When news broke that Edge's contract was coming to an end in WWE without a new deal officially secured, fans immediately started to wonder if the man born Adam Copeland would join his long-time friend Christian Cage in AEW.

On paper, the idea would go a little something like this: after being sent to pasture in WWE, left to become a part-time legend at 49, Edge could move to AEW, continue to work a full-time schedule, and maybe even win a championship or two before he hangs up his boots on his own terms. With CM Punk out, AEW has room at the top for a performer like Copeland to come in and immediately shine, and, considering how his first retirement came about, that opportunity may prove simply too good to pass up for a performer who has worked for the same company for 25 years.

But just because an AEW-Edge pairing makes sense doesn't mean the WWE Hall of Famer should immediately jump into bed with the promotion without negotiating a deal that works for him. No, if Edge had WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff calling the shots as his manager, he'd present a pair of approaches to Tony Khan to see if he could get the 49-year-old a perfect opportunity to succeed on Saturday Night Collision.

“I'm going to take two different approaches. On a glass-half-full approach, if I was Edge's manager and I wanted him to make that move, I would point out the opportunities similarly to what you just did, but I would also want to have a couple conversations with Tony [Khan] and Bryan Danielson because this is the part of the Edge possibility that gets me excited,” Eric Bischoff said via Wrestling Inc.

“This is admittedly a glass-half-full because this would require that Tony relinquish some creative control and let somebody else do it, at least with regard to either Edge individually in his story or on ‘Collision' and use Edge there. I don't know what the personal relationship is between Bryan Danielson and Edge, but I would assume it's good and I would assume there's a lot of mutual respect. If I was Adam Copeland's manager, I would say, ‘Look, Tony, here's the deal. My client wants to come over, but let's be honest, [the] track record for WWE talent coming in has not been all that great.'”

“I know it's gonna sound a little tough in the meeting, but it's true, so get over it. But, you've got this guy Bryan Danielson that you've expressed you've got a lot of confidence in, why don't we give this relationship a try, but do it a little differently.' And let Bryan and Edge work together on Edge's creative. That's exciting to me. And if I'm Adam's manager, I'm going to take a little bit of comfort in that because now I'm putting my client's career in the hands of someone that he has confidence in. Therefore so do I as a manager.”

Would it make sense for Edge to have a bit more control than most over his career if he signed with AEW? You bet; Edge wouldn't be signing with the promotion for a paycheck but to instead round out his legacy with a few more title wins and even more consequential matches. If Tony Khan's not down for that idea of a more hands-on Bryan Danielson with the “Rated-R Superstar,” well, then it might not make sense for Edge to sign with the promotion period, at least in the opinion of Bischoff.

If Edge doesn't get the right deal, Eric Bischoff doesn't think he should join AEW.

So, if that's the glass-half-full approach, then what is Eric Bischoff's glass-half-empty opinion? Well, if it turns out Tony Khan doesn't want to compromise his complete creative control to give Edge some autonomy, then the former WCW exec simply thinks Edge should turn the offer down.

“Glass-half-empty, Tony doesn't want to do that because he wants to be Vince McMahon. He wants to be Eric Bischoff back in the '90s. He wants to be that guy that reinvented wrestling. And until he's ready to delegate and recognize what he's good at and what he's not, it's never going to happen. I wouldn't want my client to end up in an environment much like everyone else that's come over from WWE. They've got a huge splash and a big entrance, and ‘Oh, they're here, it's going to change everything,' and then three weeks later they're gone.”

Has every WWE Superstar who signed with AEW worked out for the better? No, but then again, other than Bryan Danielson, when has a Superstar of Edge's caliber become available? If Edge is available to sign with AEW, then who knows, maybe he will be the exception, too, as Khan really can't afford to mess things up with another high-profile roster addition.