Adam Copeland aka Edge was retired from pro wrestling for nearly 10 years before he got medically cleared and returned to WWE at Royal Rumble 2020.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Copeland was asked about how close he came to actually signing with AEW when he returned to pro wrestling at that time. The Rated R Superstar confirms that he almost decided to sign with AEW, but explains why he ultimately chose WWE:
“Really close, you know, we had great discussions.
…When I first started talking to AEW, I wasn’t yet cleared…once all of those clearances started to come, I was like, oh, this is real now. Okay. So before I did anything, I had to go kind of get the final clearance needed for either company. But I had negotiated with everybody. I was like, okay, here’s where I’m at, here’s what I’ve been told I can do, and started the process.
And then in going to WWE, and sitting down with Vince, he goes, well it’s got to happen here, you know? At that stage, I looked at the equity built and it felt like having to start over [in AEW], especially having to start over after having been gone for nine years felt really daunting, if that makes sense. It felt like at least with WWE, that’s one thing off the table that I don’t have to worry about. I can come back and walk into the history of this character. And I do feel like it needed to happen there initially. I really do, if only for that Royal Rumble moment, right before the pandemic hit, and just feeling and experiencing that. I’m happy with the way it turned out.”
Edge’s WWE contract ran out in the second half of 2023, and his surprise debut for AEW happened at the WrestleDream pay-per-view in October. Copeland explains why he chose AEW over WWE at that time:
“It felt like I’d done everything that I was going to do with WWE. I worked the people I wanted to work, 95% anyway. And it really just felt like they were on a direction, and I was on a direction, and they were kind of going separate ways. I wanted to be, with this limited window that I have, I wanted to be involved. I wanted to be there kind of on a weekly basis in order to tell proper stories, you know what I mean? And it’s tough to do that popping in and out every three months or so. And I also get the idea of, well that keeps it special. And I understand that. But again, I’m working with such a limited time frame here, that I got to go while I can go. And I looked at the [AEW] roster and I just thought, man, so many people that I’ve never laid hands on and been in the ring with…it’s really exciting.”
He also explains how working so many new people in AEW has changed the way he thinks in the ring:
“I’m just having fun…it’s fun to get out there and just try new things, especially at this stage of the career. But I think in working with new people, and a whole roster of new people, it’s just opened my brain to all the different possibilities.”
The 50-year-old TNT champion has previously stated that he thinks he has about two years left in the ring before his window on being an active wrestler is closed, and the urgency in his answer above is consistent with that reality. However, he’ll see how his body feels before making any decisions on retirement.
“A lot of it will depend on how I feel, how the body is holding up. I can’t kid myself. I have a triple fusion in my neck…If I can still keep performing at a level, but more importantly a level that I can feel proud of. I just don’t want to get to a point where I’m like really struggling and it’s like pulling teeth to get it done. I don’t want to do that. And thankfully, because of my career, I’m at a point where I don’t have to do that. I’m doing this because I just love it.”
Everything Edge says here about choosing WWE over AEW in 2020, and then choosing AEW over WWE in 2023, makes perfect sense to me, so it’s no surprise to hear how happy he is with how his pro wrestling comeback has gone over the last four years. He seems to have made all the right decisions along the way, and is making a boatload of money in the process.
Who else would you like to see Copeland wrestle on the AEW roster before he calls it a career, Cagesiders?
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