his job at the expense of Hawkins', Regal decided to fire Reks as well, sending the two troublemakers away from NXT.
However, Regal could not keep the duo away from NXT for long, as they managed to convince villainous higher authority figure John Laurinaitis to rehire them as NXT's security team on the May 9 episode of NXT. Hawkins and Reks would then continue to play the role of Laurinaitis' lackeys, confiscating anti-Laurinaitis signs at Over the Limit and attacking John Cena on the May 21 episode of Raw. Hawkins and Reks' association with Laurinaitis ended after Laurinaitis lost his job at No Way Out. On the final episode of the fifth season of NXT on June 13, Hawkins and Reks defeated Percy Watson and Derrick Bateman.
Hawkins and Reks would then engage in a one-sided feud with Ryback in July 2012. After both Hawkins and Reks lost singles matches to Ryback on SmackDown, Ryback defeated both of them in a handicap match at Money in the Bank. At Raw 1,000, Hawkins and Reks, along with four other wrestlers, attempted to ambush Kane to make a statement, but a returning Undertaker interrupted the attack and the Brothers of Destruction disposed of Hawkins and Reks. The duo would once again lose to Ryback on the August 6 episode of Raw. After being told by SmackDown General Manager Booker T to "step it up", Hawkins and Reks debuted a stripper gimmick on the August 17 episode of SmackDown while squashing a jobber tag team.
A week later, Reks asked for his release as he intended to retire from wrestling to spend more time with his family; he and WWE parted ways on August 21, thus ending the team.
In October, Hawkins announced that he had undergone surgery for a torn posterior cruciate ligament and meniscus. On the January 21, 2013 episode of Raw before the Royal Rumble, a short-haired Hawkins returned on television tapings in a show-closing brawl. He made his return match on February 9, edition of Saturday Morning Slam, against Justin Gabriel in a losing effort. On June 5, 2013 Hawkins debuted a new biker gimmick on Main Event losing to Justin Gabriel. Hawkins would continue his losing streak, losing to the likes of Big E Langston, Sin Cara, and Rob Van Dam. On the May 8, 2014 episode of NXT, Hawkins competed a battle royal to determine a new #1 contender to the NXT Championship, in which he was unsuccessful. On the May 22 episode of NXT Hawkins faced Adrian Neville in a losing effort.
On June 12, 2014, WWE announced that Hawkins had been released from his contract.
On the August 16, 2016 episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Hawkins would return to the brand in the coming weeks. It was later announced that he would make his debut at No Mercy on October 9. At No Mercy, he "stepped into the ring", cut a promo, and then announced he would have his debut match on the October 11 SmackDown. However this match did not happen. The week after on SmackDown, Hawkins was scheduled to face Apollo Crews. After Crews punched Hawkins, the latter left the ring before the match could start. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Hawkins accepted Dolph Ziggler's first open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, but was unsuccessful, losing to Ziggler in seven seconds. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Hawkins picked up his first win after returning by defeating Apollo Crews with a roll-up.