Adam Copeland Talks The Creative Process In Pro Wrestling
Adam Copeland has lifted the lid on the creative process in pro wrestling and revealed he enjoys being hands on with his character.
Copeland shocked the world on October 1st when making a surprise debut at AEW WrestleDream 2023. Having spent 25 years performing in WWE as Edge, many felt that the ‘Rated R Superstar’ would finish out his career with the company that inducted him into the Hall Of Fame in 2012.
Following the expiration of his contract on September 30th, however, Copeland headed for pastures new and is set for an immediate feud with with lifelong friend and former tag-team partner Christian Cage.
The former WWE Champion discussed the move recently during an appearance on The Battleground Podcast, specifically highlighting how he preferred being involved on a full-time basis from a creative standpoint:
“I mean every process has its pros and cons right? But it’s great to be involved to a heavy extent creatively. Now I’ve been lucky in that throughout the years that you are given some creative freedom. That’s always great you know, because as a performer you have to be able to bite into what you’re trying to produce out there.
I’ve always said if there’s some element of truth that the person behind the character can bite into then the fiction should follow that truth. And that doesn’t change. That’s always treated the same but it’s really nice to sit down and go, Okay, how could this story play out?’ And be heavily heavily involved in that and being here on a week-to-week basis that becomes more possible.
It’s not poking in every three months and that becomes hard. It becomes a hard process to be involved in a large creative way when it’s just kinda popping in and out.”
Adam Copeland Urges Fans To Enjoy All Wrestling Content
Copeland would go on to urge fans to enjoy all pro wrestling content. Whilst many viewers have a preference on watching either WWE or AEW, Tony Khan’s latest recruit insisted that competition was good for the business and fans should focus on having fun watching all available programming:
“More than anything I know how the social media culture of wrestling fandom can be right now and it’s kind of a bummer sometimes.
More than anything, when I look at things as a wrestling fan, which I still am, I think it’s amazing. There’s so many different ways to watch. There’s so many different things to watch. It doesn’t matter what the initials are. It’s professional wrestling.
And if we’re talking about this and if we’re complaining about this or putting glory behind this, it means we love this thing. And I wish people would remember that. That this is something that is awesome that is just supposed to be fun. And I’m having a blast every time I’m out there. So, hopefully that translates.”
H/T: Wrestlezone for the above transcription.