AEW star Adam Copeland has made himself right at home in All Elite Wrestling since making his debut at WrestleDream, but what possessed him to choose Tony Khan's promotion over WWE?
25 years on from his WWE debut, the man formerly known as Edge wrestled his final match for World Wrestling Entertainment in August 2023. He allowed his contract to expire and would show up in All Elite Wrestling at the end of the WrestleDream pay-per-view, confronting his old tag team partner Christian Cage in the process.
The move to AEW shocked the wrestling world as, outside of a handful of matches in small independent companies during the Attitude Era, Edge had wrestled exclusively for WWE.
When news broke that Adam Copeland's contract was set to expire, many thought that he would stay with WWE. However, speaking to the New York Post, having such a sporadic schedule wasn't something he was particularly pleased about.
"I think from their perspective and I see their perspective entirely, if we bring you out too much then it’s not special anymore. I get that. I really do. So it was for limited dates. With that though, you can’t really get into a proper story. You can’t really dive into what this thing could be. For me looking at it, it’s like I’m 49. I got a very, very limited time to capitalize on what I have left. Because three months off, that’s three months where I could have done some stuff." (H/T Fightful)
Copeland explained that having a full-time schedule as part of AEW will allow him to tell more stories on a regular basis, and is excited to wrestle an entirely new roster of people too.
"I know it sounds great on paper and don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a horrible place to be. But, if I’m gonna do this man. I want to do it. I want to try to craft some stories and do what I can while I can. So limited time, yeah, because I’m far closer to the end of my career than I am to the beginning. But still think I got some good stories that I can tell and a whole new roster of people who I’ve never touched before." (H/T Fightful)
Adam Copeland will be in action this weekend at AEW Full Gear
The Rated-R Superstar is currently undefeated in AEW so far, defeated Luchasaurus on the "Title Tuesday" edition of Dynamite in October, and the trio of Lance Archer and The Righteous on an episode of Collision in November.
But this weekend, Adam Copeland will make his in-ring pay-per-view debut for AEW at Full Gear in a match that has been brewing since the WWE Hall of Famer stepped foot in the promotion.
Adam Copeland will team with Sting, and Darby Allin to take on the team of Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne in a trios match. While there is no stipulation on the match at the time of writing, this one promises to be one of the most chaotic bouts on the Full Gear card.
Do you think Adam Copeland will win at AEW Full Gear? Let us know in the comments section below!