Adam Copeland Says He’d Be Retired Now If AEW Wasn’t Around And He Stayed With WWE

Adam Copeland gives further insight into joining AEW.

Copeland joined AEW at WrestleDream 2023, officially leaving WWE after over two decades with the company. Copeland has often spoken about looking at the landscape and seeing what AEW had to offer, feeling that was the best decision for him.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the Ariel Helwani Show, Copeland gave more insight.

“I had kind of run the gamut with WWE. There was much left to do with either; for the company or for me. To me, that writing was pretty clearly on the wall. It was more along the lines of, ‘Am I going to go to AEW or am I going to retire?’ During the match with [Sheamus], I still didn’t even really know because I was having so much fun out there with him and loving that experience. I truly wasn’t sure. In looking at the roster in AEW and talking to Tony after the Toronto show and looking at the landscape, it became a no brainer the more I looked at it,” he said.

Asked if he’d be retired if AEW wasn’t around, he replied, “Yeah, I would’ve been done by now. I probably would’ve come back for a year with WWE and then retired how everyone wanted it to happen, and that would be that. This has breathed new life in terms of the creative avenue I can take. I feel like we had driven down most of those avenues with WWE.”

Copeland, who wrestled as Edge in WWE, had his last match in WWE against Sheamus in August 2023.

Copeland is one-half of the AEW Tag Team Champions alongside Christian Cage.

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