In 1997, he signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002) and made his televised debut in 1998 under the ring name Edge.

[6] When he was 17, he won an essay writing contest hosted by his local gym, the prize for which was free wrestling training with Sweet Daddy Siki and Ron Hutchison in Toronto.

In 1997, Sex and Violence became part of a larger stable called Thug Life, joining Christian Cage, Zakk Wyld, Bill Skullion, and Rhino Richards.

On May 10, 1996, Copeland replaced Bob Holly's opponent on short notice in the opening match of a WWF house show as Sexton Hardcastle in Hamilton, Ontario.

[32] After a Grand Prix Wrestling tour in the summer of 1997, De Marco urged Copeland to go to Calgary, where Hart was informally training wrestlers while recovering from knee surgery.

The next night on Raw, the Hardy Boyz dressed as the Los Conquistadores and defeated Edge in a handicap match after Christian was taken out backstage to regain the WWF Tag Team Championship.

Edge solidified himself as an emerging singles competitor by winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament and slowly becoming a fan favourite by siding with the WWF during the Invasion storyline.

[67] They soon lost the tag titles to Los Guerreros in a triple threat elimination match that also involved former champions Angle and Benoit at Survivor Series on November 17.

[79] On the November 29 episode of Raw, both Edge and Benoit competed in a number one contender's battle royal, but they eliminated each other simultaneously at the conclusion of the match, resulting in a draw.

[82] At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Edge won the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, gaining a contract that gave him a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship within one year.

[83] According to a podcast interview with Chris Jericho, Copeland said that he did not initially like the idea of the ladder match and even told WWE management not to include him on the WrestleMania 21 card altogether.

[84] Several weeks after, Edge was then paired with Lita, his real-life girlfriend at the time, in an angle in which she betrayed her storyline husband Kane, by costing him the Gold Rush tournament finals match to determine the number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship on the May 16 episode of Raw.

[110] At ECW One Night Stand on June 11, Edge, Foley and Lita defeated Dreamer, Terry Funk and Beulah McGillicutty in an Extreme Rules tag team match.

[135] Edge was forced to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship due to a legitimately torn left pectoral muscle injury on the July 20 episode of SmackDown!

[153] At One Night Stand on June 1, Edge would defeat The Undertaker after interference from La Familia, Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely, winning the World Heavyweight Championship for the third time.

[160] Edge then turned on La Familia during the August 8 episode of SmackDown, performing a one-man con-chair-to on Chavo Guerrero in the ring, and tossed Vickie out of her wheelchair, effectively disbanding the faction.

[174] On July 3, Edge suffered a torn Achilles tendon while competing at a live event in San Diego in a match against Jeff Hardy, and later underwent surgery.

At Bragging Rights on October 24, Edge won the match for Team SmackDown alongside Rey Mysterio, eliminating R-Truth, John Morrison and The Miz.

On the October 29 episode of SmackDown, Edge defeated Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series.

At Survivor Series on November 21, Edge failed to win the title after the referee determined the match a draw, due to both men pinning each other at the same time.

[192] Edge then defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Kane in a winning effort in a Last Man Standing match on the January 7 episode of SmackDown, thus ending their feud.

[193] On the 600th episode of SmackDown on February 18, acting General Manager Guerrero fired Edge in storyline, and awarded the World Heavyweight Championship to her on-screen boyfriend Ziggler.

[202] At Extreme Rules on May 1, Edge helped his friend Christian defeat Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

[251] At Hell in a Cell on June 5, The Judgment Day defeated Styles, Finn Bálor and Liv Morgan in a six-person mixed tag team match.

[272] Copeland would regain the title in an "I quit" match on March 20, 2024, which started as the main event of Dynamite and concluded on a special live Rampage, both airing back-to-back ending their six-month feud.

[287] Weeks before his WWE debut in 1998, vignettes were aired depicting Edge as a loner, mysteriously roaming across New York City in various locations such as on rooftops and the subway.

The vignettes also depicted him, as Jim Ross described it on his debut, as "some sort of a tortured soul" by showing an excessive amount of rage and beating up on innocent pedestrians.

After his affair with Lita was brought to television as an on-screen relationship in 2005, Edge began to adopt the persona of a villain who reveled in controversy, nicknamed "The Rated-R Superstar."

[321] In March 2016, Copeland appeared on CBC's Canada Reads competition where he championed the book Minister Without Portfolio by the English-born Canadian writer and author Michael Winter.

[340] A Sports Illustrated article in August 2007 named Copeland as one of 10 wrestlers who were found to have purchased steroids and other drugs from an online pharmacy in violation of WWE's Talent Wellness program.