Why Adam Copeland Chose WWE Over AEW For Initial Pro Wrestling Return

Whilst 2020 was an ‘interesting’ year to say the least, it did present us with one of the greatest moments in pro wrestling history, when Edge made his return to in-ring competition after nine years during the WWE Royal Rumble.

However, before returning to WWE, Edge - aka Adam Copeland - was in talks with All Elite Wrestling, with Copeland telling Chris Van Vliet why he ultimately chose to return to WWE for his long-awaited comeback:

“Really close, we had great discussions,” said Copeland about initial discussions with AEW in 2019. “Yeah. So when I first started talking to AEW, I wasn’t yet cleared. I had made it, we talked about it like the bosses of each video game level. But I still wasn’t cleared by company doctors, right? So once all of those clearances started to come, I was like, Oh, this is real now. Okay.

“So before I did anything, I had to go kind of get the final clearance needed for either company. But I had negotiated with everybody. I was like, Okay, here’s where I’m at, here’s what I’ve been told I can do and started the process.

“And then in going to WWE, and sitting down with Vince [McMahon], he goes well, it’s got to happen here. At that stage, I looked at the equity built and it felt like having to start over, especially having to start over after having been gone for nine years felt really daunting, if that makes sense.

“It felt like at least with WWE that’s one thing off the table that I don’t have to worry about. I can come back and walk into the history of this character. I do feel like it needed to have happened there initially. I really do, if only for that Royal Rumble moment right before the pandemic hit and just feeling and experiencing that. I’m happy the way it turned out.”

Copeland would eventually join AEW in late 2023, debuting for the company at the inaugural WrestleDream PPV.

H/T: ITRWrestling