Everything about Adam Copeland totally explained
Adam Joseph Copeland) better known by his
ring name Edge, is a
Canadian professional wrestler presently signed to
World Wrestling Entertainment, wrestling on the
SmackDown! brand.
Copeland initially rose through the ranks as one half of the
tag team Edge and Christian, alongside his real-life best friend and
storyline brother
Christian. He is noted for being one of the most decorated tag team champions in wrestling history, winning a record 12 tag team titles in WWE.
Copeland is a four-time
world champion, having won the
WWE Championship twice and the
World Heavyweight Championship twice. In addition, he won the 2001
King of the Ring and the 2005
Money in the Bank ladder match.
Aside from professional wrestling, Copeland has appeared in and made guest appearances in television shows, including
The Weakest Link,
Deal or No Deal,
MADtv, and
Mind of Mencia.
Early career
Copeland was born in
Orangeville, Ontario on
October 30 1973. He began watching wrestling at a young age. His favorite wrestlers included
Mr. Perfect,
Randy Savage,
Hulk Hogan,
Ricky Steamboat,
Shawn Michaels and
Bret Hart, all of whom he admired.
Copeland won an essay contest in which he'd have the opportunity to be trained by
Sweet Daddy Siki and
Ron Hutchinson. Throughout the
1990s, Copeland wrestled on the
independent circuit in Ontario and the
Great Lakes region of the
United States under the name
Sexton Hardcastle. He became a part of the tag team
Sex and Violence with
Joe Legend. During 1997, Sex and Violence became part of a larger
stable known as
Thug Life, made up of Legend, Hardcastle, childhood friend
Christian Cage, Bloody Bill Skullion, and
Rhino Richards. During his independent career, he won the SSW Tag Title and the ICW
Street Fight Tag Title twice with Cage, in addition to his reign as ICW/MWCW Midwest Unified Tag Title holder alongside Joe.
The duo of Copeland and Cage was known as
Hard Impact before changing their name to
The Suicide Blondes. In 1996, the duo worked in Japan under the name the
Canadian Rockers. Copeland also once wrestled under the name
Damon Striker (although Edge writes it as
Damien Stryker in his book) on an edition of
WCW Pro against
Meng and
Kevin Sullivan. In his autobiography, Copeland states that it was his worst ring name to date.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Early years (1998-2000)
In 1998, Copeland was signed by the
World Wrestling Federation and made his
television debut on the
June 22 episode of
RAW is WAR as
Edge, a loner
character who entered the arena through the crowd for his matches. His character's persona included him walking around the city streets aimlessly and beating up innocent pedestrians. His first televised match was 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,
SummerSlam 1998, he served as
Sable's mystery tag team partner against
Jacqueline and
Marc Mero, and bodyslammed Sable onto Mero in a
pinning position to pick up the win.
Edge captured his first singles championship on
July 24 1999, defeating
Jeff Jarrett for the
Intercontinental Title at a
house show in
Toronto Ontario. He would lose the belt the next night to Jarett at the
Fully Loaded event in July. On
April 2 at
WrestleMania 2000, Edge and Christian defeated the Hardy Boyz and the
Dudley Boyz to win their first
WWF Tag Team Title in a triple threat
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
goth to a comedic pair of "cool dudes", winning the WWF Tag Team Title six more times (for a total of seven). During this time, their trademark became the "
five second pose" where they performed 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.
At the
2001 Royal Rumble Edge and Christian were defeated by the
Dudley Boyz and lost the World Tag Team title. Christian turned on Edge shortly afterward, and the two feuded over Edge's
Intercontinental Championship that Edge won the month before at
SummerSlam, which Edge lost to him and won right back. Then, 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 to unify the Intercontinental Championship with the U.S. Championship.
Throughout the winter months of 2001, Edge feuded with
William Regal for the Intercontinental Championship. 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.
Shortly after defeating Booker T at WrestleMania, Edge was drafted to the
SmackDown! brand in the first . Upon arriving there, he began a feud against Kurt Angle, which culminated in Edge shaving Kurt's head following a
hair vs. hair match at
Judgment Day. When
Rey Mysterio made his
SmackDown! debut, he and Edge formed a
team and captured the
WWE Tag Team Championship. He also received matches for the
WWE Championship against title holders
Brock Lesnar and
Big Show.
In February 2003, Edge suffered a
legit neck injury and had to undergo surgery with Dr.
Lloyd Youngblood. Recovery kept him sidelined for close to a year . He was scheduled to return to the ring in
February 2004, but he suffered a legitimate broken hand just before his planned return, forcing him to stay out of the ring for an additional month. He was placed on the
Raw brand in the
WWE Draft after
WrestleMania XX and returned to in-ring action shortly after that event. On the
April 19 2004 edition of
Raw he and
Chris Benoit won the
World Tag Team Championship. They continued a close partnership even after losing the title, but it was disbanded when Edge won the
Intercontinental Championship at
Vengeance from
Randy Orton. He then began to
turn heel by cheating to keep the title and getting confrontational with ally
Chris Jericho. Following a (legit) groin injury in a non-televised match,
Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff stripped Edge of the Intercontinental title. This was the first time that Edge turned heel since his alliance with then heel, Christian right after Wrestlemania 2000 and before the Invasion Storyline.
Pursuit of the World Heavyweight Championship (2004-2005)
Upon his return, Edge's
character became that of a crazed heel with severe anger management problems centered around his obsession for the
World Heavyweight Championship. Edge, Benoit, and
Shawn Michaels received a chance for a title shot for
Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship at
Taboo Tuesday 2004. Michaels won the audience vote to receive the title shot, giving Edge and Benoit a Tag Title shot. During the match, Edge abandoned his partner (although Benoit managed to win the title on his own) and instead interfered in the main event, costing Michaels the championship. This led to a match at the
2005 Royal Rumble later in the month, in which Edge defeated Michaels. Subsequently, at
WrestleMania 21, Edge won the first ever "
Money in the Bank ladder match", gaining himself a contract that gave him a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship within one year.
Even though he was already a heel, Edge faced even more scorn from the fans due to his adulterous affair with
Amy Dumas, who was known on-screen as Lita. Dumas had been the girlfriend of Copeland's close real-life friend,
Matt Hardy. When Dumas suffered a torn
anterior cruciate ligament, she was put out of action, and it was during this time that Copeland began an affair with her while she was still in a relationship with Hardy. Shortly after the incident became public knowledge, WWE had released Hardy resulting in even more backlash towards Copeland and Dumas. After Hardy returned, however, the real-life situation was translated into a storyline.
Edge was then paired with Lita in an
angle where she turned on her
kayfabe husband
Kane. On the
July 11 edition of
Raw, Edge's match with Kane was interrupted when Matt Hardy made a surprising appearance. The situation was a
worked shoot, with Hardy referring to Edge as "Adam" and issuing a threat to Lita as well. When Hardy was officially brought back to
Raw, he and Edge continued their
feud, including a match at
SummerSlam 2005 where Edge defeated Hardy, causing Hardy to have "excessive blood loss." They also competed in a
Street Fight, which resulted in a no-contest when Hardy performed a
Side Effect on Edge off the entrance ramp into the sound speakers and other electrical equipment. They also fought in a
Steel cage match at
Unforgiven 2005 that Matt won after a leg drop on Edge from the top of the cage. The feud culminated in a "Loser Leaves Raw Ladder Match" at
WWE Homecoming, which Edge won, causing Hardy to move to
SmackDown!.
Shortly after the
Homecoming victory, Edge suffered a
legitimate 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, dubbing himself the "
Rated-R Superstar". Edge used his talk show to start a feud with
Ric Flair following Flair's well-publicized arrest in connection with a
road rage incident. Edge eventually began using
The Cutting Edge as a soapbox to run down Flair until, after weeks of public mockery, Flair eventually showed up and attacked Edge.
WWE Champion (2006)
Edge and Flair formally met at
New Year's Revolution 2006 in a match for Flair's
Intercontinental Championship where Edge was
disqualified. Later that night, following the main event
Elimination Chamber match,
Vince McMahon appeared on stage and declared that
John Cena would defend the
WWE Championship he'd just retained "one more time." An already bloodied and fatigued Cena was forced into a match against Edge, who decided to cash in his
Money in the Bank contract at that moment. Edge defeated Cena in less than two minutes after two
spears to become WWE Champion for the first time, as well as a
Triple Crown Champion. the highest
Raw rating in over a year, leading Edge to call himself the "most-watched WWE Champion in the last 5 years" due to the high ratings.
Three weeks later, at the
2006 Royal Rumble, Edge lost the WWE Championship back to Cena. He then lost a return match on a special Thursday edition of
Raw held in February. Edge blamed
special guest referee Mick Foley for his loss, claiming biased officiating and attacked him. At
Saturday Night's Main Event, Foley got revenge on Edge by assaulting him with a
Con-chair-to. They feuded until
WrestleMania 22 in April, where Edge defeated Foley in a
Hardcore match by spearing him through a flaming table.
Edge used his victory over Foley to once again challenge John Cena for his WWE Championship.
Triple H was involved in a feud with Cena at the time, resulting in a
Triple Threat match at
Backlash 2006, where Cena pinned Triple H to retain the title. After Backlash, Edge continued his feud with
Mick Foley as they entered a
Triple Threat Hardcore Match. However, Foley immediately attacked friend
Tommy Dreamer with Edge's assistance. Edge and Foley then proclaimed that, because of their brutal match at WrestleMania, they were the true
Hardcore Champions. At
One Night Stand 2006, Edge, Foley, and Lita defeated Dreamer,
Terry Funk, and
Beulah McGillicutty in an "Extreme Rules" tag team match. Edge later interfered in a WWE Title match between champion John Cena and challenger
Rob Van Dam, helping Van Dam win the title.
Two weeks later on
Raw, Edge pinned Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat No Disqualification Match, after blindsiding John Cena with the title belt, to become
WWE Champion for the second time. The match marked the first time the WWE Championship changed hands on
Raw since
October 8,
2001.
This re-ignited his feud with John Cena, and Edge lost by disqualification at
SNME in order to retain his title. As a result of these tactics, Cena snapped and
FU'ed him through the Spanish announcers' table.
The following night on
Raw, Lita threw Cena's customized "spinner" belt into the
Long Island Sound at Edge's command, who declared it the end of the "Cena era" in his life. Edge later unveiled the new "Rated R" version of the belt. Cena, however, interfered in Edge's match later that night, chased him down to the outside of the building, beat him down, and tossed him into the polluted Long Island Sound himself. The next week, Cena made a deal with Edge: if Edge could defeat him in a match for the WWE Championship, he'd sign a contract to move to
SmackDown!. Edge agreed, on the condition the match be a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC) held at September's
Unforgiven in Edge's home town of
Toronto. At one point during the match, Cena locked in an
STFU on Edge,
Rated-RKO (2006-2007)
On the
October 2 2006 episode of
Raw, interference from
D-Generation X (
Shawn Michaels and
Triple H) cost Edge his "final chance" at Cena's WWE Championship in a
Steel cage match, though their interference was a response to the interference of
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. The following week on
Raw, Edge used an edition of
The Cutting Edge to join forces with
Randy Orton to form
Rated-RKO (although they didn't use this name until several weeks later) and began a feud against DX. Edge cited Orton's lack of success after being kicked out of
Evolution by Triple H and DX's "stale" antics "taking up TV time" as reasons to join forces. The duo succeeded early in defeating DX at
Cyber Sunday due to the vote-in
guest referee Eric Bischoff favoring Rated-RKO. The pair then won the
World Tag Team Championship from
Ric Flair and
Roddy Piper on the
November 13 2006 Raw, making Edge hold a record of 11 World Tag Team Championship title reigns in his WWE career.
The feud with DX continued at
New Year's Revolution 2007 where Edge and Orton were battered by DX to end the match in a no contest. However, Edge and Orton claimed victory on the grounds that Triple H
legitimately tore his right quadriceps in the match. To Edge and Orton, this marked the end of DX. Shawn Michaels vowed to deal with Rated-RKO, and the next week on
Raw he took out Randy Orton with a
con-chair-to while Edge looked on from the entrance ramp. On the
January 29 2007 edition of
Raw, Rated-RKO lost the World Tag Team Championship to Shawn Michaels and
John Cena.
In early February, Edge beat
Rob Van Dam to qualify for the
Money in the Bank ladder match, but suffered a
legitimate broken jaw in the process. He remained on TV but avoided physical confrontations until
WrestleMania 23. Meanwhile, his tag partner Orton also qualified for the Money in the bank match, which led to dissent between them. He failed to win at WrestleMania after
Jeff Hardy removed them both from the match by performing a nearly 20 foot
leg drop off a ladder onto Edge. He then entered a feud, along with former partner Randy Orton, with John Cena and Shawn Michaels. All four men were aiming for the WWE Championship, and at
Backlash they competed in a
Fatal Four Way match in which Cena successfully defended his title.
Move to SmackDown! (2007-present)
On the
May 7 2007 edition of
Raw, Edge defeated
Mr. Kennedy to win his
Money in the Bank title opportunity (Kennedy had suffered a
legit injury prior to the match), making Edge a two-time Money in the Bank holder. On the
May 11 2007 edition of
SmackDown!, Edge cashed in his newly won contract. After a brutal
Steel cage match between
The Undertaker and
Batista and a savage assault to The Undertaker by
Mark Henry, Edge took advantage and defeated Undertaker with a
Spear to win his first
World Heavyweight Championship. As a result of this victory, Edge became a part of the SmackDown brand.
Edge then began a feud with Batista and successfully defended his championship title against Batista at
Judgment Day, in a Steel Cage Match at
One Night Stand, and a third and final time at a
last chance match at . Edge then began a feud with
Kane after SmackDown!
General Manager Theodore Long announced Kane as the new number one contender for Edge's title. Edge was forced to relinquish his title due to a legit torn left
pectoral muscle injury on the
July 20,
2007 SmackDown! following an attack by Kane. Edge stated he'd be out of action for about four months.
At
Survivor Series, Edge made his return, interfering in a World Heavyweight Championship
Hell in a Cell match between Batista and The Undertaker. The following
SmackDown! show saw Edge and General Manager
Vickie Guerrero make public their relationship, making his official in-ring return in a World Title match against Batista on
November 30, a match that ended after The Undertaker interfered.
At
Armageddon, Edge regained the World Heavyweight Championship, after giving The Undertaker two
chair shots, and pinning the defending champion Batista (who had been
Tombstone piledriven by Undertaker prior) in a
Triple Threat match. During the match, Edge used two look-alikes to distract Batista and The Undertaker. It was later revealed that these look-alikes were the
Major Brothers, who were then repackaged as "The Edge-heads".
The alliance also saw the inclusion of
Chavo Guerrero, and on the January 22, 2008 broadcast of
ECW on Sci Fi, Edge assisted Chavo in winning the
ECW Championship from
CM Punk, who had previously rebuffed Edge and allied himself with
Rey Mysterio, Edge's scheduled opponent at the
Royal Rumble pay-per-view. At both the Rumble and
No Way Out, Edge successfully retained the title after spearing Mysterio in mid-air. At
WrestleMania XXIV, Edge lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker when he tapped out to the
gogoplata. In a WrestleMania rematch, The Undertaker defeated Edge once again at
Backlash to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
In wrestling
Signature moves
Managers
Nicknames
Theme music
Signature taunts
Championships and accomplishments
Insane Championship Wrestling
Outlaw Championship Wrestling
Southern States Wrestling
World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
1. Won during the Invasion storyline.
2. Won the 2007 Money in the Bank contract when he defeated the then–Money in the Bank holder, Mr. Kennedy, on RAW.
Controversy
In March 2007, Copeland became a key figure in an alleged steroid ring and drug investigation. On March 19 Sports Illustrated posted an article on its website in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Copeland who was alleged to have obtained HGH. Copeland has previously admitted using steroids in April 2004 after neck surgery as an experiment on TSN's Off The Record with Michael Landsberg in January 2005. He said he felt it slowed him down, so he quickly got off the substance. According to Copeland, he took HGH after coming back from a spinal fusion neck surgery. He was told by doctors that it would help the bones grow back around the screws and plate that were inserted into his neck. He claims to have taken blood tests, consulted doctors, studied the drug, and got prescriptions before deciding to take them.
According to a Sports Illustrated article posted on August 30 2007, Copeland was named one of ten superstars found to have purchased steroids and other drugs from an online pharmacy, a violation of the WWE Talent Wellness program. Copeland was said to have received somatropin, genotropin and stanozolol between September 2004 and February 2007.
Personal life
Copeland used to play hockey with current Detroit Red Wings Aaron Downey. He is a New Jersey Devils fan.
As a teenager, Copeland attended WrestleMania VI sitting in the eleventh row at ringside. He was cheering on WWF Champion Hulk Hogan against The Ultimate Warrior, and he credits this match with making him realize he wanted to be a wrestler. Twelve years later Copeland returned to SkyDome as a competitor at WrestleMania X8, and won the World Tag Team Championship with Hogan as his partner that same year.
During his high school years, Copeland was voted "Most Likely to Win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship". but they divorced after three years. He was then married to Lisa Ortiz in 2004, but they soon divorced. He was then in a relationship with Amy Dumas for two years before they split up in the summer of 2006.
His autobiography, titled 'Adam Copeland On Edge', was published on November 4 2004. Unlike most wrestlers who used 'ghost writers' to write their autobiographies, Copeland wrote the entire book himself. Mick Foley wrote the foreword to his book.
Copeland doesn't smoke. He claims he'd his first cigarette when he was sixteen, hated it, and hasn't smoked since.
Copeland has several tattoos. He has a tattoo of a red and black sun on his left upper biceps (which covers a tattoo of a muscular shark which resembled the Street Sharks), a star on his right upper biceps with several smaller stars below it, two skulls wearing bandanas, adorned with flowers and hearts, below said star tattoo, along with a tattoo of a cross on his left forearm. All of Copeland's tattoos represent a stage in his career: his sun, which Copeland got while recovering from his neck injury, represents "looking towards brighter days." The cross tattoo represents his time with the Brood, and his star and skull tattoos represent his Rated R Superstar persona and his self-proclaimed status as the "Guns 'N Roses of wrestling."
Acting
Filmography
In 2000, he made a cameo appearance in the movie, credited as "Road Bandit". During the appearance, actor Adrian Paul remarks "Looks like you've lost your edge, lad" after defeating him in a sword fight.
TV appearances
In March 2002, Copeland alongside other WWE Superstars appeared on The Weakest Link. He was voted out in the first round, and the eventual winner was Kane.
On the August 6, 2006 episode of Mind of Mencia, Copeland appeared as Edge as a commentator for "The Royal Religious Rumble". He punched out an actor playing L. Ron Hubbard to stop Scientology from ruling the world and then speared another actor playing Tom Cruise. In March 2007, alongside Randy Orton, John Cena, and Bobby Lashley, he appeared on Deal or No Deal. Weeks later he appeared on the sketch comedy show MADtv.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Adam Copeland'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://adam_copeland.totallyexplained.com">Adam Copeland Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
