Edge

Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor.

He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under his real name, and is a former one-time AEW TNT Champion.

Adam Joseph Copeland was born in Orangeville, Ontario, on October 30, 1973, the son of Judy Lynn Copeland (1953–2018), a single mother who worked two jobs to support him.

He has said to have never met his father, or even seen a picture of him.

In a 2023 interview with Logan Paul, he revealed that he has Scottish and Irish ancestry on his mother's side.

He became interested in professional wrestling at a young age; his favorite wrestlers included Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Ricky Steamboat, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart.

He met fellow future wrestler Jason "Christian" Reso in Orangeville when he was 10 years old, and they would make the trip to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to watch their favourite wrestlers; at the age of 16, Copeland attended WrestleMania VI at the Toronto SkyDome in 1990, sitting in the 11th row at ringside.

He was cheering on WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan against The Ultimate Warrior, and he credits this match with making him realize he wanted to be a wrestler.

When he was 17, he won an essay writing contest hosted by his local gym, the prize for which was free wrestling training with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison in Toronto.

However, he put his wrestling aspirations aside to help his mother pay the bills, taking numerous jobs and then receiving a diploma in radio broadcasting from Humber College before resuming his wrestling training.

Throughout the 1990s, Copeland wrestled on the independent circuit in Ontario and the Great Lakes region of the United States under the ring name Sexton Hardcastle.

He became a part of the tag team Sex and Violence with Joe E. Legend.

In the mid-1990s, he wrestled as Adam Impact for Tony Condello's Winnipeg promotion.

After making his professional wrestling debut in 1992, Copeland wrestled in various independent promotions, competing in singles and tag team competition, the latter with long-time friend Christian Cage.

Copeland made his professional wrestling debut on Canada Day 1992, in an event at Monarch Park Stadium in Toronto.

Copeland then wrestled two matches as Damon Striker on WCW Pro in early 1996.

Copeland also wrestled as Damon Striker against Meng on an episode of WCW Pro in February 1996.

(Copeland stated in 2021 the name was intended to be "Damien Striker", but the on-screen caption of the name was incorrectly written. ) In the summer of 1995, he worked a show in Ajax, Ontario, where Bret Hart's business manager, Carl De Marco, was watching.

Impressed, he suggested Copeland send an audition tape to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

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.

In 1997, Sex and Violence became part of a larger stable called Thug Life, joining Christian Cage, Zakk Wyld, Bill Skullion, and Rhino Richards.

During his independent career, he won the MWCW Tag Team Championship twice with Legend and the ICW Street Fight Tag Team Championship twice.

The duo of Hardcastle and Cage were known as Hard Impact before changing their name to The Suicide Blondes.

They also worked in Japan under the name The Canadian Rockers.

He is best known for his 25-year tenure in WWE from 1998 to 2023, where he performed 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.

The team split in 2001 and Copeland embarked on a successful solo career.

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.

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.

Copeland retired in 2011 due to several neck injuries, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following year.

He played Dwight Hendrickson on the Syfy series Haven (2011–2015) and Ketill Flatnose in Vikings (2017–2020), and Ares in the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

He is WWE's 14th Triple Crown Champion and 7th Grand Slam Champion.

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.

After his WWE contract expired in September 2023, he joined rival promotion AEW and debuted at WrestleDream.

He went on to win the TNT Championship at Worlds End in December from Christian Cage, only to lose it back to Cage minutes later.

Aside from professional wrestling, Copeland has acted in the films Highlander: Endgame, Bending the Rules, and Money Plane.

He has made guest appearances on television shows such as Weakest Link, Mind of Mencia, Deal or No Deal, MADtv, and The Flash.