Christopher Daniels is one of the veterans of the pro wrestling industry with almost three decades of experience in the ring. He's competed across various promotions throughout his career and has held multiple championships.
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He's well known for his time in Impact Wrestling, where he was one of the company's founding members. He currently works as the Head of Talent Relations for All Elite Wrestling while continuing as an in-ring performer for the company and also performing in various independent promotions. With that said, let's take a look at Christopher Daniels' pro wrestling career by means of pictures over the years.
9 Training & Debut
Christopher Daniels was a fan of pro wrestling from his childhood and chose to pursue the sport as a career. He started his training around 1993 and trained under Sam DeCero, Mike Anthony, and Kevin Quinn.
He made his in-ring debut in April 1993 for Windy City Pro Wrestling and went on to capture the company's Lightweight Championship the following month.
Apart from WCPW, Christopher Daniels also competed in other independent promotions like Global Wrestling Alliance, Midwest Territorial Wrestling, and Empire Wrestling Federation during his early days as a wrestler.
8 WWE, WCW & ECW
Christopher Daniels signed a developmental contract with WWE in 1998 and trained under Dory Funk Jr. He made his debut in a dark match on the January 24, 1998, episode of Shotgun Saturday Night. He continued to work for WWE as a jobber on their secondary shows and worked for the company until 2001 while still competing in the indies.
He also competed in WCW and ECW between 1999 and 2001 while still making appearances for WWE. These would be his final association with WWE, WCW, and ECW as he finally found his break after joining forces with ROH and TNA.
7 ROH & TNA Debut
Christopher Daniels has had multiple stints in Ring of Honor in his career, and his first run with the company started in 2002. He made his debut at The Era Of Honor Begins event in February 2002, where he lost to Low Ki in a triple threat match also involving Bryan Danielson in his American Dragon gimmick. During his first run, Daniels won the ROH Tag Team Championship with Donovan Morgan and held it for 175 days.
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In mid-2002, Christopher Daniels joined TNA and made his debut in their weekly PPV on July 10, 2002, in an X Division Championship No.1 contenders 6-man elimination match against Low Ki, Elix Skipper, Jerry Lynn, Kid Romeo, and Tony Mamaluke.
6 Tag Team & X Division Champion
Following his debut, Christopher Daniels would join the Triple X faction alongside Elix Skipper and Low Ki. The trio went on to become three-time NWA World Tag Team Champions during their time together but only had short reigns between January and June 2003.
After the team disbanded, Christopher Daniels started focusing on his singles career and went after the X Division Championship. It led to Daniels having a lengthy feud with AJ Styles over the title, and he won the X Division Championship in a controversial finish in the Ultimate X Match at the 2005 Destination X PPV.
5 Various Gimmicks & Feuds
The feud between Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles evolved into an alliance after they had to team up to take on a common enemy in Samoa Joe. It led to them becoming a 2-time NWA World Tag Team Champions before they went their separate ways after the 2006 Genesis PPV.
Following a brief Triple X reunion in 2007, Christopher Daniels would then go on to portray different characters in The Curry Man and Suicide. Daniels even had a 50-day run with the X Division Championship under the masked Suicide character.
4 Release, Independent Circuit & Return
After reverting to his regular character, Christopher Daniels continued to feud against various wrestlers in Impact Wrestling until March 2010, when his eight-year run with the company ended after he got released from his contract. Following the release, Daniels returned to the independent circuit and Ring of Honor and captured the ROH World Television Championship and held it for 198 days before he lost it to El Generico at the 2011 ROH Best in the World PPV.
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Apart from his ROH accolades, Daniels also captured the AAW World Heavyweight Championship in the indies. He also competed in Chikara and AAA during the time before Impact opened its doors for Daniels again.
3 Fortune & Bad Influence
Christopher Daniels returned to Impact Wrestling in January 2011 in his Suicide gimmick. He returned under the masked persona because he was still under contract to ROH, and the company had asked him not to perform as Christopher Daniels until his contract expired.
He was with the promotion until 2014, during which time he became part of the Fortune faction. Following the group's implosion, Daniels formed a tag team with fellow Fortune member Kazarian as Bad Influence. Together, Daniels and Kazarian went on to capture the TNA World Tag Team Championship on two occasions between May and October 2012.
2 Return To ROH & The Indies
Christopher Daniels announced his departure from Impact Wrestling in April 2014 and returned to the independent circuit and Ring of Honor. He continued to team with Kazarian in ROH and captured two ROH World Tag Team Championships together.
He also won the ROH World Championship for the first time by defeating Adam Cole at the ROH 15th Anniversary Show in March 2017 and held it for 105 days before losing it to Cody Rhodes at the ROH Best in the World PPV in June 2017. Daniels' other accolades during this phase of his career include winning the DDT Ironman Heavymetal Championship and the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship with Kazarian and Scorpio Sky.
1 AEW Debut & Backstage Role
When All Elite Wrestling opened its doors for business, Christopher Daniels, alongside Scorpio Sky and Kazarian, became one of the first signees of the company.
Apart from being an in-ring performer, Daniels also bagged an influential backstage role as the head of talent relations. Daniels made his in-ring debut at the 2019 Double or Nothing PPV, where he teamed up with his SoCal Uncensored partners Kazarian and Scorpio Sky to defeat The Strong Hearts, CIMA, El Lindaman, and T-Hawk. Christopher Daniels continues to perform as an in-ring talent for AEW and had several high-profile matches while maintaining the balance between his backstage duties and is showing no signs of slowing down.
