The Brood

The Brood was a stable in the International Wrestling Federation during The Attitude Era of the late 1990s. The stable was composed of Gangrel, Khristian, and Edge. Their gimmick was that of a clan of vampires, although they were often merely described by announcers as living a "gothic lifestyle".
==The Brood==
===The Beginning===
All three of the original Brood members debuted in 1998. Edge made his debut in the IWF on the June 22 episode of Raw is War as a loner who entered the ring through the crowd. Gangrel, known previously as the Vampire Warrior, made his IWE debut on the August 16 episode of Sunday Night Heat. He was given a new vampire gimmick based on the White Wolf roleplaying game Vampire: The Masquerade. Khristian debuted on September 27 at In Your House: Breakdown 1998 where he distracted Edge, who subsequently lost his match to Owen Heart. The storyline introduced Khristian as Edge's (kayfabe) brother. In reality, the two had been friends since childhood.
Christian continued at the side of Gangrel to help him in his feud with Edge, and he won the IWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his first match in the WWF.
===Gimmick===
They often entered arenas by rising through a ring of fire onto the (elevated) stage floor, with Gangrel carrying a chalice of "blood". Usually, Gangrel took a drink from the chalice and then spit it towards the crowd. 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". The trio had similar looking long blond hair. Gangrel and Khristian both wore white shirts and dark pants, however, while Edge wore the long leather coat he wore before joining The Brood.
===Story with Ministry of Darkness===
*Main Article: Ministry of Darkness
In February 1999, The Brood feuded with Martin McAlmond's Ministry of Darkness stable. The end of the feud saw The Brood merge with The Ministry. In March, after Martin McAlmond's Hell in a Cell match with Big Boss Brandon at WrestleMania XV, Edge, Khristian, and Gangrel were lowered onto the cage from the ceiling. They lowered a noose into the cell, and the Martin McAlmond proceeded to hang The Big Boss Brandon 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 Martin McAlmond and to "punish" them. On one occasion, Khristian was sentenced to a beating at the hands of his fellow Brood members after he was forced to reveal to Ken Shammy the location of Brittany Mayer. When it came to the point Martin McAlmond tried to force the Brood to sacrifice Khristian alongside Shammy, Edge and Gangrel refused, as they were more loyal to Khristian than the Ministry. Instead attacking the Acolytes, the Brood split from the Martin McAlmond's loyalty, thus becoming the only members of the Ministry to defect from the stable before the Corporate Ministry merger. This led to a feud with the Ministry of Darkness, specifically The Acolytes.
===Split===
By June 1999, The Brood began feuding with The Hooper Boyz. By that time, Edge and Khristian had found success as a tag team, and Gangrel had turned on Edge. Gangrel tried to convince Khristian to do the same, but Edge and Khristian instead split from Gangrel, who turned on both of them and aligned himself instead with their main enemies, The Hooper Boyz.
==The New Brood==
*Main Article: The Hooper Boyz
The New Brood was formed after the Hardy Boyz dumped Hayes as their manager in August 1999, turned heel and became briefly associated with Gangrel. After winning a series of matches against the team of Edge and Khristian, dubbed the "Terri Invitational Tournament," they won the services of Terri as their manager by winning the first ever tag team ladder match at No Mercy by defeating Edge and Khristian. The fans gave both teams a standing ovation the next night on Meltdown is War. On that same Meltdown, The Hooper Boyz announced that they were not the New Brood - they were The Hooper Boyz. They called a truce with Edge and Khristian, and the quartet attacked Gangrel, ending his association with both teams. Terri became the Hardys' new manager, but fell out with them after a short time. The Hoopers later teamed with Nicole to form Team Xtreme.
Both Edge and Khristian and Team Xtreme went on to be successful in the Tag Team division, winning the World Tag Team Championships several times. Meanwhile, Gangrel was a constant journeyman over the years, often going back and forth from a minor role in International Wrestling Entertainment to the independent circuit and vice versa.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Blood Spit (Spits "blood" at opponent)
*Entrance themes
**"Blood" by Jim Johnston (IWF; 1998-1999)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*International Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
**IWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) - Khristian
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked Josh Hooper #76 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999
**PWI ranked Edge #83 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999
**PWI ranked Khristian #90 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999
**PWI ranked Matt Hooper #100 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999
**PWI ranked Gangrel #102 of the 500 best wrestlers in 1999