| Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Lance Cade Trevor Murdoch |
| Name(s) | Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch TNT |
| Billed heights | Cade: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1] Murdoch: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2] |
| Combined billed weight | 486 lb (220 kg)[1][2] |
| Billed from | Texas |
| Debut | July 2005 |
| Disbanded | August 2, 2009 |
| Years active | 2005–2009 |
Lance Cade andTrevor Murdoch were an Americanprofessional wrestlingtag team most famous for the time they spent performing forWorld Wrestling Entertainment'sRawbrand. The team debuted on the September 5, 2005 episode ofRaw[3] and in their time together held theWorld Tag Team Championship onthree occasions.[4] The team was briefly broken up in 2006, but was later reunited. During the2008 WWE Draft, Murdoch was moved to theSmackDown brand, separating the two. Shortly after being drafted, he was released from the company. Later the same year, Cade was released as well, and the team reunited again on theindependent circuit. On August 13, 2010, Cade died from heart failure at the age of 29.
In August 2005, both Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch were promoted fromWorld Wrestling Entertainment'sdevelopmental territory,Ohio Valley Wrestling, to the mainRaw roster and wrestleddark matches under the team name "TNT".[5][6]
On the August 22, 2005 episode ofRaw, avignette was shown showcasing the new tag team of "Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch".[7] The men were shown in a bar setting, portrayingredneckcharacters; Cade a smooth-talkingcowboy, and Murdoch an angry,Southerntrucker.view They defeated the reigningWorld Tag Team Champions, theHurricane and Rosey, in a non-title match in their televised in-ring debut on the September 5, 2005 episode ofRaw,[3] making them the number one contenders for the championship. They took the championship for the first time at theUnforgivenpay-per-view after Murdoch delivered anelevated DDT tothe Hurricane outside of the ring causing him to suffer akayfabestinger.[8] They held the title for six weeks, when they dropped them toBig Show and Kane at November'sTaboo Tuesday event.[9]
Cade and Murdoch wrestled their final match as a tag team on the November 13, (aired November 18) 2005Eddie Guerrero tribute show, where they lost an "inter-promotional" match againstSmackDown!'sLegion of Doom (Road Warrior Animal andHeidenreich).[10] Two weeks later, on the November 28Raw,Joey Styles announced that they were no longer a team. In a segment ofUnlimited,Raw's online commercial-filling segment, Murdoch explained that he had shifted focus to theIntercontinental Championship.[11]
After the split, Murdoch received a smallpush and became theUnlimited "movie critic",view while Cade debuted a new "Refined Southern Gentleman" gimmick. Although the team had split up, they were still shown to be "allies" and were often seen together during backstage segments.[12] Separately, they were often put into singles matches with members of other tag teams, and even though they were no longer together they would aid each other in their matches. They were also put into afeud with the team ofGoldust andGene Snitsky.[13]
On the April 14, 2006 episode ofHeat, Cade and Murdoch were once again announced as a tag team.[14] They wrestled together again for the first time on the May 19Heat in a win overCharlie Haas andViscera.view During the next few months, the team was given a number of wins onHeat and appeared onUnlimited to cutpromos stating their intentions to win back the World Tag Team Championship. Later in the year, the two began appearing as "hired guns" for various superstars, including The McMahons (Vince andShane) andEdge, mostly againstD-Generation X (Triple H andShawn Michaels).[15][16]
During the April 2, 2007 episode ofRaw, Cade and Murdoch were put into atag team battle royal for theWorld Tag Team Championship, which eventually went tothe Hardys (Matt andJeff).[17] After the loss the two teams began a feud over the title, with the Hardys retaining at theBacklash, after which Cade and Murdoch started a gimmick of being supremesportsmen. They lavished the Hardys with compliments, calling them the "better men," when they performed guest commentary during their matches and started wrestling in an overlyclean fashion. They also began showing respect to all opponents; shaking hands before and after matches, when before they wouldn't have bothered, though commentators doubted their sincerity. On the June 4Raw they took the Championship from the Hardy's. The title change featured a measure of storyline controversy, as during the pin Jeff Hardy's foot was on the bottom rope—which should have caused arope break, but Murdoch pushed it off before thereferee saw it, allowing the pin to continue. After the match, when the Hardys confronted Cade and Murdoch about it, both men pleaded ignorance before attacking the Hardys.[18]
After becoming champions again they were put into a feud withCryme Tyme (JTG andShad Gaspard) involving Cryme Tyme stealing their belongings and auctioning them to the crowd,[19][20] but the storyline ended abruptly when Cryme Tyme was released from the company.[21] Instead the sportsman gimmick was revived for a feud withPaul London and Brian Kendrick, who took the World Tag Team Championship at ahouse show on September 5, 2007 in South Africa, only to drop them right back to Cade and Murdoch on September 8.[22] They remained champions until the December 10 episode ofRaw, whenHardcore Holly andCody Rhodes took the title.[23] In April 2008, Cade began expressing frustration after a series of losses. Following a loss on the April 28Raw, Murdoch sang a rendition of "Friends in Low Places".[24] The next week he sang in a backstage vignette, and after a victory on May 12 sang the chorus of "The Gambler" at Cade's behest, only to have Cade strike him and break up the team.[25] The two faced off on June 2, with Cade getting the victory.[26] In the2008 WWE Draft Murdoch was moved to theSmackDown brand,[27] though he was released in July of that year,[28] while Cade continued to wrestle on Raw until he was released from his WWE contract on October 14, 2008.[29]
Less than a week later, Cade began accepting bookings with Murdoch on theindependent circuit, for such promotions asIWA-Mid South.
Cade and Murdoch also began wrestling forNational Wrestling Alliance. On November 14, 2008, atNWA Championship Wrestling From Hollywood taping, Cade and Murdoch made their promotional debut defeatingLos Luchas (Phoenix Star and Zokre) in aNWA World Tag Team Championship #1 Contendership Robin Tournament.[30] On the February 13, 2009, episode ofNWA Wrestling Showcase, Cade and Murdoch defeated the team of Liger Rivera and Tito Aquino.[31] They would make another appearance on the April 3, episode defeating the team ofScott Lost and Tristan Gallo.[32]
Their last match together was on August 2, 2009 in Japan for the Team Vader Vader time 4- Big Van Summer tour defeatingTakao Omori and Aaron Neil.[33]
August 2005: Trevor Rhodes and Garrison Cade team regularly in dark matches and at house shows using the team name "TNT"..
August 6, 2005--Live Event (RAW crew): TNT (Garrison Cade & Trever Rhodes) defeated Chris Cage & Mike Mizanin..
Hurricane got a stinger in the match last night.
