Born Adam Joseph Copeland on October 30, 1973 in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, but known to his fans as Edge from Toronto. Edge always had a passion for wrestling since he was young. Edge saw his first WWE match at WrestleMania VI from the eleventh row in Toronto, Ontario among over 67, 000 fans at age 16. After that point, young Adam Copeland was bitten by the wrestling bug. Edge wasted no time in the early 90’s striving to be a wrestling superstar as he made his way through several independent promotions in his home providence of Ontario (as well as some wrestling in America near the Great Lakes) under the ring name of “Sexton Hardcastle”. “Sexton” would later go to form the tag team “Sex And Violence” with his tag team partner, Joe Legend. In 1997, the tag team of “Sex And Violence” grew into a stable and was renamed “Thug Life”. In addition to himself and Joe Legend, the stable also consisted of childhood friend and still best friend to this day (and later, his on-screen brother) Jay “Christian Cage” Reso. The stable also included a man by the name of “Bloody Bill Skullion” and a man named Terry “Rhino Richards” Gerin (known as Rhyno to WWE and ECW fans and Rhino to TNA fans!).
It didn’t take long for Adam to win his first tag team gold, as he won the SSW Tag Team Titles twice and the ICW Street Fight Tag Team Titles twice both with best friend, Christian Cage. After this point, the “Thug Life” stable was narrowed down to a tag team again with Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage. The team decided to call their team “Hard Impact” and then later they changed it to “The Suicide Blondes”. Sexton and Cage finally got out of the Canadian and American independent scene and made their way to Japan as “The Canadian Rockers” (a take on “The Rockers”, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty). Adam even managed to wrestle for WCW on one occasion as “Damon Striker”. He wrestled against Meng and Kevin Sullivan on WCW Pro. In his autobiography (“Adam Copeland On Edge”), he stated that his time in WCW was barely memorable at all and the only ones who remember it were himself and Terry Gerin. He made it known that he thought that the “Damon Striker” gimmick was the worst gimmick ever.
In 1998, Adam Copeland struck gold, as he was signed to the World Wrestling Federation as “Edge”. Edge debuted in the WWE on the June 22, 1998 edition of RAW. The character of “Edge” was booked as a loner who enters the ring through the crowd (which he continued to do for the next couple years). Edge’s first WWE match didn’t exactly go smoothly when he faced Jose Estrada, Jr. At one point, Edge attempted a somersault senton onto Estrada on the outside of the ring, but Edge inadvertently injured Estrada’s neck.
Edge made his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam 1998 when he was revealed as Sable’s mystery partner to face Marc Mero & Jacqueline. Edge & Sable would go on to win the match. At WWE’s next pay-per-view, Breakdown (in Edge’s home providence of Ontario), a new character would be introduced that Edge was very familiar with, Christian. Christian made his debut for the WWE at Breakdown, coming through the crowd and standing at ringside to distract Edge in a match against Owen Hart. Owen would capitalize on the distraction and roll-up Edge for the win. Edge & Christian just stared at each other following the match. A short time later, Edge & Christian joined up with Gangrel and formed “The Brood”. The Brood would later be “abducted” and would join Undertaker’s “Ministry of Darkness”. In May 1999, Ken Shamrock attacked Brood member Christian, forcing him to reveal the location of the captive, Stephanie McMahon. After Christian was forced out, Edge & Gangrel stood by Christian and became the first group to actually defect from The Ministry.
After the short Ministry feud, “The Brood” split up after Gangrel turned on Edge & Christian and formed “The New Brood” with The Hardy Boyz (The Brood’s rivals). After The New Brood split up, the angle converted into a feud between Edge & Christian and The Hardyz. At No Mercy 1999, Edge & Christian made their debut in the Ladder Match against The Hardyz, in which the winners would earn the “managerial services” of Terri Runnels and $100,000. The Hardyz would win that match, but at WrestleMania 2000 (10 years after Edge sat in the crowd at WrestleMania VI), Edge & Christian defeated The Hardyz & The Dudleyz in a Triple Threat Ladder Match to win their first World Tag Team Titles. This would spark a long running feud between the three teams that would eventually lead to the first ever Tables, Ladders, & Chairs (TLC) Match at SummerSlam 2000 in Raleigh, NC.
After they won the World Tag Team Titles for the first time, Edge & Christian were turned heel and they abandoned the goth gimmick and started playing the “cool” characters. They would do all the usual things that heels do (get cheap heat and use dirty tactics to win matches) and they also came up with the famed “Five Second Pose” where the duo would pose for five seconds while the crowd took pictures. They started out simply posing in different ways, but then they got into mocking the cities they were in by re-enacting moments in the town’s histories.
Edge & Christian would go on to win their second World Tag Team Titles in the first TLC Match at SummerSlam 2000 and would win their third World Tag Team Titles in TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven in Houston. When all was said and done, Edge & Christian won the World Tag Team Titles a stunning six times. However, not too long after WrestleMania, Edge started to break out as a singles star when he won the 2001 King of the Ring. Due to this, Christian became jealous of his brother and turned on him with a steel chair shot in their hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This would lead to a match for the Intercontinental Title (held by Edge) at Unforgiven 2001 (the first time Edge & Christian had ever went one-on-one in the WWE). Christian defeated Edge for the Intercontinental Title at that event. It wouldn’t take very long at all for Edge to regain the Intercontinental Title from his brother. While all this was going on, the WWE had begun the “Invasion” storyline of WWE Vs. The Alliance (WCW/ECW). During this time, Test would defeat Edge for the Intercontinental Title (with his feet on the ropes). However, Edge would go on and defeat Kurt Angle to win the WCW United States Title.
At Survivor Series 2001 (in which the Invasion storyline would come to a close), Edge defeated Test in a Title Unification Match where the winner would unify the WWE Intercontinental & the WCW United States Title into one. Edge won that match by roll-up to be the first unified champion of the night.
Late into 2001, Edge would eventually lose the Intercontinental Title to William Regal. In 2002, Edge would face Booker T in his hometown of Toronto at WrestleMania X-8. Edge would go on to win that match, keeping him undefeated at WrestleMania (3-0).
In the first ever WWE Draft Lottery, Edge was drafted to SmackDown. On SmackDown, Edge would enter a feud with Kurt Angle, which culminated in a Hair Vs. Hair Match where the loser must be shaved bald. Edge would go on to win that match at Judgment Day 2002. Later in the year, Rey Mysterio would make his WWE and SmackDown! Debut and would team up with Edge to win the WWE Tag Team Titles (Edge’s first tag team championship without Christian and his seventh tag team title overall).
Edge would also receive a couple of WWE Title opportunities, though he wouldn’t win the title. In February of 2003, Edge suffered a severe neck injury that would keep him out of action for a year. He would be ready to return early in 2004, but then he would suffer a broken hand, which kept him out of action for an additional month.
The night after WrestleMania XX, Edge would be drafted to RAW, and upon his return, Edge would come into the ring and spear RAW General Manager, Eric Bischoff. Edge would return to the ring shortly after that. On April 19, 2004 on RAW, Edge won his eighth Tag Team Title as he won the World Tag Team Championship with fellow Canadian, Chris Benoit. Around Vengeance 2004 the team split up, but at Vengeance 2004, Edge would defeat Randy Orton to win the Intercontinental Title. Shortly after that, Edge would suffer a groin injury, which prompted Eric Bischoff to strip Edge of the Intercontinental Title, even though Edge would not be out for long.
Upon his return, Edge was transformed into a heel and turned borderline psycho as he began to endlessly obsess over the World Heavyweight Title. At Taboo Tuesday 2004, fans would be allowed to choose who challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title that night. In the end, Shawn Michaels got the most votes, beating out Edge & Chris Benoit. Due to this, Edge & Benoit would be forced to team up and challenge for the World Tag Team Titles against La Resistance. During the course of this match, Edge would abandon Chris Benoit and leave Benoit alone to face the tag champions. Despite this, Benoit would go on to win the match for him and his “partner”, Edge. This made Edge a nine-time tag champion. Edge had an eventful night at Taboo Tuesday 2004, as he not only “won” the World Tag Team Titles with Chris Benoit, but he also interfered in the World Heavyweight Title Match and cost Shawn Michaels the title with a Spear.
In December, Edge & Chris Benoit would be involved in a battle royal to name a #1 Contender for the World Title. Edge & Benoit would both eliminate each other, thus making the match a draw and it would later be ruled that it would be a Triple Threat Match between Triple H (the champion), Edge, & Benoit. During this title defense, Benoit would lock the Crippler Crossface on Edge, who would counter and pin Benoit. However, at the same time that Benoit was being pinned, Edge tapped out to the Crippler Crossface, causing another draw. Due to the confusion, the World Title was vacated. The title would be held up at New Year’s Revolution 2005 in an Elimination Chamber Match. During the course of the match, Edge would accidentally spear Special Referee, Shawn Michaels. Due to this, Michaels would super kick Edge and cost Edge the World Title as he was the first man eliminated. Edge & Michaels feud would culminate at the 2005 Royal Rumble in a match that Edge won.
Edge would then qualify and participate in the first ever Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, CA. Edge would go on to win the match and win the Money-in-the-Bank briefcase that would allow him to challenge for either the WWE or World Heavyweight Title for up to a year. Though Edge had won yet again at WrestleMania and had a guaranteed a title shot in the next year, this was also a troubling time in reality for Edge.
Around this time, it was revealed that Edge was having an affair with his close friend, Matt Hardy’s girlfriend, Amy “Lita” Dumas. Matt Hardy was out with an injury at the time and Lita would also become injured and while Lita was injured the affair between Edge & Lita began. Matt Hardy vented his rage via his website. However, WWE got a hold of the news of this affair and due to Matt’s revealing of it the WWE decided to release Matt Hardy from his contract. Due to enormous amounts of on-air chants and appeals by the fans of the WWE, Matt Hardy was resigned to a contract. While Matt was not with the WWE they came up with a storyline using Kane and Lita as a couple. Matt would interrupt Kane & Lita’s kayfabe wedding on RAW and Matt would do a worked shoot towards Edge (referring to him as “Adam”). Matt would attack Edge in backstage areas and in the ring turning what was a very personnel period into a public storyline. The relationship between Lita and Kane lasted until the May 16 episode of RAW, when Lita turned heel by turning on Kane, helping Edge defeat him in the finals of the WWE RAW Gold Rush Tournament. Edge & Lita were now an on-air couple and Edge & Matt would continue feuding. The feud culminated in a match at SummerSlam 2005 where Edge defeated Matt Hardy due to the referee stopping the match due to excessive blood loss by Matt Hardy. Edge & Matt would then have a SummerSlam rematch at Unforgiven 2005, but in a Steel Cage Match. Matt ended up winning this match. In October at WWE Homecoming (an event celebrating RAW’s return to the USA Network), Edge defeated Matt Hardy in a “Loser Leaves RAW” Ladder Match, which meant that Matt would have to go to SmackDown!, which he did.
After the feud had concluded, Edge suffered a torn pectoral muscle and would be out of action for an undetermined amount of time. During this time, Edge started referring to himself as “The Rated-R Superstar” and started hosting his own talk show on RAW called “The Cutting Edge”. Edge would go on to mock Ric Flair week in and week out and then Flair finally showed up to confront Edge on his talk show. The feud between Flair and Edge culminated in a match at New Year’s Revolution 2006 in which Edge used his Money-in-the-Bank briefcase to get intentionally disqualified.
Later on the same night, WWE Champion John Cena (who had been drafted to RAW in June 2005, along with the WWE Championship) successfully defended the WWE Title in an Elimination Chamber Match. Cena was beaten and bloody after he rolled up Carlito to retain the title. After the match was over, however, Mr. McMahon emerged and said that Cena’s night was not over. He went on to say that an individual was cashing in their Money-in-the-Bank contract for a WWE Title shot right then and there. Edge made his entrance and a WWE Title Match began. Following two spears on a bloody John Cena, Edge won his first WWE Championship.
Following his WWE Title win, Edge proclaimed that he and Lita would have a “Live Sex Celebration” on RAW. They did, but it was interrupted by Ric Flair. After Edge dispatched Flair with a con-chair-to on the announce table. Cena came out to Flair’s rescue. Edge managed to escape, but Lita didn’t and Lita found herself on the receiving end of an F-U at the hands of John Cena. This led to a match for the WWE Title between Edge & Cena at the 2006 Royal Rumble and after only 3 weeks as WWE Champion, Edge lost the WWE Title to Cena.
Cena and Edge would have a rematch for the title in February in which Mick Foley was the Special Guest Referee. Cena would come out on top and retain the WWE Title. Edge would then blame Mick Foley for his loss and the two faced off at WrestleMania 22 in a Hardcore Match. Following a spear through a flaming table, Edge defeated Mick Foley. Following an unsuccessful challenge for the WWE Title at Backlash in a Triple Threat Match with Cena and Triple H, Edge went back to feuding with Foley. Around June, Edge was set to compete in a Triple Threat Hardcore Match against Mick Foley and Tommy Dreamer. Foley would turn on Dreamer and join Edge (and Lita), this would lead to a tag team match at ECW One Night Stand 2006 where Edge teamed with Foley and Lita to face the team of Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, & Beulah McGillicutty. Edge pinned Beulah to win the match for his team.
Later in the same night, Edge interfered in a WWE Title Match between champion John Cena and Rob Van Dam (who was cashing in his Money-in-the-Bank contract). Edge cost Cena the match and allowed RVD to win the WWE Title. Edge would challenge new champion Rob Van Dam at Vengeance 2006, but would be unsuccessful. Then on July 3, 2006 on RAW, Rob Van Dam defended the WWE Title against both Edge and John Cena in a Triple Threat Match. Edge ended up pinning Cena to win his second WWE Title. This win marked the first time the WWE Title had changed hands on RAW since October 8, 2001.
Edge would go on to successfully defend the WWE Title at SummerSlam 2006. Following this, Edge would throw Cena’s custom “spinner” belt into the Long Island Sound. In response to this, Cena threw Edge in the same body of water. This would all lead to a TLC Match at Unforgiven 2006 in Edge’s hometown of Toronto. Cena would win the TLC Match after he F-U’ed Edge through two tables and would regain the WWE Title.
After this, Edge would have a rematch against Cena with the stipulation that if Edge lost he would never get another opportunity as long as Cena was champion. D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) would end up costing Edge the match. On October 9, 2006, Edge joined forces with Randy Orton to form the tag team “Rated RKO”. The duo would go on to defeat DX at Cyber Sunday 2006 (with Eric Bischoff as the Special Guest Referee). On November 13 in England, Edge & Orton would defeat Ric Flair & Roddy Piper (who was injured prior to the match by Rated RKO) to win the World Tag Team Titles, which marked Edge’s eleventh reign as a tag team champion (and Orton’s first).
Rated RKO would go on to defend the World Tag Titles against DX at New Year’s Revolution 2007. Triple H suffered his second quadriceps injury in his career during this match and would not return until August 2007. The match ended as a No Contest. On January 29 (the night after the 2007 Royal Rumble), Edge & Randy Orton would lose the World Tag Team Titles to the team of WWE Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels.
Edge would go on to compete at WrestleMania 23 in the Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match. Mr. Kennedy would win the match which marked Edge’s first loss at a WrestleMania. Kennedy’s reign as “Mr. Money-in-the-Bank” would be short-lived, as Edge defeated Kennedy on the May 7’th edition of RAW to win his Money-in-the-Bank contract.
Edge would cash in his title opportunity, but opted to go to SmackDown and defeat The Undertaker to win his first World Heavyweight Title (just prior to this, Undertaker had defended the title against Batista in a Steel Cage Match and then was assaulted by Mark Henry after the match).
Edge would more or less take Undertaker’s spot in his feud with Batista. The Animal would unsuccessfully challenge Edge for the World Title at Judgment Day, One Night Stand, and in a Last Chance Match at Vengeance. After this, Kane earned the right to challenge Edge for the World Heavyweight Title at The Great American Bash 2007.
However, on July 20, Edge was forced to relinquish the World Heavyweight Title as he was going to be out for around four months due to a torn pectoral muscle. The Great Khali would go on to win the vacant title in a battle royal later that night.
Edge is expected to be back in action anytime soon and we all look forward to what the “Rated-R Superstar” has in store for the WWE.