Former WWE Superstar Edge, real name Adam Copeland, has joined All Elite Wrestling.
Copeland made his surprise debut at the end of AEW’s WrestleDream pay-per-view in Seattle. He appeared after his former tag team partner and long-time best friend Christian Cage successfully defended his TNT Championship against Darby Allin in a two-out-of-three falls match.
During a post-match attack by Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne on Allin and Sting, the arena went dark and a video package aired in the arena before “Metalingus” by Alter Bridge played, which was also Copeland’s music in WWE.
Copeland appeared and teased that he would be joining along in the beatdown being served by his real-life best friend but turned on him, saving Allin and Sting from the assault before the pay-per-view went off the air.
Edge, also known as “The Rated R Superstar” wrestled his last match for WWE on an August 18 episode of SmackDown, where he defeated Sheamus in his hometown of Toronto.
Prior to the match, Copeland announced that his WWE contract was expiring and that he was mulling over a possible contract extension. Copeland hadn’t been seen on WWE television since and surprised fans with this debut a little over a month after his last match.
During the post-event media scrum, AEW founder Tony Khan announced that Edge (Adam Copeland) would be a full-time talent and appear on the upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday.
“Part of coming here is that I wanted to contribute,” Copeland said. “I wanted to help and I just felt like here I’d really be able to do that and have the opportunity to do that.”
Copeland stated that he felt “free” joining AEW and is excited to work with talent that he has long been yearning to step into the ring with.
“I look at an entire fresh roster of faces and so many talent that I’ve never laid hands on before,” he said. “That, to me, as a person who’s driven by challenges, that for me was the biggest thing.
“I’ve never been in the ring with Samoa Joe. I’ve never stood in a ring with Sting before tonight. After 31 years in the industry, that’s never happened. Then I see a guy like Nick Wayne, or I see Swerve (Strickland). There’s just so many possibilities here. For me, at this stage in my career, that is so enticing. That is so exciting.”
Edge (Adam Copeland) signed with WWE back in 1997 and spent over 25 years with the promotion. He’s a seven-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and held the WWE World Tag Team titles with a record 12 times.
He had a successful solo career but may be best known for his tag team run with Christian Cage. Cage was last seen in WWE in January 2021 and debuted with AEW in March of that year. The two are reunited under the AEW banner but will likely be at odds with one another for the immediate future.
Since being in AEW however, he has been subject to many assaults by Christian Cage and finds himself in a constant battle with his former teammate at WWE.
Before leaving WWE, Edge spoke about the toll even one match took on him as he approaches 50 year old (he’s currently 49, but his birthday is Oct. 30). That hasn’t changed, and he knows he’ll probably never sign another “full-time” contract again:
“I think that’s a very safe thing to say [that this is his last ‘full-time’ run] because I know how much work it’s going to take to be able to pull it off. 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 not going to be that. I know what it’s going to be. 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 also I’m a realist and I understand that I’m not going to be able to maintain it for a super long time. I’d say that’s a very fair, very fair, safe bet.”
FAQ’s –
When was Edge’s first WWE match? 22nd June 1998.
How old is he? 49 years old. His 50th birthday is on October 30th.
What is his real name? His real name is Adam Copeland.
Who is he married to in real life? He is currently married to ex WWE star Beth Phoenix.
