Lance Cade

Cade debuted in WWE as **Garrison Cade** on an episode of *Sunday Night Heat* against Lance Storm, who forced him to submit to the Sharpshooter. The next night on *Raw*, he faced Storm in a re-match. Stone Cold Steve Austin came out interrupted, chanting the word "Boring", and Storm became distracted, allowing Cade to sneak in and get the victory. Soon afterwards, Cade again found a tag team partner in Mark Jindrak and began to challenge for the World Tag Team Championship. The belts were being held by René Duprée and his partner Sylvain Grenier, a unit collectively known as La Résistance.

Over the next few months, Cade and 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 then babyface, Maven, helping each other out on occasion. Cade and Jindrak soon began to be known more for their cheating ways, however, rather than their abilities. This led them to turn heel and be entered into the tag team turmoil match at Armageddon 2003 for the World Tag Team Titles. They came in from the crowd when their turn hit and quickly rolled up The Hurricane to eliminate him and Rosey. Cade and Jindrak next faced a face gimmick of 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 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.

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

On August 22, 2005, a promo was shown on *Raw* showcasing a long-haired Cade, who was soon to be returning with new tag team partner Trevor Murdoch. The promo showed Cade and Murdoch portraying rednecks, with Cade, now going by **Lance Cade**, playing the role of a smooth-talking cowboy while Murdoch was depicted as an angry Southern trucker.

Cade and Murdoch debuted as a team on *Raw* on September 5, 2005. They defeated 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 kayfabe stinger. It also allowed Cade and Murdoch to defeat Hurricane and Rosey for the World Tag Team championships. They defended against random teams on *Raw* for the next month before losing the titles to Big Show and Kane at Taboo Tuesday. After losing in a rematch the next night on *Raw*, Cade and Murdoch began to be squashed by other tag teams, before wrestling singles matches.

On the edition of November 28 of *Raw*, it was announced that Cade and Murdoch had parted ways as a tag team. The next week, Cade debuted with the gimmick of a "Refined Southern Gentleman," 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* at the end of 2005. 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.

Eventually, the Cade and Murdoch tandem reformed as they were seen helping Chris Masters and Carlito attack Kane. On the edition of April 14 of *Heat*, it was announced that Cade and 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*. Cade and Murdoch continued to battle DX, until they were defeated in a street fight, ending the feud on October 9.

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. On the edition of June 4 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. After 93 days, their third reign came to an end on December 10 at the *Raw XV* anniversary, when they lost the championship to the team of Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes. On December 28, Cade separated his shoulder at a house show in Atlanta, and was inactive for the next month. Cade made his return, teaming with Murdoch, on February 4, 2008, in a losing effort to Holly and Rhodes.

Late in April 2008, Murdoch began to develop a country singing gimmick. On the May 12 episode of *Raw*, Cade turned on Murdoch following a "victory song," punching Murdoch in the face twice, ending the partnership. The two faced off on the edition of June 2, 2008 of *Raw*, with Cade getting the victory to end their feud.

Cade formed an alliance with Chris Jericho on the June 16 airing of *Raw* when he assisted Jericho in laying out John Cena and Triple H. In the following weeks, Cade began accompanying Jericho to the ring for his matches, becoming a protégé of sorts and aiding him in his feud with Shawn Michaels. Cade claimed that, being a former protégé of Michaels, he was not going to wait for him to turn on him like Michaels did several past partners.

At a *Raw* house show in early August, Cade suffered a broken nose in a match against Paul London, who was also busted open as a result of a botched move. Cade returned to in-ring action on *Raw* on September 22 in a handicap match with Jericho and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, defeating Michaels and Batista, with Cade pinning his former mentor. Michaels would then defeat Cade one-on-one in a no disqualification match on the October 6 episode, in what was Cade's last appearance. On October 14, 2008, Cade was released from his WWE contract.

On August 13, 2010, Cade passed away.