Adam Copeland: It’s A Very Little Known Thing With My Story, But Without Johnny Smith, I Don’t Know What Happens

Adam Copeland tells the story of how Bret Hart helped him get into WWE.

During an Inside the Ropes show (recorded in 2018), Adam Copeland, who hadn’t yet returned to the ring, discussed how he got his start in WWE. Copeland says that he was on a tour in the Maritime provinces when someone told him to contact Bret Hart.

“I had done a tour out in the Maritimes, and in between, I got a call saying, ‘You should really go to Bret’s. He’s down with a knee injury. He’s WWE Champion at this point, but you should get out there and show him what you can do.'”

The wrestler later revealed that he didn’t have a place to stay, so he contacted Johnny Smith, who let him stay at his house and took him to Bret Hart. He goes:

“I took all the money I made from that tour. I bought a plane ticket to Calgary. I didn’t have a place to stay. I didn’t have any money. So, I landed, and I went, ‘Oh, what do I do? I don’t know anyone in this city. I don’t have any money. Maybe I can go to the YMCA, and they’ll let this homeless kid come sleep on a mat or something so that I can somehow walk to Bret’s and show him I know how to wrestle.’ It’s crazy now when I think about it.

So, then I went, ‘Wait, hold on. I do know Jericho. I’ve met him once. He lives in Calgary. He’s in Mexico. Ah, damn it. Wait a minute. Johnny Smith lives in Calgary, I think.’ Now, Johnny Smith wrestled in the Stampede Territory as Davey Boy Smith’s younger brother. I went, ‘Right, I just I got to call this man that I’ve met once and hope that he lets me stay at his house.’

I call him, and not only does he let me stay at his house, but he feeds me. He takes me to Bret’s every day, picks me up every day, takes me to the gym with him, and trusts me to babysit his daughter. It’s a very little known thing with my story, but without Johnny Smith, when I don’t have two pennies to scrape together, I don’t know what happens.

I always say eventually it’s going to happen, but man, that sped up the process. So, got to Bret’s, got in the ring with Bret, and that was the only time that future Edge and Bret ever stepped foot in a wrestling ring together, and nobody saw it. After the week, I sat down with him in his office, and he said, ‘Okay, I got to put in a word for you because you’re good.'”

Edge had to go back to the Maritimes for his tour, but when he came back, he brought Christian along with him. Bret Hart saw their work, and eventually, his manager contacted them to share the news that WWE was interested in signing them.

“I pick up the phone, it’s Carl De Marco, he said, ‘You got to go down to Stanford. There’s a contract waiting for you.'”

Earlier in January, Adam Copeland also reflected on the six-year anniversary of his 2020 Royal Rumble return. Fans can read his comments here.

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