Inducted by LWO4Life
Adam Copeland and Jason Reson’s friendship and love of wrestling go back to childhood. Training in Canada, the team that would become Edge and Christian used various names, including but not limited to the Canadian Rockers, High Impact, and Suicide Blondes. They would eventually travel through the United States, winning tag team titles across many independent companies in different territories. Eventually, Copeland would catch the attention of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and sign a developmental deal. Unlike the developmental deal of today, all this did was give Copeland an extra $1000 a month on top of his indy paychecks. Copeland credited this with helping him survive the Indy circuit, as he gained experience and was able to afford being on the road. And by 1998, Copeland was brought into WWF full-time under the name Edge.
The character of Edge was that of a loner, someone in a trench coat who hung out in the rafters. Within three months of debuting on the main roster, Edge was feuding with Gangrel. During one of Edge’s matches, an unknown person came out and distracted him. It was revealed that this person was Edge’s brother, Christian, who was now a follower of Gangrel’s Brood. It all felt rushed, as Edge immediately dropped his feud with Gangrel and joined the Brood himself. Edge would now find himself in three-man tag team matches with both Gangrel and Christian, as well as teaming with Gangrel. I could get into their time in the Ministry of Darkness, but the important thing was that Edge and Christian were starting to come into their own. What started as a strong push for Edge eventually cooled off, and now the two lifelong friends were standing alone and facing the WWF machine.
The true genesis of the team came during a match against the Corporate Ministry (of course the Brood was still feuding with the Ministry for kicking them out). Gangrel was mad that they lost and turned on Edge. Trying to gain Christian’s support, Gangrel was not prepared for Christian to side with Edge instead. Thus, edge and Christian as a team were born. Immediately, Gangrel recruited the Hardy Boyz to team with him, giving birth to the greatest tag team rivalry of the Attitude Era: the “brothers” Edge and Christian vs. the brothers of the Hardy Boyz!
The feud between the Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian is characterized by innovation and creativity. WWF, particularly backstage producer Michael Hayes, had four exciting young stars who devised wild and crazy spots that electrified the crowd. The first major match was WWF’s first-ever tag team ladder match. Competing for the managerial services of Terri Runnells, both teams had participated in a series of matches that needed to be resolved in a way that ensured a winner. After the match, the audience applauded both teams, and the following night, both teams shook hands, attacked Gangrel, and ultimately separated themselves from Terri as well.
The Dudley Boyz entered WWF from ECW, and this added a new element to the tag team division. As both the Hardyz and Edge and Christian found their way, the Dudleyz set themselves apart in WWF by being a ready-made team. Of course, if a tag team ladder match was so welcomed by the fans it turned both the Hardyz and Edge and Christian babyface, just imagine what a triple-threat ladder match could do. So it was set, WrestleMania 2000, the card where there were no limits to how many people could fit in a match, now had a tag team triple threat ladder match! And it was an instant classic! Edge and Christian dethroned the Dudleyz that night and walked out with their first of seven titles. And this is where the Edge and Christian finally found their footing. Before this, they would go through the crowd and use the original Edge gimmick for their personalities. But after winning the tag titles, they adopted a cocky attitude, complete with my favorite, the Five Second Pose! WrestleMania 2000 changed their whole character!
It took a whole two years, but the Attitude Era finally found the tag team feud that will define it. And it was Edge and Christian at the forefront of this. It was clear their work as heels was beyond the other teams of the Hardyz or Dudleyz as faces. Edge and Christian started to expand their characters, and the run between WrestleMania 2000 to WrestleMania X7 was, as the kids would say, Generational. Before each match, they had to say, “for the benefit of those with flash photography,” with specialized poses to tick off the local crowd. They also dress up as Los Conquistadores in an attempt to regain the tag team titles. They would also team with Kurt Angle and become his backup during Angle’s first WWF title reign. Their comedic timing was perfect. And they’d invent the Co-Chair-To, a move in which both wrestlers hit their opponents with a chair at the same time.
The legacy of Edge and Christian is they’ll go down as the team that drove the Attitude Era. Two long-time friends whose dream was to be in WWF, finally, make that a reality. Eventually, they’d break up, to give Edge the face push WWF originally wanted from him in 1998. But had Edge just been a single star, without the journey he took with Christian, he would have never been as successful. Edge went from a silent character, to a funny, charismatic, eventually top heel in the business. Christian would launch himself as Captain Charisma, and he might have been the better talker and worker of the two, but for some reason, Vince McMahon didn’t see that in Christian. He’d eventually prove himself in Total Nonstop Action (TNA).
It should be used more, letting wrestlers work with who they are comfortable with. Thanks to this pairing, both superstars grew over two years and launched each other into superstardom. They also carried the tag team division during WWF’s hottest time in company history. More people saw their Five Second Poses than saw John Cena introduce the spinner belt. And for this, it is obvious that Edge and Christian deserve their spot in the Wrestling Headlines/LOP Hall of Fame class of 2025.
