Adam Copeland Reveals The Moment He Realized He Had Become An AEW Star

Adam Copeland can pinpoint the moment “the realization fully hit” that he was now an AEW star.

On August 18th, Copeland closed the door on 25 years in WWE as Edge when he defeated Sheamus on SmackDown in Toronto. Speculation on his future was already swirling before the bell rang for the bout, with fans wondering if the Rated-R Superstar would re-sign with WWE, make the leap to AEW, or possibly even retire.

Those questions were answered at WrestleDream on October 1st. In the main event of the show, Copeland’s longtime friend and tag team partner, Christian Cage, defeated Darby Allin to retain the TNT Championship. However, following the victory he continued the assault on Allin with help from Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne.

Sting came to Allin’s aid, but was soon taken down by the trio in the ring. Just as Christian was about to end Sting’s career with a Con-chair-to, the lights went out and Metalingus rang through the arena, signaling that Adam Copeland was now All Elite.

Copeland made his way to the ring and accepted a steel chair from Christian, but instead of finishing the job on The Icon, he took out Wayne and Luchasuaurus as Cage escaped up the ramp with his title. Afterward, Copeland shook hands with Sting and Allin to close the show.

In a new interview with Sports Illustrated, Copeland said that it was when he came face-to-face with Sting that the realization he was no longer a WWE Superstar hit him.

“The realization fully hit when I was staring at Sting in the ring. I know WWE like the back of my hand. I know Edge. I don’t know AEW. It’s new to me. That is very exciting for me. It’s like starting from scratch, but with a lot more experience.”

Adam Copeland is excited about the opportunities he has outside WWE

During the same interview, Copeland spoke of his excitement at the opportunities he has outside the WWE umbrella.

As well as potential dream matches with AEW stars like Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, and Malakai Black, the star said he would also like to face NJPW wrestlers, naming Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada as possible match-ups.

Before he gets to those names though, Copeland will have to get through his first match in the company on the October 10th edition of Dynamite. There, he will face off against one of the men he attacked at WrestleDream, Luchasaurus.