Adam Copeland was a recent guest on Talk is Jericho. On the show, The Rated R Superstar and Chris Jericho discuss why Copeland left WWE and joined AEW, choosing to keep his original entrance theme, how he was pitched The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever against Randy Orton and more!
On joining AEW:
And I think, too, you and I are both wired the same. I think anybody who’s been in this industry, as long as guys like us, you’re driven by challenges. You’re not just going to show up to something and the same old same old is only going to work so long. And eventually, you got to get challenged, you got to recreate yourself, you have to reinvent your character. You have to make tweaks, things like that change your style, whatever that is, in order to keep yourself creatively stimulated. Well, that also goes to who you’re working with. And I mean, I could work Seth Rollins every day of the week, and it’d be amazing. But we’ve wrestled now, okay. And I wrestled Finn, okay. Wrestled Roman, okay. wrestled AJ, like, there was a list of guys that I wanted to work with, and I worked most of them. And we just kind of got to a point I think, you know, I’ve said, I think both sides were just out of ideas. And that’s okay. It’s not, it’s no one’s fault. [Chris mentions how Adam and WWE outgrew each other] And I truly feel like that’s kind of the way it was I, I have a small window here to be able to contribute to the wrestling industry as a whole, and be able to pull off matches that I want to pull off at a certain level. I know that the timeframe is small. It’s not like I got another 10 years left in me to do it the way I want to do it. And I wanted to maximise them. And to their point to WWE’s point is, you know, well, if you’re around too much, it’s not special. And I can see that I get it. I just felt like if I got two years or if I got a year then let’s take the governor off and let’s go. That’s really all boiled down to, and then I look at it and you know, when I did sit down with my family and talk and my girls made it real simple they said just go with Uncle Jay. I mean, when a nine-year-old can really simplify for you like that and just kind of smack in the face with like, clearly it’s gotta be that dad. Like, what do you think? Because for a while, like, after the Toronto show, I was like, God, this might be it, man. Because I was loving it. We [Adam and Sheamus] just in there and we’d never worked to singles but it was so much fun and the crowd was Just, you know, halfway through I was like, Man, this might be it, this might be because this is so much fun. And I want my last match whatever that is to feel fun. And that was, so I really took some time to just kind of sit on my butt, and then sit with it and see where were my heart and my brain sometimes have different ideas. And I just needed to kind of get through all of that and decide where it was going to be. And again, the girls just really simplified it for me and made it a kind of a no-brainer when they said that.
Was it hard leaving WWE:
It absolutely was. I mean, any relationship of 25 years, I mean, I had my first match for them and 96. And from that point forward, I never went anywhere else. So yeah, there’s a massive like, Okay, I’m stepping off the cliff here. How’s this go? But that’s also really exhilarating, too. And that’s really fun. And again, back to challenges and challenging yourself. This is a challenge. And it’s not the safe thing. I could have gone with the safe thing. And well, you know, because you did exactly the same thing. Sometimes you just got to do that and you step out of your comfort zone, and kind of take the warm blanket off and just see what’s out there. And it’s also like, I’m not walking into this site unseen, you’re here, Jay’s here. FTR’s here. Like I have some great friends here, who have all been telling me their their stories of having fun. And again, at this stage, having fun challenges getting to work with, you know, my best friend. I mean, come on.
On WWE negotiations:
You know, we had an offer on the table. And we had conversations and in the kind of conversations where it was like, Okay, what do we have? Oh, we’re not sure. And I was like, Well, I’m not sure either, right. And that’s kind of where it was left. So I thought, okay, I can sign on for that and just kind of do whatever for a year, or try and be really involved. And I love being involved. And you can’t be that involved when you’re contracted for 10 matches a year, so that was kind of the conundrum that we found ourselves in. It’s hard to book for a guy like that. It’s in and out or it’s you know, kind of, okay, we need a match for MSG. Right. Right. Right. Let’s Edge vs. Waller. Super fun, but no, build up. No, no anything. It’s just kind of okay, there. It’s a one-off for that week. And I really want to be involved in stories. That’s why I was so happy with the Judgement Day story because it was this year-long story. And I know, a lot of wrestling fans are conditioned now almost with the ADD brain and terms of like if it doesn’t get blown off within a month. And it’s too long. Yeah, exactly. And I just think back to Steamboat and Savage. And I think their first match was at WrestleMania three, you know, and that was almost a year after the crushed larynx on the barricade. I still think that’s possible if it’s done, right. So anyway, yeah, I just, love the idea of coming in and getting to tell a whole lot of stories with a brand-new set of opponents. And also, you know, when you get to this stage of our careers, if a part of wanting to do this, too, is like, Okay, if you want to pick my brain, I am here, wide open. And because if we don’t do that, then the next generation doesn’t get the things that we got, you know, when Rick Martel would, you know, take me aside or Bad News would take me aside and all of these guys would take me aside to give me knowledge, or I’d, you know, I go up and and say, Hey, what do you think? You know, I was never afraid to do that. Because why wouldn’t I pick those guys’ brains, you know? And it feels kind of strange sometimes to be on the other end of that, but I also love it.
On bringing over the Metalingus theme:
It was easy, actually. Because, you know, I know the Alter Brighe guys, and we’ve become friends. I mean, gosh, I’ve been using that music for 20 years. And it’s become one of those themes that I think it’s become so synonymous, you know, with me over the years that it felt really strange to use anything else. And you know, there’s a part of me that goes, Okay, switch everything switch it all. Yeah, and come up with new music and a new look. And I’m like, but if I do that, then I feel like I’ve robbed them of a little bit of seeing this guy come into this place the way we know him. And I’ll make switches and changes as we go as storylines dictate. But to me, the music was just massive. And you and I both, you know, I’m gonna keep saying throughout this, you and I both because we’re eerily similar. I’ve always known that, but music to me it sets the entire tone, it gets me to that place that I need to be, in order to throw all of that energy out of me. I have to feel that song. And if I don’t feel that song, then I can’t bite in. So that that was huge, you know, and it was simple as hey, Mark, man, I still wanna use Metaligus, he’s like sure.
On leaving the name Edge behind:
To me, Edge was always a character. Like, even in this last run, it was basically me out there. And I mean, I’d even say in promos this is pretty much Adam, at this stage, Edge was just a name. It’s odd, I guess, to kind of put that skin on over the years. But again, with this last round, I don’t feel like it really was, it really just felt like everyone knows my story. Everyone knows the real story behind it, which is all Adam. So that kind of, like all of the real Rated R stuff, that kind of gets left behind. Now. It’s just the person behind the performer that’s almost front and centre, and that had never been the case before. But it was also kind of freeing, because it wasn’t trapped within a character now, and that’s what it feels like over here. It’s it feels like, just the possibilities are wide open. And that’s, that’s fun. You know, there are so many different paths we can go. And when I’m reading a book, right, I love when I don’t know where it’s gonna go and there’s a bunch of different ways it could go and you start to guess, okay, where are they going? Where’s the writer gonna take this? That, to me is really fun. And I feel like we have that opportunity here. So I have a long game idea. And I can’t wait for it. But all of this stuff sets that up. But even in thinking about it, I always think of the package. So let’s give them some moments for the package. And what are those moments? Yeah, they’re just little seeds, and we will water them as we go. And when the time’s right, then we really water them and now, okay, that’s the direction we’re going.
On being in WWE after Vince McMahon left:
It was odd, you know? Because that’s all I knew. And even just in terms of me coming in and out, I missed a lot of things. So I’d come back and go, Oh, this is happening now. Got it. And I’m just trying to wrap my mind around that. Because when we were doing Judgment Day, the plan was Balor joins and about a year later, they all turn on me. Well, then I, we get to hell in the cell. And I was like, No, we’re changing everything. And we’re speeding up that year long process. And he’s joining tomorrow and turning tomorrow, it wasn’t long, and it was just starting to find some legs. But it was gonna be swimming upstream with me. And it really was. And I started to have that realisation. It’s like, I don’t think they’re gonna get where they need to get to with me in this thing. [Why did you think that?] Again, people know the real story. Right? And that was an instance where I did try and flip everything. Change it all overnight. cut my hair off. Change the music. Yeah. Start coming out in suits Like, like, I got 30 custom suits.
On The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever:
Adam: Randy and I are booked in the greatest wrestling match ever.
Chris: How did Vince pitch that to you? Because that’s tough.
Adam: It’s the toughest. I think I might be biased but that is the toughest position to be put in.
Chris: I think you’re a pretty damn good worker and Orton as well, but that’s pretty hard, the best wrestling match ever?
Adam: There is also no such thing. There just isn’t, right? It’s totally subjective. You probably think of a match when you think of your favourite match. And I probably think and then that’s going to change. Because this month that might be Austin and Bret, the submission match, and then it might be Nick Bockwinkel and Terry Funk from All Japan and go okay, well, yeah, right now this one.
Chris: So how was it pitched to you?
Adam: It was pitched just like that. [Vince said] I got you two guys can have the greatest wrestling match ever? [I thought] Yeah. [Vince said] But that’s what we should call it. I’m like Oh. But hey, he is a promoter and that is the way a promoter’s brain works. Me as the performer I’m going there’s no audience and there’s no such thing. Okay, so I really had to wrap my mind around it and go, Okay, what angle do I come at this from? Just make it a love letter to wrestling. That was really that was the idea. I’m like, okay, Charles need you in a long sleeve button up need you with a bow tie. I want to get Howard Finkel to announce us, the MSG thing to come down. And it’s Howard’s thing. And now, hopefully people start to understand, okay, yeah, this is really just a tip of the hat to what we do, hence, using other people’s finishers in it. What else were we really gonna do, seriously?
On the match being done in one take:
You know, and I’ve often heard like, it was edited and this and that, we did it once. All the way through 48 minutes. 48 minutes straight. Didn’t know it’s crazy. We didn’t have a time limit. So we got to the back and they like, you guys went 48 minutes. Really? Wow, it felt like 10 which is when you feel good about it, right? And then my stupid idea was oh, if we want to try some different things now we can what if we just picked up some ISO shots that might be kind of cool cut in because I’m just trying to think of right? So I was wearing a GoPro on my head and it was gonna take an RKO so you’d feel like a first-person player taking an RKO. Maybe it’ll work maybe it won’t. So I take the RKO and I’m really trying to cover Randy here because we’ve gotten cold. This is after the match is done. We did the 48 through we’re just doing four little pickup shots. I take the RKO with a camera in my head and tear my tricep because it was an hour and 20 in between. And I took it too far. And then I saw with the edits in and I hated it. But then it was like yeah, but Vince loves it. I was like Godammit! But I saw just the unedited 48 minutes straight through and I loved it, even with no audience. And Randy and I just have a good great chemistry Yeah, so I’m actually proud of that one especially considering the scenario and the circumstances in that with to to walk in and still try and pull it off. I’m proud of that.
Featured image: AEW
