When Edge was kicked out of the Judgment Day by Finn Balor, Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest, and, eventually, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, it began the slow but steady transition from a full-time heel manager to a part-timer with no viable path to the main event picture, let alone the mid-card titles.
Discussing his addition to the AEW roster immediately following WrestleDream alongside Tony Khan at the show's official media scrum, the “Rated-R Superstar” Adam Copeland revealed that part of why he wanted to come to the promotion is to be a full-time contributor, which simply wasn't on the table at this stage of his career in WWE.
“Part of coming here is that I want to contribute. I wanted to help. I just felt like here, I'd really be able to do that and have the opportunity to be able to do that. I look at an entire fresh roster of faces and so many talent that I've never laid hands on before, and that, to me, as a person who is driven by challenges, that for me was the biggest thing,” Adam Copeland revealed via Fightful.
“I've never been in a ring with Samoa Joe or stood in a ring with Sting before tonight. I see Nick Wayne, Swerve, there are so many possibilities for me. At this stage of my career, that is so enticing and exciting. I felt free. It felt fun. I felt the same feeling I had when I would come out for my indie shows when I was Adam Impact or Sexton Hardcastle. It was this brand new thing I always wanted to do. That feeling, I felt it out there. At this stage in my career, to feel that, that's special. 31 years in, to feel that way, that's a gift. This is all I ever wanted to do, and this feels like an opportunity to come in, and not just come in every three months. I'm going to be there every week. I'm a full-time guy. I want to do that for as long as that is possible. I feel that's how I can help the most. More than anything, that's what I'm here to do.”
Had WWE shown interest in giving Edge a full-time push, maybe even one billed as his final push, maybe, just maybe, Edge would still be a member of the WWE Universe, working all the matches fans would like to see both on television and at Premium Live Events. But because that seemingly wasn't WWE's intention, and Tony Khan was willing to step in and fill that void, fans are now afforded a chance to see all of these new matchups and take a ride in the “Rated-R Superstar's” Camaro for one last extended ride.
Adam Copeland reveals how he was able to keep the Edge theme.
Though fans had a pretty good idea that Adam Copeland was going to debut in AEW at WrestleDream, as it was widely reported that things were leaning in that direction, one question that was very much up in the air regarding his debut was which theme song would play out of the PA at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Fortunately, when the words “You think you know me,” re-recorded by Beth Pheonix, rang out before the opening lines of “Metalingus,” the song the “Rated-R Superstar” has used for years in WWE, began to play, fans knew that Tony Khan ponied up for the good stuff, earning an incredible pop that wouldn't have been nearly as sweet without the musical accompaniment.
Discussing how he was able to keep the song as part of his new AEW character, Copeland revealed that he's good friends with Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti and has effectively been granted the rights to use the song forever because of just how valuable it is to both his presentation and to the band that wrote it.
“Alter Bridge are my friends. Mark Tremonti, who wrote the song, is a very good friend. That song is with me wherever I go,” Edge said via Fightful. “That was very important to me. I’ve always been very musically motivated and I think it sets the tone for a character and it also sets the tone for Adam to get in that place. That music, from the first time I heard it in Mark’s house, after I dropped a beer in his foyer, after just meeting him, he played that for me with his scratch lyrics on it and I was out with a neck injury. I said, ‘Can I have that song?’ ‘Absolutely, dude.’ We had just met. 20 years later, here we are, I called Mark and I said, ‘what do you think?’ ‘Absolutely. That answer is not going to change.’ That was really pivotal and important to me. It would have felt weird coming out to something else.”
Welp, there you go, folks; whether Edge wrestles in AEW exclusively for the remainder of his career or he opts to work a match or two in New Japan, Defy, Progress, or a random tiny promotion in Toronto, it sounds like “Metalingus” will accompany him along for the ride.