Wrestling PROfile

Edge

Adam Copeland used his fascination with comic book superheroes and rock music to launch his career as a professional wrestler.

On the Edge

Adam Copeland's life story is a study of single-minded wrestling dedication.

World Wrestling Federation fans know Edge as a tall, blond-haired, pompous heel who enters arenas through the crowd like a rock star. Whit his "brother" Christian, Edge insults the hometown crowds and offers to pose for the thousands of flashing cameras before matches. The more he and Christian preen for the cameras, the more the fans seem to embrace the young tandem.

Since Edge debuted in the WWF on the June 22, 1998 edition of RAW, his charisma has steadily increased. But his popularity is not merely due to his wit on the microphone and good looks. In what many fans named as match of the year, Edge and Christian put on a high-flying clinic with The Hardy Boyz in the final bout of a best-of-five "Terri Invitational Tournament" at No Mercy on Oct. 17, 1999. the ladder match between Edge and Christian, The Hardy boyz and The Dudley Boyz at Wrestlemania on April 2, 2000, is another milestone that demonstrated Edge is one of the elite performers in wrestling's most prestigious federation.

While Edge may seem inseparable from his "brother" Christian on WWF television, a look at Adam Copeland's childhood - the man behind the WWF persona - reveals a person who grew up an only child in a broken home. In much of his early life he was a shy kid who loved rock music and comic books. While growing up in Canada, he looked to professional wrestling as the perfect combination of these two hobbies. Professional wrestlers, with their rock music entrance themes and outrageous costumes, were real-life comic book superheros. And young Copeland knew that he wanted to become one. Now there are millions of WWF fans who think they knew Edge.

A rock n' roll beginning

Adam Copeland was born on October 30, 1973, and from that day on, it was jut him and his mom, Judy. His father left his mother before Adam's birth and never looked back. To this day, Copeland has neither met his father nor even seen a picture of him. In interviews, Copeland has credited his mom's support as a main reason why he has succeeded in the WWF.

Because of Copeland's five uncles on his mom's side, the youngster never lacked male guidance in his home in Orangeville, Ontario, a suburb on Toronto. And since his mother worked two jobs to support her small family, Copeland bonded strongly with his mom's brothers as they babysat their young nephew.

The uncles watched hockey and movies with their nephew, played hockey in the driveway and listed to music. It was during these frequent babysitting sessions that Copeland got introduced to rock music, namely Queen, KISS, Cheap Trick, The Eagles and The Doors.

Since he also read comic books, and KISS band members were like real-life superheroes to him, he collected KISS memorabilia. Copeland was already wearing KISS T-shirts at only 3 years old. As he grew older, he would go to the fair every year and get his face painted like the members of Kiss.

When he saw wrestling for the firt time, he viewed it as an extension of the whole KISS rock 'n' roll/superhero image, except the wrestlers were bigger and looked ore like superheroes than the band members. As soon as he started watching wrestling at a young age, he knew it was what he wanted to do.

It was during his days bonding with his uncles that Copeland experienced the most traumatic even in his life. When Copeland was 7, his uncle Gary died. Gary, 17 at the time of his death, was the uncle who was closest in age to Copeland and the biggest Queen fan of the bunch. To this day, whenever Copeland hears Queen he can't help but think of his uncle Gary.

School days

Copeland was a reserved, shy student in his early days at school, a complete contrast to his Edge character in the WWF. He took an interest in many subjects, including English, science, biology and art. Since he loved comic book superheroes, he sketched his own characters frequently, a hobby that continued when he was touring Canada as an independent wrestler in the early 1990's.

When Copeland was in grade five, a new kind named Jay Reso moved to town and enrolled in the same school as Copeland. Copeland immediately befriended him for one reason - Reso owned a ninja throwing star. The two became instant friends as Reso was like the brother Edge never had. Their friendship continues in the WWF today. Reso debuted in the WWF in September 1998 as Christian, the "brother" of Edge. The two eventually formed a tag team and, as of late October 2000, have captured the WWF world tag team title together three times. But before the two even dreamed of joining the WWF - and before they toured Canada, the United States and Japan together as independent wrestlers - they wrestled on mattresses in the sideyards of their homes in Orangeville.

Copeland's devotion to rock music continued in grade six when he started to grow his hair long, a physical trait he is still known for. He has kept it long ever since, except for when he went through his Depeche Mode and New Order phase in grades seven and eight. In high school, bands like The Cult, Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers dictated the way he looked. As Edge, he has perfected his rock star image, no doubt a big factor in his popularity.

Focused on wrestling

In addition to his interest in rock music, wrestling and comic books, Copeland also played basketball, soccer and baseball in school. Even though he dabbled in other activities, wrestling was always his focus. For instance, he always wanted to try to be a musician because of his interest in rock music. But his drive to become a professional wrestler didn't allow him to separate his energies into different activities.

Copeland started weight training when he was 16 and, because of the physical changes that resulted, he started to overcome his shyness, especially around women. But it wasn't his appearance that resulted in his first big break on his journey to the WWF. It was his writing skills and devotion to wrestling.

In 1990, Copeland entered an essay contest promoted by the Toronto Sun newspaper. The newspaper offered free wrestling training to the person who wrote the best essay on why he or she wanted to become a professional wrestler. The essays were judged in part by "Sweet Daddy" Siki and Ron Hutchinson, trainers at Sully's Gym in Toronto.

The day after Copeland returned home from a spring break trip to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Siki called him to set up a meeting. After Siki and Hutchinson told Copeland that he'd probably starve and might not make it in the wrestling business, Copeland surprised them with his dedication and lack of concern about making money by wrestling.

Copeland's essay helped get his foot in the door, and his obvious dedication earned him free training at the gym. Copeland began his wrestling training when he was 17, and he never doubted that he would become a professional wrestler.

During his last year of regular schooling, grade 13 in Canada, Copeland began to pay his dues. He trained, set up wrestling rings, ore them down after shows and performed in some fund-raising independent shows around Toronto. He didn't do it for the money. The experience was reward enough.

After graduating from high school, Copeland enrolled in Humber College in Toronto. Reso and three other friends joined him, and they all lived in the same house. Copeland studied radio broadcasting and held jobs as a bouncer at a bar, a sales clerk at a bikini shop in Wasaga Beach, Ontario, and at a music memorabilia shop called Backstage Pass. He also continued to work out, train and in 1994 began touring Canada as in independent wrestler.

Even with all those activities to divert his attention, Copeland didn't lose site of his ultimate aspiration - professional wrestling.

On the edge in indies

One week after graduating from Humber College, the WWF called Copeland and offered him a tryout match. On May 10, 1996, he faced Bob Holly at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, and performed well enough that Carl Demarco, president of the WWF in Canada, kept in contact with him.

Boosted by the fact that the WWF was taking notice, Copeland continued to tour as the independent wrestler known as Sexton Hardcastle. Between 1994 and 1997, Copeland went on about 30 tours of Canada. The journeys - don exclusively for experience, not money - were called "Northern tours" and consisted of days-long bus rides past Winnipeg, Manitoba, to remote Native American Reservations. Other performers who also went on the tours included Joe E. Legend, the WWF's Just Joe and Reso (Christian). Extreme Championship Wrestling's Don "Cyrus" Callis, Rhino and Swinger and World Championship Wrestling's Lance Storm.

Snow plows paved the way for the caravan of buses transporting the performers to the reservations during the winter. On one tour, Reso fell through the ice of a frozen lake. On another, after the group spent days driving to a reservation, the show was canceled because of a death in the community. Since they wrestled in rings that were 12 feet by 12 feet (WWF rings are 20 feet by 20 feet), the performers had to execute suplexes and splashes from corner to corner in order to avoid hitting the ring ropes.

But the tours also had bright spots. The International Wrestling Federation television tapings in Winnipeg were the highlights of the trips. A look back at the roster reveals an all-star lineup, almost a who's who of future superstars. Wrestlers at these shows included Ultimo Dragon, Chris Jericho, Reso (Christian), Storm, Copeland, Just Joe, Swinger, Johnny Smith and Rick Martel.

"There was no independent wrestling organization in North America that could touch our talent," said Callis, who booked the shows for promoter Tony Condello. "The problem was, we weren't running enough shows to actually employ them more than once every two months when we did television."

Copeland also toured the United States when he wasn't booked in Canada. Although most of his matches took place in Toronto, Winnipeg and Detroit (in Detroit, he and Just Joe formed a tag team and performed as Sex and violence), he went on a tour to Tennessee once and wrestled in barns in front of minuscule crowds. In Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling, Copeland and Reso performed as The Suicide Blondes in matches against Callis and Martel.

Another tour took him from Raleigh, N.C., to Richmond, Va., to Washington, D.C., to New York City to Syracuse, N.Y., to Buffalo, N.Y., to Toronto. On that tour, he had virtually no money and lived on cans of tuna.

But the only thing that mattered to Copeland was the experience.

"I went out a lot and tried to learn as much stuff as I could while cutting my teeth for the first three or four years," he said in a recent interview on wrestlingobserver.com.

By the beginning of 1997, Copeland's three-year dedication to the unglamorous and unprofitable indy circuit was about to pay off - big.

Road to the WWF goes through Calgary

The Hart family is not known as the first family of Canadian wrestling for nothing. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Copeland's journey to the WWF included a stop at the Hart house in Calgary, Alberta. When Bret Hart was sidelined from WWF action because of a leg injury in 1997, Copeland traveled to Calgary to visit him. After a tryout in a ring in the Harts' pool room and after performing in some matches as Adam Impact, Copeland impressed hart so much that Hart told his WWF contacts they should sign Copeland to a contract. In early 1998, the WWF responded by signing Copeland to a developmental deal and by sending him - along with Sean Morley (Val Venis) - to the Funking Conservatory in Ocala, Fla., to hone his skills under the tutelage of Dory Funk Jr. The federation also sent Copeland and Reso to Japan for two, two-week tours. Copeland mad his debut in Japan at the Corcoran Hall immediately after an All Japan show was ending. He lost some weight on the Japan tours, but also bought a lot of rock import CDs not available in the United States.

After his stint at the Conservator and his tours of Japan, Copeland's future with the WWF seemed certain. Before his June 22, 1998, television debut, he wrestled dark matches under his real name at WWF shows. The federation began to hype his debut weeks before June 22 with vignettes that portrayed his Edge character as a mysterious madman terrorizing the streets of New York City.

His actual debut match against Jose Estrada Jr. on RAW seemed anti-climactic. In the match, Edge beat Estrada after legitimately knocking him out. Regardless of the ominous debut, the WWF officially extended Copeland a contract on Aug. 10, 1998, making his dream a reality. In an interview in the September 2000 issue of WOW, Copeland called that day - and all the days that have followed - the happiest time of his life.

Edge's WWF experience

Copeland's history as Edge in the WWF has been well-documented since his June 1998 debut. The following timeline highlights his rise to fan-favorite status, which started slowly in 1999 and built quickly in 2000.

Summer 1998: Edge's first real feud is opposite Gangrel, a blood-spewing vampire character. The two are portrayed as complex characters with mysterious pasts.

Aug. 30, 1998: Edge makes his WWF pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam by teaming with Sable to defeat Marc Mero and Jacquelyn.

Sept. 27, 1998: In the opening match of the Break Down pay-per-view, Owen Hart defeats Edge after Christian, making his WWF debut as Edge's brother, distracts Edge. Christian then aligns with Gangrel.

Fall 1998: Edge feuds with Gangrel and Christian, then turns heel and joins the two to form The Brood. The three are featured in mad-card matches.

January 1999: The Brood joins the Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. After not fitting in, The Brood leaves the Ministry and seems to lose direction in WWF storylines.

Spring 1999: Michael Hayes starts a feud with The Brood, eventually introducing The Hardy Boyz to WWF fans.

June 27, 1999: At King of the Ring, Edge and Christian face The Hardy Boyz for the first time on a WWF pay-per-view. The Hardys win the No. 1 contenders match after Gangrel's bloody interference backfires.

July 24, 1999: Edge beats Jeff Jarrett in Toronto for the Intercontinental title, his first WWF championship. His mom, Judy, watches from the front row.

Summer 1999: Gangrel turns on Edge, forcing Christian to choose sides. Christian sides with Edge, and the two form a tag team and begin to turn into fan-favorite faces.

Fall 1999: Edge and Christian face The Hardy Boyz in five matches called the "Terri invitational Tournament," in which the victors win $10,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels. The series culminates at no Mercy on Oct. 17, 1999, when the Hardys defeat the "brothers" in a ladder match. The next night on RAW, the two teams turn into full-fledged babyfaces when all four members attack Gangrel.

April 2, 2000: Edge and Christian capture their first WWF world tag team title by beating the Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz in a ladder match. After the victory, Edge and Christian begin to display cocky charisma by insulting the crowds wherever they appear. They also hold onto their title by intentionally causing disqualifications in their title defense matches.

June 25, 2000: After dropping the WWF world tag team title to Too Cool on may 29, 2000, Edge and Christian regain the title at King of the Ring.

Summer 2000: Edge and Christian perfect their heel personas with witty backstage scenes with commissioner Mick Foley. Before matches, they pose for the picture-taking crowds and invent words like "facgime" and "heinosity."

Oct. 22, 2000: After Foley forbids Edge and Christian from getting another title shot against The Hardy Boyz, they dress in full-body, gold luchador outfits, call themselves Los Conquistadores and defeat the Hardys at No Mercy for their third WWF world tag team title reign. The Hardys, dressed as Los Conqistadores, then beat Edge (Christian was unable to perform because of injury) to win back the tag team title the next night on RAW.

Keeping up with Copeland

Copeland is still very much like the kid who grew up surrounded by his mom and uncles in Canada. Wrestling has helped him overcome his shyness as he's now one of the most entertaining performers - in the ring and on the microphone - in wrestling.

Copeland moved from the Toronto area to the Bahamas in 1999. In the summer of 2000, he relocated to a suburb near Tampa, Fla. He is rumored to be engaged to Morley's (Val Venis') sister.

He enjoys water sports, especially riding his SeaDoo wave runner. He still keeps in close contact with his mom, and she watches and tapes all his television appearances. He also appeared in the film "Highlander: Endgame," which was released in the summer of 2000.

As he demonstrated in his 1990 winning essay in the Toronto Star, he has an affinity for writing and has kept a daily journal since he started wrestling. He is also a voracious reader, usually reading a book each trip. Copeland has said that after his wrestling days are over, which is probably many years off for the 27-year old, he'd like to buy a lodge-type home in Canada and write a book about his wrestling experiences.

If his book-writing goal comes to fruition, wrestling fans everywhere will get even closer to knowing Edge.