Lance Cade
Born	(1980-03-02) March 2, 1980 (age 44) Omaha, Nebraska
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Garrison Cade Lance Cade
Billed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)[1]
Billed weight	[undue weight? – discuss][1]
Billed from	Omaha, Nebraska Nashville, Tennessee[1]
Trained by	Shawn Michaels OVW
Debut	1999

Lance Cade (born March 2, 1980)^{[citation needed]} is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He and Trevor Murdoch are the current World Tag Team Champions.

Career

Lance Cade started his wrestling career by becoming a student of Shawn Michaels at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in San Antonio, Texas in 1999.

Japan

Lance Cade and fellow wrestler Bryan Danielson went to Japan on December 1 1999. They competed in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling(FMW).^[2] Cade and Danielson competed in tag teams and then went their separate ways; Cade stayed in FMW and faced off against ECW wrestler Balls Mahoney in tag team matches and a three way dance against another FMW wrestler. Cade left FMW after he was defeated by Mahoney in a three way dance on February 25, 2000.

Heartland Wrestling Association

2001-2002

After Lance Cade signed with WWE, he was sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling in 2001. During the summer of that same year, he was moved to Les Thatcher's HWA (Heartland Wrestling Association). Cade quickly formed a tag-team with Surfer Cody Hawk, but the team split after only a few months when Cade joined the World Championship Wrestling camp in HWA's Invasion angle. Cade aligned with Mike Sanders, a former WCW wrestler. The downfall of the team came on February 13, 2002, when Lance Cade and Mike Sanders defeated Val Venis and Steve Bradley to win the HWA Tag-Team titles. Cade and Sanders broke up that very day, and the titles were vacated. The next week, Cade faced Sanders and defeated him in a singles match, giving Cade the belts. Cade then chose Steve Bradley to be his new partner. However, Cade & Bradley had problems defeating WWE competition, as Hugh Morrus and Raven took them down in the middle of March 2002 for the titles. However, Cade and Bradley won the HWA Tag Titles three days later.

In April 2002, Cade's first HWA tag-team partner returned, as Cody Hawk and the Ice Cream Man defeated Cade & Bradley for the tag-team titles. Cade & Bradley tried for the next month to get the titles back, even winning a Tag-Team Contendership Match to get another shot, but never managed to get the titles back. In May 2002, Cade defeated Johnny the Bull to become the HWA Heavyweight Champion. Cade defended the title for 2 months before Johnny the Bull won the title back. On the same night, however, Cade defeated Johnny in a second match, becoming the 2-time Heavyweight Champ. This reign lasted only one day, as Cade, once again, lost his title to Cody Hawk.

Ohio Valley Wrestling

2003-2004, 2005

During the summer of 2002, the HWA was dropped as a developmental territory by WWE, but Cade was transferred over to WWE's main developmental company, Ohio Valley Wrestling. Cade continued to search for a strong tag-team partner to work with. He found Rene Dupree and both joined Kenny Bolin's Bolin Services. The two worked as a tag-team throughout most of their stay in OVW.

In the OVW Tag-Team Title Tournament of March 2003, Cade and Dupree defeated Matt Morgan and BJ Payne, but couldn't beat the Disciples of Synn in the finals. Cade and Dupree had another shot at Spring Break-Out 2003, but the current champions at the time were WWE regulars The APA, and Cade and Dupree couldn't overcome the odds. Mark Jindrak later joined Bolin Services. Dupree appeared in WWE only a few weeks after their title shot. Cade continued tagging with Mark Jindrak, but was promoted to the RAW brand in June 2003 under the name, Garrison Cade.

Cade was off WWE television for quite some time, due to the knee injury (which was said to be a dislocated knee). In 2005, Cade reappeared in Ohio Valley Wrestling as his former self, Lance Cade, shedding the ring rust. Cade sided with The Blueprint Matt Morgan and Vengeance (better known as ECW superstar Kevin Thorn) against the OVW Heavyweight Champion Elijah Burke. In February 2005, Cade took on Burke in a $5,000 Bounty Match (Morgan had put a bounty on Burke's head), but was defeated.

Cade faded into the background for the next few weeks, eventually making his return to the ring at the June 3 OVW Summer Sizzler Series 2005 show, taking on Al Snow. While Cade brought his cowboy hat with him, Snow brought Head, routinely turning to the mannequin head for guidance. During the match, when Cade was knocked to the outside, Snow destroyed Cade's hat, stomping on it. This made the match more personal to Cade, but in the end, Snow knocked out Cade with Head, getting the victory. Later on that night, Cade interfered in the Brent Albright/Elijah Burke OVW Heavyweight Title match, with Cade attacking the champion, Albright. The two foes had a No Disqualification, Loser Must Tap Out Match at the OVW Summer Sizzler Series 2005 show on June 17, 2005. Cade tried to pin Albright early in the match. The ref did not allow it, causing a shoving match between the two. Later in the match, Albright got his Crowbar submission on Cade, but Cade escaped, then appeared to be leaving, with Albright chasing him down. Albright got the Crowbar applied on Cade again, right on the ramp. With nowhere to go, Cade was forced to tap, losing to Albright.

World Wrestling Entertainment

2003-2004

Garrison Cade, in his first match on RAW, faced off against Lance Storm in a singles match. But when Stone Cold Steve Austin came out, chanting the word Boring , Storm became distracted, allowing Cade to sneak in and get the victory. Soon afterwards, Cade again found a tag-team partner, Mark Jindrak, to ally himself with, and began to challenge for the tag-team titles. The belts were being held by former Cade ally Rene Dupree and his new partner Sylvain Grenier, a unit collectively known as La Resistance.

Over the next few months, Cade & Jindrak fought against many different teams, from La Resistance and the babyface versions of the Dudley Boyz to battles against the top heels on RAW, Evolution. The duo also formed a semi-partnership with then babyface, Maven, helping each other out on occasion. However, Cade & Jindrak soon began to be known more for their cheating ways, rather than their abilities. This led them to turn heel and be entered into the Tag-Team Turmoil Match at Armageddon 2003, where the winner would earn the vacated World Tag Team Titles.^[3] They came in from the crowd when their turn hit and quickly rolled up The Hurricane to eliminate him and Rosey. Cade & Jindrak next faced Lance Storm and Val Venis, and Cade tripped up Venis from the outside on a suplex attempt, then held onto Venis' legs while Jindrak made the pinfall. The next team to come down were the Dudley Boyz, who eventually took out Jindrak with the 3-D to eliminate the boys. The duo got some revenge, though, attacking the Dudleys after the match before leaving, making it harder for the Dudley Boyz to come out victorious (which they did not, losing at the end to then heels, Ric Flair and Batista).

Going into 2004, Cade and Jindrak continued to work together as a team, firmly entrenched in the mid-card ranks. The team got a win in March 2004, when they defeated Hurricane and Rosey to earn a shot at the World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania XX. Cade and Jindrak entered a four-way tag match against the champions, then babyface, Booker T and Rob Van Dam, and the other two competing teams, La Résistance and the Dudley Boyz. Cade and Jindrak lost the match though, after Rob Van Dam pinned Rob Conway.^[4]

After Jindrak was drafted to SmackDown , Cade briefly associated himself with Jonathan Coachman, helping The Coach get a win over Tajiri at Backlash 2004.^[5] Cade later teamed up with Coach at Vengeance 2004 to take on the debuting team of Rhyno and Tajiri. Cade and Coachman lost the match, and Cade was taken off WWE TV after an injury in July 2004.^[6]

2005-2006

On August 22, 2005 a promo was shown on RAW showcasing a long haired Cade, who was soon to be returning with tag team partner Trevor Murdoch. The promo showed Cade and Murdoch (as the team were known) portraying rednecks. Cade (who dropped the stage name Garrison and now wrestles under his real name) was playing the role of a smooth-talking cowboy, while Murdoch was depicted as an angry Southern trucker.

Cade and Murdoch debuted on RAW on September 5, 2005. They defeated the World Tag Team Champions, Hurricane and Rosey in a non-title match.^[7] This earned them a World Tag Team title shot at Unforgiven 2005. During the title match, Murdoch delivered an elevated DDT on The Hurricane to the outside. The DDT caused Hurricane to suffer a kayfabe stinger. It also allowed Cade and Murdoch to defeat Hurricane and Rosey for the World Tag Team championships.^[8] They defended against random teams on RAW for the next month before losing the titles to Kane and The Big Show at Taboo Tuesday.^[9] After losing in a rematch the next night on RAW,^[10] Cade & Murdoch began to be squashed by other tag teams, before wrestling singles matches.^[11]

On the November 28 edition of RAW, it was announced that Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch had parted ways as a tag team.^[12] The next week, Cade debuted with the gimmick and nickname Refined Southern Gentleman and wearing new tights with rhinestones on them as well as his new jacket he wore to the ring. Cade was relegated to Heat, making very few appearances on RAW as the calendar turned to 2006. He had a chance to get into the 2006 Royal Rumble, competing with Rob Conway and Gregory Helms against the Big Show in a Second Chance Battle Royal. However, The Big Show won the spot in the Rumble.^[13]

Eventually, the Cade and Murdoch tandem reformed as they were seen helping Chris Masters and Carlito attack Kane. On the April 14 edition of Heat, it was announced that Cade & Murdoch were reuniting as a tag team after Murdoch helped Cade defeat Goldust. Cade also debuted another slight change with wet hair and shorter tights with a design similar to when he was teaming with Murdoch. On the May 19 edition of Heat Cade and Murdoch officially reformed their tag team by facing and defeating Charlie Haas and Viscera.

Cade and Murdoch next entered a short-lived feud against D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels). It started when Cade and Murdoch ambushed Shawn Michaels and Triple H, before Triple H's match with Vince McMahon on the September 11 episode of RAW.^[14] Cade and Murdoch continued to battle DX, until they were defeated in a street fight, ending the feud on October 9.^[15]

2007

After biding much of their time on RAW's sister show Heat, Cade and Murdoch began a feud in April with World Tag Team Champions The Hardys, leading to their title match at Backlash 2007, which The Hardys won. In the storyline, Cade and Murdoch suddenly gained a great deal of respect for The Hardys and began to praise their abilities. The Hardys then began an alliance with Cade and Murdoch. Despite the alliance, Cade and Murdoch faced The Hardys in a rematch at Judgment Day which The Hardys won.^[16] On the June 4 edition of RAW, Cade and Murdoch were given another shot at the World Tag Team Championship against The Hardys and were successful, becoming two time World Tag Team Champions. When Cade made the pin on Jeff Hardy, Hardy's foot was on the ropes but was pushed off by Murdoch. After the match, when Matt Hardy argued with Cade and Murdoch, they attacked Matt and Jeff with the tag belts, becoming heels again. At Vengeance 2007, Cade and Murdoch defeated the Hardys to retain the gold after Cade pinned Jeff. Cade along with Murdoch lost the titles at a house show on September 5 to Paul London and Brian Kendrick on a South Africa tour. Later on, in that same tour, Cade and Murdoch won the titles back.^[17]

In wrestling

• Finishing Moves

• Sitout side slam
• Lariat
• Diving elbow drop

• Signature Moves

• Knee lift to the back
• Bulldog
• DDT
• Diving leg drop
• Superkick - Independent circuit
• Suplex
• Superplex

• With Trevor Murdoch

• Sweet and Sour (Lariat (Cade) / Chop block (Murdoch) combo)
• Inverted atomic drop (Cade) / Running big boot (Murdoch) combo

• With Mark Jindrak

• Straight-Shooter (Cade lifts the opponent into a bearhug, followed by Jindrak delivering a dropkick to the opponent, setting up a spinebuster by Cade)

• Managers

• Kenny Bolin^[18]
• Jonathan Coachman^[19][18]

• Tag team partners

• Bryan Danielson ^[20]
• Steven Bradley ^[21]
• Mike Sanders ^[22]
• Rene Dupree ^[18]
• Mark Jindrak ^[18]
• Trevor Murdoch ^{[23] [24]}

• Theme Music

• Inquisition (June 2003)
• Tunnel Vision (June 2003 - July 2004)
• Garth Vader (December 2005 - June 2006)

Championships and accomplishments

• Heartland Wrestling Association

• HWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[25][26][27]
• HWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Steve Bradley (2) and Mike Sanders (1)^[28][29][30]

• Texas Wrestling Alliance

• TWA Television Championship (1 time)^[31][32]

• World Wrestling Entertainment

• World Tag Team Championship (3 times, current) - with Trevor Murdoch^{[33][34][35][36][37][38][39]}

References

External links

• WWE Profile