Edge & Christian: Uncovering Their Awesomeness
By Dov Teta / Wrestling World
The female seductive voice whispers "You think you know me?" to an arena of thousands as World Wrestling Federation's premiere tag team, Edge & Christian, make their way to the ring. Whether wrestling as the Suicide blondes in Japan, gothic vampire warriors in The Brood or as surfboy jokesters, these two young superstars have taken the wrestling world by storm, and have recently introduced a sense of humor into their repertoire to compliment their high flying aerial displays in the squared circle.
Friends since childhood, Edge (Adam Copeland) and Christian (Jay Reso) rose through the ranks of wrestling's independent promotions, undergoing numerous character changes, until they made their way to the WWF major leagues. It is the bond they share from youth that gives them their in-ring chemistry, a chemistry virtually unmatched. It flows into their interviews. It gives them that ability/charisma one-two punch.
Edge was born 10/30/73 in Ontario, Canada. Upon first sight of the 6'1 blonde with chiseled facial features and athletic frame, few would doubt he had the necessary tools to make it. Starting his training in 1992 at 17, he learned from ex-wrestlers Ron Hutchinson and Sweet Daddy Siki at Toronto's Sully's Gym. Edge displayed an immediate understanding of wrestling psychology, and began his long path in the small independent wrestling scene, wrestling for little-to-no money, and sometimes for less than 100 people. He was often paired off with fellow student Joe E. legend to from the tag team Sex and Violence.
Just months later Edge convinced childhood pal Jay Reso to also begin training. He joined the same school and in almost no time was traveling on the circuit with his best friend. They formed a tag team known as the Suicide Blondes. Edge adopted the character Sexton Hardcastle. Christian transformed himself into Christian Cage. With their long blonde hair and boyish good looks, the duo immediately developed a following across the Canadian circuit and various spot shows in the United States.
It took four years.
They wrestled long and hard and struggled mightily. Sometimes they thought they'd never make the big time. It was Edge who got the call. The WWF was interested in their participation in a developmental training camp ran by Tom Pritchard and former NWA heavyweight champion Dory Funk, Jr. Apparently, Edge had made an immediate impression upon his teachers, so much so that WWF official Jim Ross made the prediction that, "This kid will one day be a World Champion." They even started calling him the next Ric Flair!
Given the character of a loner rocker type named Edge, the WF began to make plans for his debut. In May of 1998, promos started to run during TV telecasts building anticipation of his arrival. On June 22nd, his day had arrived. Sitting in the seats during the live show, Edge waited amongst the crowd for his first match as a WWF Superstar.
When his time arrived, Edge mad his way through the audience (now his trademark entrance), hopped the railing and jumped into the ring to face Jose Estrada, a member of the Puerto Rican group, Los Boriquos. The match did not go as planned as an unfortunate injury to Estrada led to an Edge win by countout. Feeling that they might have rushed him on to TV too quickly, the WWF kept him off until August, when on Aug. 2, 1998 Edge made his return with a huge win over Jeff Jarrett. His career and his part to awesomeness had begun.
Christian's path was a bit different.
Jay Reso began working towards his current wicked coolness November 30, 1973 in Ontario, also at Sully's Gym in the fall of '94. Sully's always had a strict policy about wrestlers not leaving too soon, thus avoiding embarrassment to themselves or the school. Christian, though, was ready early. He wrestled fellow classmate Zakk Wylde (not the guitarist) to a draw. Continuing to hone his craft, he wrestled in the Ontario area and throughout other regions of Canada, before pairing up with Edge in The Suicide Blondes. They joined the Atlantic Grand Prix federation to feud with The Super Models (Rick Martel & Don Casablancas a.k.a. Cyrus). Despite finding success, the two competed against each other on 5/3/98 with Edge coming out on top. Soon thereafter, it would be Edge who would get the WWF nod.
It wouldn't take long for Christian to follow.
Edge was in the midst of one of his first major WWF feuds. Gangrel the gothic vampire was out for Edgeblood. Christian had debuted a few weeks earlier, actually attacking Edge and pledging allegiance to the dark bloodlord Gangrel. When Christian captured the WWF Lightweight title from Taka Michinoku at the "Judgment Day" pay-per-view, Gangrel and the new lightweight champ set their sights on Edge after a match that saw Gangrel pin Edge, leaving the handsome blonde with a bite mark in his neck, he whispered a line into Edge's ear that would remain in his mind for a long time, "The blood of Gangrel flows through your veins." It was at that moment, The Brood was formed. The storyline would later go on to reveal that Edge and Christian were bothers.
This newly formed trio was a force to reckon with but was unable to climb the ladder of success as quickly as they would have liked. One of the highlights in their all-too-brief partnership was a tagteam title shot against The New Age Outlaws. They lost. Their frustration began to mount.
Rather than losing gracefully, The Brood introduced the "Bloodbath" as sinister retribution. The first victim was Tiger Ali Singh. Losses continued to mount until fate and destiny came their way. In a match against The Ministry of Darkness, the vampire trio found themselves close to another loss, and rather than fighting, they joined The Ministry, to become part of the most dominant faction in the WWF at that time. The trio began to see their win totals grow, but it was not to last. The Undertaker had kidnapped WWF owner Vince McMahon's daughter Stephanie, and it was Ken Shamrock who pummeled Christian until he revealed where se was being kept. Infuriated, the Undertaker ordered that Christian be sacrificed at the hands of his two friends, Gangrel and Edge. Proving that blood is thicker than water, the Brood stuck together to break away from the Ministry.
The Brood went on to feud with The Hardy Boys for well over a year (WWF announcer Doc Hendrix - a.k.a. Michael Hayes - was a major Hardys mentor at the time, playing an important role in their development.) But The Brood trio continued on as each member wrestled solo. Unfortunately for them, though, this proved to be the crack in the foundation that would ultimately split them up. While Gangrel continued to draw heel reactions from the crowds, Edge's popularity grew with each passing week. Gangrel became very jealous of Edge, attacking him during a match in which he was already being beaten by the Big Bossman. Christian tried to help but it was too late. Gangrel had his way with his former partner.
Wrecking havoc on both his former partners became a Gangrel obsession. He adopted the Hardy Boys to form the New Brood. This new feud went on for a few months culminating at 1999's "No Mercy" in the first of many legendary ladder matches these two teams would come to highly specialize in. The Hardys defeated Edge and Christian in this match, but there were no real losers. The amazing ending saw all four competitors receive a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd, which continued the next night on RAW. This match also gave the four youngsters their first real taste of respect from their backstage peers.
Edge and Christian continued their feud with the Hardy Boys, even managing to steel the services of their valet, Terri. With her own agenda, Terri helped the guys win as many matches as caused them to lose. Frustrated Edge speared Terri after a loss, and the two brothers were on their own again. They began their quest for tag straps, and finally earned their shot with a three-way against the Hardys and the Dudley Boyz at Wrestlemania 2000. This is where the Canadian duo beat the odds and left as champs after another incredible exhibition. Years of hard work had paid off with the most prized title in the tag business!
Edge and Christian were on top of the world, and with all the accolades that came and being champions, the one trait that eluded them was humility. Rather than being gracious champions, they allowed their newfound success to go straight to their head. They abandoned their customary entrance through the crowd into a typical walk through the ramp, as they felt they were too good to be so close with the common people. Their arrogance led the two to begin charging children money for autographs, and nobody was safe from their witty views of their fellow wrestlers. At one point, they described the Dudley Boyz as, "Having kind of a Bushwackers 2000 feel." The only way they would show their "gratefulness" to the fans was by their pre-match "five-second pose for the benefit of those with flash photography."
Egos totally out of control, they continued to feud with the Hardy Boys in ladder matches as as cage matches. Each match saw the ante upped and every time the four combatants would rise to the occasion. Late summer of 2000 finally saw the Hardys defeat them to begin their second reign as champs. Egos not bruised, Edge and Christian still continue their quest of regaining the tag straps, and proceed to remain the tag team that are "soooooo reeking of awesomeness and coolosity!
