Adam Copeland Looks Back On Decision To Join AEW
As the current AEW TNT Champion, Adam Copeland is in the midst of his first full title run since returning from retirement. Before 2020, it seemed impossible that the former Edge would return to wrestling with WWE, much less its number-one rival. However, Copeland turned impossibility into actuality when he switched to AEW after leaving WWE, debuting at WrestleDream.Copeland went into detail about his decision to jump ship during "AEW Unrestricted."
"I had a match that I loved with Sheamus in my hometown," he said about his final match with WWE, "About halfway through that match I was like, 'This could be it...' But I knew I needed to get away from the emotions of the night, sit down when I got home, put my flannel on, and just sit in my rocking chair and think. Get a cup of coffee, sit with my girls, and just say, 'What do you think? What should Dad do?' And what I said in the promo was true, they said, 'Go be with uncle Jay [Christian Cage] and have fun.' Not that I wasn't having fun, but I truly felt like I could help more with AEW and be allowed to help more."
He reasoned that he wanted to be more hands-on, unlike the sporadic appearances he had been making under WWE. That way, he could make a greater difference in helping younger talent break through and give back to the business. "So more than anything, I think it was that, just looking at the totality of the industry and going, 'Okay, where do I feel like I could possibly help more or be given the opportunity to help more?' And it was AEW."
Why Adam Copeland felt it was time to leave WWE
Adam Copeland addressed the potential first-time matches AEW held compared to WWE, expressing excitement toward the idea of working alongside Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Samoa Joe, and "Hangman" Adam Page to name a few.
"All of these people I've never worked with, I've never wrestled, and it was almost everybody, like 98% of the roster. That's insane," he said. "Moxley and I have never touched... Oh man, I'm Jones-in for that one... FTR, the Bucks, like Claudio [Castagnoli] and I have never been in a ring together... Even Bryan [Danielson] and I have only had one singles match. It was like four minutes long, and then we had a triple threat and that's it. We've never had a proper one-on-one, you can keep going down the list. It is just name after name after name after name."
The WWE Hall of Famer noted that he needs to have challenges and excitement. He pointed to his remarkable return to wrestling after triple fusion surgery on his neck and said those challenges drive him forward. As a Grand Slam Champion, Copeland felt that he had done all he could with WWE, and he got the same vibe from the company.
"There was only so much to do with WWE and I feel like I'd done it all. I feel like we both felt that way. It was just time... To look at this new company, this exciting company. And I'd watch and I'd be stoked. Like man, it'd be fun to get there. Be awful fun. And then I had friends there and I talked to them who were like, 'You'd have a lot of fun,' and honestly at this stage of life, I'm 50 years old. If it's not fun, I'm not gonna do it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.