Edge and Christian

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Edge and Christian
Tag Team
Members Edge
Christian
Name(s) High Impact
Suicide Blondes
Revolution X
Hard Impact
Canadian Rockers
Christian and Edge
Edge and Christian
Los Conquistadores
Heights 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) - Edge
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) - Christian
Combined weight 217 kg (480 lb/34.2 st)
Hometown Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Billed from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Former member(s) Christian
Edge
Debut 1998
Disbanded 2001
Promotions ICW
SSW
WWF
Trainer Ron Hutchinson[1]

Edge and Christian (E&C) is a former tag team of on-screen brothers made of real life best friends Edge (Adam Copeland) and Christian (Jason Reso), who wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and the Canadian independent circuit.[1] They won the WWF Tag Team Championship on seven occasions.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Formerly known as "High Impact" and later "The Suicide Blondes" while on the independent circuit, in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) the team was billed as Edge & Christian and re-imagined as brothers instead of just close friends. The duo held titles in numerous wrestling promotions before signing with the WWF.

The words "Edge" and "Christian" are often associated with one another through their use in Christianity. However, any part that may have actually played (outside of coincidence) in the origins of the two ring names still has not come to light. Adam "Edge" Copeland stated the following in an interview with Silvervision.co.uk when he was asked about any plans for a tag team name before they had settled with Edge & Christian:

“ Well when I first came out they created Edge and Christian around the same time, Sexton Hardcastle went out of the window because it didn't fit. Vince Russo words were the modern day Jim Morrison you can understand why I didn't know I had no clue what that was but I came up with the name Edge and some other names like Rage and Riot, but I didn't really like them so I pitched Edge. So going with that Edge and Suicide Blonds doesn't really go together that well, so Christian wrestled as Christian Cage, so when they brought him in as my brother they just dropped the Cage off, so we became Edge and Christian. I would have liked a tag team name but Edge and Christian started rolling off everyone's tongue. ”

[edit] Independent circuit (1998)

Sexton Hardcastle and Christian Cage formed a tag team in the Canadian independent circuit after completing their training with Ron Hutchinson. Their tag team wrestled under several names, "High Impact", "Suicide Blondes", "Revolution X", "Hard Impact" and "Canadian Rockers".[1] They were part of a faction dubbed "Thug LiFe" in 1997.[1][3] The stable consisted of Cage, Hardcastle, Joe E. Legend, Rhino Richards, Bloody Bill Skullion, Big Daddy Adams and Martin Kane.[3] In 1998, Sexton and Christian began teaming up in independent promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and Southern States Wrestling (SSW).

The duo would win the ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship twice and SSW Tag Team Championship once during their time in the independent circuit. They moved to the WWF in the summer of 1998 where they wrestled as "Edge and Christian".

[edit] World Wrestling Federation (1998-2001)

[edit] The Brood (1998)

On June 22, 1998 edition of RAW is WAR, Edge (Adam Copeland) debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) against Jose Estrada, Jr.. He was a mysterious "loner" character, who would emerge from the crowd before his matches.[4] Eventually, he started a feud with Gangrel.[1] At In Your House: Breakdown, during a match pitting Edge against Owen Hart, an unknown person, looking similar to Edge, came out to the ring distracting him enough to allow Hart to get the win.[5] It was later revealed that this person was Christian, Edge's (kayfabe) brother, and he was aligned with Gangrel as his vampire follower. After some confrontations between the two brothers (both of whom appeared to be gothic and vampire-like), Edge was convinced to 'rejoin' with Christian & Gangrel, and the three of them formed a stable known as The Brood (the theory of Christianity word usage's involvement in Copeland and Reso's WWE ring names is somewhat supported by the fact that both men have been wearing cross necklaces on TV since this beginning of their WWF careers).[1][6]

At In Your House: Rock Bottom, the Brood defeated J.O.B. Squad (Al Snow, Bob Holly and Scorpio).[1][6][7] The Brood briefly joined The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness, but left after Christian was (kayfabe) thrown out of the group for revealing Stephanie McMahon's whereabouts to Ken Shamrock following an attack.[6][8] Following a short feud with the Ministry, Gangrel turned on Edge and demanded that Christian do the same.[6][1] He refused and both he and Edge broke with Gangrel turning them babyface. From there, the gothic storyline enjoyed limited success, beginning their eventual tag team feud with The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy).[1][6] At this point, the duo had rehashed Edge's pre-Brood gimmick as borderline gothic faces most notable for a tendency to enter the ring through the audience.

[edit] Terri Invitational Tournament (1999)

The tag team feud with the Hardy Boyz intensified as Gangrel became Matt and Jeff's new manager, combining to form "The New Brood", in the summer of 1999. However, both teams were more interested in acquiring the managerial services of Terri Runnels for which (along with $100,000) they would compete in a best-of-five series of matches known as the Terri Invitational Tournament. Edge and Christian won the first two matches, putting the Hardyz in sudden jeopardy. However, the Hardyz went on to win the next two matches, leading to a rubber match at No Mercy 1999 to determine which team would earn the services of Runnels.[1][9][8] The rubber match would be a ladder match, in which Gangrel tried to interfere, only to get ejected. Matt and Jeff Hardy went on to win the match and the Terri Invitational Tournament.[1][10]

[edit] Reeking of Awesomeness & Golden Taste (2000)

At this point, Gangrel was completely out of the picture, and the Hardyz inevitably turned face. So in order to keep up and continue their own progression as a tag team (as well as the feud in a natural course), Edge and Christian redefined themselves as a heel duo of surfer/teen idols. The two engaged in various comedic antics including making fun of their opponents, using strange exclusive phrases (the most notable being "reek of awesomeness"), and dressing in outlandish costumes. Other trademarks of theirs included the "five-second pose" where, "for the benefit of those with flash photography", they would stand still in odd positions in the middle of the ring so fans could take pictures. These poses usually involved making fun of either their opponents or aspects of town pride (for instance, making fun of Elvis Presley during a show in Memphis, Tennessee) to generate negative heat from the crowd.

Edge and Christian were involved in several tag team matches with Hardy Boyz at Survivor Series 1999 and No Way Out 2000.[1][11][12] At WrestleMania 2000, they defeated the tag champs, Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) and Hardy Boyz in a Triangle Ladder match for their first WWF Tag Team Championship.[1][13][14] At Backlash 2000, the duo retained their titles against D-Generation X (X-Pac and Road Dogg).[1][15] They began a feud with Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty, Brian Christopher and Rikishi). On May 29, 2000 edition of RAW is WAR, they dropped the titles to Scotty and Christopher.[16] At King of the Ring 2000, the duo defeated Too Cool, Hardy Boyz and T & A (Test and Albert) in a Four Corners elimination match to win their second WWF Tag Team Championship.[1][17][18]

At SummerSlam 2000, they defended their titles successfully against Dudleyz and Hardyz in the first-ever TLC match.[1][19] Edge and Christian stated that instead of doing the "time-honored tradition" of shaking the hands of their opponents, they would instead do the time-honored tradition of mocking their opponents, and had four little people show up dressed as the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz, with toy ladders and tables, with a "37 second pose" where the fake Hardys and Dudleys bowed to Edge and Christian, who stood on the table. They were also known for using the "con-chair-to" (simultaneous chair shot).[20]

[edit] Los Conquistadores (2000)

At one time, they and the Hardyz had a tag team championship exchange in 2000 involving the masks of Los Conquistadores. This began after they lost the titles to Hardyz at Unforgiven 2000, they had a final chance at the gold on September 25 edition of RAW is WAR in a ladder match. They lost the match and now they could not get any chance at the gold (as long as the Hardyz were champions). They started competing under the masks of Los Conquistadores.[16] On October 16 edition of RAW is WAR, they defeated Dudley Boyz,[16] and on October 19 edition of SmackDown!, they won a tag team battle royal to earn themselves a spot at the WWF Tag Team Championship.[21] At No Mercy 2000, they got a title shot against Hardyz and they went on to win their third WWF Tag Team Championship.[1][22][23]

On October 23 edition of RAW is WAR, Los Conquistadores were scheduled to defend the tag straps against Edge and Christian. Christian never made it to the ring, while Edge was worried. Los Conquistadores defeated Edge and Christian for the WWF Tag Team Championship. They ripped of the masks and were revealed to be Hardy Boyz.[16] Edge and Christian surrendered the golden costumes of Los Conquistadores. Edge and Christian had wrestled with the costumes, and people had thought that the people behind the masks were Edge and Christian. They told the fans that they were not Los Conquistadores. In backstage segments, they congratulated Los Conquistadores.[20] However, when Hardyz won the titles, they told that they had taken the masks and costumes from Edge and Christian's hired goons (Christopher Daniels and Aaron Aguilera were Los Conquistadores in backstage segments) in a backstage segment, thus ending the storyline of Los Conquistadores.

[edit] Team ECK (2000-2001)

They eventually started to team with Kurt Angle, forming Team ECK, a group that was later joined by Rhyno when he came in from Extreme Championship Wrestling in early 2001 to make Team RECK.

Edge and Christian won their fourth WWF Tag Team Championship at Armageddon 2000 in a Four Corners match which included the champions, Right To Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather), Dudley Boyz and the makeshift team of Road Dogg and K-Kwik. Edge and Christian went on to win the match and their fourth WWF Tag Team Championship.[1][24][25] A week later, they exchanged the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker and The Rock.[16][21][26]

At Royal Rumble 2001, they lost the titles to Dudleyz.[27] However, they helped Hardyz defeat Dudleyz for the titles on March 5, 2001 edition of RAW is WAR and then two weeks later,[28] they defeated Hardyz themselves for their sixth WWF Tag Team Championship after replacing Dudleyz because it was Dudleyz' shot.[29] Later that night, they dropped the titles to Dudleyz.[30] At WrestleMania X-Seven, they defeated the tag champs, Dudleyz and Hardyz in the second TLC match for their seventh and final WWF Tag Team Championship, but with help from their teammate Rhyno.[1][31][32] On April 19 edition of SmackDown!, they lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to Brothers of Destruction (Undertaker and Kane).[33]

[edit] Split

Friction arose between the team (as well as the entire RECK faction) at King of the Ring 2001 when Edge won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament (all four members had made it to the semi finals).[1][34] As a result, on the September 3 edition of RAW is WAR in their hometown of Toronto, Christian appeared to be jealous of his brother and insisted on carrying Edge's trophy to the ring. During the night, he assaulted Edge with a "One-Man Conchairto" and joined The Alliance. The former partners went on to feud over the WWF Intercontinental Championship for several months, causing the team to split.[1][35]

[edit] Reunion

Edge and Christian had a one-night reunion at a SmackDown! live event on October 13, 2002 when they defeated Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo).[1][36] They reunited again on November 15, 2004 edition of RAW but ended up losing to Chris Benoit and Shelton Benjamin.[1][37] From there, they would become loosely united through Christian facing Edge's storyline rivals, leading to three more reunion tag team matches in 2005.[1][38][39][40] These reunions, officially or otherwise, also included a brand new third party in the form of Christian's acting problem solver at the time, Tyson Tomko.

[edit] Aftermath

Christian left WWE on November 13, 2005. He debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at its Genesis 2005 PPV under the ring name, Christian Cage, which he used in Canadian independent circuit.[41] Christian experienced immediate success in TNA, where he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice.[42] Edge also received unlimited success in WWE. He went on to win the first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at New Year's Revolution 2006 for his first WWE Championship.[43][44]

[edit] In wrestling

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • Insane Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship (2 times)
  • Southern States Wrestling
  • SSW Tag Team Championship (1 time)

[edit] See also

Professional wrestling
Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Edge and Christian Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  2. ^ a b World Tag Team Championship official title history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  3. ^ a b Thug LiFe Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  4. ^ RAW is WAR results, 1998. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  5. ^ Breakdown results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “MATCH: Owen Hart defeated Edge”
  6. ^ a b c d e Brood Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  7. ^ Rock Bottom results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “SIX MAN TAG: The Brood beat The J.O.B. Squad”
  8. ^ a b RAW is WAR results, 1999. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  9. ^ SmackDown! results, 1999. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  10. ^ No Mercy 1999 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “LADDER MATCH: The Hardy Boyz defeated Edge & Christian to win the Terri Invitational Tournament.”
  11. ^ Survivor Series 1999 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “Brian Christopher, Scott Taylor, Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly vs Christian, Edge, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy”
  12. ^ No Way Out 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “Edge & Christian beat Matt & Jeff Hardy”
  13. ^ WrestleMania 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “TABLES/LADDERS MATCH: Edge & Christian defeated The Hardyz & The Dudleyz to win the Tag titles!”
  14. ^ a b Edge and Christian's first World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  15. ^ Backlash 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “TAG TITLE MATCH: Edge & Christian defeated Road Dogg & X-Pac to retain.”
  16. ^ a b c d e RAW is WAR results, 2000. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  17. ^ King of the Ring 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “E&C beat The Hardyz, T&A & Too Cool to win the WWF Tag Team Title.”
  18. ^ a b Edge and Christian's second World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  19. ^ SummerSlam 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “TAG TITLE TLC MATCH: Edge & Christian beat The Dudleyz & The Hardyz to retain!”
  20. ^ a b WWF results, 2000. Angelfire. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  21. ^ a b SmackDown! results, 2000. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  22. ^ No Mercy 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  23. ^ a b Edge and Christian's third World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  24. ^ Armageddon 2000 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “Edge & Christian beat The Dudley Boys, Road Dogg & K-Kwik, and The Goodfather & Bull Buchanan in a "fatal four way match" to win the WWF Tag Title”
  25. ^ a b Edge and Christian's fourth World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  26. ^ a b Edge and Christian's fifth World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  27. ^ Royal Rumble 2001 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “The Dudley Boyz defeated Edge & Christian to win the Tag Team Titles!”
  28. ^ RAW results - March 5, 2001. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  29. ^ a b Edge and Christian's sixth World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  30. ^ RAW results - March 19, 2001. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  31. ^ WrestleMania X-Seven results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “TLC MATCH: Edge & Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team titles.”
  32. ^ a b Edge and Christian's seventh World Tag Team Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  33. ^ SmackDown! results - April 19, 2001. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  34. ^ King of the Ring 2001 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24. “KOTR SEMI-FINALS: Kurt Angle defeated Christian. KOTR SEMI-FINALS: Edge defeated Rhyno. KOTR Tournament Final: Edge defeated Kurt Angle”
  35. ^ RAW results - September 3, 2001. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  36. ^ SmackDown! Live Event Results - October 13, 2002. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  37. ^ RAW results - November 15, 2004. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  38. ^ RAW results - January 24, 2005. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  39. ^ RAW results - February 21, 2005. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  40. ^ RAW results - March 21, 2005. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  41. ^ Genesis 2005 results. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  42. ^ N.W.A. World Heavyweight Title. The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  43. ^ WrestleMania 21 official results. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  44. ^ Edge def. John Cena to become new WWE Champion. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.
  45. ^ a b Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Match of the Year. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
  46. ^ WWE Intercontinental Championship official title history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  47. ^ Edge's first Intercontinental Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  48. ^ Edge's second Intercontinental Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  49. ^ WWE Light Heavyweight Championship official title history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
  50. ^ Christian's first Light Heavyweight Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.

[edit] External links