Adam Copeland expects to end full-time career with AEW

Adam Copeland expects to end his full-time in-ring career in AEW.

After nearly three decades with WWE, Copeland (Edge) made his AEW debut at WrestleDream this past weekend. Copeland arrived in AEW by saving Darby Allin from an attack by Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne.

Copeland was interviewed by CBS Sports following his debut. Copeland was asked if he thinks this will be his last full-time run as a performer.

“I think that’s a very safe thing to say because I know how much work it’s going to take to be able to pull it off,” Copeland responded. “I know that. I’m not in any way trying to fool myself into thinking I’m just going to trot through this whole thing. 

“It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a lot of hard work. I enjoy hard work. I always have. It’s how I’m wired. It’s what I was born with. It’s in my DNA. So that’s super fun. But I’m also a realist and I understand that I’m not going to be able to maintain it for a super long time.”

On a SmackDown episode from Toronto this August, Copeland celebrated the 25th anniversary of his WWE debut. The final match on Copeland’s WWE contract took place that night. He defeated Sheamus in their first-ever singles match against each other.

Copeland told CBS Sports that retirement was a “very, very real option” as he got closer to the end of his WWE contract.

“As I got closer to the end of the deal, retirement was a very, very real option. It was not off the table,” Copeland said. “I really sat with the idea of retirement because I truly thought like, ‘Man, WWE gave me that night. I don’t know how that gets topped.’ And that’s still in my brain.

“But I guess now it’s like, ‘OK, how can I try and top it in this new environment.’ Honestly, that Toronto show was a send-off of that character and it was the perfect way for that character to go out. Wrestling a guy that I’ve never wrestled that I always wanted to. It was just so much fun in there. That night, I’ll never forget it. I’ll always have that night with me. I told Sheamus that too. That will be one of the most special nights in my career, always.” 

Being able to work with Christian, his best friend and longtime tag team partner, was a key factor in Copeland deciding to go to AEW. In the CBS Sports interview, Copeland said his perfect world would be ending his career with Christian.

Copeland also felt like he and WWE had outgrown each other. Copeland wanted to do more, but WWE didn’t have much more for him to do.

“I want to try and maximize what I still have left,” Copeland told CBS Sports. “If that’s one year, if that’s two years, I want to do it as much as I can while I still feel like I can. I know that’s going to be hard and I know that’s going to take a lot of work physically. I know there’s a different fallout now, but I know all of those things and I really just want to weigh the glory of this thing as much as I can.”

AEW has announced that we’ll hear from Copeland on Dynamite this Wednesday night. His first AEW match will be against Luchasaurus on the special Title Tuesday edition of Dynamite on October 10.