Cope Not Concerned By Negative Reactions For Controversial AEW Match
Violence in pro wrestling doesn’t seem to bother AEW’s Cope, who cares about the crowd reaction a lot more than fans on the internet.
The last time Adam Copeland, aka Cope, appeared on AEW television was when he was attacked by his former friends FTR following their tag team loss at Dynasty. After the vicious attack by Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler, Cope was taken away on a stretcher, and he hasn’t been seen on AEW TV since.
While the betrayal by FTR was shocking, Copeland was also involved in a controversial match on the March 19th episode of AEW Dynamite when he challenged Jon Moxley in a Street Fight for Moxley’s AEW World Title.
During that match, Cope’s wooden board with nails in it, named Spike, was used as a weapon and even stuck in Moxley’s back for about 20 seconds before it was removed. The clips of Spike on Moxley’s back likely grossed out some fans, while others may have thought it looked cool.
Many people were vocal in their criticism of the spot, as they felt it was perhaps going too far. Cope told Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes Magazine that times have changed.
“I don’t really care about the reaction, besides the live reaction. That, to me, is the reaction that matters, and they were into it live. Hey, I get it, I do. Because I understand that it can be diminishing returns and all of those things. You also have to know your audience and you also have to understand that times have changed, for good, bad, however you want to look at it.”
Cope Believes That Pro Wrestling Is Going To Become More Violent
As he continued to make his point, Cope explained why he believes pro wrestling will continue to evolve and become even more violent in the future.
“I like to think I’ve always been a proponent of understanding that things do change; it’s going to be more athletic now, it’s going to be more violent now, and things just naturally tend to get ‘more’ as time goes on. I mean, you look at the internet. I remember dial up and now there’s AI, things change, that’s just the nature of life. That’s the nature of the world.
So I don’t really factor in how people react after the fact. I just know they’re into it live, that’s my job, and that’s how I gauge things.”
During his time away from AEW, Cope is supporting his Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL playoffs and has recently posted a photo from a game with Metallica’s James Hetfield, commenting on his fandom for the legendary band.