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Christian |
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 Christian
Career
The name Christian came from his earlier wrestling name, Christian Cage, which was a spur of the moment combination of the names of the actors, Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater. Trained by Ron Hutchinson, Christian's wrestling career began in June 1995 in a match against Zakk Wylde, a fellow trainee from Sully's Gym in Toronto. One of his first stage names was Canadian Rage. From very early in his career Christian formed one half of a tag team with Adam Copeland ("Edge"), first called High Impact, later The Suicide Blondes, and most recently simply Edge and Christian. The duo held titles in numerous wrestling promotions, and Christian held the East Coast Wrestling Association title before signing with the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) in August 1998.
Christian had some early singles success, capturing the Light Heavyweight Championship in his debut match. However, his real success came while wrestling in the tag circuit. Christian was given the character of a vampire and formed a stable with Edge and Gangrel known as The Brood. The Brood briefly joined The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness, but left after Christian was thrown out of the group.
The gothic angle was unsuccessful, but soon after, Edge and Christian began to reach their potential. After an unremarkable run as faces most notable for their tendency to approach the ring via the audience, Edge and Christian redefined themselves as a bumbling comic duo of surfer / teenyboppers. They began to hang out with Kurt Angle and repeatedly captured the World Tag Team Championships, as well as winning a triple threat ladder match and two TLC matches. In 2001, Rhyno debuted in the WWF, aligning himself with Edge and Christian.
Friction arose within the team after Edge won the annual King of the Ring tournament. Christian appeared to be jealous, and insisted on carrying Edge's trophy to the ring. His true colors were revealed to the world after he assaulted his on-screen brother and tag team partner Edge. The former partners went on to feud over the Intercontinental Championship for several months. They dropped the storyline brotherhood gimmick when he and Edge broke out on their own.
Singles competition
Christian began a singles career, becoming known for throwing tantrums in the ring when he was unable to gain a pinfall. After a series of defeats, Christian announced that he was quitting the WWF. Diamond Dallas Page, then using the gimmick of a perpetually cheerful motivational speaker, persuaded him not to quit and adopted him as his protege. Christian teased a face turn before betraying his mentor and solidifying his heel status. Christian faced DDP for the WWE European Championship at WrestleMania X8, but was defeated, and once again threw a tantrum in the middle of the ring.
Christian then formed a tag team with fellow Canadian Lance Storm as part of the UnAmericans faction, and then became the sidekick of Chris Jericho, with whom he once again won the Tag Team Championships. Christian helped Jericho eliminate Shawn Michaels from the 2003 Royal Rumble by dressing as Jericho and distracting Michaels, allowing Jericho to attack him from behind. During the time when the then heel, Rock drafted from Smackdown! to Raw, Christian befriended him and he got the idea by calling all his fans his peeps, which is like the Rock calling his fans the people. The Rock didn't appreciate that, so when he came back to Jericho's highlight reel and turned face by turning on both Christian and Jericho who was taking Christian's side.
In 2004, Jericho and Christian split, beginning a long feud involving WWE Diva Trish Stratus, the on-camera love interest of Chris Jericho at the time, who Christian had injured on an episode of RAW. During a match between Christian and Jericho at WrestleMania XX, Trish betrayed Jericho, allowing Christian to defeat him. Trish then joined forces with Christian and his "Problem Solver" Tyson Tomko to make Jericho's life on RAW miserable. The team eventually split, with Tomko deciding to remain with Christian.
Christian's current gimmick is that of a cocky, overconfident heel, although he is immensely popular in Canada. He dubs himself "Captain Charisma", and on December 6, 2004 was forced to wrestle as Captain Charisma, complete with superhero costume, by his then-enemy Chris Jericho, who was general manager for one night. He is also known as "C.L.B. (Creepy Little Bastard)", a nickname given to him by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Christian was often accompanied by Tyson Tomko, and usually wins his matches with interference from Tomko or by some other creative method of cheating. Christian teamed with Edge again several times in late 2004 and early 2005, but failed to recreate the success of their original partnership. Despite being a heel, he has acquired a cult fanbase, who he refers to as his "Peeps", "Peepulation" (a play on the word "population") or the "Christian Coalition". His current entrance theme music is "Just Close Your Eyes" by the rock band Waterproof Blonde.
At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Christian had an encounter with then-WWE US Champion John Cena. He claimed that he was a better rapper than Cena, asking Tomko to 'drop a beat'. Tomko refused. Over the next months, Christian began making promos denouncing John Cena as a 'poser'. It all came to a head when John Cena, now WWE Champion was drafted to RAW. Christian and Tomko came out to cut a promo against Cena, leading to a tag-team match for the June 13th RAW featuring Cena and Chris Jericho against Christian and Tomko. Jericho and Cena won that match, but after it Jericho attacked Cena from behind because he wanted to prove to Eric Bischoff that he deserved a shot at the WWE Title. Cena went on to successfully defend the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match between himself, Christian and Jericho at Vengeance.
Between the run-ins with Cena, Christian participated in the "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21. He was generally a non-factor, though one of the more memorable moments was when Tomko carried him half-way up a ladder, then Christian got his ladder knocked over by Kane, going over the top rope and landing in Tomko's arms. He also had a primary role in the parody trailer for Basic Instinct in connection with the WrestleMania goes Hollywood theme at the event.
On June 27, 2005, on RAW, Christian teamed up with Jericho and Tyson Tomko against Cena, Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan, and lost. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, Christian was the second-to-last man drafted to SmackDown! in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. He replaced The Big Show in a six-man elimination match for the new SmackDown! Title, and finished as the runner-up to John Bradshaw Layfield. Christian did manage to eliminate Booker T, however. After the match it was revealed that a new SmackDown! Title would be unnecessary, as World Heavyweight Champion Batista had been acquired with the last pick in the draft lottery.
Christian made hay about how he was on the main event of both RAW and SmackDown! in the same week (even though he lost both times). However, he was defeated by Batista in a lengthy non-title match on the July 7, 2005 edition of Smackdown!
At The Great American Bash on July 24, 2005 in Buffalo, New York, Christian lost a match to Booker T after being hit with a scissors kick.
Christian now has his own talk show on Smackdown! called "The Peep Show."
In wrestling
Previous Associates
- Judd the Studd
- Trish Stratus
- Tyson Tomko
Quotes
- "Cause that's how I roll!"
- "Cause I'm Captain Charisma, bitch!"
- "I'm Captain Charisma, damn it!"
- "This is for all my peeps out there!"
- "I got 3 C's, Canada, Charisma and CHRISTIAN!!"
Finishing/Signature Moves
- '''Un-Prettier / Impaler''' (standing rotating inverted double underhook facebuster)
- Diving reverse DDT
- Inverted facelock neckbreaker/backbreaker
- Texas cloverleaf
- Reverse tornado DDT ("CCT")
- One man con-chair-to
- Impaler DDT
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