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113-399: Suicide Blondes can mean: The tag team later known as Edge and Christian . The tag team/stable consisting of Chris Candido , Johnny Hotbody and Chris Michaels . Suicide Blondes , the tag team of LuFisto and Jennifer Blake Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

226-573: A faction dubbed "Thug LiFe" in 1997. The stable consisted of Cage, Hardcastle, Joe E. Legend , Rhino Richards , Bloody Bill Skullion, Big Daddy Adams, and Martin Kane . In 1998, Sexton and Cage began teaming up in independent promotions such as Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and Southern States Wrestling (SSW). The duo won the ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship twice and SSW Tag Team Championship once during their time in

339-472: A tag team in the Canadian independent circuit after completing their training with Ron Hutchison and Sweet Daddy Siki at Hutchinson's "Sully's Gym". The pair primarily used the ring names of Sexton Hardcastle & Christian Cage, respectively. Their tag team wrestled under several team names, such as "High Impact", "Suicide Blondes", "Revolution X", "Hard Impact" and "Canadian Rockers". They were part of

452-848: A brand new third party in the form of Christian's acting problem solver at the time, Tyson Tomko . Christian left WWE on November 13, 2005. He debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at its Genesis pay-per-view soon thereafter under the ring name Christian Cage, which he used in Canadian independent circuit. Christian experienced immediate success in TNA, where he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice . Edge also achieved greater success in WWE after Christian's departure. He went on to win (before Christian departed)

565-473: A chair, and then hit them in the head with another chair. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era . In 2012, WWE named them the greatest tag team in WWE history. The team's popularity propelled Edge & Christian to main event success, with both men becoming multiple-time world champions in their own right. Adam Copeland and Jason Reso formed

678-417: A deal with Endeavor Group Holdings, under which it would merge with Zuffa , the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with McMahon serving as executive chairman of the new entity, and Nick Khan becoming president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023. In 2024, McMahon, who

791-582: A deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL. WWE maintained control of the XFL trademark before McMahon reclaimed the XFL brand, this time under a separate shell company from WWE, in 2017 with intent to relaunch the XFL in 2020 . On June 24, 2002, episode of Raw , Vince McMahon officially referred to the start of the next era, called the "Ruthless Aggression" era. On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed both its company name and

904-515: A distraction by Edge reversed the effects of interference from Clay, Christian defeated Del Rio in a Ladder match for the vacated title. Edge and Christian celebrated the win and embraced in the ring one final time. At SummerSlam , Christian revealed that Edge would be at ringside for his World Heavyweight Championship No Holds Barred match against Randy Orton. However, Edge berated Christian for his recent actions (Christian, at this point, had once again turned heel) and left him to fight on his own in

1017-492: A losing effort to Orton. On the September 16, 2011 edition of SmackDown , entitled "Edge Appreciation Night", the duo once again came face-to-face backstage. They made up, but argued again after Christian tried asking Edge to get him another title shot. After the tapings, a tribute for Edge aired and the two did a five-second pose in front of their hometown of Toronto. In January 2012, it was announced that Edge would be inducted into

1130-732: A major heel and joining The Alliance . The former partners went on to feud over the WWF Intercontinental Championship for several months, causing the team to ultimately split. Edge and Christian had a one-night reunion at a SmackDown! live event on October 13, 2002 when they defeated Los Guerreros ( Eddie and Chavo ). They reunited again on November 15, 2004 edition of Raw, losing to Chris Benoit and Shelton Benjamin . From there, they would become loosely united through Christian facing Edge's storyline rivals, leading to three more reunion tag team matches in 2005. These reunions, officially or otherwise, also included

1243-596: A monopoly on the world title. In a now infamous situation, the NWA sent former five-time world champion and legitimate wrestler Lou Thesz to Toronto to face Rogers on January 24, 1963. Thesz recalls this was not planned and prior to the match remembered telling Buddy "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Rogers agreed to lose the fall and title in a one fall match versus the traditional two out of three fall matchup that most world title matches were defended. Once word reached back to Mondt and McMahon, at first they simply ignored

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1356-532: A pay cut, and the company has also suspended construction on its new headquarters for at least six months. The firings caused significant backlash by fans; with Business Insider calling them "livid." Both fans and several media outlets pointed out that while WWE claimed that these actions were "necessary due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic", the WWE also claimed to have "substantial financial resources. Available cash and debt capacity currently total approximately $ 0.5 billion". DeSantis's claimed WWE

1469-401: A pre-recorded format. NXT continued to air from Full Sail University, but under similar restrictions. Live broadcasts returned on April 13, with the existing arrangements continuing; WWE stated to ESPN.com that "we believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times", and that the company's programming "bring[s] families together and deliver

1582-706: A publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $ 172.5 million. The company is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol WWE. By the fall of 1999, the Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night War into WWF's favor. After Time Warner merged with America Online (AOL), Ted Turner 's control over WCW was considerably reduced. The newly merged company lacked interest in professional wrestling as

1695-496: A sense of hope, determination and perseverance". It was subsequently reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed WWE a business critical to the state's economy, and had added an exception under the state's stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production" that is closed to the public and has a national audience. The decision was met with criticism from media outlets, with several media outlets pointing out that DeSantis's actions happened on

1808-594: A show in Memphis, Tennessee or imitating Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series at the King of the Ring event in Boston ) in order to generate a negative reaction from the crowd. At Backlash , the duo successfully retained their titles against D-Generation X ( X-Pac & Road Dogg ). They then began a feud with Too Cool ( Scotty 2 Hotty , Grand Master Sexay , & Rikishi ). On

1921-531: A storyline that was originally intended to see the two split off into singles wrestlers with Terri managing Christian, but plans was quickly changed to keep the tag team together and have them reject Terri's plans. Edge & Christian continued their "mutual respect" storyline with the Hardy Boyz, with the respect between the two teams steadily deteriorating into a more aggressive rivalry leading up to WrestleMania 2000 . At WrestleMania, Edge & Christian defeated

2034-519: A strong recurring role as Dwight Hendrickson, and Reso made guest appearances as McHugh, a close friend and ally of Dwight's. They also co-hosted The Edge & Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness on the WWE Network . Their new show debuted on February 21, 2016, immediately following Fastlane . To promote the show, Edge & Christian hosted The Cutting Edge Peep Show at Fastlane featuring The New Day as their guests. A second season of

2147-411: A tag team. Edge and Christian are also noteworthy for their participation in the first three Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches (TLC matches), and use of steel folding chairs as weapons. They developed a move called the “con-chair-to”, a play on words of “concerto” where both Edge and Christian each hit a wrestler simultaneously with a chair, often in the head, or they lay a motionless wrestler’s head on

2260-455: A tendency to enter the ring through the audience. The tag team feud with the Hardy Boyz intensified as Gangrel became Matt and Jeff's new manager, combining to form "The New Brood", in the summer of 1999. However, both teams were more interested in acquiring the managerial services of Terri Runnels , for which (along with $ 100,000) they would compete in a best-of-five series of matches known as

2373-473: A third brand on May 26, 2006. Two years later, WWE adapted a more family-friendly format and their programming received a TV-PG rating . The final ECW program aired on February 16, 2010, after which it was replaced with NXT . During this time many new and young wrestlers would join the company, many which would become household names for the next years to come such as John Cena , Randy Orton , Brock Lesnar , and Batista . On April 7, 2011, WWE, via

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2486-453: A time of record low revenues. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers over to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including 1980s babyface hero Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted wrestlers of a younger age comprising "The New Generation", featuring Bret Hart , Shawn Michaels , Diesel , Razor Ramon and The Undertaker among others in an effort to promote new talent into

2599-533: A two-time TNT Champion in an "I Quit" match , ending Cage's second reign at 81 days and ending their six-month feud. WWE World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) is an American professional wrestling promotion . It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings , a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film , football , and various other business ventures . The company

2712-506: A whole and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff , whom Time Warner fired as WCW president in October 1999, was nearing a deal to purchase the company, in March 2001 McMahon acquired the rights to WCW's trademarks, tape library, contracts, and other properties from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $ 7 million. Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven , the WWF launched

2825-532: A wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had begun running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that it was intended to be accessible to those who did not watch wrestling. He invited celebrities such as Mr. T , Muhammad Ali , and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event, as well as securing a deal with MTV to provide coverage. The event and hype surrounding it led to

2938-670: Is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures . The promotion was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Following a dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining

3051-927: Is based at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida . Overall, WWE programming is available in more than one billion homes worldwide in 30 languages. The company's global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut , with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich. As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not true contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline -driven, scripted , and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling

3164-527: Is targeted at career and athletic development for the company's wrestlers. Full Sail is also home base to WWE's NXT brand, which served as a developmental territory for WWE. On February 24, 2014, WWE launched WWE Network , an over-the-top streaming service that would feature archive content from WWE and its predecessors, all pay-per-views, (which would continue to be sold through television providers as well), and original programming. Beginning in 2015 WWE started to push Roman Reigns as their face of

3277-500: The 2020 Royal Rumble , making it to the final three in the men's Royal Rumble match. He then reignited a feud with Randy Orton, which also saw involvement from Christian, as after Orton defeated Edge in a match at Backlash in June, which resulted in Edge suffering a legitimately torn triceps, Christian tried to take up for Edge, resulting in a quick unsanctioned match on Raw that Orton won. At

3390-488: The 2021 Royal Rumble , Edge made his return from the torn triceps injury and entered the match at number one. Christian later entered the match at number 24 as a surprise entrant, marking his first official match since 2014, and he and Edge once again reunited. Christian was ultimately eliminated by Seth Rollins , but Edge then eliminated Rollins, and then Orton, to win the 2021 men's Royal Rumble match. In March, Christian left WWE for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), thus separating

3503-581: The Royal Rumble , they lost the titles to the Dudley Boyz. They aided the Hardy Boyz in defeating the Dudley Boyz for the titles on March 5, 2001 edition of Raw Is War and then two weeks later, they defeated the Hardy Boyz themselves for their record breaking sixth WWF Tag Team Championship. Later that night, they dropped the titles to the Dudley Boyz, making them the shortest reigning WWF Tag Team Champions of all time. At WrestleMania X-Seven , they defeated

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3616-619: The TNT Championship . At the post-event media scrum, Copeland confirmed that he has signed a contract with AEW and will be appearing in a regular, full-time capacity for the promotion. On the following episode of Dynamite , Copeland chastised Cage for his actions at WrestleDream and asked Cage to reunite as a tag team only to get cursed off instead, with Cage threatening to break Copeland's neck and retire him. At Dynamite : Title Tuesday on October 10, Copeland won his debut match by defeating Luchasaurus , Cage's associate. Cage's faction

3729-681: The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was created, with the promotion claiming that inaugural champion Rogers had won a tournament in Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1963, defeating long time Capitol favorite Antonino Rocca in the finals. In reality, Rocca was no longer in the area, as he was working for Jim Crockett Sr. in the Carolinas. Rogers also had already suffered what would later be a career ending heart attack on April 18 in Akron, Ohio, and

3842-467: The XFL , a new professional football league that debuted in 2001. The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach

3955-449: The " con-chair-to ", an attack consisting of simultaneous steel chair shots on both sides of a victim's head. At SummerSlam , they defended their titles successfully against the Dudleyz and Hardyz in the first-ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match (TLC match), a specialized ladder match themed around the signature weapons of all three teams. Edge & Christian stated that instead of doing

4068-462: The "Terri Invitational Tournament". Edge & Christian won the first two matches, putting the Hardyz in sudden jeopardy. The Hardyz went on to win the next two matches, however, leading to a rubber match at No Mercy to determine which team would earn Terri's services. The rubber match would be a ladder match , in which Gangrel tried to interfere, only to get ejected. Matt and Jeff Hardy went on to win

4181-419: The "time-honored tradition" of shaking the hands of their opponents, they would instead do the time-honored tradition of mocking their opponents, and had four little people show up dressed as the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz, with toy ladders and tables, along with a special "37-second pose" where the fake Hardyz and Dudleyz bowed to Edge & Christian, who stood on the table. After Edge & Christian lost

4294-480: The April 15, 2011 edition of Raw , Edge officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to complications from his previous neck injuries, vacating the World Heavyweight Championship in the process. Upon his retirement, Christian would gain a championship match for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship against Del Rio after winning a 20-Man Battle Royal. At Extreme Rules, after

4407-516: The Brood defeated The J.O.B. Squad ( Al Snow , Bob Holly , & Scorpio ). The Brood then briefly joined The Undertaker 's Ministry of Darkness faction, but left after Christian was flogged and almost sacrificed for revealing Stephanie McMahon 's whereabouts to Ken Shamrock . Following a short feud with the Ministry in the immediate aftermath, Gangrel turned on Edge and demanded that Christian do

4520-566: The Curb Stomp if John Cena did not bring back The Authority . Ultimately, Cena would give in to Rollins' demands, saving Edge, but bringing back The Authority. Edge & Christian appeared on the Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network following the September 7, 2015 episode of Raw . Outside of WWE, the two have appeared together on the Syfy TV series Haven , on which Copeland had

4633-481: The Invasion storyline, integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became by far the sole largest wrestling promotion in North America and in the world. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in 2003. In 2000, the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC , launched

Suicide Blondes - Misplaced Pages Continue

4746-515: The May 29, 2000 edition of Raw Is War , they dropped the titles to Scotty & Sexay. At the King of the Ring pay-per-view, the duo defeated Too Cool, Hardy Boyz, and T & A ( Test & Albert ) in a Four Corners elimination match to win their second WWF Tag Team Championship. Matching the Dudleyz' penchant for driving enemies through tables and the Hardyz' proficiency in diving attacks using ladders, Edge & Christian became known for using

4859-460: The Montreal Screwjob, which took place at the 1997 Survivor Series , former WCW talent were being hired by the WWF, including Stone Cold Steve Austin , Mankind , and Vader . Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an antihero , starting with his " Austin 3:16 " speech shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the King of

4972-603: The NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 before the promotion left the NWA for good in 1983. In 2002, following a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund , the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE . Prior to September 2023,

5085-456: The October 16 edition of Raw Is War , they defeated the Dudley Boyz, and on the October 19 edition of SmackDown! , they won a tag team battle royal to earn themselves a tag team title shot. They went on to defeat the Hardy Boyz at No Mercy to once again become the tag team champions . Soon after, another team began competing as Los Conquistadores as well, and they soon challenged Edge & Christian for their tag team championship on

5198-458: The October 23 episode of Raw Is War . "Los Conquistadores" defeated Edge & Christian before ripping off their masks and revealing themselves as the Hardy Boyz, therefore the Hardyz were champions once again. During the course of 2000, Edge & Christian began to periodically team with Kurt Angle , forming "Team ECK", a group that was later joined by Rhyno when he came in from Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in early 2001, christening

5311-731: The Performance Center in a similar setup dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center. It had many of the same features as the ThunderDome, but with a small crowd of select live fans included, in addition to the virtual fans. The name is also an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. On May 21 WWE brought back fans full time, beginning with a 25-city tour, thus ending the ThunderDome residency. The July 16 episode of SmackDown started WWE's return to

5424-481: The Performance Center with paying fans, thus being WWE's last event to have ticketed fans in attendance before the pandemic took full effect. WrestleMania 36 was scheduled to take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa but on March 16, was moved to Orlando to be held behind closed doors. WrestleMania, as well as Raw and SmackDown for a period before and after WrestleMania, shifted from live broadcasts to

5537-564: The Ring pay-per-view in 1996. On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television , airing a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999 – competing directly with WCW's Thursday night program titled Thunder on TBS . In the summer of 1999, Titan Sports, Inc. was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. On October 19, 1999, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. launched an initial public offering as

5650-428: The Ring , when Edge won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament (all four members had made it to the semi-finals). As a result, on the September 3 edition of Raw Is War in their hometown of Toronto , Christian appeared to be jealous of his brother and insisted on carrying Edge's King of the Ring trophy to the ring. After Edge had defeated Lance Storm , Christian assaulted Edge with a " one-man con-chair-to " turning into

5763-544: The TNT Championship from Cage after Shayna Wayne (Nick Wayne's mother) hit him with the title belt in retaliation for taking out Nick. On the December 23 episode of Collision , Cage accepted Copeland's challenge to a no disqualification match for the TNT Championship at Worlds End while announcing that Shayna Wayne has joined The Patriarchy as "The Matriarch" Mother Wayne. At Worlds End, Copeland defeated Cage to become

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5876-491: The WWE Corporate website, the company ceased using the full name World Wrestling Entertainment and henceforth referred to itself solely as WWE, making the latter an orphan initialism . This was said to reflect WWE's global entertainment expansion away from the ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE noted that their new company model

5989-505: The WWE Hall of Fame. On March 31, 2012, Christian inducted Edge into the WWE Hall of Fame. At the end of Edge's speech, he did a five-second pose to end the ceremony. Edge & Christian guest hosted the December 29, 2014 episode of Raw . During the show, Christian was attacked and forced out of the ring by Seth Rollins , Big Show , & J & J Security. Edge was held to the mat by Big Show while Rollins threatened to break his neck with

6102-492: The WWF were former AWA or NWA talent. The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would require a huge capital investment, one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of McMahon's experiment came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania . WrestleMania was a major success and was (and still is) marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of

6215-664: The WrestleMania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event I in 1988 and was seen by 33 million people, the most-watched wrestling match in North American television history. In 1983, Titan moved its offices to Stamford, Connecticut . Subsequently, a new Titan Sports, Inc. (originally WWF, Inc.) was established in Delaware in 1987 and

6328-685: The aforementioned draft), and airs live instead of the previous pre-recorded format. Due to the return of the brand split, a new World Championship , called the WWE Universal Championship was introduced at the August 21, 2016 SummerSlam event with Finn Bálor defeating Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. On November 29, 2016, WWE introduced a new program specifically for their cruiserweight division (wrestlers 205 lbs. and under) called WWE 205 Live . The program focuses exclusively on those wrestlers who qualify for

6441-498: The city they were performing in, using strange exclusive phrases (the most notable being "reek of awesomeness"), and dressing in outlandish costumes. Other trademarks of theirs included the "five-second pose" where, "for the benefit of those with flash photography", they would pose in odd positions in the middle of the ring so fans could take pictures. These poses usually involved making fun of either their opponents or aspects of town pride (for instance, making fun of Elvis Presley during

6554-523: The company since having him win the 2015 Royal rumble match , amidst mixed reception . By 2017 Roman Reigns became their highest merchandise seller. On May 25, 2016, WWE relaunched the brand split, billed as the "New Era". Subsequently, Raw and SmackDown have each featured their unique rosters, announcers, championships and ring sets/ropes. A draft took place to determine which wrestlers would appear on what show. SmackDown also moved from Thursdays to Tuesday nights, which began on July 19 (the night of

6667-523: The company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon , who retained a 38.6% ownership of the company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc. , was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts , but reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd.,

6780-446: The company. The actual date of sale is still unknown but the generally accepted date is June 6, 1982; however, this was likely only the date the deal was struck but not finalized. On WWF television, Capitol Wrestling Corporation maintained copyrights and ownership past the June 1982 date. The World Wrestling Federation was not solely owned by Vincent J. McMahon but also by Gorilla Monsoon , Arnold Skaaland and Phil Zacko. The deal between

6893-459: The defending champions The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley ) and the Hardy Boyz in a Triangle ladder match to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship. Immediately thereafter, Edge & Christian began redefining themselves as a villainous duo of comedic, arrogant, surfer -styled teen idols . No longer entering the arena through the crowd, the two engaged in various antics, including making fun of their opponents and/or

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7006-627: The division. The cruiserweights – who first became a fixture in WWE with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament – were originally exclusive to the Raw brand before landing their own brand . On December 15, 2016, WWE established a new WWE United Kingdom Championship , with the inaugural champion being decided by a 16-man tournament to air on WWE Network featuring wrestlers from the UK and Ireland during January 2017. WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque said

7119-402: The duo interacted on television for the first time since Christian's return. On the first SmackDown following the 2010 WWE Draft , Christian and Edge came face-to-face following Edge's goodbye speech, in which they referred to themselves simply as childhood friends rather than brothers, permanently retconning their previous backstory. Christian would force Edge to reveal that he had manipulated

7232-588: The equation entirely. The storyline then focused around the "mutual respect" between Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz, along with both teams' pursuit of the WWF Tag Team Championship . The two teams were involved in several matches together, such as at Survivor Series and No Way Out . However, shortly after Terri betrayed the Hardyz at No Way Out, the truce between the two teams imploded and they began fighting each other once more. Terri then attempted to sow discord between Edge & Christian in

7345-509: The eventual plan with the new title and tournament was to establish a UK-based brand with its own weekly television show. WWE subsequently launched its UK-based brand as an offshoot of NXT, NXT UK , in June 2018, with Johnny Saint serving as inaugural general manager. Starting in September 2019, NXT had a weekly, live, two-hour show Wednesday nights on the USA Network and WWE began promoting NXT as their "third brand". However, in 2021 NXT

7458-440: The fans into believing he was now a fan favorite, and challenging Edge to a match. Edge refused the challenge, admitted that Christian was right and that he had manipulated the fans, which led to a brawl between the two, which saw Christian get the upper hand. On the May 17 edition of Raw , in their hometown of Toronto, Edge was scheduled for a "Pick Your Poison" match and his opponent turned out to be Christian. Edge eventually won

7571-428: The film Rocky III . McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer. Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as The Iron Sheik , Nikolai Volkoff , Junkyard Dog , Paul Orndorff , Greg Valentine , and Ricky Steamboat , joining existing stars such as Jimmy Snuka , Don Muraco , Sgt. Slaughter and André the Giant . Many of the wrestlers who would later join

7684-544: The first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s when the now-defunct DuMont Television Network broadcast matches of Vincent J. McMahon's Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The 1980s "Wrestling Boom" peaked with the WrestleMania III pay-per-view at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173 for the WWF for 29 years until 2016 . A rematch of

7797-656: The first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at New Year's Revolution in January 2006 and won the WWE Championship , his first of eleven world championship reigns. In 2009, Christian returned to WWE, and at Backlash , won the ECW Championship , his first world championship in WWE. Following his title win, and before Edge's ninth world title win that same night,

7910-497: The founder of the CWC was. Some sources state that it was Vincent J. McMahon , while other sources cite McMahon's father Jess McMahon as founder of CWC. The CWC later joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and famous New York promoter Toots Mondt soon joined the promotion. Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking power, largely due to their dominance in

8023-405: The four major sports leagues closed locker rooms to the media as a precautionary measure. As other sports cancellations and postponements were being introduced, WWE began to film its weekly programs at the Performance Center without spectators and with only essential staff present, beginning with the March 13 episode of SmackDown  – the March 11 episode of NXT had been recorded at

8136-563: The foursome as "Team RECK". At Armageddon , Edge & Christian competed in a Four Corners match which included the then-current champions, Right To Censor ( The Goodfather & Bull Buchanan ), the Dudley Boyz and the makeshift team of Road Dogg & K-Kwik . Edge & Christian went on to win the match and their fourth WWF Tag Team Championship. A week later, they lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to The Rock & The Undertaker , but eventually regained them. At

8249-489: The heavily populated Northeastern United States . In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Mondt and McMahon were not only promoters but also acted as his manager and were accused by other NWA promoters of withholding Rogers making defenses in their cities versus only defending in Mondt and McMahon's own cities thus maintaining

8362-417: The holding company for the WWF, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In 2023, its legal name was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC . WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Its main roster is divided into two touring brands , Raw and SmackDown . Its developmental brand , NXT ,

8475-472: The independent circuit. On the June 22, 1998 episode of Raw is War , Copeland debuted as Edge in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) against Jose Estrada Jr. He was a mysterious "loner" character , who would emerge from the crowd before his matches. Eventually, he started a feud with Gangrel . At In Your House: Breakdown , during a match pitting Edge against Owen Hart , Reso, cited as an unknown person looking strikingly similar to Edge, came out to

8588-484: The line for a title shot. Copeland responded by introducing "The Cope Open", an open challenge series for him to earn a TNT Championship title shot. On the February 14, 2024 episode of Dynamite , Copeland wrestled Daniel Garcia in a number one contender match for the TNT Championship. The match ended in a no-contest after Cage attacked both competitors. On the March 20 episode of Dynamite , Copeland defeated Cage to become

8701-668: The longest world title reign in the WWE since Hulk Hogan from 1984 to 1988. WWE remained at the Amway Center up through early December before relocating the ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida . The ThunderDome relocated to Yuengling Center , located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, beginning with the April 12, 2021, episode of Raw . In October 2020, NXT events were relocated from Full Sail University to

8814-437: The match and the tournament after a competitive bout that resulted in both teams receiving a standing ovation from the audience after the match, as well as the next night on Raw Is War . On that next night, the four men shook hands in a show of respect, then all turned against Gangrel by attacking him when he came out to boast about spending the night with Terri, establishing them all as heroic figures and removing Gangrel from

8927-527: The match with a spear, however, moments later Randy Orton revealed that The Undertaker was in fact his real opponent. Though Edge got himself intentionally counted out, Christian got the last laugh by throwing Edge back into the ring to get chokeslammed by the Undertaker. The duo reunited once again at the 2010 Slammy Awards. During the first months of 2011, Christian assisted Edge during his feud with Alberto Del Rio . At WrestleMania, Edge defeated Del Rio. On

9040-609: The name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark. Although mainly caused by an unfavorable ruling in its dispute with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the "WWF" initialism, the company noted it provided an opportunity to emphasize its focus on entertainment. In March 2002, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, with each group of wrestlers appearing on one of their main programs, Raw and SmackDown! , due to

9153-452: The new TNT Champion, his first title win in AEW and ending Cage's reign at 98 days. However, Killswitch, who had won a TNT Championship title shot earlier that night, gave Cage the title shot opportunity for Cage to regain the TNT Championship, ending Copeland's reign in three minutes and marking his reign as the shortest of the championship. After the loss, Cage said that Copeland now goes back to

9266-575: The organization. McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions, eventually ending the territory system, which was in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters. In an interview with Sports Illustrated , McMahon

9379-441: The other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for; the "Supershow" format would mark the end of the brand split, as all programming and live events (until July 2016) featured the full WWE roster. In 2013, the company built the sports medicine and training facility WWE Performance Center in the east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University from Winter Park, Florida . The training facility

9492-482: The overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline and the ensuing absorption of WCW and ECW contracts. This was dubbed as the " brand extension ". Beginning in 2002 a draft lottery was held nearly every year to set the rosters, with the first draft to determine the inaugural split rosters, and subsequent drafts designed to refresh the rosters of each show. WWE expanded the brand split by relaunching ECW as

9605-563: The pandemic to have ticketed fans in attendance with a maximum of 25,000 spectators for each night with COVID-19 protocols in place. Also around this time, the WWE Network in the United States became exclusively distributed by Peacock on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock did not affect the service outside of the United States. The move to Peacock received some criticisms from fans particularly due to Peacock's heavy censorship policy,

9718-482: The pandemic, including releasing a number of performers ( Karl Anderson , Kurt Angle , Aiden English , EC3 , Epico , Luke Gallows , Curt Hawkins , No Way Jose , Sarah Logan , Mike Kanellis , Maria Kanellis , Primo , Erick Rowan , Rusev , Lio Rush , Zack Ryder , Heath Slater , and Eric Young ), three producers ( Dave Finlay , Shane Helms and Lance Storm ), referee Mike Chioda , and multiple NXT/Performance Center trainees and staff. WWE executives also took

9831-451: The ring distracting him long enough to allow Hart to get the win. It was later revealed that Reso's character was Christian, Edge's storyline brother, and that he was aligned with Gangrel as his vampire follower. After some confrontations between the two gothic brothers, Edge was eventually convinced to "come home" with Christian and Gangrel, and the three of them formed a stable known as " The Brood ". At In Your House: Rock Bottom ,

9944-587: The road, taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. In January 2021, WWE moved WrestleMania 37 , which was originally to be held in Inglewood, California on March 28, to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida – WrestleMania 36's original location – as a two-night event on April 10 and 11, with fans in attendance, though to a limited capacity. This marked WWE's first event during

10057-512: The same day a pro- Donald Trump political action committee led by Linda McMahon , who was previously a part of Trump's cabinet, pledged to spend $ 18.5 million in advertising in Florida, and that, also on the same day, Vince McMahon was named part of an advisory group created by Trump to devise a strategy in re-launching the US economy. On April 15, WWE started a series of cuts and layoffs in response to

10170-464: The same. He refused and both Christian and Edge broke away from Gangrel, turning them into fan favorites . From there, the gothic storyline enjoyed limited success, beginning their eventual tag team feud with The Hardy Boyz ( Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy ), who also briefly formed a new Brood with Gangrel before turning on him as well. At this point, the duo had rehashed Edge's pre-Brood gimmick as borderline gothic fan favorites, most notable for

10283-513: The show was then announced and began in November 2018. In addition, they started their own podcast called E&C's Pod of Awesomeness in April 2017. The show would eventually end in February 2019. In 2018, Edge & Christian inducted The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley ) into the WWE Hall of Fame . After nine years and two neck fusion surgeries, Edge made his in-ring return at

10396-422: The spotlight. In January 1993, the WWF debuted its flagship cable program Monday Night Raw . WCW countered in September 1995 with its own Monday night program, Monday Nitro , which aired in the same time slot as Raw . The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the " Monday Night War ") until mid-1996. At that point, Nitro began a nearly two-year ratings domination that

10509-428: The tag team championship to the Hardy Boyz at Unforgiven in a Steel Cage match, they were granted a rematch the very next night on Raw Is War in a ladder match , which they lost. According to the pre-match stipulation, due to the loss, they could never again challenge for the tag team championship as long as the Hardy Boyz held them. Thus, as a loophole, they began competing under the masks of Los Conquistadores . On

10622-490: The team once again. In August 2023, Edge announced on social media that his WWE contract would be expiring in September. WWE offered a contract extension, but Edge did not accept the offer and his WWE contract expired on September 30. The following day, Edge, now going by his real name Adam Copeland, made his AEW debut at WrestleDream to confront Christian, who once again goes under the name of Christian Cage, after Cage's two-out-of-three falls match against Darby Allin for

10735-407: The term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection , due to the cross-promotion of popular culture and professional wrestling. The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyface hero Hulk Hogan for the next several years after defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked

10848-420: The then-champions the Dudley Boyz and the Hardy Boyz in the second-ever TLC match to win their seventh and final WWF Tag Team Championship, with help from their teammate Rhyno. On the April 19 episode of SmackDown! , they lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to The Brothers of Destruction ( Undertaker & Kane ). Friction soon began to arise between the duo (as well as the entire RECK faction) at King of

10961-466: The three business partners receiving roughly $ 815,000 among them and Vincent J. McMahon receiving roughly $ 185,000. Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from

11074-576: The title Suicide Blondes . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suicide_Blondes&oldid=371500043 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Edge and Christian In addition to their seven reigns as WWF Tag Team Champions, they each won singles titles during their run as

11187-661: The title change. From January until April 1963, Rogers was promoted as the NWA World Champion, or simply the World Heavyweight Champion, in their area. The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was not an immediate creation after Rogers's one fall loss to Thesz. Mondt and McMahon both eventually left the NWA in protest and formed the WWWF in the process. They brought along with them Willie Gilzenberg , long time boxing and wrestling promoter in New Jersey. In April 1963,

11300-419: The two McMahons was a monthly payment basis, in which if a single payment was missed, ownership would revert to the elder McMahon and his business partners. Looking to seal the deal quickly, McMahon took several loans and deals with other promoters and the business partners (including the promise of a job for life) in order to take full ownership by May or June 1983 for an estimated total of roughly $ 1 million with

11413-461: The wrestlers' entrances on a level similar to that of pay-per-view productions pre-pandemic. Nearly 1,000 LED boards were installed to allow for rows and rows of virtual fans. It was free of charge for fans to virtually attend the events, though they had to reserve their virtual seat ahead of time. During this time, Roman Reigns began his historic world title reign with the WWE Universal Championship , which would eventually surpass 1,000 days; being

11526-420: Was "essential", which meant that the company's revenues loss would be limited. In August 2020, WWE relocated from the Performance Center to Orlando's Amway Center for a long-term residency, broadcasting episodes of Raw , SmackDown , and pay-per-views through a virtual fan viewing experience called WWE ThunderDome . Inside the ThunderDome, drones, lasers, pyro, smoke, and projections were utilized to enhance

11639-405: Was by now no longer the majority WWE stockholder, ended his ties with the company amid a sex trafficking scandal . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s WWE's origins can be traced back as far as the 1950s when on January 7, 1953, the first show under the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was produced. There is uncertainty as to whom

11752-488: Was consolidated with the Massachusetts entity in February 1988. The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid abuse and distribution in 1992. This was followed by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees the following year. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but the allegations brought bad public relations for the WWF, and an overall bad reputation. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $ 5 million at

11865-445: Was in an Ohio hospital during the time the alleged tournament took place. Rogers lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, with the promotion beginning to be built around Sammartino shortly after. In June 1963, Gilzenberg was named the first president of the WWWF. Mondt left the promotion in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had previously withdrawn from the NWA, McMahon quietly re-joined in 1971. The WWWF

11978-568: Was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (the former Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (the former Diesel). As the Monday Night War continued between Raw Is War and WCW's Nitro , the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult-oriented product, known as the Attitude Era . The era

12091-417: Was later called The Patriarchy, with Cage being recognized as "The Patriarch" of the faction. At Full Gear , The Patriarchy lost to Copeland, Sting and Allin in a six-man tag team match. After taking out Nick Wayne and Luchasaurus (who Cage renamed as Killswitch after the loss at Full Gear), Copeland challenged Cage for the TNT Championship. On the December 6 episode of Dynamite , Copeland failed to win

12204-562: Was moved to Tuesday nights, having conceded the Wednesday Night Wars to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and in September of that year was reinstated to its original function as the developmental brand for the main roster (Raw and SmackDown), under the name "NXT 2.0". In March 2020, WWE began to be impacted by the American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic . In mid-March, three of

12317-503: Was publicly acknowledged by WWE's then-owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE markets its product as sports entertainment , acknowledging professional wrestling's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. In 2023, WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman. In April 2023, WWE made

12430-599: Was put into effect with the relaunch of Tough Enough , being a non-scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the launch of the WWE Network (at the time scheduled to launch in 2012; later pushed back to 2014). However, the legal name of the company still remains as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Beginning with the August 29, 2011, episode, Raw - referred to as Raw Supershow - featured talent from both Raw and SmackDown (the "Supershow" epithet would be dropped on July 23, 2012). Championships previously exclusive to one show or

12543-637: Was quoted as saying: "In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords." McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association (AWA) talent Hulk Hogan , who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in

12656-618: Was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , and his wife Linda , established Titan Sports, Inc., in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts and applied trademarks for the initials "WWF". The company was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, then moved to the building on Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut . The younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of

12769-485: Was spearheaded by WWF VP Shane McMahon (son of owner Vince McMahon) and head writer Vince Russo . 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart 's controversial departure from the company, dubbed as the Montreal Screwjob . This proved to be one of several founding factors in the launch of the Attitude Era as well as the creation of McMahon's on-screen character, " Mr. McMahon ". Before

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