SummerSlam Diary: Introduction

SummerSlam Diary: ECW Champion Christian - Introduction
By Craig Tello with photos by Eric Johnson
Aug. 21, 2009

In 22 years of SummerSlam, the world has witnessed some of the squared circle’s finest moments, including countless triumphs, expositions of the extraordinary and culminations of WWE’s most heated hostilities.

It’s where Bret “Hit Man” Hart proved that excellence can outshine perfection. It was the setting for the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history, Randy Orton, to break ground in the foundation of his now fully constructed Legacy. It’s the event where “Stone Cold” stunned the WWE Universe, suffering a broken neck moments prior to a pin that crowned a new Intercontinental Champion.

SummerSlam was also the site for the very first official Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match – one of the most crucial bouts in the career of ECW Champion Christian.

These days, Captain Charisma is still climbing and, in fact, still swinging objects at the apex of the Land of the Extreme. At The Biggest Party of the Summer – an event so rich in ring heritage – Christian looks to not only make a new SummerSlam memory, but also maintain his perch atop a different ladder when he confidently carries the coveted ECW Title into battle against William Regal.

The voyage to Los Angeles’ STAPLES Center has begun for The Captain. And, for the first time ever, in its exclusive day-by-day Diary, WWE.com traces the trek of a top-tier titleholder in the ECW Champion.

Peeps, behold the SummerSlam Superstar Diary, featuring Christian.

Brooding young gentleman

Ten years ago, Captain Charisma was a mere first mate in WWE’s tag team division. Beside The Rated-R Superstar (back before his MPAA-inspired moniker), Christian competed at his first SummerSlam in 1999. A far less outspoken, much more introverted version of ECW’s charismatic gold holder took arms against the ring’s hardest hitting tandems, including victors The Acolytes (JBL & Ron Simmons).

Shrouded by mystery, Christian became a figure of intrigue for the WWE fans who didn’t know enough about the young Superstar to fully understand him. Eventually, the silence would be broken … forever.

Brutes and ladders

In 2000, SummerSlam hosted the first-ever TLC Match – a revolutionary stage for combat that easily put Christian and partner Edge on the map. By now, the WWE Universe was introduced to the more provocative and, frankly, obnoxious sides of Captain Charisma and fellow white-hot rising star, Edge.

In the wake of WrestleMania’s three-team Ladder Match, the ante was upped and the World Tag Team Titles raised – again – at SummerSlam. With dangers accelerated by encouraged use of steel chairs and wooden tables, the five-second posers pulled it out yet again, when the pair clinched the dangling titles they had been defending.

Bruises and wounds turned beneficial for the duo, however. Not only did they retain the titles, but this would be one of the confrontations by which Edge & Christian, as well as The Hardys, earned their most indelible “mat cred.”

In the years that followed, Captain Charisma held tight to the rocket of success that began in 2000. Multiple World Tag Team Title victories, as well as an Intercontinental Championship reign, made Christian one of WWE’s top contenders.

The return

Following several years away from WWE, Christian made his return on Feb. 10, 2009, when The Captain arrived in the Land of the Extreme to confront then-champion Jack Swagger.

While a new face to so many fans watching ECW, he instantly ascertained this newly acquainted audience’s support, while also shedding others’ previous perceptions of him as a creepy, offensive irritant.

Finally back home in a WWE ring, Christian made one enemy at least that night in “The All-American American,” who failed to appreciate the overwhelming humor in the returning Superstar’s exploitation of Swagger’s subtle speech slurring (words Christian would enjoy hearing Jack recite).

Entitlement

The rivalry sparked between Christian and Jack Swagger ultimately led to Backlash, where The Captain made it happen. Craftily outsmarting the All-American technician, Christian capitalized at just the right moment to capture the ECW Championship on April 26, 2009.

This victory gave ECW a champion they could cheer, and gave Christian arguably his highest achievement in WWE.

Another door opens

Pursuant of Christian’s gold were myriad Superstars about the Land of the Extreme, and the ECW Title found its way around the deserving waist of the lone ECW Original, Tommy Dreamer.

But like any true champion, Captain Charisma proved this defeat to be an isolated event.

Exactly two months after his first ECW Title win, Christian seized a golden opportunity to became a two-time ECW Champion at a most appropriate and symbolic event, Night of Champions.

Perhaps the more satisfying victory, however, came shortly after the pay-per-view event on ECW on Syfy when Captain Charisma defended the gold against Tommy Dreamer in an Extreme Rules Match – the signature contest of the ECW Original. Utilizing a detached car door to fell his friend and rival, Christian garnered more than just another notch on his lustrous belt; the ECW Champion earned the lasting respect of an Extreme legend in Dreamer.

Summer-scammed

For weeks, ECW Champion Christian demonstrated his willingness to defend his emblazoned possession against any challenger. It didn’t take long for William Regal to come knocking.

On the same night that Christian learned he would meet the bellicose Englishman at SummerSlam, the ECW Champion opposed both Regal and the dangerous Vladimir Kozlov in ECW on Syfy’s main event. Initially, Captain Charisma seemed to deliver a power play by revealing mystery partner Ezekiel Jackson, but the proud carrier of the ECW Title suddenly suffered betrayal at the crippling paws of his supposed teammate.

Flattened by a three-man battalion (a triumvirate of Superstars formidable enough individually), Christian’s five-day countdown to SummerSlam kicked off with a direct view of the arena’s darkened ceiling. Call it unfavorable odds, given his weakened condition. If Captain Charisma can navigate past any external forces, it will be Regal who’ll be peering up at the roof of the STAPLES Center while Christian and his peeps celebrate the ECW Champion’s retaliation and triumph.

World Wrestling Entertainment

SummerSlam Diary: Introduction

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