When Adam Copeland stood tall atop the cage in his don't-call-it-a-Hell-in-a-Cell match against Malakai Black at AEW Double or Nothing, it it was going to end in one of two ways: a massive moment that fans would remember forever, or an unmitigated disaster that put the 50-year-old on the shelf indefinitely.
And yet, in a very interesting twist of fate, the moment ended up being both, as the maneuver played a notable role in his win over Black, setting up Gangril's return and an eventual Spear for the win but unfortunately, it came at a cost, as Copeland landed awkwardly on his leg and ended up breaking his tibia upon landing.
Discussing how the moment came to be in a special interview with Busted Open Radio, Copeland revealed that at the time, he didn't initially believe anything was broken but quickly learned that he was woefully mistaken.
“You're welcome for my stupidity [laughs] It was less a leap and more a fall [laughs]. It's part of the albatross of the pro wrestler, and you go, ‘No, I got this.' Your brain tells you, ‘Yeah, got it, no problem. Sure, 15 feet? Yeah.' Then, once I land, and I go, ‘Oh, but I'm 50. Huh.' [Laughs] The good thing was, I landed and truly, I was, ‘Okay, it's not my Achilles because it was the same leg that I tore my Achilles on. I was like, ‘Well, Achilles held. That's cool. Maybe it's an ankle sprain, maybe it's a bone bruise.' It felt like ankle and tibia or fibia jammed. I got up, finished the match, and I felt a little click. I was like, ‘Okay, I got this.' Finish the match, get to the back. I was like, ‘Huh. Interesting.' I started moving it, playing with it. I was like, ‘It doesn't hurt that much,'” Drew McIntyre told Busted Open Radio via 411 Mania.
“So then I walked out of the building, I walked straight into emergency, and they went, ‘What are you doing? Get off your foot. Dumba**. You have a broken leg.' I was thinking, ‘Oh, okay. I didn't know that.' [Laughs] So here we are. But yeah, I feel like that's the albatross of the pro wrestler. You get out there, and you want to give them a show, and I think I could have got the same mileage if I'd done it off the top rope. So live and learn. But at the same time, I finished the match. That, more than anything, I was like, okay, I got through it. There was no way, getting that close, knowing what we had coming with Gangrel and everything, it's like we had to see that through, we had to, and hopefully also, throughout this story, it's a reminder of what House of Black brings to the table too, and let people understand, ‘Oh yeah, by the way, there's this group of bada**es that have an insane presentation.' So a few missions accomplished, and a setback.”
Fortunately for Copeland, not only was he able to finish the match, his final as the TNT Champion, but he was able to get his injury addressed shortly thereafter, as even though his break was a tad more complicated than anyone initially assumed, in the end, he's expected to make a full recovery.
Adam Copeland reveals the extent of his Double or Nothing break.
Discussing his break further on Busted Open Radio, Copeland revealed that while his break wasn't clean and actually impacted the cartilage in his ankle as well, his surgery was successful, and he'll be back in the ring eventually, even if he has to spend some quality time at home with Dr. Mario and his DoorDash app first.
“I had the surgery on Monday, and it was a success. I guess it got a little complicated just because of where the break is. It's kind of right above the ankle joint, which is called a peon fracture, apparently. So the cartilage between your ankle and your Tibia and Fibia got squished, and then the break. I guess there were shards of it, too, so they had to try and compact it all with the plate and the screws. I haven't looked at an X-ray, I'm not going to. Just because that stuff, I don't find that helpful [laughs]. But with this injury, I've realized DoorDash is pretty cool. I started using DoorDash, I didn't know how to use it. I had to get Beth to show me how. I've been doing a lot of reading, a lot of Dr. Mario.”
When will AEW fans see Copeland again? Only time will tell, but hey, in the end, he's in good spirits, and really, that's all that matters at this stage of the recovery process.
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