When Gangril emerged from under the stage in Las Vegas at Double or Nothing to help turn the tides in Adam Copeland‘s match against Malakai Black, it garnered one of the biggest pops of the night from the AEW audience.

Suddenly The Brood's leader was back in the ring with one of the performers he helped to turn into a Superstar some 20 years ago, and his ability to change the match's dynamic proved just what the doctor needed for Copeland to come out on top, as even with a broken tibia, the “Rated-R Superstar” was able to spear Black for a 1-2-3 victory.

Discussing how the appearance came together in an interview on Busted Open Radio, Gangril laid out the timeline for his appearance at Double or Nothing and why he couldn't turn down the opportunity to share the ring with Copeland once more.

“Adam is hard-headed. Once he has a story or something in his mind, he's going to get it done one way or another. Eventually, it went over to AEW, and he got it done. I'm appreciative for it. I'm 55 years old. I didn't know if I could crawl up through the bottom of the ring, being under there for a while. My biggest fear was, ‘Can I get up and move?' My adrenaline kicked in. I was just blessed to be part of that moment,” Gangril explained to Busted Open Radio via Fightful.

“When I saw him do the interview, I already knew I was coming in. He just wanted to keep it quiet. When he did that interview, I was like, ‘He's planting the seeds. He's going to make sure they do remember.' Smart man. They kept it hush-hush. I didn't tell anybody. They had me come in last minute. I stayed in his locker room the whole time. When I went to the ring, (Chris) Jericho was like, ‘What are you doing here?' They were able to keep it quiet as best they could, and I was surprised by that. It's really hard to do in wrestling nowadays. I didn't get wheelchaired in and covered up or anything like that. Just came in early, went to the locker room, and sat there all day. Right before the match, threw a black hoodie on, went out there with the ring crew, climbed under the deal, and that was that.”

Would Copeland have still earned a massive pop if he didn't have Gangril in his corner, replacing the Brood leader with any other member of the AEW roster? Sure, but after lobbying hard for Gangril to return for his Hell in a Cell match against Finn Balor at WrestleMania 39, Copeland got his way and was vindicated in his beliefs, as the moment truly was one of the highlights of the night.

Adam Copeland set the seeds for Gangril's debut weeks in advance.

Speaking of the interview Gangril mentioned on Busted Open Radio, Adam Copeland actually stopped by Insight with Chris Van Vliet to talk all things WWE and AEW and let it be known that he tried to get a partial Brood reunion going at WrestleMania 39 but revealed that it was shot down by “every person” he asked about it.

Still, after watching fans react to his match against Matt Cardona as part of the Cope Open, Copeland felt vindicated in his belief and clearly kept that ball rolling heading into Double or Nothing.

“I tried, and I just got shut down. Every person shut it down. [Why?] So this isn't a knock on WWE, but I'd always get the ‘well nobody remembers.' People remember, wrestling fans remember, and I think wrestling fans want to be rewarded for remembering. And that's a way to reward them. That's what I've always felt,” Adam Copeland told Chris Van Vliet via EWrestling News.

“I think, you know, you fast forward to me and Matt Cardona doing a Cope Open. And his music hits, and he comes out. I mean, they remembered. And so I've always been a fan of pulling in things from the past and kind of integrating them into current things. But yeah, that was one I just kept getting shut down. I realized, okay, that was not a hill to die on because it didn't get to happen. It's not my sandbox, I got to do with what I've been given.”

While almost all of the big moments in Adam Copeland's career came in WWE, it's clear fans still enjoy the legacy of the “Rated-R Superstar” and will show up for big moments when he pulls them out of the bag, from his feud with Christian Cage, to his match with Cardona, and the return of Gangril. Huh, maybe WWE shouldn't have pushed all that “final match” stuff with Sheamus last fall after all.