Edge (wrestler)

Edge
Copeland in 2024
Born
Adam Joseph Copeland

(1973-10-30) October 30, 1973 (age 51)
Orangeville, Ontario, Canada
Occupations
  • Professional wrestler
  • actor
Years active1992–2011, 2020–present (professional wrestler)
2011–present (actor)
Spouses
Alannah Morley
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​
(m. 2001; div. 2004)​
Lisa Ortiz
​
​
(m. 2004; div. 2005)​
​
​
(m. 2016)​
Children2
Ring name(s)Adam Copeland[1]
Adam Impact[2]
Conquistador Uno[3]
Damon Striker[4]
Edge[5]
Sexton Hardcastle[6]
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[5]
Billed weight241 lb (109 kg)[5]
Billed fromToronto, Ontario, Canada[5]
Trained byRon Hutchison[5]
Sweet Daddy Siki[5]
DebutJuly 1, 1992[7]

Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs under his real name and is a former two-time AEW TNT Champion. He is currently on hiatus due to injury. Copeland is best known for his 25-year tenure in WWE from 1998 to 2023, where he performed under the ring name Edge.

Often regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[8][9] Copeland made his professional wrestling debut in 1992, wrestling in various 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 (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002) 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 on seven occasions. 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.[10] The team split in 2001 and Copeland embarked on a successful solo career. He won a total of 31 championships in WWE, holding the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) a record seven times, the WWE Championship four 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 inaugural 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.[11]

Copeland first retired in 2011 due to several neck injuries and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following 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 (PPV) events for WWE, including WrestleMania XXIV and WrestleMania 37, being one of the company's most prolific PPV performers.[12] After his WWE contract expired in September 2023, he joined rival promotion AEW the following month, debuting at the WrestleDream PPV. He went on to win the AEW TNT Championship twice.

Aside from professional wrestling, Copeland has acted in the films Highlander: Endgame (2000), Bending the Rules (2012) and Money Plane (2020). He has made guest appearances on television 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 (2011–2015), Ketill Flatnose in Vikings (2017–2020), and Ares in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023–present).

  1. ^ "Edge Cagematch Profile".
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SLAMbio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. May 6, 2002. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference WCW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference wwebio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Copeland, Adam (November 2004). Adam Copeland on Edge. WWE Books. p. 74. ISBN 0-7434-8347-2.
  7. ^ Kidd, Kenneth (April 17, 2011). "Orangeville pro wrestler retires before he's forced to". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 14, 2019 – via PressReader.
  8. ^ Fowler, Matt (April 5, 2024). "The Top 25 Wrestlers of All Time". IGN. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Beaston, Erik. "B/R Wrestling's Top 50 Greatest WWE Superstars of All Time Rankings". Bleacher Report. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Erik Beaston (May 1, 2020). "Ranking the Best Tag Teams and Stables of WWE's Attitude Era". Bleacher Report.
  11. ^ Murphy, Ryan (April 14, 2011). "WWE "Living on the Edge: The Career of Adam Copeland"". Wwe.com. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  12. ^ "Wrestlers with Most WWF/WWE PPV Appearances". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved June 21, 2018.