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The Smackdown Summary - 26th February 2010

February 26th, 2010

26/02/2010

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Posted by JayD

The Weekly Informer - 26th February 2010

February 26th, 2010

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Posted by The Informant

The Superstars Recap - 25th February 2010

February 25th, 2010

25/02/2010

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Posted by JayD

Spotlight on: Christian

February 24th, 2010

Spotlight On Christian Picture

Christian made his World Wrestling Federation debut in 1998. Since then, he has remained charismatic, talented and loved by the fans, and yet one of the more underrated stars in World Wrestling Entertainment today.

He is mostly known for his role in tag teams, but his solo career is also impressive.

Christian’s World Wrestling Federation Debut

Christian debuted at the WWF pay-per-view Breakdown: In Your House in September 1998, as the long-lost brother of Edge and minion to Gangrel, who was Edge’s enemy. His sombre expression, quietness, dark sunglasses and white poet’s shirt evoked an aura of mystery about him. He made a loud impression on fans however, when he won the Light Heavyweight Championship from Taka Michinoku in his first match for the WWF at the Judgment Day: In Your House pay-per-view on October 18, 1998.

He held the title for 30 days, and then lost it to Gillberg (Duane Gill) on an episode of Raw.

The Brood

Without much of an explanation from anyone Edge, Christian and Gangrel formed the group ‘The Brood’.

Christian did not appear to have much to do within the group, however, and often stood on the sidelines while Edge and Gangrel worked as a tag team. They joined The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness in early 1999, but left the group soon after Wrestlemania XV when Undertaker wanted to sacrifice Christian for a minor transgression. The Brood fought back and ventured out on their own once more.

Edge and Christian broke away from Gangrel in June of 1999, around the time they began feuding with Matt and Jeff Hardy. They had their first series of five high-profile matches with the Hardys in the childishly named Terri Invitational Tournament. The winner would receive money and Terri Runnels’ managerial services.. Edge and Christian won two of the matches, but the Hardy Boyz won the final match and the tournament.

The tournament was a stepping-stone for both teams to have higher profile feuds and earn more respect from fans and their fellow wrestlers.

If you want to read more about the History of Edge and Christian Click Here check out my Suite101 article!

A Team that Totally Reeks of Awesomeness

Edge and Christian won their first tag team titles at WrestleMania 2000 in a Triangle Ladder Match against the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz. This accomplishment fulfilled a lifelong goal between real-life best friends Adam Copeland (Edge) and Jay Reso (Christian), who had vowed to hold the World Wrestling Federation tag team gold together one day.

With this championship win came a new attitude.

The formerly mysterious and fan-friendly duo became arrogant and picked up a California surfer dude dialect, even though they were obviously Canadian. They gifted their fans with 5-second poses, which became more elaborate each week. The most notorious is probably the pose of Team ECK (Kurt Angle provided the K) as a jug band when the WWF was in Kentucky.

Their hilarious antics (which often involved midgets and making fun of the Hardys) resulted in reluctant support from fans, who couldn’t help laughing at and with them.

Edge and Christian racked up a total of seven tag team championship reigns, beating the likes of the Hardys, the Dudleys, Too Cool, and The Rock and The Undertaker (whom E&C dubbed “The Rockertaker”.) The two had a sizeable following even though they were heels, in part down to their use of catchphrases like “reeking of awesomeness”.

Christian often stole the show with his various crazy sunglasses, arguably the best being the Oakley Overheads.

Feuding with the Hardys and the Dudleys

The words “Tables, Ladders, and Chairs” are synonymous with Edge and Christian, the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz.

The three tag teams were involved with so many matches together that it seems like they wrestled each other every week on Raw and Smackdown. That was pretty much the case, in fact. E&C won two TLC matches at Summerslam 2000 and WrestleMania X-7, making them kings of the TLC match, at least at the time.

To read more about Edge and Christian’s greatest feuds Click Here to check out my Suite 101 Article!

King of the Ring Jealousy

In 2001, Edge’s increasing singles success began to get to Christian.

First Edge won King of the Ring in June that year, and then at Summerslam on August 19^th he won the Intercontinental title from Lance Storm. Up to this point Christian had only won one singles title back in 1998 and he began to show signs of jealousy towards Edge. Edge and Christian lost a match against Kane and The Undertaker in an attempt to get the Brothers of Destruction’s tag titles, which made Christian all the more determined to strive to singles success.

He scored a title match against The Rock, who was the Heavyweight Champion at the time, on September 3, 2001. Christian fought hard, but he lost, and after that seemed to have slipped into a strange state. Later that night Edge defended his Intercontinental title against Lance Storm. After Edge won the match, Storm attacked him. Christian came running out to make the save with a steel chair. The brothers embraced, and as Christian turned to leave the ring, he suddenly swung around and hit Edge with a chair shot to the head.

He rammed Edge’s King of the Ring trophy into Edge’s gut, and followed that up with a one-man Con-Chair-To.

Christian! Christian! At Last, You’re on Your Own!

Christian declared that he had split with his brother because he was sick and tired of being seen as Edge’s sidekick. He felt that Edge was getting too much undeserved attention and he wanted to be recognized for his own merits. He won the Intercontinental title from his former team-mate at Unforgiven on September 23, 2001. He lost it to his old partner at the next pay-per-view, No Mercy, in a ladder match on October 21^st.

Christian and The Un-Americans

Christian teamed with Lance Storm, Test, and William Regal to form the Un-Americans, an ill-conceived and ridiculous faction that even the members themselves hated. The notion that they all despised America was absurd because they all lived in the U.S., and Christian’s own father was American. Fortunately Christian didn’t spend too long with them and soon moved on.

Christian Teams with Chris Jericho

In October of 2002, Christian teamed up with Chris Jericho to form ‘Vitamin C’ and the two wrestled together off and on until early 2004.

They won the tag team championships from Kane and The Hurricane on the October 14^th edition of Raw and held the belts for about two months, until finally losing them at Armageddon to Booker T and Goldust on December 15^th.

Christian continued teaming with Jericho, and they feuded with Kane and Rob Van Dam, along with Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy.

The Intercontinental Championship

Christian began competing for the Intercontinental title again, which he had held all too briefly a couple of years before.

He won the belt when he emerged victorious at a battle royal for the belt at Judgment Day on May 18^th, and held the title for about a month and a half. He lost it to Booker T on July 7^th, 2003. He then won it soon after at a house show on August 8^th, and held the belt until September 29^th when Rob Van Dam defeated him on Raw.

He didn’t win any other titles in the remainder of his stay with WWE, but had fairly high-profile feuds with Chris Jericho, John Cena and Shawn Michaels.

Christian Cage in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

In November 2005, Christian left WWE for TNA, in a move that shocked many wrestling fans.

He would go on to stay there for a little over three years, winning the NWA Championship twice. The first time, he won it from Jeff Jarrett at TNA’s Against All Odds event on February 12, 2006. He held the belt until June 18^th when Jarrett recaptured it during a King of the Mountain match. He won the NWA title for a second time when he defeated Abyss and Sting in a 3-Way match at Final Resolution. He held the title until he lost it to Kurt Angle in a 3-Way match at TNA Sacrifice on May 13, 2007.

Christian remained in TNA until January 2009, but he did not win any more titles in the duration.

Christian’s Return to World Wrestling Entertainment

Christian returned to WWE for a mostly disappointing stint in ECW that is only ended when the brand became defunct just prior to the Elimination Chamber event.

He feuded with Jack Swagger, and was able to win the ECW championship from him at Backlash on April 26, 2009. He lost the belt to Tommy Dreamer at Extreme Rules on June 7, 2009 then won it back from him at the Night of Champions PPV on July 26, 2009. He held the ECW title right up until the final ECW show on February 16th, 2010 when he dropped it to Ezekiel Jackson in order to give him a push going on to the Smackdown Brand.

He has had high quality matches with many of the young up and comers in ECW including Yoshi Tatsu, Zack Ryder, and the veteran Shelton Benjamin.

What’s Next for Christian?

Many fans would like to see him reunite and/or feud with his former “brother” Edge, or get a shot at a better championship, such as the World Heavyweight Championship on Smackdown, or even the WWE Championship on Raw, although it looks like this will have to wait until at least after WrestleMania.

Will Edge and Christian ever re-unite? Click Here to check find out more on Suite 101.

He has proven himself by holding a world title (albeit on WWE’s C-Brand show) and the Intercontinental and tag belts multiple times. He has been called a consistent, reliable, hard worker, and his most recent Ladder match with Shelton Benjamin at TLC on December 13^th, 2009, has shown that he is still able to steal the show, as he vowed to do.

Since the demise of ECW Christian has at long last made the jump to Raw, where he wasted no time and qualified for the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania on his first night.

Christian is also coaching Heath Slater in WWE’s latest concept; nXt.

Regardless of where, how or when Christian ends his wrestling career, he will leave behind a legacy of being a high-flying, charismatic, decorated, totally awesome dude.