Adam Copeland has put an end date on one of the great careers in wrestling history.
After beating Josh Alexander on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite in Cleveland, the man WWE fans knew for decades as Edge told the crowd that next year will be his last. “2027 will be my last year in professional wrestling,” Copeland said, adding, “I’m aging out, and that’s okay.” The Cleveland crowd answered with boos and chants of “No!”
One more goal: the AEW World Championship
Copeland made it clear he is not planning a quiet farewell tour. He said he wants the AEW World Championship before he hangs it up, a title he has never held, and he has a shot at it this weekend. The win over Alexander put him into Saturday’s Clockwork Carnage match at AEW WrestleDream, where Will Ospreay defends the World Championship against Copeland, Samoa Joe, Speedball Mike Bailey, Konosuke Takeshita, Kazuchika Okada, Ricochet and Darby Allin.
He did not get to enjoy the moment for long. Don Callis and Brian Cage came out to confront him, Kevin Knight, Lance Archer and Kyle Fletcher jumped him from behind, and Cage drilled him with an F5 before Takeshita and his allies cleared the ring.
Christian Cage injury update
Copeland said the decision came after some soul searching following what happened to his longtime friend and tag partner Christian Cage. According to Copeland, Cage suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung after being thrown into a ladder at AEW All Out on September 26. AEW has not announced a timeline for Cage’s return.
A career more than three decades long
Copeland started wrestling in 1992 and debuted on WWF television as Edge in 1998. He won 31 titles in WWE, including 11 world championships, and went into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 after a neck injury forced his first retirement in 2011. He made one of the most emotional returns in wrestling history at the 2020 Royal Rumble, wrestled for WWE until 2023, and debuted in AEW that October.
In AEW he has won the TNT Championship twice, the first time by beating Christian at Worlds End in December 2023, and he and Christian won the AEW World Tag Team Championships at Double or Nothing in May.
If this really is the final stretch, it starts Saturday. AEW WrestleDream airs Saturday, October 17, with the Tailgate Brawl preshow on TNT and HBO Max.
