WWE Intercontinental Championship in the context of "Edge (wrestler)"

Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of November 2023, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand and is the World Heavyweight Champion in his record-tying second reign. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is known for his outspoken and confrontational straight edge persona, which is based on his real-life experiences. His 434-day reign as WWE Champion is the 10th-longest world title reign in the company's history.

Brooks began his wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1997. He signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2002, where he won the ROH World Championship once and was one of the inaugural inductees into the ROH Hall of Fame in 2022. Brooks signed with WWE in 2005 and won the WWE Championship twice, the now-defunct World Heavyweight Championship three times, the ECW Championship, the Intercontinental Championship and the World Tag Team Championship once each. Brooks also won the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2008 and 2009 (making him its only back-to-back winner), was named Superstar of the Year at the 2011 Slammy Awards, and was voted PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2011 and 2012. After acrimoniously leaving WWE in 2014, Brooks retired from wrestling but returned in 2021 when he joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he won the AEW World Championship twice. Brooks was fired in September 2023 after backstage controversies and returned to WWE two months later, where he has since headlined multiple major pay-per-view and livestreaming events, including WrestleMania 41 – Night 1, and won the newer version of the World Heavyweight Championship twice.

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name "the Rock", is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era. He wrestled for the WWF full-time for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $11.4 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing actors of all time. He is a co-owner of the United Football League, a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings—the parent company of UFC and WWE—and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions.

After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami, Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but was largely a backup player. Despite aspirations to play professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft, and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season. In 1996, his father assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker. Johnson left the WWE in 2004; he returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013 and made sporadic appearances from thereon until his retirement in 2019; in 2023, he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion—including the promotion's first of African-American descent—he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion, a five-time Tag Team Champion, the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times (15, 16, 17, 28, 29, and 40 – Night 1) which includes the most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most-watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series (Raw and SmackDown).

The 2002 Royal Rumble was the 15th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment. It took place on January 20, 2002, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Six matches were contested at the event.

As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2002 event, the winner received a match for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania X8—this was the last Royal Rumble until 2014 to feature one world championship. The main event was the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Triple H, who last eliminated Kurt Angle. In other prominent matches, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship, Ric Flair wrestled his first WWE match in 9 years by defeating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, and William Regal defeated Edge to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

WrestleMania 2000, also known as WrestleMania 16, was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 16th annual WrestleMania, and took place on April 2, 2000, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California. This was the second WrestleMania at this venue, after WrestleMania XII in 1996. A total of nine matches were contested on the event's card.

The main event was a four-way elimination match for the WWF Championship involving reigning champion Triple H, The Rock, Mick Foley, and The Big Show, which Triple H won after last eliminating The Rock; in the first time a heel won the main event of WrestleMania. Main matches on the undercard included a triangle ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship involving Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz, and a two-fall triple threat match for the WWF Intercontinental, and European Championships involving Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit.

WrestleMania X8, also known as WrestleMania 18, was a 2002 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 18th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the second WrestleMania at that venue after WrestleMania VI in 1990. The event marked the last WrestleMania of the Attitude Era and the last one held before the introduction of the brand extension just a week after the event. This was the last WrestleMania to be held outside the United States until 2027 when it will be hosted in Saudi Arabia and the venue, renamed to Rogers Centre in 2005, would not host another WWE event until 2025 when Elimination Chamber took place.

Eleven matches were contested at the event. The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the main attraction dubbed "Icon vs. Icon", in what was Hogan's first WrestleMania since WrestleMania IX in 1993. In the final match, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. In other prominent matches on the undercard Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall, The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair in a no disqualification match, and Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American professional wrestling color commentator, retired professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he is an ambassador and commentator for the company.

Layfield rose to prominence in WWE during its Attitude Era under the ring name Bradshaw, during which time he became a three-time WWF Tag Team Champion with Ron Simmons as part of the Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) or simply the Acolytes, a feared pair of strong and tough mercenaries who, aside from occasionally wrestling and doing "work" for "clients" spent most of their time sitting around in their "office" playing cards, drinking beer, fighting people backstage and then going out to bars and getting into bar fights. In 2004, Simmons retired and the APA separated, and Layfield was rebranded as the heel character JBL— a rough-mannered, brawling, blustering, bad-tempered and bigmouthed Texas elite businessman, driven into the arena by limousine. The gimmick was built off of Layfield's real-life accomplishments as a stock market investor. Later that year, he captured the WWE Championship and held it for 280 days, at the time the longest reign since Diesel’s one year long reign from 1994 to 1995. A month before his in-ring retirement at 2009's WrestleMania 25, he became Intercontinental Champion, which made him the 20th Triple Crown Champion and the 10th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.