AEW star Cope (fka Edge) confirms FINAL wrestling retirement: "Not much longer"

AEW's Cope recently revealed his retirement plans and when he would hang up his boots. He has been one of the top veterans of the promotion, who has put on great matches and entertained the crowd consistently. Unfortunately, he couldn't wrestle continuously as he was retired for almost a decade due to neck issues.

Despite being 51 years old, he has been involved in multiple matches in a short period since his return. He injured his tibia during Double or Nothing last year and came back from injury in January 2025. He has also been taking Hollywood projects outside of wrestling.

While speaking on First Up with Korolnek and Colaiacovo, Cope revealed that he might wrestle until he is 53 years old, when his current contract ends. He claimed that he could not even walk normally for a week after every bout of late.

"Not much longer. The schedule is far better than what it used to be. If you asked me to try and pull off over 200 days a year that I pulled before, there is absolutely no way because the recovery takes too long now. I'll have a match and it'll take me a good week to finally start walking normal. I've realized now, I'm 51 years old, I figure I have until maybe 53, the end of this contract," said Cope. [H/T - Fightful]

Alberto Del Rio returning to WWE?

Cope is currently out of action

The Rated-FTR was one of the fan-favorite trios of the AEW division. However, things took a drastic turn earlier this month.

The Rated-R Superstar is currently sidelined as FTR betrayed him at the Dynasty pay-per-view. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler brutally attacked him and put him on the shelf. The following next week, AEW commentators announced that he would be out of action 'indefinitely'.

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It remains to be seen when will the former TNT Champion return and take out FTR.

About the author

Tejas has been an AEW writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling since 2021. Possessing a degree in Food Processing Technology, it was his brother who introduced him to Sportskeeda, and he has never looked back since.

Tejas’ writing style is analytical and descriptive style, mostly sticking to statistics. He believes in thoroughly checking all statistics and information before using them in his articles to ensure his readers get nothing but the best and most accurate stories. He also does not indulge much in speculation in his content.

His all-time favorite wrestler is Roman Reigns for his journey from being one of the most unlikable babyfaces at the start of his career to one of the greatest modern WWE superstars. If Tejas ever got the chance to go back to the Attitude Era and manage a superstar, it would choose high-flying, risk-taking diminutive entertainer Spike Dudley. Tejas would assure him that he would be involved in long-term storylines, something that he wasn’t part of during his time.

In his free time, Tejas enjoys singing and learning new things.

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Edited by Harish Raj S