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Profile: Christopher Daniels
Around the turn of the millennium, Christopher Daniels had brushes with both the World Wrestling Federation, for whom he challenged Light Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku on Shotgun Saturday Night and competed under a mask as one half of Los Conquistadores, and World Championship Wrestling, for whom he almost broke his neck in a match and was offered a short contract before the company was purchased by the WWF. He would achieve far greater success away from both promotions, building a strong reputation on the independent circuit and winning titles all around the world.
Daniels instantly became one of the top stars in Ring of Honor, being the first to break the Code of Honor after the main event on the debut show by refusing to shake hands with his opponents. As both a heel and a babyface, he represented the upper tier of the promotion during its growth, while also working in Japan with his masked comedy gimmick, Curry Man.
"The Fallen Angel" was also quick to join Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles as a member of the Triple X unit with Low-Ki (Senshi) and Elix Skipper. In 2005, he feuded in TNA with fellow ROH star AJ Styles over the X Division Title, which he won for the first time in an Ultimate X Challenge at Destination X. He would eventually lose the gold to another ROH standout, Samoa Joe, against whom Daniels and Styles would attempt to defend the X Division code in what became a three-way feud.
Styles and Daniels went on to enjoy two NWA World Tag Team Championship reigns in 2006, before AJ turned heel on his partner. Daniels relieved Styles of the X Divison Title for a second time, but after losing the gold himself took a short sabbatical from TNA before re-emerging with a new heel gimmick, which saw him become obsessed with Sting and behaving in a dangerous, assassin-like fashion, uncharacteristic of the "Fallen Angel" of old.
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