Edge (wrestler)
| Adam Copeland | |
|---|---|
| File:AdamCopeland Edge.jpg | |
| Born | October 30, 1973 Orangeville, Ontario |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Adam Impact, Edge, Sexton Hardcastle, Uno |
| Billed height | 195 cm (6 ft 4 in) |
| Billed weight | 114 kg (240 lb) |
| Billed from | Toronto, Ontario |
| Trained by | Ron Hutchison, Sweet Daddy Siki, Sully's Gym, Bret and Stu Hart, Dory Funk, Jr., Tom Prichard |
| Debut | July 1, 1992 |
Adam Joseph Copeland (born on October 30, 1973 in Orangeville, Ontario), is a Canadian professional wrestler better known by his ring name Edge. He is currently wrestling on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the reigning WWE Champion. Copeland initially rose to fame as one half of the tag team Edge and Christian, alongside his real life best friend and storyline brother Jason "Christian" Reso.
Early career
Throughout the 1990s Copeland wrestled for many independent promotions in Ontario as well in the Great Lakes region of the United States under the name Sexton Hardcastle. As Sexton Hardcastle he was managed by Johnny Bradford and Judd the Studd and would go on to become a part of the successful tag team Sex and Violence, with Joe Legend, in the Detroit area. During 1997, Sex and Violence were a part of a bigger stable known as Thug Life, made up of Legend, Hardcastle, Christian Cage, Bloody Bill Skullion and Rhino Richards. In his indy career, he also won the SSW Tag title, the ICW Street Fight Tag Title and the ICW/MWCW Midwest Unified Tag Title, all with Cage. The duo was known as Hard Impact, before changing their name to the Suicide Blondes.
World Wrestling Federation
In 1998 Copeland was signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and made his WWF television debut later that year. He started his WWF career as Edge, a strange loner character who entered the arena through the crowd for his matches. In his first pay-per-view match with the company, SummerSlam '98, he served as Sable's mystery tag team partner against Jacqueline and Marc Mero, and actually bodyslammed Sable on to Mero in a pinning position to pick up the win.
1999-2000
Edge was then placed into a feud against the vampire wrestler Gangrel. During the feud Gangrel introduced Christian, Edge's (kayfabe) brother as his ally. Eventually, Gangrel and Christian convinced Edge to join them and the three of them formed a faction known as "The Brood". The Brood as a whole was later abducted by and converted into The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness.
In May of 1999 the Brood broke away from The Ministry after Christian was attacked by Ken Shamrock and forced by him to reveal the location of the captive Stephanie McMahon. The Undertaker chose to have Christian punished for his trespass, but Edge and Gangrel stood by him and turned against Undertaker. This was historic in the effect that no one else actually defected from the Ministry before or after that: it dissolved with all the other members intact. in july of 1999 edge won the wwf ic title from jeff jarrett at a house show in the skydome toronto canada he however lost it back the following night at a wwf pay per view
Following a short feud with the Ministry, they began a feud with The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy). Soon, however, Gangrel turned on Edge and Christian and formed The New Brood with their enemies, The Hardyz.
Even after the New Brood split Edge & Christian continued to feud with The Hardy Boyz. The two teams competed in the a tag team ladder match at the 1999 No Mercy pay-per-view for the "managerial services" of Terri Runnels and $100,000, however Edge & Christian came up short.
At WrestleMania 2000, Edge and Christian defeated the Hardyz and the Dudley Boyz to win their first WWF World Tag Team Title in a Triangle Ladder Match which birthed the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.
Following this victory, Edge and Christian found success as a heel duo, shifting their gimmick from borderline goths to a comedic pair of "cool dudes", winning the WWF Tag Team Titles seven more times. During this time their trademark became the "five second pose" where they would perform a pose in the ring for five seconds "for the benefit of those with flash photography" to mock, insult, or otherwise amuse the fans. They also competed as a team in the first three Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches, winning the first two over The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz, at SummerSlam 2000 and then again at WrestleMania X-Seven.
2001-2002
Copeland would go on to solidify himself as a burgeoning singles star by winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament. Christian turned on Edge shortly afterward, and the two feuded over Edge's Intercontinental Championship, which Christian won and lost back to Edge. Edge lost the Intercontinental Title to Test and shortly afterward won the WCW United States Championship from Kurt Angle. Edge defeated Test at Survivor Series 2001 to unify the Intercontinental Championship with the WCW United States Championship he previously lost.
Throughout the winter months of 2001 Copeland feuded with William Regal for the Intercontinental Title after Regal beat him for it. Edge came up short in the feud. When WrestleMania X8 came around Edge found himself in a match with Booker T that was the result of Edge beating out Booker for a fictitious Japanese shampoo endorsement.
After his feud with Booker T was quietly pushed aside Copeland was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in the first WWE Draft. Upon arriving there he began a feud against Kurt Angle which culminated with Edge shaving Kurt's head following a hair vs. hair match. When Rey Mysterio made his SmackDown! debut, the two formed a pair and captured the WWE Tag Team Championship. The duo were often referred to as "the future of SmackDown!".
2003-2004
In February 2003, Copeland suffered a neck injury that required surgery which kept him sidelined for close to a year. During his recovery he wrote a column for WWE.com. He was scheduled to return to the ring in February 2004, but suffered a broken hand just before his expected return which forced him to stay out of the ring for an additional month. He was placed on the RAW brand in the draft lottery after WrestleMania XX, and returned to in-ring action shortly after that event. Upon returning Edge appeared to be a brand-new man, visibly having more muscle-mass and upping his weight from 240 to 250 pounds. He also sported a new tattoo on his left shoulder. On the April 19, 2004 edition of RAW he and Chris Benoit won the World Tag Team Championship. He continued to back Benoit and be there whenever Benoit needed him, even after they lost the titles. The partnership was disbanded when Edge won the Intercontinental Championship.
In July, at Vengeance 2004, Edge defeated Randy Orton to win the Intercontinental Championship. He then turned heel. Following a (legit) groin injury in a non-televised match RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff stripped Edge of the Intercontinental Championship.
When Edge returned, his character was portrayed as a crazed heel with severe anger management problems centered around his obsession for the World Heavyweight Championship. He, Benoit and Shawn Michaels received a chance to be voted in by fans for a title shot at Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship for Taboo Tuesday 2004. However, Shawn Michaels won the vote, which gave the two remaining wrestlers, Edge and Benoit, a Tag Title shot. During the match Edge abandoned his partner (although Benoit managed to win the titles on his own) and instead interfered in the main event, costing Michaels the championship.
Edge would eventually abandon his tag team partner Benoit yet again, allowing them to lose the titles. Edge then joined Triple H's team for Survivor Series 2004 while Benoit joined Randy Orton's.
Later on in the year, both Edge and Benoit competed in a number one contenders battle royal, eliminating each other simultaneously at the conclusion of the match, resulting in a draw. Due to this, current World Heavyweight Champion Triple H was forced to defend the title in a triple threat match. During the course of the match, Benoit locked on the Crippler Crossface, while in it Edge shifted his weight putting Benoit's shoulders on the mat for a pin. The match ended in a Dusty finish as Benoit made Edge submit at the same time the referee counted a pinfall for Edge. As a result of this, the World Heavyweight Title was vacated the next week on RAW.
2005-2006
Edge got another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship at New Year's Revolution 2005 in the Elimination Chamber. Edge and a returning Shawn Michaels would renew their rivalry in this match, with Michaels serving as special guest referee. Edge would go on to defeat Michaels at the 2005 Royal Rumble.
At WrestleMania 21, Edge won the first ever "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match, a match for a contract that granted the bearer a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Per the stipulations of the contract, his title match contract was guaranteed for up to a year, up to and including WrestleMania 22 to be cashed in at any time within the time frame.
Around this time, Edge came under heavy criticism by wrestling fans due to his betrayal of a fellow wrestler and real life friend, Matt Hardy, by having an affair with Matt's girlfriend of six years Amy "Lita" Dumas. Lita had been out of action for several months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Shortly after she recovered, Matt Hardy suffered the same injury and was out of action. It was during this time that Edge, despite being married, began an affair with Lita.
Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, Edge was paired with Lita in a angle after she turned on her on-air husband Kane. On the July 11 edition of RAW, Edge's main event match with Kane was interrupted when Matt Hardy made a surprising appearance. The situation was suspected to be a worked shoot, with Hardy referring to Edge by his real name, "Adam", and issuing a threat to Lita as well. With Matt Hardy officially back on RAW he and Edge faced each other at SummerSlam 2005, where Edge defeated Hardy by knockout. Edge defeated Matt Hardy in a Loser Leaves RAW match at WWE Homecoming, seemingly ending their feud once and for all.
Shortly after the Homecoming victory, Edge suffered a torn pectoral muscle that kept him shelved for several weeks. During his time off, he starred in his own talk show segment on RAW entitled The Cutting Edge and dubbed himself the "Rated-R Superstar". At this time Edge started a feud with Ric Flair following Flair's well-publicized arrest in connection with a road rage incident. Edge began using "The Cutting Edge" as a soapbox to run down Flair. After weeks of public mockery Flair eventually showed up and attacked Edge.
Edge and Flair formally met at New Year's Revolution in a match in which Edge was disqualified. Later that night, however, following the main event Elimination Chamber match Vince McMahon appeared on the stage, declaring that Cena would defend the WWE Championship one more time. This time against Edge who had decided to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. Edge defeated Cena to become WWE Champion, making Edge a Triple Crown Champion.
In an interview conducted after New Year's Revolution on WWE.com, Edge announced that he and Lita would have "hot, torrid sex" in the middle of the ring on RAW the next night to celebrate. On RAW, Edge and Lita seemingly held up to that promise by engaging in foreplay until they were interrupted by Ric Flair calling Edge a disgrace. However, Flair ended up on the receiving end of a one-man con-chair-to on the announcers' table. This led to John Cena coming out to rescue Flair. The sex segment earned RAW a 5.2 rating. Edge would later call himself the most-watched WWE Champion in the last 5 years due to the high ratings.
At the Royal Rumble, Edge lost the WWE Championship back to John Cena. On the February 16, 2006 special Thursday night edition of RAW, Edge would lose a rematch to John Cena for the WWE Championship, which was officiated by special guest referee Mick Foley. Following the match, Edge and Lita accused Foley of making biased calls that led to Cena's win, then attacked him. At WrestleMania 22 on April 2, Edge defeated Foley in a Hardcore Match. This brought Edge's WrestleMania record to 5-0, the second best undefeated streak at Mania (second to the Undertaker's 14-0).
After Backlash, Edge would once again be involved with Mick Foley. At ECW One Night Stand 2006 Edge, Foley, and Lita defeated Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk and Beulah McGillicutty in an "Extreme Rules" tag team match. During the ECW feud, Edge would also win the #1 contendership for the WWE Title but was defeated at Vengeance by Rob Van Dam.
On the July 3 edition of RAW Edge pinned Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat Match, also involving John Cena, to become WWE Champion for the second time. This match marked the first time the WWE Championship changed hands on RAW since October 8, 2001.
Personal life
As a teenager, he appeared at WrestleMania VI as part of the crowd cheering for WWF Champion Hulk Hogan in the "Ultimate Challenge" Main Event against Intercontinental Champion Ultimate Warrior. It was this match which made him realize he wanted to be a wrestler and follow in the footsteps of Hogan and Warrior.
During his high school years Copeland was voted "Most Likely to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship." He was also on his school's basketball team but he quit after he was told he had to cut his hair.
Copeland's autobiography, entitled "Adam Copeland On Edge", was published on November 4, 2004. He was only the second WWE wrestler (the first being Mick Foley) to actually write a whole book himself, instead of using a ghost writer like many other wrestlers.
Copeland was first married to wrestler Sean "Val Venis" Morley's sister Alanah, but was divorced from her in 2004. He then met Lisa Ortiz (not to be confused with the voice actress of the same name) and married her in October 2004. He began having an affair with fellow wrestler Amy "Lita" Dumas, in December 2004. When news of the affair with Dumas broke, Copeland sought a divorce from Ortiz, which was finalised in November 2005.
Copeland had a tattoo on his upper biceps of a shark flexing its arm that resembled the protagonists of the cartoon "Street Sharks". He later covered that tattoo with a tattoo of a sun.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- Spear
- Edgecution / Concussion on Delivery - C.O.D. / Buzzkiller / Impaler DDT (Lifting DDT)
- Edgecator (Kneeling inverted sharpshooter)
- Downward Spiral (Reverse STO) - 1999
- Edge-O-Matic (Sitout rear mat slam)
- Winning Edge (Half nelson bulldog)
- Diving spear
- Electric chair bomb
- Flapjack
- Missile dropkick
- One man con-chair-to
- Spinning heel-kick
- Managers
- Johnny Bradford
- Gangrel
- Lita
- Terri Runnels
- Judd the Studd
- Nicknames
- Edgevis
- Mr. King of the Ring
- Mr. Money in the Bank
- The Rated R Superstar
- Theme Music
- Edge's WWE entrance song is "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge. During 2001-2003 it was "Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)" by Rob Zombie and before that he used two original WWF made songs entitled "You Think You Know Me" and "On the Edge".
Championships and accomplishments
- Insane Championship Wrestling
- 1-time ICW/MWCW Mid-West Unified Tag Team Champion
- 2-time ICW Street Fight Tag Team Champion
- PWI Match of the Year 2000 and 2001 (with Christian, versus the Hardy Boyz, versus the Dudley Boyz)
- PWI Most Improved Award (2001)
- PWI Comeback of the Year Award (2004)
- PWI Feud of the Year Award (2005) (with Matt Hardy)
- Southern States Wrestling
- 1-time SSW Tag Team Champion
- 1-time WCW United States Champion
- 2-time WWE Champion (current)
- 5-time WWF/E Intercontinental Champion
- 10-time WWF/E World Tag Team Champion (7-time with Christian, 2-time with Chris Benoit, 1-time with Hollywood Hulk Hogan)
- 1-time WWE Tag Team Champion (with Rey Mysterio)
- 2001 King of the Ring
- 2005 Mr. Money in the Bank
- Fifteenth Triple Crown Champion
- 2000 Tag Team of the Year (with Christian)
- 2002 Match of the Year (with Rey Mysterio versus Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle)
Championship succession
References
External links
