Reason Why AEW Stalled Adam Copeland and Christian Reunion

The long-rumored reunion of Cope (Edge) and Christian in AEW was never just a fan theory—it was the real plan. But those plans have completely stalled, and it turns out Christian Cage is the one slowing it all down to focus on building his storyline with Nick Wayne.

On the Backstage Report Podcast, Sean Ross Sapp explained how fan speculation about the reunion wasn’t off base at all. In fact, he originally predicted AEW was heading toward a Cope & Christian reunion, only to second-guess himself when nothing happened. Sapp detailed how fans kept asking about the situation, leading him to question whether he was wrong.

“Cope and Christian was a natural point of inquisition from a lot of our viewers and readers recently, because that’s a prediction I had made a while back. I thought they were headed towards that and FTR. And I think I said on one show, like, ‘Man, guess I was wrong.’”

But that changed quickly when sources from AEW reached out after hearing his doubts.

“And then a couple people in AEW hit me up and they said, ‘No, you weren’t. That was the direction.’”

AEW originally intended for FTR to turn heel by targeting the Outrunners. That angle was scrapped when they decided it would pack more punch to have FTR go after Cope instead, setting up the long-awaited reunion with Christian.

“In fact, the original plan for FTR to go heel on the Outrunners was scrapped as they decided they wanted to go heel on Cope instead to lead to the eventual reuniting of Cope and Christian.”

But those plans hit a wall—because Christian Cage wanted to prioritize building Nick Wayne’s character and story. Sapp made it clear that while fans are praising Christian’s decision to spotlight Nick Wayne, sources say the reunion could’ve been moving forward months ago.

“However, Christian has kind of slowed things down now. I saw a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, good on him. Glad that he wants to put Nick Wayne over,’ all that stuff. But from what I understand, like… there, the wheels could have been in motion for this quite a while back. Like, there was no reason that it needed to draw out as long as it did. That’s just based on the people that I talked to.”

Also, Cope’s AEW return was discussed over a month ago, but as of now, nothing has materialized—and AEW All In is right around the corner.

“And Cope was originally discussed to come back, like, over a month ago. And then he’s been just sitting on the sidelines with no program for AEW All In as of now.”

For now, the only person with a clear direction on AEW TV is Christian, who remains focused on his work with Nick Wayne—a decision driven entirely by Christian himself.

“The only person that seems to have a solid creative direction as of this moment is Christian himself with the Nick Wayne stuff, which is something that he wants to flesh out.”

It’s classic AEW — plans change, egos get involved, and now one of the biggest reunions wrestling fans have been waiting for is collecting dust. Cope’s still on the sidelines, Christian’s doing his own thing, and fans are left wondering if AEW just let this one slip away.

Do you think Christian is smart to slow down the reunion for Nick Wayne? Or is AEW missing the boat by keeping Cope on the sidelines? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let us know.

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