Adam Copeland spent the majority of his wrestling career connected to WWE, but leaving for AEW became an easy decision once he looked at the people and matchups waiting for him on the other side.
During a conversation with ClutchPoints ahead of AEW Double or Nothing 2026, Copeland explained why joining AEW in 2023 made sense for him after his final WWE run came to an end. Christian Cage was a major part of that decision, along with two other close friends already working for Tony Khan’s company.
Copeland and Christian have a friendship that started long before either man became a wrestling star. After building their careers together as a tag team and later going their separate ways as singles performers, AEW gave them the chance to share the ring again during the final stretch of their careers.According to Copeland, hearing how much his closest friends were enjoying their time in AEW made the decision to join the company simple.
“My three best friends in the industry work there, and they all say they’re having an absolute blast — sign me up! It was a no-brainer.”
The chance to work alongside Christian was not the only reason Copeland was drawn to AEW. After decades in WWE, he felt he had already stepped into the ring with nearly everyone there that he still wanted to face.
“I’d kind of worked everyone there was to work in WWE — that I wanted to.”
Copeland acknowledged that there were still WWE opponents he never faced, but AEW offered him a roster filled with fresh possibilities. One name stood out immediately when he considered the matches that had never been possible during his WWE career.
“Obviously, there are still some [I didn’t work with], but I looked at AEW and the most glaring one I’d never wrestled [was] Samoa Joe. That’s crazy.”
Copeland also brought up “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland while discussing the new opponents available to him in AEW. Outside of familiar names including Christian, Chris Jericho, Dustin Rhodes and Billy Gunn, nearly the entire roster represented a fresh matchup for the veteran star.
That opportunity has now led Copeland back to a major tag team story alongside Christian. At AEW Double or Nothing 2026, the longtime friends are set to face FTR in New York, giving Copeland the kind of match he never could have expected when his career was first forced to end in 2011.
Copeland did not leave WWE simply to repeat what he had already done for years. AEW gave him the chance to reunite with Christian Cage, work with close friends and finally step into the ring with opponents who had never crossed his path before. At this point in his career, that kind of fresh start was apparently too good to pass up.
Do you think Adam Copeland leaving WWE for AEW was the right call? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
