Lance Cade

Lance Morgan Cade (born 1980) is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Early 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. After competing on the independent circuit, he was signed to a WWE developmental deal.

2001-2002
After Lance Cade signed with the WWE he was sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling in 2001 and then during the summer of 2001 Cade was sent to HWA (Heartland Wrestling Alliance) Cade started out his run there forming a tag-team with "Surfer" Cody Hawk. But the team broke up after only a few months, when Cade switched to the World Championship Wrestling camp in the "Invasion" angle, which spread all the way to HWA. Cade aligned with Mike Sanders, a former WCW wrestler, and the team thrived for many months in the tag team division. Surprisingly, though, 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 chose Steve Bradley to be his partner, and the two stayed on top of the division for almost a month. 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. Cade and Bradley came back quickly, though, winning the HWA Tag Titles only three days later.

In April 2002, Cade's first HWA tag-team partner came back to haunt him, 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. But Cade wasn't through with the HWA yet, as he went into the singles ranks and immediately made an impression. In May 2002, Cade won over Johnny the Bull to become the HWA Heavyweight Champion, a major accomplishment for the young wrestler. Cade defended the title for 2 months before Johnny the Bull won the title back. On the same night, however, Cade got another crack at Johnny, and won the second match, becoming the 2-time Heavyweight Champ. This reign lasted only one day, as Cade, once again, lost his title to his former partner, Cody Hawk.

During the summer of 2002, the HWA was dropped as a developmental territory by WWE, shocking many wrestlers. But Cade was one of the lucky ones, as he was quickly 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, another young wrestler with great potential in which both joined Kenny Bolin's Bolin Services. The two men worked as a tag-team throughout most of their times in OVW, always a threat to the tag-team champions.

2003-2004
The closest Cade and Dupree came, however, was in the OVW Tag-Team Title Tournament in March 2003, where they 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 from WWE, the APA, and Cade and Dupree couldn't overcome the odds. Mark Jindrak later joined their Bolin services and still, both Cade and Dupree were impressive as a team. Dupree appeared in WWE only a few weeks after their title shot. Cade took a little longer, so he continued tagging with Mark Jindrak but Cade was soon was called up to the RAW brand in June 2003 under the new ring name, Garrison Cade.

Garrison Cade made his first major mark in World Wrestling Entertainment in June 2003, on RAW, facing off against Lance Storm in a singles match. Storm was much stronger during the bout, using his experience. 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, not surprisingly, began to challenge for the tag-team titles. The two teams had some good matches, which included Cade & Jindrak winning a "Non-Title" Match over La Resistance on Heat. But the titles stayed out of the reach of Cade & Jindrak, as their inexperience hindered them.

Over the next few months, Cade & Jindrak fought against many different teams, from La Resistance and the Dudley Boyz to battles against the top heels on RAW, Evolution. The duo also formed a semi-partnership with another young star, 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 be entered into the Tag-Team Turmoil Match at Armageddon 2003, where the winner would earn the vacated World Tag Team Titles. Cade and Jindrak struck very early, as 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 and Storm again put on a strong display of mat wrestling. The end was once again decided by Cade's ring-smarts, however, as Cade tripped up Venis from the outside on a suplex attempt, then held onto Venis' legs while Jindrak made the pinfall. Unfortunately, the next team to come down were the Dudley Boyz, who eventually took out Jindrak with the 3-D to eliminate Cade and Jindrak. 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 didn't, losing at the end to Ric Flair and Batista).

Going into 2004, Cade and Jindrak continued to work together as a team, staying mainly in the mid-card ranks. Neither wrestler competed in the 2004 Royal Rumble, missing out on an opportunity. But the team held tough, and got a huge win in March 2004, when they took down The Hurricane and Rosey to earn a shot at the World Tag Team Championship, at Wrestlemania XX. Cade and Jindrak were entered into a four-way tag match against the champions, Booker T and Rob Van Dam, and the other two competing teams, La Résistance and the Dudley Boyz. The experience factor was definitely against Cade and Jindrak, as they were the only team to have never held the World Tag Team Championship. Cade and Jindrak lost the match though, after Rob Van Dam pinned Rob Conway.

After Jindrak was drafted to SmackDown!, Cade next associated himself with Jonathan Coachman by helping "The Coach" get a win over Tajiri at Backlash 2004. 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.

2005-2006
Cade then stayed off WWE television for quite some time, due to the knee injury (which was said to be a dislocated knee). In 2005, Cade began reappearing in Ohio Valley Wrestling as his former self, Lance Cade, shedding the ring rust. Cade sided with "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan and Vengeance (known now as Kevin Thorn of WWE ECW) 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 couldn't get the win, eventually losing to Burke.

Cade then faded into the background for the next few weeks, eventually making his return to the ring at the June 3rd 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 help. 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 violent "No Disqualification, Loser Must Tap Out" Match at the OVW Summer Sizzler Series 2005 show at Six Flags on June 17th, 2005. Cade was intent on the victory, but he was also a little off, as he tried to pin Albright early in the match. The ref, of course, didn't allow it, causing a little 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 shockingly got the Crowbar applied on Cade again, right on the ramp. With nowhere to go, Cade was forced to tap, losing to Albrith.

On August 22, 2005 a promo was shown showcasing a long haired Cade's soon to be return 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) playing the role of a smooth-talking cowboy, while Murdoch was depicted as being like an angry Southern trucker.

Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch had their debut match on RAW on September 5, 2005. They defeated their opponents the World Tag Team Champions, Hurricane and Rosey in a non-title match. 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 "stinger" (in Kayfabe). This allowed Cade and Murdoch to defeat The Hurricane and Rosey for the World Tag Team championship. They would fight with teams on RAW and then they would lose the titles to Kane and The Big Show at Taboo Tuesday 2005. After losing to Kane and Big Show in a rematch the next night on RAW, Cade & Murdoch began to get squashed by other tag teams, before wrestling singles matches.

On the November 28th edition of RAW, it was announced that Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch had parted ways as a tag team. 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 continued to wrestle on HEAT and occasionally RAW going into the new year. 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". But none of the three could survive the Big Show, who tossed each one over the top rope. Cade then went back to the internet show, HEAT, still having trouble getting his singles career in WWE off the ground.

Eventually the Cade And Murdoch seemed to have reformed as they were seen helping Chris Masters and Carlito attack Kane. On the April 14th, 2006 edition of HEAT, it was announced that Cade & Murdoch were reuniting as a tag team after Murdoch helped Cade defeat Goldust. Cade also debuted a slight change with wet hair and shorter tights with a design similar to when he was teaming with Murdoch.

On the May 19th, 2006 edition of HEAT Cade and Murdoch officially reformed their tag team by facing and defeating Charlie Haas and Viscera.

On June 22nd, 2006, during an interview with Cade and Murdoch, Cade said,"I thought I’d go back to my natural color of black, because you know what, I’m not going to be ashamed of who we are anymore." He was talking about his hair color changing from blond to black. He also said this, "We’re two bad rednecks, we’re not cowboys, we’re not truckers, we’re rednecks. We live, breathe and do our own thing. It’s a way of life we have, and I’m not going to be ashamed of it just because we’re here in WWE. We are who we are, and we’re not afraid to tell you."

Cade then entered a short-lived feud with Trevor Murdoch 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. Cade and Murdoch would then continue to battle DX, until they were defeated in a street fight by DX, ending the feud.

In December 2006, Cade changed his hair back to blonde, and once again began displaying a cockier demeanor, bringing the character traits of Cade & Murdoch back to their original concept.

Wrestling facts

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * Sweet and Sour (High and Low: Combination lariat by Cade and chop block by Murdoch)
 * Diving elbow drop
 * Lariat
 * DDT
 * Bulldog
 * Vertical Suplex


 * Managers
 * Kenny Bolin
 * Jonathan Coachman

Championships and accomplishments

 * Heartland Wrestling Association
 * HWA Tag Team Champion (3 times) - with Steve Bradley (2) and Mike Sanders (1)
 * HWA Heavyweight Champion (2 times)


 * Texas Wrestling Alliance
 * TWA Television Championship (1 time)


 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Trevor Murdoch