| The Brood | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Edge & Christian, members of The Brood | |
| Stable | |
| Members | Gangrel (leader) Christian Edge |
| Combined billed weight | 693 lb (314 kg) |
| Debut | October 26, 1998 |
| Years active | 1998–1999 |
The Brood was avillainousprofessional wrestlingstable known for its time in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during theAttitude Era from 1998 to 1999. The Brood was composed of leaderGangrel,Christian andEdge.[1] Theirgimmick was that of a clan ofvampires, although they were often merely described by announcers as living a "gothic lifestyle".[citation needed]
All three of the original Brood members debuted in 1998. Edge made his debut in the WWF on the June 22 episode ofRaw Is War as a loner who entered the ring through the crowd. Gangrel, known previously as the Vampire Warrior,[2] made his WWF debut on the August 16 episode ofSunday Night Heat. He was given a new vampire gimmick based on theWhite Wolf roleplaying gameVampire: The Masquerade. Christian debuted on September 27 atIn Your House: Breakdown 1998 where he distracted Edge, who subsequently lost his match toOwen Hart. The storyline introduced Christian as Edge's (kayfabe) brother. In reality, the two had been best friends since childhood.[3]
Christian continued at the side of Gangrel to help him in his feud with Edge, and he won theWWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his first match in theWWF.[4] Eventually, the duo convinced Edge to join them, forming the stable known as The Brood. On the October 26 episode of Raw during a match betweenKane and Gangrel, it ended when Edge ran in and attacked Kane and called Christian and Gangrel together. In their first match as a group they defeated The Oddities on the November 1 episode of Heat. On the November 2 edition of Raw, The Brood faced Degeneration X (New Age Outlaws & X Pac) which ended in a No Contest. On the November 9 episode ofRaw, Edge lost to Kane by disqualification when Kane attempted to set The Brood on fire. AtRock Bottom: In Your House, The Brood defeatedJ.O.B. Squad (Al Snow,Scorpio, andBob Holly) in a six man tag team match.
They often entered arenas by rising through a ring of fire onto the (elevated) stage floor, with Gangrel carrying achalice of "blood".[1] 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.[1] 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".[1] The trio had similar looking long blond hair. Gangrel and Christian both wore white shirts and dark pants, while Edge wore the long leather coat he wore before joining The Brood. According to Edge, he was uncomfortable with his prior gimmick, saying he lacked the confidence at the time to be a singles star, and welcomed his inclusion into The Brood.[5]
In February 1999, The Broodfeuded withThe Undertaker'sMinistry of Darkness stable. The end of the feud saw The Brood merge with The Ministry.[1] In March, after Undertaker'sHell in a Cell match with theBig Boss Man atWrestleMania XV, Edge, Christian, and Gangrel were lowered onto the cage from the ceiling. They lowered a noose into the cell, and the Undertaker proceeded tohang 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 aflogging at the hands of his fellow Brood members, and from the Undertaker himself after he was forced to reveal toKen Shamrock the location ofStephanie McMahon when Shamrock held Christian in anankle 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 theCorporate Ministry merger. This led to a feud with the Ministry of Darkness, specificallyThe Acolytes atBacklash: In Your House, The Acolytes and Mideon defeated The Brood in a six man tag team match. on the April 26 episode of Raw, The Brood (Gangrel & Edge) lost to Kane and X-Pac and afterwards Kane got a bloodbath.
On the May 17 episode of Raw, The Brood took onHardy Boyz andMichael Hayes with all battling outside of the ring and the match getting thrown out, sparking the beginning of the rivalry between Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz. On the May 24 episode of Raw, Edge and Gangrel lost a WWF Tag Team Championship match to Kane and X-Pac. On the June 13 episode ofSunday Night Heat, The Brood defeated The Hardy Boyz & Michael Hayes in a six-man tag team elimination match. On the July 11 episode ofSunday Night Heat, The Brood lost to The Corporate Ministry (Big Boss Man, Mideon andViscera) when Gangrel turned on Edge. Gangrel subsequently tried to convince Christian to do the same, but Edge and Christian instead split from Gangrel, who in turn aligned himself withMatt andJeff Hardy.
On the October 30, 2018 episode ofSmackDown Live,The New Day dressed up as The Brood during its Halloween episode duringBig E's Trick or Street Fight againstCesaro.
During Edge's 2021 rivalry withSeth Rollins onSmackDown building up toSummerSlam, the latter suggested Edge would not prevail because he was unable to tap into the darkness with which he once surrounded himself. This prompted Edge to unleash his inner "Brood" persona, thus giving Rollins a bloodbath during the August 20, 2021 episode ofSmackDown, and at that year'sSummerSlam he would make this entrance to the Brood's music, including emerging from a ring of fire on the stage. Edge then defeated Rollins at the event, On the December 27, 2021 episode ofRaw during a segment whereinThe Miz andMaryse renewed their vows, they were also given a bloodbath from The Brood upon the interruption from Edge. Following his expulsion fromThe Judgment Day stable, in which Edge was a member of the Ministry of Darkness for one night, in June 2022, Edge returned in his Brood gimmick assisting theMysterios in the following month'sSummerSlam event.
| The New Brood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Stable | |
| Members | Gangrel (leader) Jeff Hardy Matt Hardy |
| Debut | August 9, 1999 |
| Disbanded | October 18, 1999 |
| Years active | 1999 |
The New Brood was formed after the Hardy Boyz dumped Hayes as their manager in August 1999,turnedheel and became briefly associated withGangrel.[6][7] After winning a series of matches against the team ofEdge and Christian, dubbed the "Terri Invitational Tournament", they won the services ofTerri Runnels as their manager by winning the first ever tag teamladder match atNo Mercy by defeating Edge and Christian.[6][8][9] The fans gave both teams a standing ovation the next night onRaw Is War. On that same night, 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 after he bragged that he got to use the "services" of Terri while Matt and Jeff were recovering from last night. Gangrel ended his association with both teams. The Hardys would continue to use the darker and more gothic-oriented appearance they utilized when allied with Gangrel throughout both their tag team and successive solo runs.
On the May 27, 2022 episode ofAEW Rampage, during a feud with The Hardys, Gangrel appeared withThe Young Bucks during a tag team match withJon Cruz andTaylor Rust.[10] Following the match, Gangrel was attacked by The Young Bucks until The Hardys appeared.[10][11][12]
In WWE, Edge once again presented his solo variation of The Brood's gimmick to fight againstFinn Bálor inside Hell in a Cell atWrestleMania 39. According to Edge, he pushed for a reunion with Gangrel during the match; however, WWE declined the idea, stating that "nobody remembers (him)".[13] They would reunite on May 26, 2024, at theDouble or Nothing pay-per-view, where Edge (working under his real name Adam Copeland) wrestledMalakai Black in abarbed wire steel cage match.[14] Copeland entered with 'The Brood' logo on thetitantron, and during the match Gangrel entered through the canvas to assist Copeland, offsetting interference from TheHouse of Black.[15]