Former WWE Superstar Edge, real name Adam Copeland, has joined All Elite Wrestling.
Copeland made his surprise debut at the end of AEW's WrestleDream pay-per-view in Seattle. He appeared after his former tag team partner and long-time best friend Christian Cage successfully defended his TNT Championship against Darby Allin in a two-out-of-three falls match.
During a post-match attack by Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne on Allin and Sting, the arena went dark and a video package aired in the arena before "Metalingus" by Alter Bridge played, which was also Copeland's music in WWE.
Copeland appeared and teased that he would be joining along in the beatdown being served by his real-life best friend but turned on him, saving Allin and Sting from the assault before the pay-per-view went off the air.
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"The Rated R Superstar" wrestled his last match for WWE on an August 18 episode of SmackDown, where he defeated Sheamus in his hometown of Toronto.
Prior to the match, Copeland announced that his WWE contract was expiring and that he was mulling over a possible contract extension. Copeland hadn't been seen on WWE television since and surprised fans with this debut a little over a month after his last match.
During the post-event media scrum, AEW founder Tony Khan announced that Copeland would be a full-time talent and appear on the upcoming episode of AEW Dynamite on Wednesday.
"Part of coming here is that I wanted to contribute,” Copeland said. “I wanted to help and I just felt like here I’d really be able to do that and have the opportunity to do that."
Copeland stated that he felt "free" joining AEW and is excited to work with talent that he has long been yearning to step into the ring with.
"I look at an entire fresh roster of faces and so many talent that I’ve never laid hands on before," he said. "That, to me, as a person who’s driven by challenges, that for me was the biggest thing.
“I’ve never been in the ring with Samoa Joe. I’ve never stood in a ring with Sting before tonight. After 31 years in the industry, that’s never happened. Then I see a guy like Nick Wayne, or I see Swerve (Strickland). There’s just so many possibilities here. For me, at this stage in my career, that is so enticing. That is so exciting."
Copeland signed with WWE back in 1997 and spent over 25 years with the promotion. He's a seven-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and held the WWE World Tag Team titles with a record 12 times.
He had a successful solo career but may be best known for his tag team run with Christian Cage. Cage was last seen in WWE in January 2021 and debuted with AEW in March of that year. The two are reunited under the AEW banner but will likely be at odds with one another for the immediate future.