By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week
From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.
Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.
Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7: Christian
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X-Seven – TLC Tag Title Match
When one member of a tag team goes on to become a bigger star than the other member, that less successful member isn’t referred to as “The Jim Neidhart” or “The Ray Rougeau.”
They’re known as “The Marty Jannetty.”
Maybe it isn’t fair for any wrestler to have to live up to the legacy Shawn Michaels has crafted for himself during his post-Rockers career, but such is life. After Shawn ended their tag team run by shoving Jannetty face first through Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake’s storefront window, Michaels went on to enjoy four World Championships and some quality time with Tammy “Sunny” Sytch in her prime. Meanwhile, poor Jannetty was left to bounce around the independent circuit.
So, when the WWE was enjoying a bit of a tag team renaissance around 2000-2001, me and my friends would debate who would become the Shawns and who would become the Martys.
The charismatic daredevil Jeff Hardy? Future superstar. His more fundamentally sound, yet microphone challenged brother Matt? Less so.
The angry redneck with a fetish for smashing women through tables Bubba Ray Dudley? Maybe not up to Shawn Michaels’ talent level, but seemingly destined for bigger things. His testimonial-requesting half brother D-Von? Not so much.
Then there was Edge and Christian. Surely Edge had to be the Shawn Michaels in this scenario. He had the cool gimmick of the club kid who would stalk the arena and enter the ring from the audience. He had the double awesome Stanley Cup-inspired trophy he received after winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament. And, he even had a brief Intercontinental Title reign before he ever began teaming with Christian.
This theory was seemingly proved shortly after the team broke up in the Fall of 2001. Edge would quickly go on to unify the WCW U.S. Title and the WWE Intercontinental Title while Christian was promptly lost in the shuffle of the WCW/ECW Alliance mess.
Surely, Christian was on his way to a plate-glass facial.
But something funny happened on the way to the Barber Shop. Christian managed to survive misguided angles such as throwing temper tantrums after every loss and Steve Austin dubbing him a “Creepy Little Bastard.” In spite of all of that, he found his groove.
The nickname “Captain Charisma” and the catchphrase “That’s how I roll” started to catch on. Signs from fans proclaiming themselves to be one of his “Peeps” started to show up in the audience. And his feud with Chris Jericho over the lovely Trish Stratus was one of the highlights of the WWE’s very strong 2004.
From there, Christian enjoyed a successful run in TNA which helped him hone the character we’re seeing today.
Christian may not be among the higher echelon of WWE superstars today, but I wouldn’t bet against him eventually getting there for one reason; he can make the fans care. Watch a Christian match; even when he’s paired with a questionable worker like Ezekiel Jackson, the fans are into the finish. He clearly has the talent to carry the move, catchphrase, or angle that’s needed to finally propel him through the glass ceiling.
(OK, I swear that’s the last glass-breaking metaphor.)
So, does all of that make Edge the Marty Jannetty? Absolutely not. But I will say this about Christian; everyone else you’ll see on this list will probably stay in their spot until someone bumps them lower. Nothing against those workers, they’ve just either retired, reached their peaks, or passed on.
But if we revisit this list in a few years, Christian is the only one I can see in a higher position.
Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.
