Adam Copeland Says He Wants To Retire In AEW

Adam Copeland is closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning, and while he isn’t sure exactly when he wants to retire, he knows where he wants to retire.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the Ariel Helwani Show, Copeland was asked if he thinks he’ll still be wrestling when he is 54 years old.

“Right now, I’d probably say no. A lot depends. I have ‘Beekeeper’ coming up, ‘Percy Jackson’ coming out. There are always opportunities in that world that pull me away because Tony is cool with me doing these things, but it adds on time. I really plan on not doing any more acting this year and just focusing purely on wrestling. It’s hard to tell. There are some nights after a match where I’m like, ‘Woah. I have a year left, tops.’ Then there are times I’m in there and feeling great. ‘Wow, I could probably do a little more than a year.’ Do I want to? What do my kids want more than anything? What do they want from their dad? They know dad loves work and it makes dad happy, but at the same time, I think they’d rather me be home and doing occasional acting gigs that their friends think is cool,” he said.

Copeland will turn 53 in October.

He continued, “If I didn’t have to retire that first time, I’m definitely not wrestling right now. This has kind of felt like the way to finally end it on my terms, or as close to my terms as possible. It needs to meet the terms of the person who runs the company, don’t get me wrong, but to not be told, ‘That’s it, you’re done.’ For me to be able to say, ‘That’s it, I’m done,’ that is really the last thing for me for intent in terms of my wrestling career.”

Asked if he wants to retire in AEW, he said, “Yes, yeah. That’s what I want. I know that may disappoint a lot of people, but I love it there. I love the company. I love the attitude, the exuberance, the drive, the excitement that I see from the locker room. I don’t want to go anywhere else. I’m good. I did everything I could do [in WWE] and then some. They got everything out of me and then some that they could’ve.”

Copeland initially retired in 2011 due to a neck injury, but returned in 2020.

Elsewhere during the interview, he discussed the end of his WWE run. You can find his full comments here.

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