After weeks and weeks of anticipation, plus a pretty sweet sendoff match with Sheamus, it finally happened: Edge, or, should I say, the man formerly known as Edge, Adam Copeland, made his long-awaited debut in AEW.

That's right, taking the ring at the end of WrestleDream with a Darby Allin-produced vignette to announce his arrival, Copeland stepped into the ring with long-time friend Christian Cage for the first time since 2021, prevented a ConChairTo, and bathed in the roaring cheers of a crowd that more or less knew he was coming but it celebrated like a surprise nonetheless.

Taking to social media in addition to his appearance on the official AEW media scrum, Copeland explained the move, letting his fans know that, despite spending 25 years in WWE, he and the promotion have no hard feelings; they just had a difference of opinions on how much he should be featured on television.

“As some of you may now know, I’m no longer with WWE. My new home is AEW. I’m excited. Whole new roster. Some familiar faces that I wanted to work with again and a whole set of first ever matches. New challenges, and if you’ve followed my career, you know that’s what I’ve always been driven by,” Edge wrote.

“But first and foremost I want to address my 25 years with WWE. I love WWE and appreciate everything the company did for me. Always have, always will. They put me on the map, gave me amazing opportunities and through hard work on both ends, I’ve been supplied with a wonderful life. H*ll, WWE helped me meet the woman I’d start my family with. Sometimes relationships just grow apart and I feel the WWE and I have just outgrown each other. I wanted to do more. They didn’t have much more for me to do. Simple as that. And that’s ok. I’ll still be watching and still be supporting all of my friends there.”

Didn't have enough to do? Goodness gracious, how do you not have things for Edge to do in WWE? Well, considering his age, his Ledgendary status, and the ultimately underwhelming end to his run with Judgment Day, a faction that has actually become more popular without his involvement, transitioning from a full-time wrestler to the sort of contract folks like Trish Stratus is currently on was likely viewed as the play in WWE. Because Edge wanted more, he's now in AEW, which is all that really matters.

Edge explains that he's not interested in wrestling tribalism.

Continuing the peak into his mentality on social media, Edge explained that, to him, the idea of tribalism in professional wrestling is odd. Sure, he's a member of AEW now, but he's still friends with plenty of people in WWE, even if he won't be wrestling them again any time soon. If everyone is succeeding, then the real winner should be the fans.

“I don’t buy into this odd mentality of one company or the other. It’s weird. If you took offense to that, take a walk, get some fresh air and soak up some sunshine. It’s wrestling. An amazing gig. But still, it’s wrestling. Relax. It’s supposed to be fun,” Edge wrote.

“And it’s just a segment of the fans, not most fans, and definitely not the performers. Within the industry we all know that more choices is better for everyone and pushes us all to be better. As a wrestling fan, which I still am, it’s exciting that there’s viable companies providing wrestling on national and worldwide platforms. If you’re actually a fan of wrestling, and not acronyms, that should make you happy too.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is this, if you’ve appreciated my work, you still can, no matter what the initials are. Because I’ll still be bustin my a** everytime I’m out there. This ride isn’t over just yet. Just try to have fun, like it should be. Because trust me I’ll be having fun everytime I’m out there in an AEW ring. Let’s go!”

Did some fans believe that Edge would retire from professional wrestling as a member of WWE? Sure thing; excluding some early efforts in the Canadian indie scene, Edge only wrestled in WWE for the entirety of his international professional wrestling career. But hey, as more than a few fans, wrestlers, and pundits alike pointed out after his debut, getting more Copeland is better for the industry as a whole, especially considering there was a time when it looked like he would never wrestle again just a few years back.