Adam Copeland talks about the importance of storytelling in his brand of pro wrestling.
Adam Copeland, better known these days as Cope, spent 25 years in WWE as Edge. While Edge's wrestling ability always helped him stand out on that roster, he also participated in a quarter-century of storyline-based wrestling. As such, Cope developed a knack for crafting the "why" leading to a match.
Speaking with Jon Alba of Sports Illustrated, Adam Copeland spoke about the importance of storytelling leading into his first match for the AEW World Title, where he will fight Jon Moxley at AEW Revolution. Cope admits that, at first, he didn't have a clear grasp on the storyline of the Death Riders and wanted to figure that out with the AEW fan base before figuring out where he fit into the story himself.
“Well, for me, it was just, it was confusing at first. Like, I didn't fully understand what was happening,” he said of the Death Riders. “So I wanted to try and figure that out along with the audience, I think, and then go ‘Alright, what can be the story here? The story can be you take them out, because it's always the numbers that they have the advantage with. Okay, let's do something about that. Let's tell a story there.’ And more than anything, the beginning of the thing is, ‘Okay, you attacked all of my friends on television, right? Okay. So, yeah, I'm coming back. Time to step in and give this a shot.”
He continued, “Anything I'm involved in, I try to at least add some layers to it. And when putting the things together, going, ‘Okay, here's the package for the match.’ You got to build in beats for that package to sum everything up, so if you watch that two minutes right before the match, you're caught up. You got it, and know, ‘Alright, and now I'm looking forward to this thing.’ I think more than anything, that's my mentality, is just trying to craft something or be a part of helping craft something where you get those beats, those tentpoles throughout that you can just insert in a package and get everybody caught up, before, you know, they watch the actual match. But still, that to me is what hooks me.”
Fans can read what MOX has had to say about those who question the storyline of AEW's Death Riders at this link.
Check out the full card for AEW Revolution here.
