Adam Copeland probably wouldn’t still be wrestling if AEW didn’t exist. Three years after leaving WWE for its biggest rival, Copeland admits the choice in front of him was pretty simple: go to AEW or start preparing for retirement.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on August 18, Copeland explained that by the end of his WWE run, there simply wasn’t much left for either side to do together.
“I kind of ran the gamut with WWE. There wasn’t much left to do for either me or the company. The writing was on the wall. It was more along the lines of, ‘Am I gonna go to AEW, or am I gonna retire?’”
Copeland ultimately chose AEW, making his debut at WrestleDream in October 2023 after his WWE contract expired. But Helwani pushed the question one step further. If AEW hadn’t existed at all, would Copeland already be retired? Copeland didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah. I would have been done by now because I think I probably would have come back for a year with WWE and then retired however everyone wanted it to happen, and that would be that.”
Instead, AEW gave him another option. Copeland said the move opened up creative possibilities he wasn’t getting toward the end of his WWE run and ultimately gave this stage of his career some new life.
“But man, this has kind of breathed new life into me in terms of the creative avenues I can take.”
So Copeland’s 2023 WWE exit wasn’t simply about jumping from one wrestling company to another. Without AEW sitting on the other side, he believes there probably would have been one final WWE year, a retirement, and that would’ve been it. Instead, three years later, he’s still going.
What do you think of Adam Copeland admitting he would likely be retired by now without AEW? Let us know in the comments below.
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