Tony Khan’s Blunt Response To WWE If They Made Adam Copeland Approach
WWE legend Adam Copeland works for Tony Khan’s AEW.
Last year, during John Cena’s retirement tour, it was rumored that WWE would negotiate with AEW to bring Copeland for a match with Cena one last time. But that never happened.
On The Ariel Helwani Show in November 2025, Khan revealed that WWE never reached out to him to borrow the erstwhile Edge.
In a recent interview with Adrian Hernandez on UNLIKELY, the AEW President was asked the same question, and he gave the same answer, confirming that WWE never approached him to use Copeland for John Cena’s 2025 retirement tour.
Khan said, “No, [WWE didn’t contact him to use Adam Copeland for John Cena’s retirement]”
Khan was also asked if WWE had contacted him; what would he have said?
“Adam is in England filming a huge movie,” he replied.
Adam Copeland did not get to participate in John Cena’s 2025 retirement tour, but Cena made sure to pay him tribute. During a September 5, SmackDown match against Sami Zayn. He used the Spear, Copeland’s signature move.
Adam Copeland Found John Cena’s Tribute “Super Fun”
Ahead of All Out, Adam Copeland had an interview with The Score, where he shared his reaction to John Cena’s tribute. He said:
“I saw a clip a couple of days ago where he did the whole [spear] setup and everything… It’s super fun. Yeah, it’s just fun. I think for John and I, we’re two guys that met each other at the right time. He needed a bad guy, and I needed a good guy. It just clicked. You never know when something is going to click.”
“I remember with Eddie and I, the first time we wrestled, and it was like, ‘huh.’ It was okay, right? But it should’ve been more than that. And then the next one was a little bit more, and then finally by our third match we were like, okay. There it is.”
“With John and I from day one, it just clicked. And I think it was, our characters were polar opposites. I knew what the assignment was, and so did he. I think you had two guys that were very willing to do what we had to do to get us both over.”
And John was already well on his way, but I feel like our angle is what really put the stamp on him being the top guy, and it put the stamp on me being a main event guy. I’ll always look back at that one fondly and and what we were able to do and and the fun we had.”
Copeland reciprocated Cena’s tribute with a tribute of his own, where he performed Cena’s “Five Moves of Doom” during his match at AEW All Out 2025.