Edge (wrestler)
Adam Joseph Copeland is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling, where he performs under his real name. He is best known for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment, where he performed from 1998 to 2011 and again from 2020 to 2023 under the ring name Edge.
Copeland made his professional wrestling debut in 1992, wrestling in many independent promotions and competing in singles and tag team competition, the latter with long-time friend Christian Cage. In 1997, he signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation and made his televised debut in 1998 under the ring name Edge. After winning the Intercontinental Championship in 1999, he formed a tag team with Christian, and the two won the World Tag Team Championship seven times. During this time, they gained notoriety due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era. The team split in 2001 and Edge embarked on a successful solo career. He won a total of 31 championships in WWE, holding the World Heavyweight Championship a record 7 times, the WWE Championship 4 times, the Intercontinental Championship five times, the United States Championship once, the World Tag Team Championship a record 12 times, and the WWE Tag Team Championship twice. He is WWE's 14th Triple Crown Champion and 7th Grand Slam Champion. He won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, the first Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, and the 2010 Royal Rumble match, making him the first wrestler to achieve all three.
Edge first retired in 2011 due to several neck injuries and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the next year. Nine years after retiring, he returned to wrestling as a surprise entrant in the 2020 Royal Rumble match and won the next year's Royal Rumble, becoming the eighth man to win the Royal Rumble twice, the third to win it as the first entrant, and the first to win it after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for WWE, including WrestleMania 24 and WrestleMania 37 - Night 2, being one of the company's most prolific PPV performers. After his WWE contract expired in September 2023, he joined AEW the next month and debuted at WrestleDream, going on to win the AEW TNT Championship twice.
Adam Copeland has acted in the films Highlander: Endgame, Bending the Rules and Money Plane. He has made guest appearances on TV shows such as Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, and The Flash. He played Dwight Hendrickson on the Syfy series Haven, Ketill Flatnose in Vikings, and Ares in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the latter of which earned him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Preschool, Children's or Young Teen Program.
Early life
Adam Joseph Copeland was born in Orangeville, Ontario, on October 30, 1973, the son of Judy Lynn Copeland, a single mother who worked two jobs to support him. He has claimed to have never met, or even seen a photograph of, his father. Copeland developed an interest in professional wrestling at a young age. His favorite wrestlers included Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, and Hulk Hogan; at the age of 16, Copeland attended WrestleMania VI at the Toronto SkyDome in 1990, sitting in the 11th row at ringside and cheered for Hogan who was defending the WWF Championship against The Ultimate Warrior in the main event. Copeland has credited that match as the moment he realized he wanted to become a wrestler. He met his friend and fellow future wrestler Jason Reso, known by his ring name Christian Cage, in Orangeville when he was 10 years old. The two would often make trips to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to watch their favourite wrestlers. When Copeland was 17, he won an essay writing contest hosted by his local gym, the prize for which was free wrestling training with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison in Toronto. However, he put his wrestling aspirations aside to help his mother pay the bills, taking numerous jobs and then receiving a diploma in radio broadcasting from Humber College before resuming his wrestling training.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–1995)
Copeland made his professional wrestling debut on Canada Day 1992, in an event at Monarch Park Stadium in Toronto. Throughout the 1990s, he wrestled on the independent circuit in Ontario and the Great Lakes region of the United States under the ring name Sexton Hardcastle. He became a part of the tag team Sex and Violence with Joe E. Legend. In the mid-1990s, he wrestled as Adam Impact for Tony Condello's Winnipeg promotion. In 1997, Sex and Violence became part of a larger stable called Thug Life, joining Christian Cage, Zakk Wyld, Bill Skullion, and Rhino Richards. During his independent career, he won the MWCW Tag Team Championship twice with Legend and the ICW Street Fight Tag Team Championship twice.The duo of Hardcastle and Cage were known as Hard Impact before changing their name to the Suicide Blondes. They also worked in Japan under the name The Canadian Rockers. Copeland also wrestled as Damon Striker against Meng on an episode of WCW Pro in February 1996. In the summer of 1995, he worked a show in Ajax, Ontario, where Bret Hart's business manager, Carl De Marco, was watching. Impressed, he suggested Copeland send an audition tape to the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (1996–2023)
Early years (1996–1998)
On May 10, 1996, Copeland replaced Bob Holly's opponent on short notice in the opening match of a WWF house show as Sexton Hardcastle in Hamilton, Ontario.In 1996, Copeland initially made $210 per week while working for the WWF without an official contract. The company also paid for his outstanding college debt, which was around $40,000. After a Grand Prix Wrestling tour in the summer of 1997, De Marco urged Copeland to go to Calgary, where Hart was informally training wrestlers while recovering from knee surgery. He spent his tour earnings on a plane ticket and landed with no money or place to stay. He called Johnny Smith, whom he met twice, and Smith agreed to give him food and shelter. Smith also drove Copeland to and from the gym and Hart's house, where he trained alongside Ken Shamrock, Test, Mark Henry and Kurrgan. Copeland returned to the Maritimes for another Grand Prix tour before going back to Hart's house, bringing Christian with him. After this camp, Hart was impressed enough to put in a good word for both men at the WWF.
Copeland received a developmental contract with the WWF in 1997. His first match was on November 10, 1997, in Ottawa, Ontario losing to CFL football star Glen Kulka. The next day in Cornwall, Ontario, he faced and defeated Christian Cage at Shotgun taping in a dark match, this match is included on WWE Home Video's 2008 retrospective, Edge: A Decade of Decadence. From March to June 1998, Copeland appeared in many house shows and dark matches. Upon completing his training, Copeland made his WWF television debut on the June 22, 1998 episode of Raw as Edge. Copeland took the name Edge from an Albany radio station.
Edge's first televised match was on June 16 against Jose Estrada Jr., which ended prematurely by countout when Edge performed a somersault senton from the ring to the outside, legitimately injuring Estrada's neck. In his first pay-per-view match at SummerSlam on August 30, he served as Sable's mystery tag team partner defeating Jacqueline and Marc Mero, and slammed Sable onto Mero in a pinning position to pick up the win. At Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, Edge faced Owen Hart in a losing effort making it his first loss on WWF TV. On the October 11 edition of Sunday Night Heat, Edge defeated Vader in Vader's final televised WWF match and at WWF Capital Carnage on December 6, Edge faced Tiger Ali Singh in a losing effort.
Teaming with Christian (1998–2001)
In September, Edge began a feud against the vampire wrestler Gangrel. During the feud, Gangrel introduced Christian, Edge's storyline brother, as his ally. Eventually, Gangrel and Christian convinced Edge to join them, and the three of them formed a stable known as The Brood.At Rock Bottom: In Your House on December 13, The Brood defeated The J.O.B. Squad in a six-man tag team match. At the Royal Rumble on January 24, 1999, Edge competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match, being eliminated by Road Dogg. The Brood was later abducted and converted into The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness. In May, the Brood broke away from the Ministry after Christian was attacked by Ken Shamrock and forced 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 betrayed The Undertaker, leading to a brief feud with the Ministry. At Backlash on April 25, the Brood faced Ministry members Bradshaw, Faarooq, and Mideon in a losing effort. At King of the Ring on June 27, The Hardy Boyz defeated Edge and Christian in a match to determine the number one contender to the WWF Tag Team Championship, after their first match on Sunday Night Heat ended in a no-contest.
Edge captured his first singles championship, the WWF Intercontinental Championship, on July 24, defeating Jeff Jarrett at a house show in Toronto, Ontario. Interestingly, the match wasn't booked this way. Edge explained in an interview in 2021 with Loudwire: "During the match we did this thing where I pinned and the crowd thought I won and then they were gonna reverse it, but then Jack Lanza, who was the road agent at the time, walked out and said, 'Go get your belt.' I went, 'Whaaaa?' We're calling an audible here!" Edge lost the title the next night to Jarrett at Fully Loaded on July 25. At SummerSlam on August 22, Edge and Christian competed in a Tag team turmoil match where they eliminated three teams: The Hardy Boyz, Mideon and Viscera, and Droz and Prince Albert before getting eliminated from the match by The Acolytes. At Unforgiven on September 26, Edge and Christian faced The New Age Outlaws for the WWF Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles.
Later in the year, Edge was placed in a storyline angle with the Hardy Boyz. Gangrel soon betrayed both Edge and Christian and formed The New Brood with their enemies, The Hardy Boyz. They feuded with the Hardy Boyz, as they went on to compete in a ladder match at No Mercy on October 17 for the "managerial services" of Terri Runnels and $100,000, which the Hardy Boyz won. The match was widely praised and described as the match of the year by various reviewers. At Survivor Series on November 14, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz faced Too Cool and The Hollys in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match where they lost. At Armageddon on December 12, Edge and Christian competed in an 8-team battle royal which was won by The Acolytes. At the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000, Edge competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by Al Snow and Val Venis. Edge and Christian began a Heel turn At No Way Out on February 27, Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz in a tag team match to determine the number one contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship in a Triangle Ladder match, which ultimately led to the creation of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.
At Backlash on April 30, Edge and Christian defeated D-Generation X to retain the titles. At Judgment Day on May 21, Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle lost a six-man tag team match to Rikishi and Too Cool. Soon after, they lost the tag titles to Too Cool but won them back in a Four corners elimination match at King of the Ring on June 25. At Fully Loaded on July 23, they defended the titles against The Acolytes Protection Agency where they got disqualified but retained the titles. After retaining the titles at SummerSlam on August 27, at Unforgiven on September 24, Edge and Christian defended the titles against The Hardy Boyz in a steel cage match where they lost the titles and were not allowed another title shot. At No Mercy on October 22, Edge and Christian, masked as Los Conquistadores, defeated The Hardys for the titles. The next night on Raw, the Hardy Boyz dressed as the Los Conquistadores and defeated Edge in a handicap match after Christian was taken out backstage to regain the WWF Tag Team Championship.
At Survivor Series on November 19, Edge and Christian teamed with Right to Censor's Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, where they lost to The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz, They regained the tag titles at Armageddon on December 10 in a fatal four-way match, but lost them eight days later to The Rock and The Undertaker. They won them back three days later on SmackDown! thanks to special guest referee Kurt Angle. During Edge and Christian's run as a tag team, they also competed as a team in the first three TLC matches, winning the first two over The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz, at SummerSlam in 2000 and then again at WrestleMania X-Seven. At the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Edge and Christian were defeated by the Dudley Boyz and lost the tag team titles. They unsuccessfully attempted to regain the tag team title at No Way Out on February 25 against the Dudley Boyz and The Brothers of Destruction, but they succeeded at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1 against the Dudley Boyz and The Hardyz in the second TLC match. At Judgment Day on May 20, Edge and Christian competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match which was won by Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Days later on the May 24 SmackDown!, Edge and Christian competed in a Fatal 4-Way Tag Team TLC Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship where Benoit and Jericho retained the titles.