The Brood (professional wrestling)

The Brood
Stable
Members	Gangrel (leader) Christian Edge
Debut	October 26, 1998
Disbanded	July 12, 1999
Promotions	WWF

The Brood was a stable known for its time in the World Wrestling Federation during The Attitude Era of the late 1990s. The stable was composed of Gangrel, Christian, and Edge. Their gimmick was that of a clan of vampires, although they were often merely described by announcers as living a "gothic lifestyle"

The Brood

The Beginning

All three of the original Brood members debuted in 1998. Edge made his debut in the WWF on the June 22 episode of Raw is War as a loner who entered the ring through the crowd. Gangrel, known previously as the Vampire Warrior,^[1] made his WWE debut on the August 16 episode of Sunday Night Heat. He was given a new vampire gimmick based on the White Wolf roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade. Christian debuted on September 27 at In Your House: Breakdown 1998 where he distracted Edge, who subsequently lost his match to Owen Hart. The storyline introduced Christian as Edge's (kayfabe) brother. In reality, the two had been friends since childhood.^[2]

Christian continued at the side of Gangrel to help him in his feud with Edge, and he won the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his first match in the WWF.^[3] Eventually, the duo convinced Edge to join them, forming the stable known as The Brood.

Gimmick

They often entered arenas by rising through a ring of fire onto the (elevated) stage floor, with Gangrel carrying a chalice of "blood". Usually, Gangrel took a drink from the chalice (and sometimes he would pass it to Edge or Christian to drink from) and then spit it towards the crowd. One of the group's trademarks was giving their opponents a "blood bath", before or after a wrestling match. A "blood bath" consisted of the lights in the arena turning off, the flashing red lights of Gangrel's entrance coming on, and then the arena lights turning on again to reveal the target bathed in "blood". The trio had similar looking long blond hair. Gangrel and Christian both wore white shirts and dark pants, however, while Edge wore the long leather coat he wore before joining The Brood.

Story with Ministry of Darkness

Main article: Ministry of Darkness

In February 1999, The Brood feuded with The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness stable. The end of the feud saw The Brood merge with The Ministry. In March, after Undertaker's Hell in a Cell match with The Big Boss Man at WrestleMania XV, Edge, Christian, and Gangrel were lowered onto the cage from the ceiling. They lowered a noose into the cell, and the Undertaker proceeded to hang The Big Boss Man from the top of the cage. The Brood were often victims of beatings at the hands of the Ministry to both prove their loyalty to the Undertaker and to punish them. On one occasion, Christian was sentenced to a flogging at the hands of his fellow Brood members, and from the Undertaker himself after he was forced to reveal to Ken Shamrock the location of Stephanie McMahon when Shamrock held Christian in an ankle lock. When it came to the point Undertaker tried to force the Brood to sacrifice Christian alongside Shamrock, Edge and Gangrel refused, as they were more loyal to Christian than the Ministry. Instead attacking the Acolytes, the Brood split from the Undertaker's loyalty, thus becoming the only members of the Ministry to defect from the stable before the Corporate Ministry merger. This led to a feud with the Ministry of Darkness, specifically The Acolytes.

Split

By June 1999, The Brood began feuding with The Hardy Boyz. By that time, Edge and Christian had found success as a tag team, and Gangrel had turned on Edge. Gangrel tried to convince Christian to do the same, but Edge and Christian instead split from Gangrel, who turned on both of them and aligned himself instead with their main enemies, The Hardy Boyz.

The New Brood
Stable
Members	Gangrel (leader) Matt Hardy Jeff Hardy Terri Runnels (Manager)
Debut	August 1999
Disbanded	October 1999
Promotions	WWF

The New Brood

Main article: Hardy Boyz

The New Brood was formed after the Hardy Boyz dumped Hayes as their manager in August 1999, turned heel and became briefly associated with Gangrel.^[4][5] After winning a series of matches against the team of Edge and Christian, dubbed the "Terri Invitational Tournament," they won the services of Terri Runnels as their manager by winning the first ever tag team ladder match at No Mercy by defeating Edge and Christian.^[4][6][7] The fans gave both teams a standing ovation the next night on Raw is War. On that same Raw, The Hardy Boyz announced that they were not the New Brood - they were The Hardy Boyz. They called a truce with Edge and Christian, and the quartet attacked Gangrel, ending his association with both teams. Terri became the Hardys' new manager, but fell out with them after a short time. The Hardys later teamed with Lita to form Team Xtreme.^[8]

Aftermath

Both Edge and Christian and Team Xtreme went on to be successful in the Tag Team division, winning the World Tag Team Championships several times. Meanwhile, Gangrel was a constant journeyman over the years, often going back and forth from a minor role in WWE to the independent circuit and vice versa.

Christian and Matt would later go on to mentor NXT rookies Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel, who would go on to join Nexus (and later "The Corre") and become 3-time WWE Tag Team Champions themselves.

Edge went on to become a 4 time WWE Champion and 7 time World Heavyweight Champion, Christian became a 2 time World Heavyweight Champion and 2 time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and Jeff Hardy became a 1 time WWE Champion and 2 time World Heavyweight Champion while Matt Hardy became a 1 time ECW World Heavyweight Champion.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Blood Spit (Spits "blood" at opponent. In reality, an Asian mist)

• Entrance themes
  • "Blood" by Jim Johnston (WWF; October 26 1998-July 12 1999)

Championships and accomplishments

• World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
  • WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Christian

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked Jeff Hardy #76 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999^[9]
  • PWI ranked Edge #83 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999^[9]
  • PWI ranked Christian #90 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999^[9]
  • PWI ranked Matt Hardy #100 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999^[9]
  • PWI ranked Gangrel #102 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999^[9]

References

1. ^ "Gangrel's Profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/gangrel.html. Retrieved February 8, 2007. 
2. ^ Copeland, Adam (2004). Adam Copeland On Edge. World Wrestling Entertainment. ISBN 0743483472. 
3. ^ Online World of Wrestling. "The Brood's Profile". http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/b/brood.html. Retrieved February 8, 2007. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Hardy Boyz Profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/h/hardyz.html. Retrieved 2008-01-20. 
5. ^ "New Brood Profile". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/b/brood-new.html. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
6. ^ Jim Varsallone (December 2001). "Matt and Jeff Hardy - Interview". Wrestling Digest. Archived from the original on 2007-03-31. http://web.archive.org/web/20070331233513/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCO/is_4_3/ai_80302525. Retrieved 2007-06-04. 
7. ^ "No Mercy 1999 official results". WWE. http://www.wwe.com/shows/nomercy/history/1999/results/. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
8. ^ "RAW is WAR results, 1999". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/raw/_1999/. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d e} "PWI Top 500 Lists". http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-08.